What's a Life Coach?

Thinking back to my big leap of "faith," it really was a big one! I was back in school - college, that is. I was an adult trying to figure out the next big thing (i.e., I was trying to make a career move). I had my major figured out, but what would I do with the degree? My classmates all knew what their next steps were, but my path wasn't so clear...

That is, until I met a life coach. The timing of this was perfect. I was winding down with my last class and, as I investigated what coaching involved, I discovered I had been one for most of my life! And there was a name, classes, skills to build upon, and credentialing to put "teeth" to what I had been instinctively doing all these years! 

So I launched into a new adventure. That was nine years ago now. Since then, I've learned and experienced a lot! And, even after all this time, I'm still passionate about life coaching. Here's why. The clients I take set the agenda. They are the ones who determine what they want to address while being coached. It's not about me telling a client what to do. My job is to collaborate...to provide structure and encouragement so the client can move forward. I LOVE encouraging people!

Here are a few more things I love about coaching. It's about looking to the future. it's goal-oriented. It's flexible so that I can meet in person or by phone or video conference with clients. If my client wants to bring her faith into it, so much the better! I love to see goals where our faith and God's purpose and plans for our lives intersect and are aligned.

And as I work with clients through the process, I coach myself out of a job! That's because my clients have an end to when she needs me. She's no longer "stuck." She's found clarity and perspective. She met her goals, knows her purpose, and she can look to her future with anticipation. I love to look ahead. The possibilities are endless!

I truly believe we all could use a life coach every now and then. What about you?

Care for the Caregiver - part IV

This is the final blog post for my Care for the Caregiver series.

In my coaching as a Christian, one of my favorite parts is when I can pray with or for a client. Most of the time, clients come to me and describe themselves as spiritually "frail." As caregivers, we are used to taking care of the frail. Even when people don't have a community of faith, don't pray, or acknowledge Jesus as Lord of their life, most would say there is a part of life that is "spiritual" and is a part of their being that is lacking.

In my professional career as a caregiver, I consistently saw an interesting thing. We all have a choice in life. We can be better, or we can allow ourselves to get worse. The clients I took care of and who chose to "be better" always understood the need to focus on their spiritual lives. Getting to know God, praying and spending time with Him, were key elements to how they chose to thrive rather than just survive.

And yet, so often, we ignore the spiritual side of our being. We act as though we don't need God. We don't pray, but rather allow fear and anger to take over. And we don't take time to rest and allow God to soothe our hurting souls.

In your journey as a caregiver, how do you take time for your spirit? If it's been awhile or if you really never have addressed this question, I want to encourage you to take one small step. In the next week, take an occasional break to focus on who God is. Or take time to pray. Or attend a worship service that ministers to your soul. See how when God pours into you, you in turn can pour into others!

Care for the Caregiver - part III

Have you ever noticed that the first part of our being to suffer when we get tired and fatigued from taking care of everyone and everything except ourselves is our emotions? This happened to me recently and it took all of my coaching skills I could muster to help bring me back to level ground. The one coaching principle I constantly have to rely upon is this: "Remove the emotion from this situation."

This is much easier said than done! Because we are caring people who take care of others, we tend to allow emotion to overtake us and, before we know it, we are drained! Emotional Intelligence (EI) was a hot topic some years back, and has become a while science in and of itself. But really, it comes down to one simple thing. We have power over our emotions and so we have the ability to adjust, maintain, and be wise about how we use them.

Self-awareness is where it all starts. Being aware of our own emotional state and knowing how to keep it in check is essential as we interact with other people. On the flip side, acknowledging to ourselves that it's time to take a time-out to remove the emotion from life is an even more important step.

I love it when I am coaching a client and she has an "Aha!" moment as she discovers a new element about herself. Those "Aha!" moments frequently come when she gains a new insight about her emotional intelligence.

My question for you this week is this: As a caregiver, where do you feel vulnerable and how are your emotions playing out? Here's to hoping you have an "Aha!" moment this week!