This is the second time I write my second post.
I spent 3 hours writing for the first time. I wrote about how I encountered coaching and the profound impact it had on me at the time. It’s daunting to reflect on it since it’s such a transformative experience. I worry that I under-sell the power of coaching so I want to pack all the learnings in there. I chased branches in my thoughts. I had way too much on my mind demanding my attention. I couldn’t stay focused to articulate in a way that satisfied me. I hit a point that I just couldn’t continue. My doubts started to pour in like a sucker punch:
“I am not good at writing.”
“Who am I to hope my stories and experiences can inspire others?”
“Do I even get it myself?”
I closed my laptop, feeling defeated. I didn’t write a word for a few days.
It then dawned on me that I am doing what my clients do sometimes when they walk into a coaching session:
They are way too busy to think deeply.
They want to achieve too many things and they want to achieve them fast but they get nowhere.
Anxiety drives them about all the things they haven’t accomplished yet, pushing them out of the present moment.
They can’t focus and often feel heavy and frustrated.
When I see this happen, I know exactly how to best help them: holding the space for them to slow down in order to speed up.
- We take a few deep breaths to be in our body and to be grounded
- We start peeling away the chaos to find what’s under the busyness
- We keep going deeper to identify the underlying blocks
- We center on what’s truly important at the moment
- We challenge the limiting beliefs, interpretations, assumptions, and inner critic to experience a shift in energy
- We co-create the very next step toward the goal
- We celebrate our progress with excitement for the possibility
As a coach, I can see what my clients can’t see themselves. It’s just like I couldn’t see my blind spot when I wrote the first time.
As I centered myself, I learned that the underlying issue is that I make it about myself. I wrote to impress, not to serve in the first try. That’s why it didn’t work. I then reconnected with the reason I want to write – I want to share my gifts, freely, because coaching is my purpose. I knew exactly what to do once I find my way back. I slow down to focus, to serve, and to connect.
The busyness and overwhelming feelings are gone. I am whole and centered.
Love,
Wen