“The question isn’t really ‘what’s getting in our way’ … it’s why can’t we get out of our own way?”
— Susan J Hilger
Yesterday I was out on a call with one of our design clients. At one point late in the afternoon, she invited me to join her on the patio for a few minutes while my partner finished up the installation. I was more than happy to connect with someone and also to grab some fresh air.
We chatted openly and easily about so many things. As we got into a few personal stories, I mentioned that I’m a business coach for women. I was sharing how much I love working with women, and in particular, watching two of my very young clients grown and evolve with eyes wide open.
At this point, she was confused as to whether I am a business coach for women or a life coach. This usually makes me smile, people are often confused about coaching in a general sense. Coaching is a new and misunderstood field. Her thoughts and comments definitely generated thoughts and feelings around this.
I don’t refer to myself as a life coach and have not used this title for so many reasons. But the truth is, whether I’m coaching you through a job transition, a career goal, or your self improvement, your ‘whole’ life comes into our coaching space.
We are whole beings, and who we are and our relationships in life affect our entire life. If we go through a divorce, it will seep into our business life. If we are struggling with our boss or our career goals, we know this affects how we show up in our personal relationships.
All of my clients are leading and managing in at least one area of their life. My clients are creative, have entrepreneurial spirits, many come to me to help them create and find the career they desire, and to be sure it aligns with their core values and all aspects in their life.
As an intuitive person, I often pick up where a client is hurting or avoiding in one area of their life because of events in another. It seems society tries to dictate that we see these as separate lives. I disagree. If the pandemic has taught many of us one thing, it’s that we enjoy being authentically the same person in all of our roles.