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Connecting women and opportunity

Womanthology is a digital magazine and professional community powered by female energy and ingenuity.

Connecting women and opportunity

Womanthology is a digital magazine and professional community powered by female energy and ingenuity.

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Shining a light on your life and career choices – Anna Walker, New Forest Life Coach

Life coach client

Anna Walker is a New Forest based life coach who helps her clients with issues such as weight loss, trauma, anxiety, stress or motivation. Having experienced a small period of time in the military and then the City, Anna returned to her legal training and practised as a Solicitor for ten years. She now runs ‘New Forest Life Coach’ whilst looking after a growing family.

Anna Walker - Life Coach
Anna Walker

“…If you are in a profession or job you cannot leave due to other commitments, there are alternatives. You sometimes just need someone to help you shine a bit of light onto the choices you have…”

Life coach – a job I actually wanted

New Forest Life Coach came out of a desire to have a job I actually wanted. My husband pretty much runs our main business single handedly and I wanted something that was mine and more importantly I wanted to do something that made a difference.

Having successfully used Natal Hypnotherapy for my first child I was finally convinced there might be something to it. I had practised meditation for years and I decided I wanted to take it to the next level. In my quest for a hypnotherapy qualification, I stumbled over a local training company that did a combined qualification in hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming and life coaching.

Light bulb moment

During the course we used ourselves as guinea pigs and I had my light bulb moment when using a 6 Stage Process we call “Logical Levels”. It is a fantastic tool for anyone thinking of a career change. I recently used it with a client who then went away and quietly used it with her husband. He was refusing to come for any coaching, so I coached the wife and he is now happily looking for a new job.

Peeling back the layers

When a client comes for a career coaching session they are either seeking a career change or are clearly unhappy in their current work environment. We look at many different aspects of their life as a whole. Sometimes it’s not immediately apparent that the career is in need of a change; I liken it to peeling an onion – once the first layer is off, then what lies beneath can be a completely different issue altogether.

Recently an ex colleague contacted me about the “Quote of the Day” that I had posted on my Facebook Page.

She said: “If I did what your quote said, I would end up giving up work…”

If you are in a profession or job you cannot leave due to other commitments, there are alternatives. You sometimes just need someone to help you shine a bit of light onto the choices you have.

Environment – “The Where and the When”

Is your environment conducive to solving your problem? This might include where you live, where you work, the people you are with on a day to day basis, cash flow etc. You may dream of working in the country or overseas but if you have dependants at home and a career that is location specific then you need to consider these factors and what needs to be changed over time.

Behaviour – “The What”

Is your behaviour and what you actually do conducive to achieving their outcome. What do you actually do on a regular basis? What do you do at specific times? It’s not realistic to have dreams of being a teacher if you have a fundamental dislike of children and a short temper

Capabilities – “The How”

Do you have the capabilities to achieve your outcome? Do you need to undertake a course, study or gain a qualification in order to be eligible for a desired job? For me, I retrained as a life coach whilst still working in another job. I took time off work and wrote essays when my child was asleep.

Beliefs and Values – “The Why”

Are you beliefs conducive to their outcome? Are you desperate to be financially secure whilst simultaneously harbouring the belief that, “ Money is the root of all evil”? Do you have negative beliefs about “ worthiness” “ shame” “ guilt” which are holding you back?

Identity – “The Who”

What metaphor would best sum you up as a person and is it suitable to helping you achieve your desired goal? I felt as solicitor clients were constantly looking to me for a solution for their situation. However, I could only advise them legally. It was not enough for me. I wanted to get in there before the divorce, before the matrimonial home was sold, before the lawyers became involved. A client once described himself as a “knight in shining armour” which supported his desire to work with the underprivileged

Spirituality / Life Purpose – “The Connection”

What purpose are you on this earth for? If there is one main purpose that you can single out, what is it? Does it support your overall outcome? For me, as I have said before, I wanted to help people. Yes as a solicitor I could do that, but only within the parameters of my profession. Now I can make a difference and really help people.

In cases where people absolutely cannot change their job in the immediate future then we look at something else they can do in the short term.

One client was desperate to be a teacher but could not afford to give up her job, so she volunteered locally to help run a Brownie Pack. It stood her in great stead for when she did retrain and it gave her the involvement she needed in the short term to make her day to day job bearable.

Another client wanted to leave her job due to managerial issues and internal conflicts, but was contractually bound to remain for a period of time. She was however entitled to attend a training course so she chose NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) which gave her the tools to deal with the issues and conflicts whilst also adding to her CV. I am delighted to say, at the time of writing, she currently has two job offers on the table.

Other clients have taken up photography as a hobby, started meditating, attended yoga teacher training courses in their holidays and the list goes on.

As I say to my clients: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

 

http://newforestlifecoach.wordpress.com/

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