Shifting goals

At the start of this year I signed up to an online course about life coaching. It was partly through personal interest; it gave me something new to focus on after I’d stopped doing my handmade business. I though it could also be a potential way for me to utilise all of the knowledge I’d accumulated over the last 5 years in business, or just a fun way for me to give myself some life coaching! Anyway, it didn’t take long for me to get really into it.

So I set myself a goal to finish the course and start using my new found skills in the real world by the end of March. Then, of course, the world changed.

For the past three months I’ve been steadily working towards this goal, gaining lots of momentum and confidence in the process. Since Covid-19 has disrupted our lives, internally I’ve not let it hamper my motivation and have pushed on most days, grateful for the distraction it offers from all the worry in my real life.

The end of March deadline provided me with some kind of psychological build up; one I really needed to help push past my self-doubt. It’s gotten me this far - which is a huge achievement for me. I’ve finished the course and put things in place to get me started actually putting my learning into practice. But the fact remains, the world is a different place to when I first set this goal for myself and I’m completely unsure of whether it’s even relevant anymore.

facing reality

When setting goals it’s important to be realistic, so I’m facing facts. Until yesterday morning I was ready to push ahead anyway; to continue the with the plan exactly as I’d set it out and see how it floats. But it dawned on me that maybe I was setting myself up to fail - it’s a tricky one working out the difference between your self-doubt and your reason. So instead of stopping completely (which my self-doubt would have me do) I’ve come to a bit of a compromise.

In this new reality I’m wondering whether anyone would actually be interested in my new offer. And the only way I’m going to find out is by asking right? It’s obvious when you think about it.

So I’ve decided to test the waters, not push ahead regardless. And importantly, for me, I will not frame this as another barrier I’m putting in my own way (aka self-sabotage) but a sensible approach to an uncertain future.

I will not rush down a path I may end up stumbling on, knocking down my momentum and confidence in the process. I will take brave, steady steps and face each obstacle as I come to it.

Hopefully I’ll end up offering something people actually want as well; not forcing the thing I want to give.

So with all that said, if you are reading this and thinking “yes, go for it!” and would like to help me progress with my learning and develop something new and useful, I’m looking to work with some people that I can do some real-life coaching with - for free I should add.

It’ll be for three months, and will include fortnightly video-calls plus email support. It’ll be part of my ‘training’, but you should definitely get something out of it too.

I know that many people may not want to take on anything new at the moment, and I completely get that. However, there may be some things I can help with for those that are looking for support in these uncertain times - things like setting new goals, working through self-doubt, finding structure amongst the chaos or figuring out how to prioritise with all the new demands on your time.

I’m not sure if this part of my plan has come at the best time or the worst, but I’m putting it out there and seeing what happens.

interested?

I’ll be putting this offer out to my newsletter subscribers in the first instance, so sign up below if you think this might be for you. I really hope this is the thing you’re looking for at the moment and we can be each other’s cheerleaders in “these unprecedented times” (sorry).

Lois x