There are times in life when the map of our life shifts. The bearings we have been using to navigate it disappear. It is distressful. Some life-shifting events come as a choice, for example: becoming a parent, resigning from a job, starting a new job or getting a significant promotion, changing career, taking a sabbatical, moving house or moving to a new country. Often, these planned events bring a tail of unexpected changes. Other events happen non-voluntarily: adolescence, feeling demotivated at work, hitting a life plateau, redundancy, falling ill, death of someone close.
In times like that, planned or not, you need to re-calibrate your compass. And fill the unexplored parts of your life-map with new points of reference to help you navigate, inhabit and enjoy your new world. There are shortcuts. The easiest, yet more dangerous, is to let someone else decide your new bearings. For example, your parents. With the best intentions at heart and probably out of habit, most parents are ready to continue to guide their child's life-boat in adulthood, despite the generational and personal differences and incomprehension. Another common source of guidance is our seemingly outperforming friends and colleagues. There is a natural desire to follow in their footsteps to achieve the same outward markers of success and happy living. While the advice and the example of people we value is undoubtedly inspiring, it is deeply imperfect. The pitfall of letting others guide your life-boat is that it ignores your uniqueness and deprives you of a life that is genuine to you. Finding your way is a task you should never delegate. You are smart and resourceful. Still, it is hard to find new points of reference that are stable and trustworthy to be your life guide. It becomes easy with the support of a life coach. A coach is a professional, specially trained to help you navigate life-shifting events, get unstuck and fulfil your potential. The coach is not here to give you answers but to accelerate you finding your answer. This discovery is done in confidence using proven methods and tools of human behaviour and bringing about change. The coach will also help to validate your choices and will be at your side until you feel your compass is correctly re-calibrated.
P.S. Having been through all but one of these life-changing events myself, I discovered the immense power of coaching. By working outside the legal profession I also realised how much the legal mindset and way of working and living is unique. This inspired me to focus my coaching practice on women in law who are also mums, to help them balance their multiple roles, re-calibrate their life safer and faster, and fulfil their potential. Get in touch with me to book your free introductory chat.