A 21st Century Career

I clicked on the red button, took off my headset and leaned back in my chair, before stretching out my arms and pursing my lips to force out a deep breath of air.

I had completed just the sixth in a series of thirteen sessions with a young lady life coach whom I had not yet even set eyes on, yet here I was, happily trying to come to terms with an amazing change of mindset that she had already helped me to bring about.

I felt excited about my future – confident, assured and impatient to get going – a complete turnaround from being anxious, confused and even resentful just a few short months ago.

[box type=\”shadow\”]“Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire – you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away.”

– Denis Waitley
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Chance or destiny?

My introduction to the world of life coaching came about completely by chance – or at least that’s the way it seemed at the time.

Some years ago I had the good fortune to land a three-year expatriate contract in London with my multinational employer. Three years quickly turned into six and had my dear wife Jenni not objected – quite stridently, I might add – I may well have taken up an offer to remain there permanently.

As the final year of my contract approached its half way mark, I began to feel increasingly nervous and concerned. Realistically, I knew that returning to South Africa would mean having to explore a whole new world – leaving corporate employment after 27 years to join the ranks of the entrepreneurial set.

During our time in England, a family member of mine in South Africa fell on difficult times. The relative strength of the Pound allowed me to provide some modest financial support each month. But Jenni and I both realised that the saying ‘charity begins at home’ would soon take on a new relevance for us.

Jenni, recounting the well known proverb “… teach a man to fish…” encouraged me to channel the remaining months of my support into paying for a life coach. Feeling a tad embarrassed at my lack of understanding of the term, I set out to do some research.

A life changing decision

One thing led to another and I soon found myself having lunch with the owner of a UK based life coach training company. We hit it off immediately but I admit to being a bit taken aback by what he said to me:

“Bill, with all the change you are set to embark upon soon, it’s really you who needs a life coach.”

Me, need a life coach? I wasn’t sure whether to feel thankful or offended. Fortunately, something inside told me not to dismiss the advice out of hand.

Somewhat sceptically and perhaps more to satisfy my curiosity, than to acknowledge I could do with some professional support, I took the advice and signed up for a six month programme of life coaching, via Skype.

That decision was to change my life and set me on a wonderful new path.

Profound realisations

My exposure to life coaching brought with it two profound realisations.

Firstly, it forced me to reappraise my own education and the education system in general.

A dozen or so hours of life coaching helped me learn more about myself, my purpose, my values, my beliefs and my capabilities than I had learnt throughout my entire postgraduate university education and the many high level corporate training programmes I had been privileged to attend.

Secondly, I was struck by the inherent simplicity of the highly effective concepts, tools and techniques that my coach had introduced me to.

My academic background and extensive corporate experience had led me to believe that anything new of real value, especially anything of a breakthrough nature, was likely to be inherently complex.

How could it be, I reasoned, that I had spent half a century without ever being exposed to such powerful yet simple techniques to bring about greater personal freedom, self confidence and growth?

A career whose time has come

The more I reflect on that question the more I am convinced that life coaching is a career whose time has come. At its heart, I believe life coaching represents a 21st century response to 21st century challenges!

It would be difficult for even the most ardent sceptic to argue, with any merit, against the fact that major changes are taking place in our world right now!

Our climate is changing and changing rapidly. That much has been scientifically proven. Seismic, solar and geomagnetic activity on the planet has also been proven to be increasing. The world order, as we have become accustomed to it, is transforming – as evidenced by the current global financial crisis, the populist overthrow of dictators and the rise of China as a new superpower.

This period of relative turbulence and instability is causing more and more people to question their ingrained beliefs about what makes for successful, happy and fulfilling lives.

There is a rapidly growing realisation that the competition for status, power and material wealth brought on by our hitherto misguided definition of success has resulted in a society that is deeply unfulfilled.

Help with a 21st century problem

For the answers to what constitutes authentic happiness, people are beginning to look within.

Just as I experienced, the process of looking within leads you to appreciate how little your formal education and training has equipped you to understand who you truly are and what your purpose is on this earth.

This is a typical 21st century problem. Help is needed. And the modern day life coach is there to deliver it.

Just as one might hire an architect to offer advice on the design of a home, a financial planner to help with one’s financial affairs or a fitness trainer to assist with getting into physical shape, you would contract with a life coach to help you to get to know yourself better so that you might live life more fully, more meaningfully and more joyfully.

Freedom, confidence, growth

Contrary to what some people think, life coaching is not a self indulgence or luxury for those with more money than they can spend … it is a vital catalyst for all those who want to go beyond the ordinary, reach for their dreams and experience greater personal freedom, self confidence and growth.