It felt as though this one article ‘found’ me. It all began when I randomly stumbled upon an article on the Internet about professional women seeking career coaching. I read on. I was intrigued. I didn’t even know that such a profession existed.
Looking through this particular coach’s website I was impressed by her vast experience and commitment towards helping women who were potential change-makers. It was at that moment that I thought to myself, ‘I would quite like to do what she does’.
At the time, I guess I was at something of a crossroads in my life and my career. It was 8 months or so into our return back to the UK from Japan. We had returned to the UK primarily so that our children could be educated in the UK for secondary school. It had been quite a roller coaster ride; trying to set up home in a new environment with teenagers reluctant of change. I had taken on various freelance opportunities and had plans to return to teaching at my old law school in London.
I love teaching – especially meeting new students each year, and seeing them grow. I learn so much myself from being exposed to students from such multi-cultural and diverse background. Distilling what is a complex concept into something simple, with practical real life examples give me real satisfaction. When I am able to help students walk away with skills and knowledge that they can immediately use in their daily lives, it gives me a profound sense of fulfillment. I feel deeply that coaching allows me to tap into these skills and passions, and to help more people, rather than just the next year’s intake of law students.
To be honest, there were lots of good things about my work, especially my lovely colleagues, who are so dedicated to teaching and so much fun to be with. Still, for sometime there had been something really niggling at me – a need to reach out for something new, a change in direction. However, I was holding back because I convinced myself that I needed to be more realistic – big change does not always happen overnight. I also knew that even though I may try and set plans, life does not always span out exactly as hoped.
Still, on a totally random day, at a random time of the day, I began with the one random phone call – a free 20 minute chat with a career coach – ‘Project Me’ in earnest, with a hope for a renaissance before too long.
This was how my thousand mile journey began. Have you taken that first step on your ‘journey’? I would love to hear about your journey of a thousand miles.
