Being Brave

A couple of years ago I got the chance to coach a marvelous woman.  We’ll call her Vanessa.  Vanessa was a highly educated, super star in her field.  When she started her career she loved her work.  She loved everything about it.  But 15 years in the thrill had worn off.  She was bored, un-motivated and frankly came to coaching to find a way out.

But Vanessa had some difficult circumstances to factor in to her decision making. She was divorced with 3 kids and she was used to earning, by anyone’s standards, a really good income.

What to do?  Hold onto the ‘great job’ and be miserable? Or do something brave?

It took Vanessa about a year from the time she began some coaching, before she was ready to take her plunge.  She needed to ‘line up her ducks’ so to speak, financially.  And she needed to do her homework about what her next career move would be.  And she worked hard to emotionally prepare herself for the big change.

But change she did.  And it only came about because she chose to be brave.

She took a chance.  Allowed risk to play a role in her choice.

Did she have some rough times after she left her job?  Yup, she did.

Did she survive and eventually thrive?  You bet.

She set her intention.  She used her inner drive.  She counted on her ability to be creative and solve problems as they arose.  And most of all, she was 100% determined to live a happier life for her kids and for herself. In her own words; “coaching helped me listen to my inner voice and gain the confidence to act on what I was so clearly hearing.”

Where did her bravery come from?  She had it inside of herself already.  The coaching provided her the space to recognize it, voice it and use her innate bravery to reach for what she was ready to aim for!