SELF DOUBT

We all face challenges in life and in order to succeed and live a fulfilling and happy life, self doubt is one of the biggest challenges we have to overcome.  It comes up frequently when I am coaching.

We have both good and bad experiences, however it is common for us to connect those experiences which can support our beliefs about ourselves.

Somehow, our minds tend to engage in self-analysis. (Not bad coming from an analyst by trade) this can lead to all sorts of problems as we travel through life, setting us up not to succeed.

It occurs in all sorts of circumstances, we could be making our way in a career, engaging in relationships with others, and many other scenarios.

Of course, each new transaction with someone else presents exciting new opportunities.  Each one unique and unconnected.  Yet we still expect to fail.  Because we failed previously.   Yet still these events are unconnected.

So remember next time an opportunity presents itself that this is the first time.  You do not have a history of failure and there are no reasons why you shouldn't succeed.

Remember the expression:

"Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift which is why it is called the present" - unknown

and get stuck in - thousands of people are succeeding everyday, why shouldn't you?

Can I stand Competition?

We had a stall at the local farmer's show in our town to sell Hubby's artwork. We didn't cover the stall costs but it was a fantastically brilliant publicity exercise and we hope it will result in some future work. If nothing else, it was a great social event and we saw lots of people we've not seen for a while including Best friend's friend.

Best friend's friend tells me she is training as a life coach (heck!) along with other irons she has in her fire. I take solace in the fact that she has lots of fingers in lots of pies and hope desperately that life coaching is just a whim for her. I don't know how many coaches one small town can handle because of course my Coach also operates here.

I think I am ahead of her. She has completed some freebie courses and I of course have my introductory Coaching for Success training plus some live experience. Though she is a stay at home mum and therefore has more time on her hands than me.

Guess I'll just have to work even harder.

Looking Back - Finding My Coach

Last week I told you about my realisation - that everything that I was coaching other people about _ I needed to deal with inside me too.

My organisation is full of coaches. People who have done the same course as me – Coaching for Success and people that have done the more advanced training.

It was within days of making the decision that I need to get a coach, that I by chance ran into somebody who’d been on the Coaching for Success training course with me. She told me, she’d done the more advanced course so I seized the opportunity (something I don’t very often do).

She quickly agreed and we commenced the sessions.

I found myself doing it in secret, pretending that the coaching sessions in my diary were for coaching other people. I didn’t want to tell my boss. Boss never seemed to get his head around people stuff. He’s a real Techi, get on with stuff kind of person. It makes him very straight forward to deal with but not very good when you want something a bit more personal.

But still I could see solutions to all my problems coming together.

Looking Back - Coaching for Success

Coaching for Success

About 3 years ago, a fellow Springboard helper told me about how she had been trained by my company as a workplace Coach…..

Workplace coaching she told me, is not about showing someone how to do a task, its about helping people to make their own decisions and solve their own problems.

I was instantly hooked. This sounded just like what I wanted to do, and my company were training people to do it.

When I got back to my desk I excitedly looked up the information on the company Intranet, rang the relevant people, and yes, I could do it, but before they paid for me to attend the full course, they’d prefer I did an introductory course (3 days) called “Coaching for Success”

I went back to my office, advertised for willing volunteers and successfully completed the practical element of the course – yippee.

In the 6 months this took. My company changed the rules. As I am not a line manager, I would not be permitted to attend the full corporate coaching course nor would I have been eligible for the 3 day course. Phew I’d got in just in time, but what a disappointment!!!!!

See previous looking back post

Springboard Women's Development for India: Women's Development Workbook