My client has agreed that I can use her coaching experience with Swan Coaching as a Case Study. To protect her confidentiality, I have changed her name.
At the end of her Programme Julie sent me this quote “I can’t quite believe I have finished my Programme. Thank you so much for your guidance and support over the last few months. What started off as a desire to find a new career ended up with plans to start a new life – our sessions really made me analyze everything in my life, not just my job. Throughout our coaching you kept me on track, kept me hopeful and allowed me to believe I can do whatever I want to do. The future is looking very bright!”
The Challenge
Julie is in her early 40’s. She’s a wife and mother of one. She has a successful career in IT. However she came to me because she no longer enjoyed her job. It was draining her energy and she felt disillusioned. She and her husband were earning good salaries and their life in St Albans reflected this. To a large degree, Julie’s desire to keep up with her existing lifestyle meant that the salary of a new career was her focus, rather than looking at the wider picture. She wanted a career with more meaning, but felt “stuck” and unable to change things.
The Process
Julie opted for my 90 Days To A New Life Programme because she knew that for her, an in depth look at all the blocks, especially the financial aspect, was necessary to enable her to move forward. I offer 3 career packages. For someone focusing on a complete career change that will likely have a major impact on lifestyle as well as career, the 90 Day option is an excellent choice. It goes into every detail involved in making such a big change, examining all the associated fears, as well as the possibilities, so that clients can move forward positively.
At her first session we identified Julie’s intention, which was to find a career with more meaning and purpose whilst continuing to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.
Julie applied herself wholeheartedly to the process. In between our regular telephone sessions, she diligently worked on the ‘homework’ I set after each one, and I would coach her regarding the outcomes at her next session. Our work often included noticing behaviours and attitudes, which naturally gave rise to more positive thought patterns. Julie had decided to work with me once a month, so she knew upfront that the process would take about a year to complete. Clients can of course work through this programme in 90 days if they wish. Julie’s chosen schedule worked well for her because she knew that whatever the next career move turned out to be, it would be significantly different to the one she had, and would therefore have a huge impact on her family, as well as herself. She needed time to adjust, work through her fears, and gain the backing of her family.
Although Julie followed the process really well, there were setbacks. Everyone taking on the challenge of finding a new career needs support, especially from close family and friends. Unsurprisingly, our families are sometimes resistant to the changes we wish to make. In Julie’s case the needs of her family often took precedent. Her fears about potentially uprooting her young daughter occasionally caused her to slow her progress. We tackled these natural concerns, but her husband became a little distant. He was going through his own personal challenges which meant his focus was elsewhere.
It would have been very easy for Julie to let these obstacles stop her, and although they did delay the process a little, she realised that when her eye went off the ball, she found herself back in her old thinking patterns and routines. After a break in between sessions, Julie’s mood had sunk. Her feelings were impacting on life at home, and it became clear to her that staying ‘stuck’ for her family’s sake was never going to work in the long term. She had come such a long way towards identifying a new career, but did not know how to get out of this cycle of negativity. She booked one last session and her mood lifted enormously as I refocused her back to her original intention. She left this session in a powerful, confident frame of mind.
The Result
After her last session, Julie contacted me a few months later to let me know how things had progressed.
Her family were now right behind her. They had sold their family home and as I write this, are in the process of relocating nearer close family. This move is helping to release some capital to allow for a period of study that she will embark on next year, giving Julie time to be around for the first year while her daughter settles into her new school.
In 2013 she will study for a degree at her local University, leading to a new career as a Health Visitor.
In addition to finding a new career, some unexpected and very welcome benefits have come out of her coaching experience. She has taken up sports coaching, which she is thoroughly enjoying. Julie had identified early on that her physical wellbeing was important to her, so this new hobby helps her keep fit, as well as providing a potential additional salary should she decide to take it further.
Julie has also decided to retake an A’ level that she had failed at school. This is not directly related to her requirement for the new career, although the subject she has chosen will be very useful, but it will be a personal achievement, allowing her to prove to herself that she is capable.
Julie ended her last email to me with these words. “It’s amazing how I have moved from a state of paralysis and feeling of not being able to change things, to realising there are always ways round things. I will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks for all your help Sandra; you have continued working in my mind long after our sessions finished! “