Yes! You are worth it! It can be scary to make a change. Even though I have stepped away from coaching one-on-one I still have requests to coach. So I have a list of a few people to recommend for excellent coaching. One being Meagan Sharp.
She is someone who gets change and knows firsthand how much life coaching can assist in creating the life you want. She is a former teacher and middle school principal who left that world a couple of years ago for a simpler life. Talk about scary! Meagan is an incredible person and has agreed to be my guest blogger to share more insights on her life-changing journey.
“Back in 2017, I acknowledged (quietly and only to myself) I was unsure of my job. I knew I was doing a lot of work at school. I liked the work but it was yielding minimal results. People kept telling me the old mantra that change in education is slow; I should be patient. Well, this did not feel like a good enough answer. Plus, I was dealing with my own family’s struggle within a system that seemed to be unnatural, especially for boys and small children. (Read Our School Story to learn more about my family’s personal journey with school.) I had been seeing a life coach but now I really needed guidance. It was scary when she asked me the following questions:
- What did I really want?
- If I wasn’t happy, what could I do about it?
- How was I going to take my power back?
Somewhere along my career path, my frustration had reached a peak and I made a vow to myself that I would not continue this route. I was exhausted by choosing to walk around, bottled up with thoughts and feelings that I kept locked inside. When I finally took the time to acknowledge that I was not truly happy, I felt relief and despair. It was devastating to realize I was working for an ideal I no longer believed in and worst of all, I no longer knew myself. I was not sure who I was; I knew I needed to make a change.
It felt scary to say my true desires out loud: I wanted to get out and I wanted to take my children with me.
Once I said it, I immediately began to list the excuses:
- I do not have enough money
- I am not sure how to make money except through a job.
- I am too scared to try something different.
- I am afraid to fail.
A lot of my talk was around money. How could I quit a six-figure job and it all just be okay?!
My coach listened again. We wrote all of the reasons down. I picked the biggest barrier to focus on first: finances. I identified that this was why I couldn’t have the life I wanted. A huge belief I was hanging on to was I would not have enough money for my family, myself, and my life if I took this path.
We met weekly to reframe my thinking. Each session consisted of me asking for feedback or advice and then she just flipped it back on me and asked me the same questions. She was teaching me I already had the answers; I just had to find them in myself. Clever.
I did things I had never done regarding finances. I had to think of it differently if I really wanted something different.
We talked a lot about energy and how thoughts can create our reality . This was a new topic to me. I had doubted some of what she was saying: I mean all I had to do was think differently and I would be different? My thoughts are energy and create my reality? As a human, I have a vibration level and I need to raise mine. Really?
Really.
But I reminded myself I could trust the process or continue to judge it. I also read this quote back during this time and it helped me. If my coach used Einstein’s thought about energy, I could be more trusting.
“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way.” Einstein
So I started thinking about myself as energy and money as energy. We combed through our monthly expenses, looked at how much debt we had, brainstormed multiple ideas on possible solutions, and I started taking baby steps. These are the some of the specific steps I used regarding my money journey:
- I made a magical wish list and read my top ten desires every day. I taped my magical wish list on my bathroom mirror. In addition, I wrote ten things I was grateful for for thirty days. Read The Magic by Rhonda Byrne to be guided and inspired to do this too. (I have actually read the book three times and followed it exactly each time.)
- We started practicing abundance thinking together; we even formed a club (read Abundance Unleashed and Abundance in my Family for more on this topic.)
- My husband and I invested in Dave Ramsey courses (highly recommend if you want to get started too). We made a conscious effort to pay down our debt. I had a goal to pay off our boat in two years; I did it quicker. I had a goal to get rid of my student loan debt; I did it in one more year. I had a goal to pay off our house; I didn’t do it. 😜 I bet you thought I was going to say I did!? Let’s be real.
- I kept using intentions and words to focus my money desires. I kept thinking of money as freedom and I said things like: I deserve abundance, I am in abundance, I have nothing to fear, the universe is loving and it loves me. These words are powerful, especially once you begin to believe them. (If these statements sound weird to you, that’s okay. I have been using this language for quite some time but it definitely sounded out-there to me too. You can substitute God, higher being, or any word that indicates there is an energy helping move us and connect us all. Check out Tosha Silver’s Outrageous Openness to start learning more about universal energy.)
My point is these steps seemed miniscule, inconsequential, and difficult while I was in it. It felt like I wasn’t doing enough. But by the fall of 2019, we had changed our finances enough to send our kids to the alternative private school I had wanted (read The Innovation School for more about this amazing option in our community.)
The end goal was to be able to afford to leave my job – keep the life I had built on an administrator salary but go back to teaching. I had been asking teachers to do something I could not envision. I needed to try it and see if my ideas could work. The Innovation School was the opportunity to do this while my kids could try a new educational path too. (Read The Innovation School for more about this amazing option in our community.)
Hiring a coach is essential to making your reality the dream you wanted. You have to take the steps but she can give them to you. Many of them are steps I would not have discovered on my own. Whenever the topic of a life coach comes up, people ask a lot of questions. Rightfully so. It’s kind of a strange thing. But after using one and in return coaching others, I see it as a requirement for life. Or at least for those who really want to experience life from all angles.
As I have coached people, I can hear patterns, excuses, desires. I watch their faces light up when they talk about owning a business, being financially free, or traveling the world. They know their desires but are too fearful to chase them. A life coach helps remove the fear, look at it logically, and holds you accountable to your action steps.
A life coach can
…create one more step when you don’t see one.
…give you resources to get where you want.
…inspire you when you are discouraged.
…show you your listed desires to re-energize you.
…ask a new question to open a new path.
This is a glimpse of the highlight reel from the past five years. Am I here because I hired a coach? Yes. I may have found myself in this position without her but I know it would have taken so much longer. I also know my entire thinking has shifted to allow me to imagine deeper desires and goals. Things I didn’t know I wanted until I started this journey. I know I am closer to who I am meant to be because of her. So if you are seeking a change, a shift, a move, now is the time to hire a coach. Message me to set up a call. If any of this resonated with you, it’s time. Your time.”
From Meagan Sharp’s Blog.