Today, I had another session with my Business Coach. I'm so excited that if you struck a match, I would go up in flames!!!! I feel so alive. I feel so inspired. I feel so on the right track for my life. There is nothing like it. Wheee!!!!!!
We focused on my financial prospectus and how much money I'd need to comfortably be in business for myself. I was actually surprised that I didn't need more. One thing I need to know before I fully cut the chord is how much it would cost a woman my age to have individual health, dental and disability insurance. That is major! That will determine whether I can move forward in my projected timeframe or whether I need to push it out a little bit further.
Next thing. Katrina asked me who is my ideal coaching client. Having coached a phenomenal woman, it was easy for me to describe her. I'll call her P.O.W. "This is the type of person you're called to help," she replied. My mouth dropped open because I realized in that moment that I'm called to coach women like me.
Don't misunderstand. I am not suggesting a cookie cutter of me. Not at all. I'm speaking more of their spirit. Their energy. There is a certain dynamic rhythm to us. We are the make-it-happen woman. I know this woman. She is self-directed and has beaten the odds on so many levels. We think outside the box. We deplored boxes!!! We've slayed those dragons that kept us on lock-down. We know how to fight our way out and our way through. We're resourceful. We're resilient. We got that. It's merely the next level of living that we need help with. It's going from fighting for to owning the territory we fought so hard for. This gives another level to my calling. I not only know what I am called to do, but I know who I'm called to help. This way, I don't spend time trying to morph myself or someone else into somebody we're not.
This is sooooo freeing! My homework assignment is to write down P.O.W's attributes and why it is such a joy to coach her. Next will be to put together screening questions that will help me to recognize this person from potential clients. What I see in this is the importance of knowing who you're called to.
My P.O.W. leaves me energized. This is key. There is a sharing of energy that lifes us both. This is so different from how most folks look at those whom they are called to serve. There's the image of the minister who is exhausted after laying hands or the person who is exhausted after a day's work.
Maybe this is why counseling wasn't a good fit. Without a doubt, I was effective. Earlier this year in fact, I visited the agency where I had my first counseling job. We talked about how things were when I was there and how much I was missed. I know they'd welcome me with opened arms. Still, as effective as I was, I got little back to restore me. The addicted population was brutal. The resistance. The denial. The cyclical regurgitation of the same problems, the same victim-mentality, the same story as if they are caught in an endless do-loop left me drained. No matter what skills or insights I offered, few could absorb it. They were so in their own heads that the work it took was too much. The only reason I lasted as long as I did was because I literally took my phone off the hook on weekends. I didn't enlist in anything that was obligatory. Outside of supporting my son through high school, I was too tired for much else. But as the song goes, "it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life....and I'm feelin GOOD!!!!!"
