During our Masterful Me Level 2 Certification Program, our mentor Ângela Gaehtgens always provoked us to have a journaling activity and guarantee our memories and reflections of what changed us during the Coaching Program and how it impacted us and others…
@masIt was not easy to start this activity and I always knew that once initiated, it would clearly be transformational, because I believe in the premise on Susan David’s article: “In the process of writing, they were able to create the distance between the thinker and the thought, the feeler and the feeling, that allowed them to gain a new perspective, unhook, and move forward.”
But I did write a journal and continue to do it. I write by hand because it obliges me to reflect in a different way and to become even more conscious of my thoughts, reflections, and conclusions materialised in a notebook… Explaining what was transformational for me during the Coaching program is not easy. I wrote and rewrote this text a million different times. Today I closed this version and sent it to Ângela. It is time to close this chapter… but I know now I will continue writing the next one’s for Elsa’s book of life, because journalling stayed.
What was transformational for me during this process of learning how to become a Coach…
Today I see myself through a different prism and above all, I moved forward, I know myself better (and like it more) and others know and recognize it! During my Coaching Program, I believe I was able to work on seeing myself differently in what respects ACCEPTANCE; SENSE OF CONFIDENCE; EMOTIONS MANAGEMENT. My biggest learning during this process was maybe that for being able to heal, I need to combine my most rational persona with understanding, accepting and being compassionate with my emotions… and this learning also means – for me – that I have created a Coaching Model that I need to apply to myself also, foremost, and regularly.
With the healing part, also came another important learning – time is relative to everyone’s needs and I learned a lot that I needed to get to know and respect my one timing.
When I started thinking about becoming a Coach, I knew I wanted it, but I did not feel ready to do it… July 2014 was the month I heard about International Coach Academy through the voice of Robin Logan and the 11 Coaching Competencies (at time)! I did my first experimental classes during that year and did not continue the learning process, always with the argument of not having time… I was a consultant in one of the Big4 and this first encounter with Coaching changed me because those months also consolidated my decision of leaving the company looking for a job that better fitted my purposes…
I left the Big4 and started working in a smaller consultancy firm in 2015, in a role that had more to do with my idea of impacting the development of others. Coaching was always present in my work, and I started talking to Angela more regularly about the Coaching program and how to complete it… I also had some clients asking for Coaching tools and techniques that I was eager to apply! But again, I did not feel the moment had come…
In 2017 I had my second son and during the maternity leave I also focused a lot of my readings on coaching and restarted to think it was time. But this period was also a troubling year, as a toddler demands a lot and I was also in the process of losing my father to a battle against cancer, which finished in April 2018. This year, as I wrote in some notebooks that I recovered to add to this journaling activity, I discussed with Ângela the Coaching competencies, the structure of a Coaching session and some issues around Values and Purpose that left me clearly uncomfortable. I remember thinking that I was not ready to be a Coach as this type of discussions made me feel so confused, troubled and with fewer (rational) responses than I would like. And this was so true…
2019 I changed from being a consultant to an HR function in the retail industry and in 2020 COVID changed our lives. It was only in October 2021 that I really started the Coaching Program @Masterful Me and started to materialise my Coaching Certification. When I write this chronology and read these words, I can not stop thinking about my 3rd learning around my Coaching program… I also did not respect my timing – it was too late, I should have started the program earlier because I needed it, it was good (mainly) for my emotional health, and I postponed it several times because I did not care for myself, as I should.
During the program I understood this in millions of tiny details, like the fact that I was very emotional in all sessions around Purpose, Values, Vision Boards and our needs and dreams. I was not taking care of them as I should and in the discussions or doing the exercises, when they appeared, my all body and soul felt I was so in need of them, of having them written and materialised as the program enabled me to do.
The Coaching program @Masterful Me was also important to maintain a discipline or routine of learning and taking care of myself, creating this space in my life and agenda. Every 2 weeks we had that 2h30m class that enabled me to reflect about the themes I loved and feel I was learning and developing in a very paced and constructive way… and this was also a learning. Until today I maintain the habit of putting 1 to 2 hours a week on the agenda for learning… and I materialise my reflections in the journal…
My Coaching Program was first and foremost a journey of (re)discovery for me, my wants and needs… It was also a moment of setting in stone my Purpose and Values and oh my god! … it is so hard to deal with that today. Because they are there and so present in my life, that it is clearly more difficult than ever for me, being in situations where my Purpose and Values are not being respected or taken care of.
I learned to be kinder with myself, I learned to be more respectful of my timings, I learned to analyse, read, and feel my emotions in a way that I can use them as data and information to manage decisions and next steps in my life! And the most precious learning of them all is that these learnings are now part of my agenda, helping me feel a better person, mother, wife, daughter, friend, professional. I learned to be compassionate with myself… as I am so demanding and perfectionist with most things in my life, many times I feel and I am not living and appreciating them as I should and could because I am always looking for the better result. The fact is that the Coaching Program was a process for me that made me understand the beauty of living the process – as ICF puts it, it enabled my learning and development around purpose, it supported my reflections to gain clarity and elevate my potential for action.
I really feel that my Coaching Program @Masterful Me also inspired me to maximise my personal and professional potential, having unlocked previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership.
This image is from our 1st trip as a family… We went to Disney and it was so special. Only the closest people around me know that I am afraid of flying… It is something totally out of my control, but also immensely beautiful, challenging, and adventurous. I have never said no to a flight in any circumstance but had the will to do it before this journey. It was the first trip for our second boy, who, being an autistic, could have had a challenging moment there. When we don’t like flights, we are taught to take gadgets and distract ourselves. For my blue boy, it was the noise reduction headphones and the tablet… and I took my Coaching notebook. I wrote what I was feeling at that moment and took a picture to remind me of the emotion… It is ok to be afraid and marvelled at the same time with one of the most beautiful landscapes of life. In a moment you know it is supposed not to have control, let it go and take advantage of that feeling of adventure the best way possible… I did it… and I know how much my learning and development process at the Coaching Program with Masterful Me enabled me to reach this moment of maturity and alignment with my values I am so proud of!
Thank you Masterful Me, thank you Angela and colleagues for the ride…