What Sets Your Soul on Fire?
What is it about being a coach that sets my souls on fire? In hindsight, I have been coaching for over 15 years throughout my career but yet never officially stated ‘I am a coach’. I have had direct reports that I coached and mentored throughout my career and if I look further than my career – I have three younger siblings that I coach, I coach my young child and so far through one of the toughest period of our lives. I also coach my step-child and before this, I coached younger peers in high school, when I was a senior taking care of new starters in their first year of high school. I also found people would often tell me things in confidence and I would keep that confidence – in school, work or life in general.
I decided I wanted to be a qualified Life Coach about 4-5 years ago. I only told one person as I felt it was something that would be laughed at. That person said to me that she could see me as a coach, it gave me encouragement to pursue it. She was a direct report I had coached and is now a good friend. Due to things that happened during the course of my life, I never got to enrol in a course until this year. I believe timing needs to be right and I feel that this was the right time. Everything seemed to fall into place and continue to do so. It has been and is an invigorating journey.
Personally, I have been on a self-discovery journey for the last 6 years or more. I have been reading voraciously about the human brain, neuroscience, psychology, learning and mindfulness. I find the human brain fascinating and continue to read books on these topics. These topics were also part of the Life Coaching course so it re-affirms everything I believe and currently do in my own life – there is a congruence with what I was learning and how I live my life. It has been a series of small steps that have led me to the bigger journey that I am on now.
When I speak about the course and content, I become so invigorated and energised. I become energised while coaching my clients, it lights a fire inside me and makes me feel alive. When I spoke to my friend about how I felt about the course, she said to me that she thought I would always go into coaching. Maybe she knew something I didn’t? My confidence grew as I completed the course and when coaching others, it feels right – like this is what I am meant to do.
Upon completion of the Life Coaching course, I became accredited by the International coaching Federation (ICF). The classes were twice a week and even though the late nights were a killer – I really looked forward to them every week and thoroughly enjoyed them! The connections I made with the other participants in the class feel more valuable than the actual content. Even so, the content and discussion generated was stuff that set my soul on fire, so being connected with like-minded souls was a real treat! It was bittersweet when the course completed – it was great to have my time back each week and get some sleep but the energy and support from the group was definitely going to be missed.
Since completing the course, we have set up a What’sApp group where we celebrate each other’s wins, be each other’s cheerleaders, support and encourage each other. The energy the group exudes is amazing to say the least. The practical application during the course only grew our confidence as coaches and the sharing that occurred made our connections much stronger. Some topics generating discussion were around honesty, empathy, authenticity and a strong desire to help others.
My passion is learning and seeing the people I coach go onto bigger and better things – knowing I was a part of their journey is an amazing feeling! Even if I plant the seed and it is watered by others, it’s such a great feeling to impact people’s lives in a positive way. My why is to enable others to Laugh.Love.Live! This is what sets my soul on fire, I feel I am doing what I am meant to be doing and am ever grateful to be able to have found my passion. In saying that, have you thought about what sets your soul on fire?
About the Author: DanThy is a qualified coach, holding International Coaching Federation (IFC) credentials as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) – Life Coach. With over 20 years’ experience across various industries.
