The Power of Insight

When I first began my life coach training, I thought I was going to help people achieve their goals. Particularly in the area of wellness and self care, two of my passions.  I thought I was going to be someone who would hold people accountable and help motivate them to stay on track. I got excited about fleshing out the obstacles and helping people create and maintain healthy habits.

About a year ago, I serendipitously discovered a group called Evercoach which rocked my coaching world. This led me to my mentor, Stacy Nelson, who helps me turn my inner reality upside down every two weeks in a small group called Untraining which meets on the phone. I get coached and mentored and inspired there. I grow as human, and therefore, as coach. I create mind shifts and have insights. I figure out what I want to create and take steps toward doing that. I get permission and give myself permission to throw out the rules and coach from the heart. We get vulnerable together, leaving us feeling a little naked at times. But that’s where the deep inner work takes place.  Though most definitely a work in progress (as we all are),  I believe I have become a more powerful coach.

I get goosebumps when clients have insights. When they see things they have not seen before. When they make a shift up the ladder of who they are and therefore,  how they show up in the world, it’s dang exciting. Dreams, goals, and actions flow from this place.  Transformation. Yum.

“What’s the story that will get you where you want to go?” This is a favorite question in our Untraining group. Usually it goes with an awareness that the old story, while it may have served me before, is no longer working to keep me growing forward. It’s pretty exciting stuff and definitely not always easy. But when you see something in a way you have not seen it before, it’s like finding a gold nugget. It might be small, but it’s very valuable.

I was feeling sorry for myself Thursday. I had to reschedule clients. I saw myself as being unprofessional. I couldn’t work on anything coaching related. I want to be a coach but some days, I have to devote almost 100% of myself to being a mom to my 31 year old son with autism. Such is my life. His daytime caregiver is out of commission for awhile and until I find him a new situation, he is my full time job.

So after rescheduling clients and tossing the to do list, I turned my focus to my son, Kyle. I was aware that my flame was burning on the dim side. Could I create some sort of shift  that would raise me up from the grumbly and disappointed way I was being. Given my external reality, where were the internal opportunities? It was an opportunity to be with my son. It was an opportunity to get my cardio exercise because he was in a fast walking mood. All good in the external world.  But what else was there for me? Could I find insight/inspiration during my time with him, something that would fill me up?

I planted a seed. I set an intention to pay attention, to notice with a pair of different lenses. I didn’t really know exactly what I was looking for but that was ok.

Lo and behold, my insight came when I was watching people, some wheelchair bound, climb to the top of the rock wall at the Spofit Gym. Spofit is for people with disabilities of all flavors and they accommodate everyone beautifully.   Each time we took a lap around the track, we got to watch as people reached the top of the wall after a challenging climb to get there. Some didn’t reach the top, but they glowed with determination as they accomplished what seemed like the impossible. I was in awe of their strength and perseverance. I was in awe that they chose to climb out of their comfort zones.  Right there on that rock wall was my insight and inspiration for the day.

Driving home, I felt charged. My flame was burning brighter.  I was filled gratitude and awe. It might sound corny, but something had shifted within me. If someone with physical or mental challenges can climb a rock wall, what can I do? Where do I climb my own rock walls and when do I stand at the bottom rooted in my comfort zone or stuck in the cement of fear?  Hmmm.

With this awareness, how can I show up more powerfully for my clients and support them in lighting their flames of determination, living their amazingness, on their own personal rock walls?  Extra hmmm.

And that’s the power of an insight.

Today’s Seedling…

“An insight is a game changer.  An insight turns your world around from what may have seemed impossible mere seconds ago.  Insights are the wipers of our souls. They clean away the gunk that hides our true nature so we can see what we’ve been missing.”   ~~ Amir Karkouti, author “Lessons From My Coach”