A Mosquito in a Nudist Colony

Tonight was part 2 of the teleconference introduction to the life coach training program at the Coach Training Alliance.  For those of you who don’t know what a teleconference is, it’s sort of like a chat room on the telephone.  You call in, enter a pin number and are admitted into a “room” where you can talk with other people– in other words, a huge conference call.  It can get a little confusing if five people try to talk at once, but all in all it’s pretty fun.  Pretty fun, that is, until you get disconnected!

They had directed us that “if there is a disturbance in the background on your line press *6 to mute yourself and when you want to un-mute press *6 again.”  My dog started barking to I pressed *6, yelled to him to “stop your yapping!” and pressed *6 again.  I was immediately disconnected.  Because I was calling from Israel to the States with a calling card it took me nearly half an hour to get back on the line, meaning that I missed half of the discussion.

Fortunately there is one highlight that I did not miss!  During a sample coaching session, “Mike from Pittsburg” referred to choosing a niche in life coaching as “it’s like being a mosquito in a nudist colony.”  You can see everything and it all looks pretty interesting, so how do you choose?

Five minutes later, as I struggled with my calling card, trying to get back in on the teleconference I reflected on Mike’s quote.  Indeed, I do feel a bit like a mosquito in a nudist colony.  There are so many options and directions that I can take in my life but which one should I bite?

Anyhow, all I can do is hope that the nudist colony is filled with tons of beautiful men that work out, like long walks on the beach and have a good-sized stash of calamine lotion!

Life Coaching 101

Life coaching is something that has struck my interest for awhile.

For those who don’t know, a life coach is someone that helps clients to determine personal goals and to achieve them.  A life coach may coach a person in many aspects of their life– career transition, relationships, health and wellness, parenting, divorce, moving and more.  A life coach is not a therapist or a psychologist, rather a helping hand or partner in the process of getting their clients on the right track in life.

I heard about this field a couple of years ago and it sounded like an interesting career choice.  But it wasn’t until recently that i realized that it may be something that I would like to pursue.  The catalyst for my realization was my mom.

A few years ago my mom, who has worked in a range of careers from flight attendant to lawyer and now middle school drama teacher, told me that she still felt that something was missing from her life.  She told me that she had always wanted to write but didn’t know where to start.  I suggested that she sign up for a local writing class.  She signed up and has continued to take writing classes since.  She was recently published and just finished the first draft of her first novel!  A couple of weeks ago she told me that my telling her to sign up for a writing class was the best advice that anyone has ever given her.  When she told me this I felt so amazing– I had helped my mom to make one of the best decisions of her life!  I want to do this for people all the time!

I just participated in part one of a teleconference introduction to life coach training from the Coach Training Alliance and now I am feeling so excited about this whole life coaching thing.  Part two is tomorrow, so i’ll let you all know how it goes!