My Journey to Coaching

Current Training

Two years ago, my employer offered staff the opportunity to sign up for free to a government-sponsored Level 5 Diploma course in Coaching and Mentoring. I really wanted to apply, but it was strictly for staff way above my pay grade only. However, I then got accepted as a mentor on the Reverse Mentoring programme they ran, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was one of the small team who presented the results to senior management, and I think my participation in that programme was the reason why I was allowed to sign up to the course in December 2023, despite still not being of the pay grade they were looking for. I’m loving this course, which goes much more in-depth than my previous one, and includes a lot of practice, both on fellow-students and clients, so I now feel much more able to offer this as a service. I’m due to qualify in May 2025, but with the training and certificates I already have, I’m ready to offer coaching to my clients.

Fun Fact

As part of the course, I have to undertake self-directed learning, so I’m reading widely in the areas of coaching, self-help and personal development. And as one my my favourite hobbies is story-writing, I’m writing stories about coaching to consolidate my learning. My current fictional ‘client’ is Mr Scrooge, who’s looking for help in working out how to live his new life after his attitude has been changed by the Christmas ghosts. I’ve only just started writing this story, but the Ghost of Business Future is going to be so much fun to write! I’m very much enjoying re-reading the book, so I can include details such spelling of his clerk’s name right, and including other characters from Dicken’s original such as Fred, Scrooge’s nephew.

Specialisms

But enough digression! Back to my coaching journey. In 2020, my partner and I switched to a ketogenic diet, and I couldn’t believe how much weight I lost initially, a very short time (13.5lbs in the first months; 6.5lbs in the second month!). I was hooked, and wanted to share this amazing diet with the world, so I looked for a course to take. I promptly signed up to a Keto Weight Loss course, and achieved the certificate within a few weeks.

All the advice I’ve seen with regard to coaching suggests that, rather than asking the client what they want to achieve, you put together a course that covers a particular subject in a set number of weeks. I’m post-menopausal now, and I’ve done a lot of research into the ketogenic diet – and I know it can affect menopausal weight, when nothing else works. I know much more than I ever did about nutrition in general now, too, so I’m writing a course to help peri-menopausal women navigate the change’s stormy waters.

I’m expecting to be in demand for coaching, especially once I finish my qualification. I’ve already seen how much it can change people’s thinking, so I’m really looking forward to helping clients make the changes they want to see in their world.