I got laid off, thank God!

The day I was let go from my job unexpectedly, I was relieved.  Yes I was scared but I had thankfully already started on a plan for me.  I experienced the realization five months prior to that day I was called into HR just before the end of the work day to hear those dreaded words…”I am afraid we …..”.  I realized that I was working at a job that did nothing for me as a human being.  To make the days more interesting, I found myself talking to co-workers and friends about their goals and how to achieve them.  One day, a gal at work told me how grateful she was for my help and motivation.  I told her that she was the one that did all the work, I just kept her focused and on track.  It was then that the magic words came out of her mouth that changed my life.  “You should be a coach, a life coach” she said. 

 

I had spent years trying to figure out my niche in life.  Finally, there it was in front of me and I wasted no time.  I researched and found a professional life coach certification program and signed up. Going to school and working full time was time consuming but not hard.  I found it amazing how much energy I had.  Usually after a days work I would feel spent.  Suddenly I would come home, get on my tele-classes, do my reflective work and then get up at 6AM to take another class before going to work at 8AM.  Where did I get all this drive?  I suddenly found what it feels like to love what you do and to live your passion.

 

When I heard those dreaded words “…we have to let you go”, suddenly it was as if someone turned the sound off and I was just watching the HR directors lips move.  I went into my own little world.  “I can go to school full time now…I can get my certification and start my own business. I can do this!”

 

I called my life coach and told her what happened.  If I hadn’t had a coach myself I would have probably crumbled around the edges.  Right then we started to develop a plan.  Over our sessions we created specific steps.  The hard part was done because I knew what I wanted to do.  I had discovered my passion.  Working with my coach kept me on track and focused.  She helped me not only create an action plan, she helped me to also see the value and importance of life balance along my path. 

 

Over the following months I finished 130 hours of course work, wrote term papers and articles required for graduation, coached over 60 hours, built a website and learned more about myself than I could have ever imagined.

 

I now have my own business, Road to Success Coaching.  I work with individual clients one on one over the phone.  I help facilitate their thinking, create clarity and find their own answers.  I help people through a process of self-discovery, career exploration, strategy and action. 

 

Most of my life I have gotten up in the morning to work on my goals.  I don’t do that any more.  My goals now get me up in the morning and the difference is so vibrant, motivating and productive that it hardly feels like work.