Step Forward; a new path awaits you!
By: Coach Robin Buttler
I was minding my own business back in 2010 when I received the opportunity to receive coach training through Dream Releaser Coaching (DRC). I was intrigued and open to a new opportunity and couldn’t find anything wrong with an additional income stream at that point in life. I was enjoying working full time for my church, but knew there had to be something else out there for my time investment. I registered and began training, expecting to complete the program and become a coach trainer for DRC. I hadn’t considered actually becoming a coach. I was in for a huge awakening.
Up until that point, I had always been known as the person you could talk to, aka dump on. I was the girl next door who kept her door open. You were welcome to saunter in to discuss your recent breakup, the latest recipe you’d attempted, and even the trauma you had experienced. Because someone came in, I placed the responsibility upon myself to have a solution, an answer, or at the very least, a shoulder and an ear. For years it was a beautiful experience. I didn’t mind at all and took great delight in feeling as if I had been used to lighten someone’s load and to brighten their day. Before long it became somewhat of a burden to me and, that alone, brought with it an immense amount of guilt. How could I be burdened by the privilege to help someone in need? How could I grow weary from dishing out my best attempt at advice to someone who didn’t seem to have any idea what to do? I recognized the truth behind casting your cares, but I wasn’t able to cast them as quickly as I reeled them in. Therefore, I became resentful. I didn’t want to have their answers anymore. I wanted peace. And yet.
I knew I was blessed to be able to lift someone’s spirits, even if only momentarily. I was able to show them a better path, even if for only a short distance. It was difficult to accept that I was becoming weary in well-doing. As much as I wanted peace, I didn’t want it at the expense of stepping away from people whose lives needed a better plan. In walks DRC. Or rather, I walked into a new concept of not having to provide an answer to someone’s pain or path, but rather providing a question that would encourage them to find their own answer. If I could scream FREEDOM right now, I would gladly do so. FREEDOM!
Coaching provided an additional income stream, yes. But more importantly, it provided a stream of peace, purpose, progress, potential, and power. I no longer took on the responsibility of problem solving. Instead, I walked in peace knowing that I could provide the atmosphere that would allow my client to give themselves permission to dream out loud; to imagine a peaceful restitution rather than continuing to walk in chaos. I felt purpose coming back to life within my tired mind and I came to life again. I progressed from being a temporary answer to those in need to being one who promoted life change. Potential became reality, and it came with a power for me to step forward onto a new path.
Coaching brings about hope for our clients. They come to us to be heard and allowed to consider all aspects surrounding their decisions and goals. We provide a supportive environment that encourages them to think outside the box; see beyond their obstacles. We don’t have to have their answers, but we can challenge them with the questions that will cause their thoughts to spring into action. We cultivate safety and trust with them and they are allowed to soar.
As we step forward as coaches, our clients step forward onto the path that awaits them.
I can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]. For individual or group coaching, check out my website at www.stepforwardcoaching.net or my Facebook page www.facebook.com/robin.lagrow.
