At some point in the first coaching session with my clients, I tell them that the coaching process is about stopping wherever you are in life. Then, you can take a deep breath and look at yourself and your life honestly. This is the necessary first step before stepping into reflection. You may ask yourself, reflection about what? Well, reflection about your life circumstances, yourself, and what you want in your life.
Maybe you have never experienced a coaching process, however, now you have a great opportunity to experience a taste of it because of the lockdown. The benefit of it is to allow us to turn our attention from the inside out, which is the opposite tendency of most people. If our personal energy is mostly channelled into the exterior world, we do not give us time to reflect on ourselves. Therefore, the consequence is to lose connection with our needs, values, and important goals that gives deep meaning to our life.
Through reflection you can take time to think about events in your life that will bring you new insights. It can take you to a journey of self-discovery and learning about yourself. If you decide to take on board this new awakening, your actions (the doer within you) can be based on insight and intention (the being inside you). Questions that might arise during these days are… Where I want to be? What are the core values aligned with my job Is my job aligned with my core values? Am I devoting time to what brings me joy?
Only by questioning yourself then you can decide to change the course of aspects of your life.
I leave you with a Zen tale that illustrates why stopping is important.
This is a story about a man and a horse.
The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, “Where are you going?” and the first man replies, “I don’t know! Ask the horse!” this is also our story, we are riding a horse, we don’t know where we are going, and we can’t stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless. We are always running, and it becomes a habit.