Finding the Answers

As we have shared, Brandon and I both worked with a life coach leading up to our move in 2020, and we have continued since then. For us, working with a life coach helped us find the answers we were looking for—and it turns out the answers were there all along—we just needed someone to ask the right questions.

At first, I didn’t even know what a life coach was or did when I first reached out. It was my daughter’s friend’s mom who made a post on Facebook that she was a Certified Professional Coach and that she offered a Complimentary Coaching Session. I thought, this would at least give me a good conversation with another adult and maybe something will come out of it.

During my time with her is when I declared, “I want to be a writer.” Thankfully, that statement was met with enthusiasm and encouragement. In my head, I was asking myself questions like, “What qualifications do I have?” “How does someone just start writing?” “How do I know if I am even any good?” But those were not at all the questions that came from the coach. Instead, she asked me questions like—How will it feel when you put your writing out into the world? How will what you write help others? And what is the next step you can take to make this happen? There was no judgement—only affirmation of my dreams.

A couple of years later when Brandon met with this same life coach, he was looking for what to do next. He could tell you exactly in life what he didn’t want, but he was searching for the words to say exactly what he did want. He knew he wanted us to live a simple life, he wanted as much time with our family as possible, and he wanted out of the rat race. But how to make a life of that, he didn’t yet know.

As Brandon started to verbalize the things he wanted, he was able to make his vision more real. As he continued his work with his coach, we were able to shift our focus to what it means to us to live a simple life. We were able to talk about what it would look like and what it would mean to spend as much time as possible together as a family. And we were able to say how we wanted to work and how we wanted to live.

Whereas before we asked ourselves questions like, “How will we find these things where we already live?” Or “How will we be able to keep doing what we are doing until we can finally retire,” his coach had other questions for him. Questions like—What would it mean to you to live this life you envision today? What is stopping you from doing these things right now? And how will stepping into this vision serve you and your family? These were questions we never even thought about but we were ready and willing to answer.

We are beyond grateful that we were able to find the answers we were looking for—answers that were in our hearts and that had been there the entire time. What we learned is that we all really do know what it is we want in life, but we get scared, we get comfortable, we even get lost. But we know now that if we take the time and ask the right questions, the right answers will rise up to the surface every single time.

As Certified Professional Coaches, we ask the questions that never get asked. We ask the hard questions. We ask that one question that just needs to be asked. We find great joy hearing our clients declare what it is they really want and then we celebrate with them as they take the steps to move toward the dreams they have said out loud.

We are happy to share this part of our coaching journey with you and to share how we are serving others through coaching.