Personal reflection on a year of being a coach

Time flies. October 28th 2020 was the day when I made an executive decision about my future life. I have finally decided that I would like to become a coach. Was I ready to become a coach? Would I be a good one? Would I at all like being a coach? All these questions were in my head, but the fact that I was considering this profession since the day I graduated as a psychologist in 2007, told me that it’s finally the time to try. It was a perfect combination of a mental state, work situation and the lockdown (we all remember that COVID-19 brought many people a real perspective). 

As I said, I wasn’t at all sure that I’d like coaching, so I decided to start small and purchased an online life coaching course for beginners – just to try and to fit the future profession on to myself, would it resonate with me or not. Guess what, it did, to my huge satisfaction.

I graduated and started having coaching sessions not only with friends and family members, but with external clients. The more I have coached, the more I came to a realisation that I need a strong community where I can have mentorings, supervision and where I can share my experience and learn from other’s. There’s a very limited number of institutions, which can certify that a certain coach complies with certain requirements, such as ethics, specific skills and knowledge which a coach possesses. International Coaching Federation (ICF) is one of these federations and the most well-known and the biggest one. I’ve chosen to become a part of the community by attending an ICF certified school and a course, which will allow me to comply with the international standards, set up by the community.

As of today, October 30th, 2021, I’m ⅔ in the process and planning to graduate from a Professional Certified Coach course (ACTP certificate) by February-March 2022. Currently I’m actively practicing coaching, I have worked with more than 15 individual clients and I’m usually working in long term contracts. From my experience and from the research, it’s been proven that long-term collaboration within the coaching interaction brings more personal and professional changes and boosts client’s growth much more than a single session. 

With whom do I work? I work with both male and female entrepreneurs and corporate professionals, those who are willing to find a work-life balance, create a stable financial cushion, grow at work, get a new or a higher position, spin their career or even start a business. A change rarely comes in just one part of a client’s life. Regardless of whether it was an initial request personal or professional, once a client is willing to go to explore hers/his limitations, old-formed beliefs and current views, the realisation that some things can be changed, behavioral patterns amended – affects all aspects of life and brings more results than initially planned.