Coaching is becoming widely recognized as an effective method to living a better, more fulfilled life. The coaching process itself is designed to bring about increased self-awareness and clarity and result in action plans that help us reach our goals.

In this blog post I wish to share with you what I learned about myself through my own coaching experience.

My Journey

As of today, I have been in private practice as an educational therapist and coach for nearly 5 years. Initially, my practice only served students who struggled with executive functioning deficits and study skills. My masters degree as well as 7 years as a special education English teacher exposed me to the various facets of education and I became fascinated by how dyslexia impacts reading acquisition.

In an effort to grow my young practice, I made a decision to eventually provide reading remediation services. I subsequently flew out to Colorado for extensive and highly specialized reading remediation training under the nationally recognized dyslexia expert, Joyce Bilgrave. I returned to Colorado 3 more times and spent a combined total of 5 months of supervised teaching reading to kids with dyslexia.

I had the advanced educational and teaching background. I sought and received exceptional specialized training. I had experience and proven results teaching kids with dyslexia to learn to read. In short: I was ready to start offering reading remediation in my own practice.

My Challenge

However, in spite of the significant time, effort, and even money that I put into preparing myself to offer this new service, something I was not quite clear on was holding me back. I hired a coach, a wonderful woman who is also a reading remediation specialist, to help me find my way and understand what was holding me back. What a wonderful learning experience in self-exploration that was. Something truly unexpected happened during the course of our work together. I learned that while there is no greater gift than teaching someone to read, I also learned that teaching reading was not my calling. I can’t really explain it, but a voice from inside told me that my true path is to focus my energy serving individuals who struggle with executive functioning deficits and ADHD.

What I Learned Through Coaching

23175387_mlWorking with my coach taught me to listen to my inner voice and follow my true path. While I found teaching reading to kids with dyslexia exceptionally rewarding, I was truly passionate about serving those suffering from executive dysfunction and ADHD. That was what the universe needed me to do and I acquired that clarity through working with my coach. Within months of making that profound realization and aligning myself with my true path, my practice filled to capacity and I had never felt so fulfilled.

So what can we learn from coaching? My personal experience took me through a journey of self-exploration and led me to a place of unparalleled fulfillment and satisfaction. What will you learn?