Looking Back
When I started on my self-employment adventure, I don’t really think I had a plan. I hadn’t mapped out where I wanted it to take me or even considered such a thing as a 5-year strategy.
I certainly hadn’t planned for a global pandemic just a few months after launch!
Determination is one of my values, and to me it means not to give in or give up. I was determined that I’d give running a business a go and see what happened. So, there was something inherent in me that I knew I had to give it a go and see what happened.
I had been presented with an opportunity that was too good to waste and if it didn’t work, I’d go back to employment (after saying there was no plan, there was where going back to employment was concerned and that plan was not to!)
Looking back, I also had self-belief although at the time I’m not sure I saw it as that. On reflection self-belief is definitely a part of my DNA. It’s what got me through the long days of the first lockdown when Betty – my inner critic – was asking me “what if this doesn’t work out?”.
Did I have confidence?
After all, if my coaching business was to focus on confidence how could I not have it? So, the answer is yes I did, it wasn’t as strong as it is now because over the last 3 years, I’ve practiced it, enriching confidence has become part of my daily routine.
I’ve talked about how courage and confidence go hand in hand and that you can’t have one without the other and I know I had the courage to step outside of my comfort zone, helped by pulling up my big pants, and take action to make it happen.
After all action is the only thing that can make a change.
I knew there were some things that needed action to build Enrichment Coaching. I had to build my network of people in the local area, networking fast became an important part of business and in fact most of my business since then has come from networking. I had to build my reputation, I wanted people to know who I was that I was a coach and that I had a different more informal approach to coaching and that maybe coaching wasn’t quite what they thought it was.
I’d been fortunate that I had some time to think about what I wanted my business to be I had been planning it for about 6 months, but everything was still unknown. Where would my first client come from, how would it go with them, would it work, would they get something from coaching? Where would client number 2 come from, and the list goes on.
Taking Action
Taking action to make that happen for me was consistency; showing up to networking and coffee catch ups, being reliable not letting people down, saying yes to doing things I hadn’t done before, because after all if you don’t do it, you’ll never know and if it didn’t go to plan, I kept telling myself view it as an opportunity to learn, not a failure.
Even though I am a qualified coach, there was so much to learn about coaching in the real world and there was so much to learn about running a business. And as I look back now, it’s crazy to think I almost knew nothing!
But we learn, and sometimes you are at the point where you have gathered so much information that it becomes overwhelming, you just have to say right I’m doing this now! Three years on, I’ve learned so much about running a business, the type of coach I am, who I am as a person!
Would I describe myself as an expert in confidence? No, absolutely not because I believe we all still have learning to do in our chosen areas of work.
I am confident that the people I have coached over the last 3 years would say they are more confident, and they have tools, tips and techniques to help them to keep enriching their confidence.
In turn, this has enriched my confidence too.
THANK YOU
On my 3rd business birthday, (July 2022), I’d like to say a massive thank you to those who have shared, liked, commented on posts, had coffee / tea / cake with me, those I’ve networked with, those of you that have downloaded and listened to the podcast. And finally, thanks to those of you who I’ve worked with over the last 3 years, I’ll always be grateful for the impact you’ve had on the success of Enrichment Coaching and me and my confidence personally.
Thank you!
PS: If you’re still thinking about having coaching 1:1 with me, then book in a free, no obligation Curiosity Chat so you can ask questions and find out more.
