The Journey begins

A new journey begins........

I've always been a trainer/mentor/coach/helper/supporter of others. Since I was a young child and throughout my life in all sorts of ways. As a cadet in St. John's Ambulance, as a mother, as a friend, as a foster parent, as a boss and colleague. It's who I am. I love being able to help and support others. But now I've decided to go on a journey to become a certified NLP coach (Neuro Linguistic Programming). A journey of self-discovery to help me figure out more about myself and to give me the tools to help and support others in a better way.

So, what does NLP mean?

Neuro means the mind - the neurons that have formed pathways in my brain over 55 years.

Linguistic means language - the way I talk to myself, because I sure as hell know that the way I talk to myself in my head (and don't pull that face - we ALL talk to ourselves) I would never dream of talking to other people in the same way!

Programming - looking at those pathways in my brain, deciding which are really good and help me and I want to keep them….. And figuring out which aren't - and then re-programming my brain with new pathways that will serve me better.

NLP creates a connection between the mind, language and behaviour patterns that are learned through our life experiences, but they can be changed and re-wired to give us better outcomes.

Why NLP?

I've been "into" self-development for a long long time. But also for a long long time I was one of those people that read the book, put a bit of it into practice for a while, then stopped and went on to the next book. Until 2020. Before lockdown and Coronavirus was a thing I got to a crisis point and I just knew that if I didn't sort myself out I was going to end up in a very very bad place or not here at all.

In short, I started actually doing THE WORK. The real inner deep down work on myself. Not following someone's method or a book or a formula. But a journey of talking, writing, journaling, trusting and starting to understand why my behaviour patterns were there, and why I kept going round in circles returning to the same place. Repeating patterns that I hated but just couldn't stop the cycle, no matter WHAT I tried. I've not been doing this alone, but supported by a Tribe of amazing women who are walking this path with me, led by the fabulous Vivienne Joy - NLP Coach Trainer Mentor .

What brought me to that point?

The constant pressure of being a parent, running a business, wearing all the hats, running a team, deadlines, covering when people are off, working on holiday, never taking proper time out of the business. It was all adding up to burnout and a very unhappy me. I felt out of control, like I couldn't move forward, like I couldn't get anything done. I felt like throwing in the towel, going and getting a job and just hiding in a cupboard.

I believed that I could just keep going until 'x', or it will be OK when we get to 'y'. Just keep swimming to quote Dory from Finding Nemo. And that's what I always did - I refused to be beaten, to give up, to let anyone down.

But I wasn't swimming, I was sinking fast. And I was really letting someone down - myself, and badly.

So I started being coached on Mindset, doing the real inner deep structure work that enabled me to move forward and start finding out who I really am and what I'm really here for. And this CHANGED MY LIFE and TRANSFORMED MY BUSINESS.

The opportunity came along to train and be certified to use NLP myself for deep structure work with others. So I can help transform other people's lives in the way my life had been transformed. And I knew I just had to keep going on this journey!

I want to primarily work with other accountants and bookkeepers who are running their own business and help them transform themselves and their business because that's what I know. I've been there and worn out the t-shirt! I may choose to work with others as well - that's the beauty of NLP, it will allow me to make choices. What I won't be doing though is practising on my family and friends. There are boundaries that can't be crossed. If you want coaching I'll be your coach, but it's a professional relationship and I'll only work with people who really want to transform - you have to be ready to let go.

The Journey Begins

So, over the next 6 months I will be going on another journey into myself, doing deeper work and learning how to help others with their transformations as well. But I want to share this journey with you and others - you might like to work with me, you might not. You might just be nosy and want to know what I'm up to. Or you might like to support me on the journey, cheer me on and celebrate with me when I become an NLP Deep Structure Certified Coach.

I know over the next 6 months I'm going to learn a lot more about myself, peel away some more of the layers, learn how the subconscious is able to re-wire new pathways in my brain to give new desired outcomes. I am committed to doing this deep work on myself so I can help others do it for themselves.

Do I have concerns? Of course I do! I wouldn't be human if I didn't! Am I good enough? Will I be able to do this? Will I really be able to transform others the way I've been transformed? But I also acknowledge that it's OK for me to feel that way and it's to OK to feel that fear and still start working on removing those concerns. I will do this by speaking honestly to myself and to others about my journey, reach out to my trusted supporters when things get tough (because I know they will) and just remind myself of my mantra "stay patient and trust your journey".

My overall intention is to learn more about myself, have the ability to 'self-coach' me when I need to, to show up honestly and authentically as me - not only with other people, but with myself - because I'm super good at telling myself lies that I believe……and I don't lie to anyone else but me!

This journey will enable me to confidently transform the lives of others, to help them receive the feelings of having done 'THE WORK', help them feel differently because they ARE now different.

Will it be easy? Hell NO!

Will it be worth it? Hell YEAH!

And knowing that I've played a part in someone else saying OMG I'm so different and look how far I've come will be priceless.