uk Therapy

So you have read every self help book there is!

If this sounds like you then you may be wondering why your life isn’t completely sorted, apple pie order and firing on all cylinders. You know all about setting your goals, focusing on changing one habit at a time, recording all the positive aspects of your life, personality, marriage??

And yet, nothing changes. You still have this slightly dissatisfied feeling that things could be better. Everything’s OK, but you’d like to be doing something different – even if you’re not sure what that ‘something’ is. Perhaps you tell yourself that you will do this something different when:

• your children are older
• you lose weight
• the right opportunity comes along
• when you reach 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th birthday
• when your boss retires – he’s only got about another ten years!

We can all find excuses for not taking any action to fulfil or dreams. And ACTION is what is needed. If you wait until you are completely ready – you will not do it. How will you know if you are as completely ready as you can be? It’s much better to jump in and have a go NOW.

About four years ago, I did just that – jumped in did something completely different. I had this dream that at some point in the future (when my children were older, had more money, could get time away from work, etc.) that I would like to do some voluntary work overseas. Doing what was a bit hazy – but something that would let me experience other cultures and let me give something back to the world. At that point a colleague was involved in an education project working with refugees from Burma who were in the no-man’s land of a refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border. They ran a school at Easter for the refugees who were keen to have an education system within the camps and improve their English. It was only for two weeks and it fitted with the holiday time from college.

Suddenly a lot of my excuses were flying out of the window! And I just did it - even though I was terrified of the prospect. The experience was incredible and yes, it did change my life – in many ways. The biggest for me, is the realisation that it is FEAR that holds us back from doing something new. The other things: the time, the job, the children were just excuses that I could easily justify.

The self help books tell us to take action – complete the exercises, try out new skills. But do you really do them? My guess is that you don’t, you promise yourself that you will when you have completely read the book, but you don’t. Most people (myself included) need someone or something else to give that extra push to jolt us into action. This where I believe life coaching comes into its own. Having someone else to ask those questions we avoid asking ourselves is just what we need to start taking ACTION – no matter how small each step is. Each time we do something new and take a step forward we build momentum to making real, satisfying life changes.

Wherever you are, there will be a life coach nearby. Go for a face to face experience and really begin a new life my taking this first step. But it’s so expensive, I hear you say. And yes, sometimes it can be. Shop around – price is not necessarily a barometer of effectiveness. Coaching groups – this is a much more cost effective way of having coaching and the support of others who, just like you, are keen to make life changes.

Olwyn Rowlands is a life coach and hypnotherapist.

Contact her at: www.nodressrehearsal.co.uk.