REINVENTION AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE

What triggers a reinvention? What has happened in your life that has caused you to think in a more inventive way? what have you already got in your armoury, who can help you, what resources do you need? Can you turn your traditional way of thinking upside down?

Our identities modify over a lifetime, for me I thought retiring from a long nursing career would challenge my purpose in life. Before I made my decision to retire, I thought my job defined me and was concerned how would I fill this void. I now know this was just a role I played amongst many other roles like mum, sister, wife, friend, coach, painter. I hold those 44 years in the NHS with gratitude, for the experiences, the friends I made and still have, the opportunities and the learning, good and bad.

My intention was always to develop my coaching skills and start a business when I qualified as a personal coach 10 years ago, but my clinical role escalated and the coaching dream slid away. In the 2 years before my retirement I was fortunate to be able to coach within the trust where I was employed, reigniting my original plans! So fast forward to now and I never thought my clinical role would slide away from my daily consciousness as fast as it did and truly feel as if I am reinventing myself. Affirming that the time was right…..

Retiring from my first career and now embarking on my second has bought me a sense of peace and gentleness that I didn’t know I needed, despite the challenges of navigating my way around social media! With the grateful help of friends and family. I have started journaling; I allow time to ponder and calculate how my coaching will look day by day and how I can incorporate art into my coaching practice. I am connecting with some lovely people and learning how to spread the word.

Reflective practice is second nature within nursing, however reflecting on the scale I am doing now has created a whole new depth to my personal development. This in turn reflects how I show up for clients. It’s taken a while but I see the importance of investing in myself, of having supervision and in having a coach myself. As such I have redefined my purpose in life to:

- Be creative in developing curiosity and wisdom to achieve success and fulfilment

through myself and others.

As coaches we discuss self-limiting beliefs that often prevents clients from moving forward in their desires. Finding myself in a similar position questioning am I good enough, clever enough, confident enough to embark on a second career? Acknowledging my vulnerability and allowing myself forgiveness for my own negative thoughts. I feel I have progressed significantly since being able to focus wholly on the coaching business and I invite you to embark on your own reinvention journey.