A Leap of Faith

Well, what a week it's been. On October 9th I launched my company, Colourful Coaching Ltd, with a "cupcakes and fizz" party, and on the following Wednesday I resigned from 25 years of employment in the Civil Service. Six months ago that was an unthinkable action, but on Wednesday I was on a real high, and that feeling hasn't gone away - somehow, I know that this was indisputably the right decision - I feel as though a huge weight has lifted from my shoulders and my lovely husband says that I look like a new woman.

It's been an amazing 18 months, and I've learned an astonishing amount about myself and what I'm capable of in that time. In the summer of 2008 I went on a course at the Leadership Trust I found there that I was capable of facing my fears and the feeling of elation when I succeeded was overwhelming. At the end of the course, one of the other participants gave me the gift of some feedback that has stayed with me ever since: he said to me that I was currently operating well within my comfort zone, and that he thought that I had far greater potential than I realised.

Then this year, I finally realised a long-held ambition to achieve a coaching qualification. I came across coaching about 5 years ago and realised I had some natural talent. I've been using coaching techniques in my work since then, whilst reading up on the subject and practicing on friends and family, but the 5 months I spent under the tutelage of Philip Brew and Colin Brett from Coaching Development were literally life-changing. Thanks to their masterful coaching and the love and support of a remarkable bunch of fellow trainees, I have found what I believe to be the reason why I was put on the planet. A key part of learning to be a coach is receiving coaching yourself, and the coaching I had has enabled me to understand that scary things can also be good for you; that I had, actually, already taken the decision to leave the Civil Service, I just hadn't been ready to admit it to myself; and that I posess skills, qualities and an approach to life that other people find inspirational.

I truly believe that EVERYONE has far more potential than they realise, and that most of us never get the chance to realise it. So Colourful Coaching Ltd exists to try to give as many people as possible that chance. In this blog I'll be talking about my experiences as I go it alone in business, and what I learn along the way. Whenever I come across a book or a film or a web page that speaks to me, I'll post it hear. I may well end up writing for myself, but that will be a valuable excercise in itself.

To finish today, here's a quote from Goethe that a very dear friend sent me when I told him I'd resigned:

"The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."