Finding Purpose as a Coach

Julie had done a lot of personal development, and having undertaken coach training, she wanted to deepen her self-understanding and define who she was, as a coach and as a leader.  In her own life, she had always felt most at ease in nature and believed that both nature and adventure could be transformative tools in people's personal development and consciousness.

For our initial session, we walked to a mountain top. It was a clear day and the summit afforded us panoramic views of the surrounding peaks. The sheer magnitude of the landscape touching infinite space inspired Julie to think big. She connected with a new vision for her work which was “a world where everyday people get to harness their potential and experience a life beyond their dreams.”

In her next session she took a solo, ‘Inner Landscape’ walk -- this time through a local woodland, where she encountered a deer and watched on as it leapt over a 2m hedge. It turned out to be a peak moment of her walk. In the follow-up session that came shortly afterwards, where she shared her account of the experience, we were able to unfold that her Purpose as a coach is” to live and work with courage, creativity, passion, empathy and limitless possibility.”

With this newfound clarity around her vision and purpose, Julie was able to connect with an aliveness and an energy in her work that she couldn’t wait to communicate and bring to her clients. It was a reason for being that felt personally meaningful to her and that she believed in her heart, served an important need in the world.  Suddenly the doubts and self-consciousness that she felt were eclipsed by her increased resolve towards making a difference.

When Covid-19 hit, we conducted our following sessions by Zoom, with Julie using her walks for guided reflection and practice work around key topics.

Julie now follows a daily walking practice, using some of the techniques we used in our work together to self-coach when needed. Whenever she wants to empty her over-active mind (as she puts it) and make space for creativity to emerge, she will take her own Inner Landscape walk. 

“It’s amazing,” she says, “how much of ourselves we can discover – and the creativity that can be released - when we go outside and just take time to ‘be’ with the rest of nature.”