My life has been exploding with change, and I have fallen farther and farther behind in talking about the changes.  But I’ve been busy.  And a bit scattered.

For some reason, I thought that once I became a coach there would be a clear path to follow.  I envisioned defining my niche, identifying my ideal client, creating funnels and following marketing plans.  It was a pretty straight path to success.  An uphill path, sure, but one that just required staying on track to reach the goal. 

Of course, I didn’t count on the pandemic.  I didn’t count on the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, or the protests, particularly in Louisville, where I could watch unlimited hours of live-stream.  I didn’t count on grandkids home from school ALL the time.  And I would like to blame my fallling off the beaten path on all those things.

It has felt like a long journey this time.  As if making a life transition were a big deal. An odyssey of sorts, requiring patience, energy and lots of perseverance.  I kept plugging along, you know, wandering in the woods, over hills and through creeks and such, with an occasional walk on the beach.

I felt like I’d been wandering forever.

Not that I wasn’t having a good time – at least some of the time.  I was.  I met amazing people, forged friendships, and worked with terrific clients.

I learned soooo much.  Lots of informal, along-the-way learning, of course, but also formal learning, the kind that comes with certificates.   I hardly ever turn down an opportunity to gain skills or learn new approaches and the last few months have been packed with opportunity.

I’ll have more to say about what I learned in future posts, but I want to share a glance at the headlines of what I’ve been doing.  I’ve posted videos at the end of this post that will give you a bit more information, but here’s a quick look.

• Mindful Self Compassion  I needed more of it, so I decided I should teach it.  I just finished a 12 week course and am well on my way to officially being a trained teacher.  In the meantime, I’m working on practicing what I’m going to teach!  (Video of Kristen Neff on the components of mindful self-compassion.)
• Conscious Business Coaching with BetterUp.  I’ve been coaching BetterUp members for quite a while, but in this 8 week course, I learned things I didn’t even know I needed to know.  I have some skills and expertise that will benefit my coachees more than they’ll ever know.  (Video of Fred Kofman, originator of Conscious Business Coaching.)
• Cognitive Behavioral Coaching  I became an emotional wellness coach for Lyra and part of the onboarding process includes weekly assignments on their unique coaching process.  If you’ve known me a long time, you might think, “But, Fausta, you did cognitive behavioral therapy for years!”  Yes.  But Lyra brings some of those techniques into a coaching model that I love.  (Video of Lyra Health coach Lindsay Leopold on what mental health coaching is, what it’s not, and how it can help you thrive.)

I was doing all three of those courses in October.  With over 20 hours of  classroom time and assignments some weeks, I felt like a full-time student.  I loved it.

And I was super busy.

But I finished Mindful Self Compassion at the end of October.  I got my certificate for the work in Cognitive Behavioral Coaching with Lyra in mid-November, and Conscious Business Coaching ended yesterday.

Yesterday, I looked around my life and realized that I felt good.  My life has the flow I’ve been missing, the flow that I’ve been striving to find.

There’s a picture I often use as my cover photo.  You may have seen it. It’s one I took on Zicatela Beach in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, which is where my daughter used to live.  The waves there are wild.  Surfer waves, much higher than I could swim in.  But there’s a rock. In my mind, that rock is “Fausta’s Place to Ponder.”  It sits just beyond the water, not so far removed that I can’t see the waves, feel them crashing all around me.  I see myself in that space of my own, perched securely right in the middle of it.

Suddenly, I feel like I am where I belong, doing what I need to be doing.