I Needed To Stop People-Pleasing
If I had to describe my coaching experience with Lavinia in 3 words, I would say: enlightening (in a ground breaking way), challenging and awakening!
None of this is text book stuff: Lavinia is incredible at holding space and does it in a way that is up-beat, fun, energetic, warm and productive. Her intuitive spirit and wealth of knowledge with regards to coaching and MORE is immense - I felt challenged, was able to move forward week by week (despite having the odd blip) and learnt so much from her.
When we first connected, I wanted to gain a stronger sense of identity, to stop ‘people pleasing’ and to ‘find my tribe’. I also wanted to address issues surrounding one of my children (who was a cause of great anxiety) and felt that I needed direction in terms of how to steer him (and us)!
Work-wise, I wanted to get clear on my coaching business and felt that I needed a push with identifying my niche and bolstering my sense of professional self-worth.
I had never worked with an official coach before and what became apparent when we started was that I had a great deal of work to do on myself and my resilience.
I was encouraged to explore ‘the mother gap’ (which intrigued, excited and sometimes overwhelmed me) and as a result, unpacked many scenarios and periods of my life. Whilst this was sometimes daunting, I created a great shift and got rid of stiff, stale energy that was holding me back. This exploration helped me to move forward no end and enabled me to look at my goals in much greater depth.
Since my coaching series, my husband and daughter have noticed that I'm more assertive and less deferential, the word resilience has taken on an entirely new meaning and I'm generally more at peace with myself and with my family and friends.
The biggest change I’ve witnessed in myself however, is that I’m more accepting of the fact that I can't 'project manage' everything and that sometimes it's best to just let things roll! This has come into play enormously of late due to circumstances beyond my control. And whilst these would have overwhelmed me and sent me into a spin some months ago, the coaching series has helped me realise that I can trust that this is how it is meant to be and go with it!
Lavinia was the consummate professional in every way: hand holding, firm, fun, bubbly, passionate and always had plenty of time. I found her inspirational as well as a great motivator - she was never clock watching and was always there with full e-mail support as well as nice touches throughout the series such as a beautiful, personalised goal card.
The coaching series not only met my expectations met but exceeded everything I could have expected. I LOVED my series and feel sad that it's come to a close - I will be back for more!
~ Rebekah James, transformative life coach & mother, Hong Kong