I remember the first time I came across this Mary Oliver quote, and my gut instinct was screaming to me “not this” I was drinking too much, I owned a wine company, I felt trapped and miserable and wanted out.
I knew there was something different for me, something more, but the intense feelings of fear, the practicalities of changing my career and the ramifications of this meant I resisted and resisted, until I knew I could resist no more. I had to accept that I had to change.
I got a coach and started 1-1 coaching, stopped drinking alcohol, walked away from my wine business, trained and qualified as a coach, finally told everybody the truth about my relationship with alcohol (which absolutely terrified me), and launched my own 1-1 and group coaching practice. I have never looked back!
All the things that scared me the most, are the things that have made me. I have finally found myself and am able to be unapologetically myself for the first time in my adult life. If feels good you know.
This question that can be extremely hard to answer…
..what is it that we really want?
Often this is so shrouded by what we think we should want, what society wants, what everybody else wants. We can lose ourselves in all of this. If we do know, it can feel so big and so out of reach, that we put it away for another day. Our brains are trained to resist change, change can feel like walking through treacle, so it often feels easier to stay still, to settle, to just not bother.
What I ask of you is to please, please bother.
Don’t shut your hopes and dreams away in a draw for another day, for another person, another life, because they are yours, and uniquely yours. What I ask is that you courageously step towards them. It might be a baby step, a fraction of a step, a shuffle even, but it is movement in the right direction, it is starting the process of becoming unstuck. A fraction of a step is a whole lot bigger than staying still.
As a coach with an ICF accredited qualification in Positive Psychology Coaching and Alcohol-Free Coaching, I work with women that want to change their relationship with alcohol or stop drinking completely. I also work with women who have lost their identity and need to re-find it, women that want to change but don’t know how, and women that want to gain some clarity on what they really do want from their one precious life. Once we have discovered what it is that is wanted, we work through any barriers, we overcome any stumbling blocks and we create this life. Coaching is not about looking back, it is about working with you to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. It is about moving forward and putting change into action. You don’t have to do it alone.
My years of experience in trying pretty much every way to stop drinking and in finally finding a solution, make me an extremely effective alcohol-free and grey-area drinking coach. My clients say that I really do “get it. I have also worked part-time in a mental health setting for over 3 years, giving me an in-depth insight into many varying aspects of mental health. I also volunteered as a Samaritan for 5 years, taking calls on a weekly basis from people feeling extremely distressed or suicidal. I am used to working with people that are struggling, I understand and there is zero judgement but masses of support. If you need a cheerleader, I am here.
My blog will cover all aspects of alcohol-free living, grey area drinking and sobriety, from the lens of not just an alcohol-free coach, but also someone who has lived it. I trained as a sommelier, worked in a Michelin Star restaurant, and then owned a wine company. Alcohol formed my identity so I know how hard it can be to make changes here. I also know it is possible. I will also delve into all kind of topics around personal development, boundaries, self-love, acceptance, radical self-care and so much more.
If you feel ready to talk, please get in touch. I can offer a free discovery-call and we can have an informal chat. There is no obligation but there is that chance, that you might find you want to work with me, and that might put the wheels in motion for huge, positive, exponential change. Maybe it is worth a try.
What do you have to lose?
