Why I Became The When I Grow Up Coach - When I Grow Up

Why I Became The When I Grow Up Coach - When I Grow Up Dont Settle by Britni Wilson When I was writing my  20 Jobs in 7 Years  post last month, I realized that I have yet to tell you a big part of my story. Every time I tell it, I gloss over a big part:  making the decision to become a life coach. It didnt come easily. By now, you might know that, when I  finally  came to terms about not pursuing acting as my career any longer, that my first stop was to  a $250/hr career counselor/MSW who told me to get a nose job. And how after that, I hid under the covers for a while, convinced nobody would understand me or could help me. But, thanks to NYUs School of Continuing Education and their career change workshop, I started putting the pieces together. You’d expect this to be the part where I inform you of the when, where and how I found life coaching, and that when I discovered it, the birds sang and the clouds parted and the sun shone and the angels fluttered around me blowing horns. But, alas, I can’t feed you that load of bull, because none of that happened. I wish I could even tell you where “life coaching” popped into my head, but I don’t even remember that.  What I do remember, however, is hearing about life coaching and that it immediately made my ears perk up. Working with people to help them find their own path but not telling them what to do â€" allowing them to be the expert in their own lives and discover what works best for them â€" left me with wide eyes and a beating heart, despite the fact that I assumed people would assume I was a hippie-dippie crystal-reader (which was not the identity I wanted, thankyouverymuch). Here’s what I came into the class knowing, as well as what that class helped me discover/own: I loved working with people directly,building relationships and strengthening connections I really liked the feeling that came withhelping people I was interested in  personal development, public speaking, and writing I knew I was a  good communicator, both verbally and on the page I could shape  life coaching  into the field of my choice, since the certification itself is general but can apply to many niches Self-employment  was super appealing to me (even though I didn’t want it to be!), partly because I’m self-motivated and partly because I did want to continue performing, on my own terms I didn’t want to go back to school to get a  masters degree I was  too sensitive  to hear about/work with people on what was severely broken in their lives (i.e. horrible childhoods, abusive relationships, etc) So, what did that mean? While I eventually realized that I could be the life coach for people (like me!) who didn’t want their crystals read or their Zodiac considered, I was still mad at myself for picking yet another career that was entrepreneurial. Like, bang-my-forehead-on-the-desk-repeatedly mad. I tried to fight it, but looking back at  â€œResearch for Careers I Maybe Kinda Sorta Wanna Be When I Grow Up”  (yes, that was the name of the document I created during my NYU class. Foreshadowing, anyone?), all the ones that made it past the starting line â€" that really held my interest and made me super excited â€" were ones where I’d be my own boss. Careers like: Matchmaker  (What? How cool would that be? At the time I was with my now-husband, and the year of dating I went through had me interested in the whole field. It would also be helping others, right?) Various  coaches  (Self Employment/Small Business Coach, Dating/Relationship Coach, Communications Coach, Public Speaking Coach) Career/Job Counselor  (I added “for performers?” Obviously, after Nose Job McJerkwad, I knew there was a need here just from my own experience) Professional Organizer Drama Therapist When I looked into life coaching classes, I found myself more and more drawn in â€" OK fine, passionate! â€" about what was being shown to me: a way to build relationships and help people by asking questions, being supportive, and withholding advice in order to focus on what works for them and what they want for themselves. Here was the chance to be the person I needed to meet with when I decided to leave acting! I made the conscious choice to look past the hippie-dippy-ness of it all, because I couldn’t deny The Big Truth: I had found another true love. I was going to be a life coach. How did you discover your grown-up, passionate career? What else did you consider? What was appealing about the choices? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!