Through Coaching I learnt About Myself
I knew I wanted massive change but I didn't know how riddle the Self Development
How the journey to life coaching changed Tania’s life forever
Tania Serfontein
Life Coach
Life Coach
"I was trying to figure out my life. I knew I wanted massive change but I didn't know how..."
So I was in a mess. I was not in a good place. In fact, I just came back from doing a trip which was a good place for a while. So I came back and went for a Camino walk because I was trying to figure out my life.
I knew I wanted massive change but I didn't know how. I read all the self development books, I've done a range of different things. I was disengaged with my work and my own business.
I've created a monster and I created a business which I thought I loved, but ended up doing something I hated doing or no longer wanted to do.
"My personal life I felt very stuck. I was in a 26 year marriage which wasn't going well and I felt like I tried everything"...
Not only that, in my personal life I felt very stuck. I was in a 26 year marriage which wasn't going well and I felt like I tried everything. I felt like I read all the self development books I had.
You know, I'd spoken to people and when I turned I just felt there was no way to go. And it led me to actually, on a spur of the moment, walk the Camino and I booked a one way flight to Lisbon.
Yeah one night in the Air BNB.. Out of desperation and I walked 650 KM to try and figure out.
I did not expect that when I came into the program, I did not expect the reasoning why I actually joined the program.
But there was a very heart felt- It was nothing I had to think about. It was just something that was, "This is where I'm going to get my answers."
This is where I feel there's a community that actually makes sense...
So that's powerful. Just, something resonated with me. And I was not in a trusting place that was a big deal.
The human aspect. There was some you know it wasn't something tangible, there was just something, the feeling, the experience and the realness of all of the conversations that people shared at the TCI.
"Coaching is something that I'm probably interested in because I want to work with people. I want to have a 'meaning based' business..."
I recognised the need to do work on myself. I joined and took on the life coaching course on the basis of self development, so that I could do the deep dive. Yeah I mean yeah I didn't expect that.
I actually went thinking that “Oh coaching is something that I'm probably interested in because I want to work with people. I want to have a 'meaning based' business.
That's kind of the track that I was going down, I was doing a lot of charity bike rides, you know, wanting to contribute.
That was kind of thing that I was doing outside of my work that was driving me.
So the idea that I wanted to work with people was there, and then I wanted to have a connection with people and do more meaningful work to contribute.
It was the reason why I went there. What brought me to to come and have a look. But there was also that recognition that I needed to do the work myself.
What's shifted for me personally is understanding, clarity... It's almost like the pieces of a puzzle of the questions I've been asking. It's like the pieces of the puzzle all started to fit into place and kind of makes sense.
I actually told my clients this, which is really quite funny because I always say, I use this term because I love climbing mountains right. I love to climb. I see a mountain and I just want to get up and see the view. So this is the analogy I use: in order to get to your goal, in order to get to that destination and see the view, you have to take the stepping stones to get there.
Sometimes you don't know the way, you don't know the route, but you have to take the first step and you might go off path here. If you recognise that didn't work, you go back on path and eventually you figure it out, and then you finally get to the top of that mountain. And then when you get to the top, you see this awesome view that was well worth the effort and energy that it took to get there. You feel so good but then you can see beyond that and there's so much more.
So I see it as a journey. I see it as though it's almost part of the journey, in the becoming, you have to overcome. And that's kind of how it felt for me. To quote bring Brené Brown, "There's the messy middle.
And that I did not expect that to be a roller coaster ride like it was. Yeah but that's what it was.
It's like the pieces of the puzzle all started to fit into place and kind of make sense...
"It's that I actually find through coaching and working with people so much, I learn myself. Yeah it's just every coaching session that I have is this opportunity to learn and grow even more"
