As a Certifed Coach Trainer, this weekend I had the pleasure of spending time with nine individuals committed to life-long learning and professional development. Each person made a commitment to the business of coaching and supporting the professionalism of the industry through completing a certificate as a Certifed Coach Practitioner.
One of the gifts with adult education is sharing stories and expertise based on life experience. When you include role play, you have a win-win combination for creating a space of inclusion, trust and integrity. We welcome brainstorm sessions that are authentic… keeping it real while making a human connection with other like-minded individuals.
As part of the facilitation, I shared a story about a colleague who was working with a coach, achieving a personal goal and exploring the application process for a masters degree. Along the way, he began to encounter some unusual roadblocks that were very frustrating. As they began to brainstorm and navigate possible solutions, the client had a lightbulb moment. “I don’t want to achieve this goal at all.”
He decided, that the obstacles where in fact giving him the opportunity to realize that it was actually someone else’s goal and he was pursing their dream. As part of the brainstorm, he shared his love for learning to play the guitar. In fact, it was his passion! What he really wanted to do was to pursue his love of music.
He began to recalibrate his personal GPS.
For anyone who believes in the power of setting goals, I’m sure you will agree at times, we make course corrections in our own life based on circumstances or events that include lightbulb moments.
We began to refer to this change in direction as a “guitar moment” and for the rest of the weekend it was surprising to see how many times we referred to the phenomenon.
I’m not sure if we actually identify with the number of times we become comfortable with being uncomfortable in our own personal journey, but this example seemed to resonate with everyone in the room.
We all, at one time or another, experience a guitar moment.
As we continued to explore the agenda, it was amazing to see how many of us believed in the power of synchronicity. We often navigate change based not only on our gut instinct but circumstances we are unable to explain or control. In this example, the client could not identify with the number of roadblocks he experienced for something he had thought was going to be smooth sailing.
At times, I believe, we ignore the signs and signals because we all know that navigating change is tricky business. It just seems easier to continue with the status quo.
The beauty of this situation however was that it changed the direction of this mans life. This particular course correction allowed him to pursue a goal that fuelled not only his energy but passion for life. Opening the door to an opportunity and a roadmap that became easy to navigate with little or no obstacles. It was meant to be!
As we sat around the boardroom table, each of us, at one time or another, could recall our own lightbulb moments when we had made a course correction that took us outside our comfort zone. Eventually, we end up in a much better place than where we had started.
We venture into the unknown, because we believe in the process.
Throughout the weekend, there were a few lightbulb moments shared throughout the role play and we continued to use the metaphor when listening to those stories.
At the end of the program, in our feedback discussion, it was decided that at one time or another we all have had to recalibrate our own GPS. Each time we take a leap of faith, not knowing the final destination, but ,we trust and are willing to take a chance on playing the music with our own guitar.
In the future, I will now have another story to share that includes not only the metaphor but how we all agreed that dancing to our own tune contributes to authenticity.
Who knew, a passion for playing the guitar would end up being a great reason to recalibrate your own GPS.
Trish Tonaj is a Certifed Master Coach, Author, Mentor and Speaker offering keynotes and workshops on how to amplify your success. Trish is the founder and guest blog host for shareyourstories.online a portal in support of mentorship and the entrepreneurial spirit. We invite you to share your story!