 This week, we will continue to explore callings. Being called to coach and serve the excellence in others is just one type of calling. There are so many ways we can be called to something! I’ve found that callings are like lanterns that light the path to a pretty profound life when we follow them.
Today, I’m sharing my personal reflections on callings to give you some food for thought on what is calling you and how to trust what calls. Last month, my husband and I went to Pennsylvania to spend some time with family. One day during the trip, we felt called to explore the surrounding forest. The picture below is of an amazing mushroom patch we found by daring to go off the beaten path. What can you discover by following what calls to you today? A Life Reflection on Callings by: Laurel Elders A beloved mentor of mine, Sandy Hogan, who passed away a few years prior, used to say, "When your calling calls, don't hang up." I reflected on her wisdom the other day and realized what she meant. When I started out as a new mom in my 20s, I knew I needed a career. I felt called to help people eliminate turmoil and create a life they woke up feeling remarkable about. But my logical side kicked in and said I should pursue a degree, like business or management, that had a good ROI. I enrolled in a degree path in Organizational Psychology as a compromise. Halfway through my degree, I happened across a "Coaching Certification." I joined the program, thinking I was learning counseling skills, and fell head over heels in love with coaching from day one. This was it. I had found what was calling. I knew it in my heart - at a soul level. I changed my career path then and there. What I learned along the journey, as I followed what was calling, turned out to be rather healing to my entire life. I began learning about the heart, the head, and the human spirit in my integrational coaching studies and mentorship with Sandy. I realized I felt called to help others because I had struggled emotionally for years. I lived with so much fear covering up my heart. It was draining and paralyzing. It was clear during those years that I had no idea how to steer through life well. I only knew that I wanted to be of service to others, but I had no clue yet how to be of service to myself. The deeper I got into my studies and mentorship, the clearer the callings became. Dispelling the fears upon my heart, began giving my life a brand-new start. I remember the day I decided to listen to my heart. The heart I knew was fear-laden, burdened, and backward (I based my life mainly on the past). I learned that fear is like sludge. Fear doesn't change our hearts, but it clouds wisdom and buries our potential from shining through. If I was to succeed at following my calling, I had to decide to see what my heart had to say for once. I decided to be true to what was calling me. I decided to trust something I couldn't see or rationalize for once - a task utterly foreign to a natural-born skeptic who lived in her head. I decided to trust my heart. Some people know their calling from the start. Jane Goodall, a renowned anthropologist, shared, "When I was ten years old, I had a dream. 'I will go to Africa, I will live with wild animals, and I will write books about them.' Everyone laughed at me." She went on, "But my mother, she said, "If you really want to do this, you are going to have to work awfully hard, but don't give up." Jane had faith in her calling from the get-go. Amazing! I've been a coach now since 2005 and learned so much about inner-workings. I've learned that not all callings are professional. An inner calling may be as simple as smiling at a stranger who appears to be struggling, giving a drive-by hug to a hurting friend, or volunteering at a charity bake sale. Or callings can be bigger-picture, like art, photography, writing, being a firefighter, or teaching. I've come to believe that people don't follow inner-callings because they don't always make sense logically – It isn’t until after a leap of faith is taken that it all clicks. In my 45 years of life, I've learned that it doesn't matter how little or big a calling is. That calling serves us all. Callings reflect a bigger truth about our life back to us. Living in truth is a spiritual journey. ************* FOLLOW US AT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeIntelligence Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeIntelligence LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A Certified Professional Coach  Since 2005 I’ve learned so much about the profession of coaching and about the people who are called to coach. One thing that stands out the most, I learned from my mentor Sandy Hogan. Sandy shared with me, “People come to coaching when something inside of them is ready to awaken.”
I have found this to be true of the coaches that are called to be a part of the solution in people’s lives and for the clients that are seeking their services. To this aim I became curious about other coach’s adventures on their coaching path. We’ve been interviewing coaches around their coaching story and will be sharing these with you over the next few months. This week, we are featuring Howie Adams. Howie is a retired dentist that is leaving his legacy work through personal coaching. He is our senior faculty for the Neurobiology of Emotional Intelligence & Somatics. I hope you enjoy Howie’s coaching story! What inside of you is ready to awaken? My Coaching Story by: Howie Adams In my late 40’s, I knew I was longing for something different in my life. I simply did not have an idea of what that longing was nor what was transparent to me. My life was “relatively” great personally and professionally. But the call to something different would not cease. By coincidence, I was introduced to coaching. My first experience was startling. I was on the phone with someone I had never met nor knew. In that call, I was treated with unconditional dignity and respect and compassion. I felt supported in a safe space by someone who listened beyond my words into my soul to what was not being said. All the unseen burdens began to bubble up to the surface. On this call and those to follow, I found myself discovering and beginning the process of unburdening those transparencies — my sadness, my anger, my dissatisfaction, and frustration. I was no longer captive to emotional pain and shame, but rather free to discover my longing for something different in my life. I became aware of tendencies and habits with which I often defaulted. Old messages, rules, and ideas that I lived by were named. Those tendencies and ideas served me to get me to that time in my life. However, I came to recognize that those tendencies and ideas no longer allowed me to take care of what I really cared about in any present moment. My life shifted from attempting to live with absolute predictability and control, to energetically and playfully immersing myself in spontaneity, curiosity, discovery, and adventure. My relationships with others and myself have become more authentic. I live with greater ease and spend more time and energy with people and activities that bring me increased happiness and joy. It is a process. Coaching for me is a way of being. To partner with someone and hold that same safe space that I was afforded, so they can do their “work” and discover their truest selves is an honor. To listen to another beyond their words and to explore with them what resides deep in their souls is an honor. To walk with another as they let go of that which does not serve them and amplify that which does serve them is an honor. To accept another being unconditionally for who they are — to explore and discover with them their uniqueness — is an honor. To be present with my whole self and the whole self of another is an honor. ************* FOLLOW US AT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeIntelligence Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeIntelligence LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A Certified Professional Coach  Nancy Smyth and Sharon Eakes are the co-founders of Two Wise Women, globally acclaimed coaches, coach trainers and mentors. In addition to authoring their own books, they are contributors to the Arbinger Institute’s best-seller, The Anatomy of Peace. Between them, they have been coaching for nearly 50 years, supporting influential leaders from 28 countries to flourish, thrive and prosper from the inside out.
Click here to read more ************* FOLLOW US AT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeIntelligence Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeIntelligence LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A Certified Professional Coach  March is here, and Spring is just around the corner. It is a time for growth and renewal. Icy grounds thaw and new sprouts push their way up to the sky. Before you know it, the world is filled with fragrant blooms. Spring is a season of change, but it is change that leads to great beauty. Many people view Spring as a time to freshen things up and shift perspectives. Perhaps you have been feeling ready for a change. Or perhaps you are noticing, now more than ever, the world needs guidance through the constant change happening around us. I invite you to consider joining our Spring Coach Training Program. Below, I share some of the powerful transformations our program has to offer. If you feel called towards change, we are here to support your journey of growth! Life After Taking Our Program
Hi Laurel, In college, I studied Organizational Psychology. I learned a lot of theory, that later I was able to apply as the Director of Education for the Institute. That application piece doesn’t always happen. Some education just stays in theory land or ends up not being put to good use. I’ve spoken to so many friends who have shared that they learned more on the job than they ever did while studying their degree. Coach training is not like the typical university degree programs. It is unique. Our training directly empowers your career and your life! One of our graduates, a director at a prominent software company, shared that she was so grateful the training made her a better leader at work and a better parent at home. Another student took our full coach training program just for the transformational growth and personal development. Coach training is an education that empowers ALL aspects of your life. The students who find our Institute feel called to empower others in many different areas including life coaching, leadership coaching, and organizational transformation. You can take our training and apply it directly into coaching others as a manager or create your own thriving coaching practice. Our programs offer opportunities to help you develop emotional intelligence and expand your capacity as a leader. Coaches who graduate from our programs help individuals, leaders, and teams integrate success into their lives. They are creating a world shift into positive possibilities that radiate out to others. Our coaches love playing a cornerstone role in transforming those around them. Imagine the testimonials you will receive as your clients or employees experience life-changing breakthroughs. In our program:
After completing the program:
Are you ready to increase your positive impact and make a difference in this world? If the answer is YES, we are here to launch you into your success! P.S. Do you have a friend or colleague who you would like to go through the program with? Sign up with a program partner, and you will both receive $500 off tuition for the full certification program. ************* FOLLOW US AT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeIntelligence Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeIntelligence LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A Certified Professional Coach  March is here, and Spring is just around the corner. It is a time for growth and renewal. Icy grounds thaw and new sprouts push their way up to the sky. Before you know it, the world is filled with fragrant blooms. Spring is a season of change, but it is change that leads to great beauty.
Many people view Spring as a time to freshen things up and shift perspectives. Perhaps you have been feeling ready for a change. Or perhaps you are noticing, now more than ever, the world needs guidance through the constant change happening around us. I invite you to consider joining our Spring Coach Training Program. Below, I share some of the powerful transformations our program has to offer. If you feel called towards change, we are here to support your journey of growth! Imagine Being Certified 12 Months from Now! by: Laurel Elders What if one year from today, you were a Certified Professional Integration Coach? What if you were consistently transforming lives for the better? What if loving your career was the norm? On March 16th you can join a success team of professional coaches and learn directly from their hard-earned wisdom. Our full certification program gives you a solid foundation to build your own legacy upon and that goes with you for a lifetime. We have a vision! If you are interested in fostering deep and sustainable success in yourself and others, this coach training program is for you. We are not a certificate mill. We deliver a high-caliber ICF accredited program and are a team of heart-centered, dedicated professionals passionate about your success. We keep our class sizes small to maintain the quality of personal relationships which we value. You will build meaningful connections in a community of like-minded people. We understand that it can feel scary to invest in a new program. For this reason, we make sure you know we are here to support you anytime you need it. This includes being available outside of class time. Our coach training is an investment that amplifies your gifts and elevates your earning potential, as you help people break out of stagnant lives. We are excited for you to change the world as a coach! We promise you that this program dives deep, and you will walk away with more than just masterful coaching skills. You will leave with career leveraging opportunities and personal transformations. ************* FOLLOW US AT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeIntelligence Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeIntelligence LEARN MORE ABOUT BECOMING A Certified Professional Coach |
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