At one level all coaching sessions are very similar.
You have an outcome you'd like the coaching to help you to achieve and the coach asks powerful questions to help you understand what will help you make progress towards that outcome.
That is you're in the driving seat - the coach just facilitates the journey.
Topics in a coaching session might therefore include:
With future sessions picking up where you left off and might also include
There's life coaches, business coaches, executive coaches, financial coaches, wellbeing coaches and many many more.
My niche is coaching those who are stuck - have got lost - don't know what to do - can't see the wood for the trees - and so on.
And more often than not the subject is around your future business or career success - getting your passion for what you do back.
Or put another way it's often about you "renergising your dream".
Which means the aim of a Landscaping Your Life (LYL) coaching session with me is to get you out of that hole and back on track and enthused in that area of your life.
It's why people often only need one session because there are other coaches better able to support you once you're on track.
I've just got a lot of gorgeously effective tools in my LANDSCAPE toolkit that are specifically aimed at getting you unstuck.
What I've also discovered is that these tools are particularly great where more conventional coaching tools or models have so far failed to get any traction.
Which means because they've tried many other tools already many people turn up for a session with a belief that their problem is insurmountable - it's as if their identity has now become one of being stuck.
I love nothing better than the challenge of helping you to discover options and perspectives about the situation that are currently hidden from view. I certainly get excited as you when these potential solutions emerge during the conversation.
A typical coaching session with me would involve up to a half day walk in nature for a morning, afternoon or evening. We can be in the same place or you can be out in nature with me at the other end of the phone - as I was with Phil when he was walking around a landscape in Florida and I was in my office in Fife, Scotland (even if I'd have loved nothing better than being with him in the sunshine).
That said, up to 10 months ago a walk wasn't, due to my arthritic knees, that strenuous and involved a lot of benches :-). So please don't think for one moment anyone is prohibited from participating due to their physical ability - we can always visit nature using the internet or photographs if that supports your physical wellbeing better.
The process involves walking / moving around the landscape, or an imagined one, and using the landscape as a mirror for the situation you're grappling with.
Patterns that people have noticed, sometimes themselves and sometimes with a support from me, during these coaching walks range from:
Even after 25 years years I still worry "will today be the day where nature lets us down and we draw a blank".
And every time I'm excited and enthused about how fabulous nature is and how fantastic our inner wisdom is at nudging us to notice the pattern that is the difference that will make the difference for you.
Once we've gathered data about the patterns in nature we then apply that insight to the current situation and identify an action plan to get you back on track.
One word of warning - sometimes we may need to embody the process of letting go, turning a corner, getting to a higher vantage point or even turning over a new leaf. This poem perhaps says it all (with another blog sharing more about my poetry):
By way of an example, and as weird as the video below may seem, I can't even begin to tell you how effective embodying our words is and what great feedback I've got from those who have tried putting the sticks down they're beating themselves up with - you'll find more about this particular technique in two of the Landscaping Your Life with Alison Smith podcast episodes (You'll find more info about the podcast in another blog).
The vlog on turning over a new leaf also makes me laugh.
A coaching session with me isn't guaranteed to take place in nature, there are other tools in the LANDSCAPE toolkit that might be more appropriate or effective for you and the situation. For example, sometimes it might make sense to complete a prescription for wellbeing first in order to get into the right mindset to do any journey planning and so on.
If you're interested in my being your coach but have some questions or even concerns whether I might be the coach for you then the post answering some of the frequently asked questions might also help.
My guest interviews on other people's podcasts will also provide insight to who I am and how I do what I do - they often feature much laughter as any coaching session is likely to too.
So if you're feeling frustrated with your lack of progress and resonate with not being able to see the wood for the trees why not get in touch to discuss whether a LYL walk might just be the perfect tonic for you alison@alisonsmith.co +44(0)7770 538159
If you're not back on track after the session you get your money back.
You'll find out more more about how I apply the Landscaping Your Life coaching and problem solving toolkit to business and teams in the blog linked to.
I'm also happy to provide 121 or group training sessions to coaches wanting to use the LYL process - although part one of my book Can't see the wood for the trees - landscaping your life to get back on track shares many of the tools I use. Please note though I've obviously not managed to contain all 25 years worth of practice into the book - only the key points.
