What about Fulfillment?
“The class.”
Yes.
“It was wonderful.”
In Atlanta?
“Yup.”
What else?
“I had an epiphany of sorts about coaching men.”
What about coaching men?
“That I need to do it. From the first day of my CTI Fundamentals class, I committed myself to coaching women. Men were too competitive, there was too much faux confidence, and oodles of insecurity I didn’t want to tackle. I told one classmate at lunch that while you could hit an occasional homerun with men, you had to strike-out so many damn times it wasn’t worth it. Not when you could consistently hit doubles with women.”
What made you say that?
“It’s my honest conviction. Women are more open to this sort of thing.”
Coaching?
“Yes. They haven’t been told to stifle their intuition all their lives. They haven’t been told to project confidence – and believe the projection, in the name of some congruency – no matter what they feel. They’re hostile to talk of emotions. Understandably so. I very much get it.”
And what changed your mind?
“A classmate. She effectively asked me, if I couldn’t reach men, being how I am, who did I imagine could reach them.”
What else?
“I got to do my Saturday evening practice session with a dear friend from my Denver class.”
What did you learn from that?
“That I’m improving, absolutely. My facility is increasing. That increased facility allows one to stay out of level-one listening, that panicked sense you have run out of inquiries.”
(Smiling silently)
“Exactly! Like that.”
What do you want?
“To coach and coach and coach. I don’t have the polished way a younger version of me might have pursued. But I’m able to provide each client something unique each session. No parlor tricks.”
What about parlor tricks?
“I don’t trust the epiphanies very often. They happen, and they’re real, but do they bring transformation? For some, maybe most, yes, but not for the catharsis-seekers. But without the coached catharsis, there can still be transformation.”
What’ll be your new coaching niche?
“Self-acceptance. I want to do more with that.”
Whither coaching after self-acceptance?
“I don’t know. I’m not all the way there yet. Who is?”