It all started when I applied for a program at my company that dealt with personality development, among other things. Unfortunately, I was not accepted. This made me very sad at first. However, I really wanted to develop myself further, so I looked for possibilities to do so. In the process, I kept stumbling across training courses for coaches. Since I have always been fascinated by the topic – I even considered studying psychology as a teenager – the search for a suitable training began. After some searching, I decided on a distance learning program as a psychological consultant/coach.

Now you’re probably wondering if I couldn’t have just taken a course on personal development. Yes, of course, I could have! But I wanted more. I wanted to acquire knowledge and satisfy my curiosity about the subject. I wasn’t sure if this extra burden was a good idea, but I wanted to try it out.

When the first papers arrived and I began to look into the subject in more detail, I quickly realized that I had made the right decision. I researched each topic additionally on the internet and sometimes had to force myself to stop and move on to the next topic because I found so many interesting things and jumped from one exciting topic to the next exciting topic. The time I had to study usually flew by.

Since it was a distance learning course, I tried every exercise and every method on myself first. On the one hand, this was exhausting, because sometimes you like to lie to yourself, and on the other hand, the exercises forced me not to do that. Especially since I wanted to take something away for myself as well. I thought I was very reflective beforehand, and that was reflected to me too, but the study still brought me further. One realization was that I still lacked something in which I could support others and help them develop further. For example, I remembered how much joy it brought me to coach children and see them succeed. So, slowly the idea of self-employment in this area began to mature.

A few months later it became more and more clear what I would like to do – be a life coach, especially for the topics of change, stress, and life balance. Why these topics in particular?

From my point of view this is very easy to say. Change is a topic that I find very exciting, and I have noticed that many people perceive change as something scary, something that you want to avoid at all costs. I feel differently, if I don’t have change for too long, I get restless. I find change exciting, interesting and even seek it out. But since we live in a world that is constantly changing, I would like to support others to have as a positive perception as well.

The topic of stress is a very personal one for me. Since I had a burnout in my early 30s and it was very difficult for me to admit it to myself and to seek help, I know how important this topic is. Along with this topic goes the topic of life balance. If your life balance is right, then the chances of suffering from burnout are also smaller. What exactly the life balance is for everyone is individual, but it should be given.

So now I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know how exactly it should work. So, the first thing I did was to start researching my options. My decision to become self-employed on a part-time basis was made relatively quickly. Even though questions like: “Don’t you have enough to do already?” or “How do you want to do that on the side?” or “Are you sure you’re not asking too much of yourself? But so far, I can only say that coaching, blogging, and tinkering with my homepage just brings me fun. It is so  that my life is better balanced, and it doesn’t stress me out, but provides the balance that I need.

• First of all, I hope you know me a little better now.
• That a rejection can lead to something great and new.
• That you always find a way, even if it is different from what you thought.

Photocredit: Verena Küppers Photography