The pandemic has caused so many people to press the pause button on their autopilot lives without knowing exactly what’s next for them. If you're wondering how you can live more intentionally, or even what that means for you then read on. This introductory workshop course may be just the thing for you right now.

In my twenty plus years of professional coaching, I’ve seen many people who are contemplating life choices, some major and some minor. Others intuitively know that there must be more to life but aren’t able to put their finger on what that “more” is. Their lives aren't necessarily miserable, in fact, they might be quite comfortable. However, they know that life can be even better. The unfortunate truth of this is that most people don’t have the tools in their toolbox to know when they’re making the right decisions for themselves.

For a moment, just think about when you're getting ready to go on vaction? Remember the extra hours you worked to make sure everything was in order before leaving? Remember all the other arrangements you had to make whether it was having someone take care of your home, collect your mail, cut your lawn, shovel your driveway, board the dog, have someone else look in on your elderly parents, etc.? Isn’t it amazing how much time, effort and energy we put into planning a one or two week vacation? Yet, how much time, effort and energy do we devote to designing our lives?

Designing our lives isn’t something we learn in school and isn’t part of our day to day conversations like planning a vacation is. As a result, we sometimes feel stuck and either don’t do anything or make decisions that aren’t necessarily going to lead to a more fulfilling life in the long run.

I’ve been there. Feeling stuck in a job. Knowing that there must be more to life but not knowing how to put my finger on it.

A long long time ago, I had a job that I quite enjoyed. I had responsibility. The hours were great. I loved that I had many interactions with the people that we served and had great rapport with them. What more could I ask for. Unfortunately, my work environment increasingly became more and more stressful. You know how people leave their job because of their boss. Well that’s exactly what happened to me.

One day, one of the people that we served, came in and said "I want to speak to the boss." Both my boss and I were standing there. So of course, my boss asked him how he could help him. This member replied with "I didn't mean you, I meant Sophie." That incident was the beginning of the end. My boss didn't speak to me for two weeks! Imagine how uncomfortable that was in a small office of three? I felt my only way out was to leave.

So, I went about looking for other employment. I had to be discreet for fear of reprisal. There also weren’t all that many opportunities at that time. I didn’t rush into it. It took years in fact but I made a decision to leave without being very clear on what I really wanted. Back then, coaching was not a thing but even then, I must have had a bit of an inner coach in me. I developed a coping strategy. A mantra. Every morning when I would arrive at work, as I put the key in the door to unlock it, I would say to myself “I’m here until I choose not to be here.” Clearly, living a life of choice was important to me. This was well before self help books, courses and coaching became a thing. Yet somehow I knew that choice and intent were going to get me through each day.

I’ve observed so many people make life choices based on what I call the “from the frying to the fire approach.” It manifests as I’m not happy in my job, I’m not happy in my relationship or I’m not happy living here, etc. We come to see our situation, like I did, as one that we have to move away from. That simply is not always true and I’m here to tell you that there is another way.

Let me share Roger’s (real name withheld) story with you. Roger was not succeeding in his job. Luckily for Roger, his employer valued him and suggested he explore his options through coaching. Roger and I met and unlike most coaching situations, I layed out a plan for the next three months and told Roger that at the end of our time together, he will know what to do. We met twice a month. Roger was a keen and willing coachee.

As we came to the end of our coaching engagement, Roger had his answer. He was actually amazed and told me that when we first met and I had suggested to him that he would know what to do at the end of three months, he thought I was being a bit cocky. To his amazement though, he now felt confident in making a choice…the right choice. . . for him.

Roger chose to stay in his current job and started to excel. He no longer felt stuck or trapped. He made an intentional choice and was no longer living by chance. His perspective had shifted allowing him to live life intentionally. “...Sophie challenged me to stay focused on what is important to me. She is gifted at bringing core values to the surface…

Allow me to tell you about John and Sally (real names withheld). John and Sally were married and also in business together and came to me for coaching. They each had their own goals and jointly shared a goal of being more successful in their business. I won’t go into their story as I think John’s own words say it all: