My Life Coach

I pay someone to make sure I shower. Seriously.

I’ve always heard that super successful people work with coaches - Oprah, Serena Williams, Bill Clinton (his coach might have had a few more days off than the others) - so I’m like, ok, cool. Life coach = success. Let’s do that.

So I roped this kickass chick, Jenn, into coaching me. We connected through SHiNE Dance Fitness, which we both teach, and I learned she was a fully-trained coach but not actively practicing. We (I) couldn’t have that. So, in typical Lindsay fashion I over thought the idea for a few days and then made my case and presented the idea of working together. But then I got worried. I’d color myself ambitious, sure, but I began to realize I didn’t have any real “goals” for Jenn and I to work on. A five-year-plan. Nah. A career change I desired. Nope. Recreational goals. Nada.

I want to be perfectly clear. This does NOT mean that all these areas of my life were picture-perfect, but from my perspective, everything was going just fine…or at least better than it had in the past. And this is exactly why I felt so lost! Things were fine. More than fine. Things were pretty darn good and this was hard for my overachieving brain to compute. When something is glaringly WRONG, I am all over that problem like white on rice, but when things are fine, what do I do with myself?

Enter, Jenn. I entered into our relationship a skeptic (even though it was my idea), but after the first session I felt a weight lifted. It was kind of like going to therapy - laying it all out there so she’d have a full picture of what she was working with. After the second session I felt excited. We’d identified three very clear areas where I wanted to make some progress. After our third session I felt committed. I walked away from that session with seven concrete things I could work on before our next meeting. One was to move *intentionally* 5 out of 7 days each week and another was to shower immediately after said movement. Even the most mild physical activity leaves me with tomato-red cheeks and loads of back sweat, but after my workouts I typically come straight home and dive into solving other people’s problems. It became clear to me in my conversations with Jenn that I was putting my own self-care on the back burner by neglecting things as simple as showering.

Who do you talk to about your life goals?

“I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me.” - Dwight Schrute

Find something small you can implement in the next week that makes you feel more put-together. A smidge bit of confidence can take you pretty far.