confidence through curiosity

A lot of us imagine what our perfect life might look like. Maybe it’s about balance between work and leisure. Maybe it’s about creative pursuits or productivity. Maybe it’s more satisfying relationships with family or friends or colleagues. But moving from imagination to reality can be difficult. Especially in moments of change or transition, it’s easy to feel “stuck.” And this feeling can be even more frustrating when advice on how to set and achieve personal goals—whatever they are—seems incompatible with our personality or brain chemistry or resources. That frustration can keep us stuck, and make life less satisfying.

this is where our work begins.

I approach personal and professional coaching through the lens of curiosity, not judgment. I love to ask questions, and learning how to ask better questions. Not only will you get better answers, but you are more likely to discover aspects of your life and the world around you that will change your perspective. So I challenge you to get curious!

what is life coaching?

Life coaching is a future-focused process by which a person considers where they are now, where they want to be, and how to get there. Life coaching can help you assess what resources you currently have and how to use them in service of your goals. It can also help you identify areas where you’d like to gain competency, or areas where you might feel insecure. Life coaching is, at its foundation, a tool to help you ask, imagine, and realize.

Coaching is focused on sustainable behavioral and mindset changes aimed at creating and achieving what you want in life. These might include actions toward:

  • self-confidence or agency

  • self-awareness

  • communication skills

  • clarity around choices or challenges

  • well-being

  • agility and resilience

what can i do in life coaching?

Life coaching is designed to help you reach short-, medium- or long-term goals. You might focus on personal goals—this might be anything from strategizing how to stay on top of house cleaning to establishing a workout schedule. Professional goals can also be part of life coaching. Some people use coaching as a way to take a skills inventory in order to apply for a new job, seek out a new career path, or become more productive in your current role.

what if i struggle with organization and productivity due to neurodivergence?

For many of us who live a neurodivergent reality, we also deal with years of masking, and the shame that accompanies feeling different or othered. Many of us have experienced professional or educational failures related to an inability to conform to normative expectations. These can lead to frustration, sadness, and maybe even hopelessness.

And look. I’m not going to pretend you can life coach yourself out of struggling in a society that feels hostile to your brain chemistry. Life coaching is not a structural solution. Neither is it therapy. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t strategies and approaches that can make things a bit easier.

You might need body-doubling support to finish school assignments or work projects. You might benefit from someone helping you research and contact healthcare professionals to make appointments, or make a transportation plan to get there and back. You might do better talking out thoughts and plans and letting someone else write them down than writing them yourself.

It can feel difficult or embarrassing to need help with these mundane things, especially if you’ve experienced shaming around them, or accusations of laziness.

My approach here is to find ways to work with your brain instead of against it.

Your strategies don’t have to look like everyone else’s.

what coaching is not:

  • Coaching is not therapy

  • Coaching is not nutrition or fitness advice

  • Coaching is not financial advice

  • Coaching is not legal advice

  • Coaching is not healthcare

It’s good to ask questions about expectations. While coaches have our own specializations and competencies, in general we do not offer mental or physical healthcare advice or act as a lawyer or financial planner. Those professionals have their own roles and credentialing, and play their own roles in creating the lives we want to live. If you are looking for that kind of support, I am happy to help you find those resources—I might even suggest it! But that is not my focus.