First post-How I became a Life Coach aka Life Smackdown!

I am new to blogging...so here goes...

I got into Life Coaching after a series of jobs that featured spectacular rises to power followed by equally dramatic crashes. As in "may day, may day I'm going down, again, in flames" or almost as bad, settling for mind numbing boredom, just waiting to be fired, laid off, anything...

In all fairness to myself and my employers, I still delivered the goods and did a good job. They got their moneys worth and more. Just not the job I was capable of. I could rationalize it all day long, but the bottom line was that I wasn't into it. There was not enough resonance.

My last job ended so disastrously it would make a good episode of Jerry Springer. Drama, tragedy, betrayal, near violence and whole shit load of stupid. On everyone's parts. No one directly involved will be winning any awards for how it was handled.

So the universe finally smacked me upside the head hard enough that I had to pay attention. I decided to have a "mid-life crisis" and figure out what I really wanted to be/do. Much to the relief of my long, suffering wife, who all the time saw my potential and was agonized by my poor career choices.

One note on the term "mid-life crisis". I hate that term. I wasn't in a crisis, I had been stumbling along and wanted to figure out where I wanted to go, have some intention and confidence. From now on, I am calling it a "mid-life review" until I find something catchier and fun.

Like most good things in my life, I got the lead from my wife (she is really smart, not to mention hot). She turned me onto a colleague who became a life coach and thought it would be a good fit. The passion this woman had for coaching was impressive. I was intrigued and unlike other times in my life, actually paid attention to my gut. Short story long, I took the dive and signed up for the core training with the Coaches Training Institute . At age 46 I had another student loan and was starting over.

After the first session I knew I had found my calling. It was so cool it was scary. Little did I know the journey that was ahead of me. All I knew was that if felt like I was home after a long, weird trip. The words from Amazing Grace kept going through my head "I was lost, but now am found". I was also good at it, found it deeply rewarding and, this is important, fun! I don't so much if there is not an aspect of fun to it.

So now I am in a certification program that is taking my coaching to new levels and getting hints of the mastery to come. It is very cool. For the first time in my life, I can't get enough of my work and amazed by the endless opportunities for growth, fun, challenge and learning.