Louise Shepherd

What challenges were you experiencing then, and what did you want instead?

Work challenges with limited beliefs around my capabilities and stress management.  Relationship challenges and how I communicate and self-discipline challenges.

I didn't trust myself to follow through on promises I made to myself and desperately wanted to. The whole coaching experience has shown me that I am completely in control.
I wanted to make the changes in my life that I'd been struggling to get to grips with and believe in myself.

What are some of your most significant insights about yourself?

I have many thought patterns constantly on a loop, reinforcing my beliefs and behaviours.  It's not hard to erase them; finding them is hard, and Sharon has made that easy and fun.

What results and changes were you able to achieve, and how did coaching contribute?

I am now in control of my impulses and can rely on myself to do what I say I will do.  Exercise and food, for instance, I'm now consistently looking after myself as opposed to starting a healthy eating plan or exercise plan and then giving up.

Now I keep going and don't even realise it.  Work has changed, too; I can motivate myself out of procrastination with some positive thought work. 

How do you FEEL due to the coaching, and where are you now?  

It's very empowering – we start talking about one thing and end up picking up threads that lead to something else, but that's where this coaching has been more beneficial for me than therapy; I make the realisation.

Just last night, I had a breakthrough in identifying what thought is behind my feeling.

That's always puzzled me – other therapists have asked what the 'feeling' means, and I just didn't know, and now I know how to find out.

As a business owner, I also realised how much I did NOT recognise my achievements. Sharon helped me see that I was totally skipping over the good stuff and automatically focusing on the negatives-this won't happen or that won't happen.

Now I definitely think of what I have achieved and have confidence knowing I can handle anything.

If you were to review what you've learned from coaching and write your own SUCCESS STORY, what would it say?  

I have learned that I get in my own way.  I didn't and still don't know how I get in my own way, and I have learned that I do.

Every coaching session is a revelation, I think there can't be anything more to uncover, and then we discover more.  By uncovering, I mean thoughts that are not serving me and that I have created stories around.

Once I see the thoughts, I can handle them; it's finding them that this process helps with.

Since being coached, I feel stronger and have more self-awareness, and I know I can now make the changes I want in my personal and professional life.

What was it like working with Sharon as your coach?

I enjoy working with Sharon. It is very comforting knowing you are being listened to while at the same time being given a process to help navigate your brain.

I've gained lots of value from working with her, but if I had to sum it up, I would say I value the way I have been taken through the journey so patiently and guided to the answer/realisation I've been seeking then allows me to move on.

I used to think I was complicated and couldn't be fixed, but now I know I'm not, and I don't need fixing; I need to handle my thoughts.

Being coached is worth it. If you've tried other therapies that haven't helped, invest in yourself with coaching.