I never knew what my values really were and had, in many ways, assumed society’s ‘default settings’. Coaching really helped me break out of this pre-programed way of thinking and understand myself a lot better.

This isn’t to say I was terribly unhappy when I signed up for it; quite the opposite, I thought my level of contentment to be normal, if not above so. However, I viewed the opportunity as a chance to ‘fine tune’ myself and entered into it with a positive frame of mind.

The rewards far outstripped expectations. Alison used a tool bag of techniques and exercises that helped me understand why I felt like I did in certain situations and with understanding came control.

Why did I feel like a failure when I was too tired to hit the gym? Why was I able to work so hard on something that I had no interest in? The answer was quickly found out to be that I had a core value of “progress”.

For me, progress was, and continues to be, hugely important. It was something I had never realised, yet lived my life by. This is just one example of course – but the understanding gave me a whole new perspective.

My personal coaching journey actually saw some big changes: I moved cities and left my senior position to become a freelancer.

I cannot say coaching was responsible, because it doesn’t work that way. The realisations I came to through coaching simply rippled out and had knock on effects that had knock on effects. 

Ultimately, my decisions were simply better informed.