Filling the Empty Shell

On a recent outdoor trail-walk, I chanced upon a rubber pod with the seed lying neatly on the track, as if waiting for a human to chance upon it and pick it up. But alas! minutes later I lost the seed to a monkey and all I was left with was the empty pod. Huffing in anger I walked off to the car and there I saw three flame-of-the-forest seeds.

Not believing in coincidences, I picked the seeds up and put them in the pod and drove home.

Now, you must be wondering where is this story heading and the link to coaching?

Many times clients come to me because that’s how they feel – like an empty shell. They are tired and worn out. The seed that represents growth and renewal has been stolen by the metaphorical “monkey” – the everyday stressors like balancing work-life, keeping abreast with changes in life and work or managing people in life and work. It doesn’t matter if you have spent years training for the job you have been working at relentlessly for the past decade or that you have a whole string of qualifications, the “monkeys’ are always lurking, mischievously waiting to distract you. First it starts with answering emails after work hours, then on the weekends; slowly you start bringing work home and you have less time for the fun things you used to do; the family or partner starts to complain that you’re spending less time with them; you feel worn out; work starts feeling like a chore and you start planning your exit.

And what do you do? You fill the empty shell with the same seed, going back to the same type of work, just another organisation and six months or a year later, the monkeys reappear. The vicious cycle continues.

How do you break the vicious cycle? Coaching is one good way as the coach helps you identify the “monkeys” that are distracting you the issues that are causing the dissatisfaction in your life and work your work preferences your lifestyle preferences your personality traits your values and beliefs. So instead of filling the empty shell with the same seed and getting the same result, get a coach to develop your new work-life strategy.