The Power of Coaching
This article is based on the transcript from the Cafe Grit Podcast, S1E13.
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I talk a lot about corporate bullshit but the real goal of Café Grit is to figure out what is our Career Xanadu and go after it, whether it’s full time or on the side or a hobby.
To that end, today I’m going to dive a little bit into coaching.
Are you ready to change?
I belong to a paid membership group over on Facebook called the LinkedIn Visibility Connection. The other day I was looking through some of the weekly content prompt emails I get from group owner Heidi Medina. One of the prompts had the headline, “Are you ready to change?”
☝🏽 This one struck me.
At the start of 2020 I completed my first of Heidi’s 5-Day LinkedIn Visibility Challenges (I’ve since done two more). This is a short course that covers some key foundational social media visibility concepts.
It blew my freaking mind. I had a ton of fun, learned so much, and most importantly, I networked with some amazing and supportive people.
Since then I’ve become a member of Heidi’s LinkedIn Visibility Connection group. I love, love, LOVE the deeper attention I get here. I am not a classic business owner/entrepreneur, but I do have books to sell and a podcast to promote and I have constant need to brand myself online.
👉🏾 This course helped with all of that and more. And don’t let the title fool you; this shit goes well beyond LinkedIn.
The membership group provides weekly content prompts, daily tips and support, brainstorming calls, and training (like “How to Make the Algorithm your Bitch” which gets my attention just by using a dirty word). 🧼
All of this has been amazing for my online presence. But there was another part of it. I needed more.
I was ready to change
I reached out to Heidi for some help in figuring myself out. I didn’t exactly fall into what I thought was her ideal client—business owner looking to generate organic leads on LinkedIn—but I knew from interaction in groups and challenges and a couple of 1:1 calls that she was the real deal. I knew she could help.
Thankfully she agreed and I signed up.
Heidi’s 1:1 coaching has been phenomenal. How does someone pull this shit out of my brain? The funny thing is, it was all in there…the ideas, the vision, the details. 🧠
But they were hidden, buried. Somehow, she found them and pulled them out, over and over and over.
How are you doing?
On one of our weekly calls and Heidi asked me this simple question. After listening to me ramble and deflect for several minutes, she quietly and gently pushed. How are you REALLY doing?
I was not doing well. I was super stressed out, trying to do waaaay too much. A few days before I’d had a borderline panic attack.
🧲📎 And she picked up on it, like a magnet on a paperclip.
I started crying on the call. WTF? I’m one of the strong ones! Why am I having a meltdown here?
But, as Heidi has pointed out many times, I am human. She had been trying to pull me back from too MUCH change (I am stubborn!) and now it was coming to a head.
We talked through what was going on. I needed to slow down. She gave me permission to do that, and also to not feel guilty about having emotions.
It’s ok to be human
We’ve been told for so long that emotions make us weak, but really, they make us strong. We have the courage…the GRIT…to let ourselves feel them and work through them. Sometimes we just need someone to remind us that we come first. 🙋🏻♀️
The weight that lifted off me after that session was immense.
This is exactly what I needed but couldn’t get in a group setting. The group and courses gave me the tools—the prompts, ideas, tips, training—but I needed to get inside my head.
Does it sound like I’m fangirling? I am. I cannot rave enough about my experience with Heidi Medina.
If you had asked me a few years ago what I thought about coaching, I would have laughed. Coaching is for “other people” I might have said. Not for me.
Now? My eyes have been seriously opened. I’m now actively seeking out coaching in other areas of my life. It is so helpful and meaningful when you have the whole package.
I am a big fan of coaching
🙏 Thank you, Heidi, you have definitely enlightened me as well as helped get the brain monkeys in control and me on the right track with my branding, my outlook, my vision.
If your perception of coaching is nah, I don’t need that…think again. Because you probably do.
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All right Grit Family, thank you for reading about my coaching journey.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this or any other topic. Shoot me a DM or comment or follow #cafegrit.
I’m also on Instagram @thebeann67.
If you prefer the audio podcast, here is a link to your favorite streaming platforms: https://cafegrit.buzzsprout.com/ .
I do have a Facebook group Café Grit where we continue these conversations in a private setting.
Thank you again, happy coaching, and we’ll talk to you soon.
Take it easy.
