My journey into Coaching began many years ago.  I read books by Fiona Harold, Tony Robbins and frequently read Suzy Greaves newsletters.  In 2010 my own life changed dramatically and amongst the many changes was my career.  For some years I had received letters and leaflets about becoming a Coach but always put them to one side because I was already at University and knew what I wanted, didn't I?  I was committed to my degree and I was not going to change tracks.  However, my life had others ideas.  Quite briskly doors began to close on my career.  Yet, I have a strong determination and I kept on committing to my degree.  During this time I was doing a lot of reading and changing many patterns using Coaching books and other personal development books.  I began to reflect on my own behaviour patterns, my own thinking and my own life.  What I realised is that when you change even one behaviour pattern it ripples out and begins to change your life in the world.  

By June 2011 my degree came to an end and the idea of becoming a Coach became stronger and stronger.  One thing lead to another and I ended up contacting Simply Changing and enrolling my savings in a Coaching training programme.  From the first day I arrived on the training course I knew that this was the right place for me.  By the end of the first days training I knew that I had embarked on something that made sense of all the growing and changing I had gone through in the previous year.  As my training continued and I began to use Coaching tools in my life all my relationships changed, in fact my whole way of being changed.  I was able to ask questions in skilled ways which had great consequences, whereas in the past I would have given advice.  If this wasn't magical enough I then was introduced to NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming - which is how our mind communicates with us, processes all that happens in our experience and filters what it experiences) yes I know that is a mouthful to chew on.  But, magical nonetheless and if you partner with me as a Coachee you'll get to discover exactly how magical Coaching and NLP really is!  

As my training progressed and I embodied and practiced more and more of the techniques my whole life gradually changed and before I knew it I had finished my training course and was being accredited.  (Alright then, it was very hard work putting all the evidence together for my accreditation and I put a lot of effort into my goal of becoming a Coach :-) but the Coaching and NLP tools and techniques supported my goal every step of the way!  

So much so that it lead to me starting Expansion is the Way! so I can share this amazing world with YOU!!!!!  

1. You are feeling stuck and are not sure of what to do next in your life.
 
2.  You are experiencing relationship problems and need help gaining perspective about what processing are playing out in your relationship. 

3.  Your children have left home and you want to start focusing on your own life and your next steps.

4.  You have a goal in mind and want to harness all of your resources and stay motivated until you reach your goal.

5.  Your child has just started school and you feel like you have lost a sense of who you are now?

6.  You've just been made redundant or are about to be and you are not sure what direction to go in.

7.  You have strong beliefs that mean you put everyone else's needs before your own.

8.  You are not sure what you think or feel anymore.

9.  You have low self esteem.

10. You just feel you need someone to support you for a change.

11.  You get a sense that a Coach is just what you need.  

D - Denial, when we aren't aware that there is anything unresourceful or not supporting our goal

R - Resistance, when the topic of maybe changing something comes up, for example, someone points out that you frequently up late, which could be a reason why you are tired and find it hard getting up in the morning and you totally resist this idea

E - Experimentation, which is when you start to play with options in your mind and explore different ways of seeing things, you may reflect and contemplate what is happening in a particular area of your life.  

Acceptance - When you accept that what you are doing is not supporting your goal and you are ready to change this and commit to implementing new ways of being and new behaviors.

The Grow Model
The GROW model is a framework which enables a Coach to structure the coaching process. 

G - Goal and as your Coach I will use many other tools and techniques within the G part of the GROW model.  For example, skilled questions, using the wheel of life to prioritize your specific life areas and how much you are investing in each or even a vision board.

R - Reality,  expanding on asking skilled questions to find out your goal as your Coach I will help you to explore how your current life style fits with your goal.  I may use the patterns exercise, the beliefs table,  the change model to help you to gain an objective view of where you are now and where any gaps are to being where you want to be when your goal is achieved. 

O - Options, as your Coach I will assist you in looking at the different ways you may reach your goal, which I will do by using many more skilled questions and techniques such as disassociation to help you to get an objective view of the many options for reaching your goal. 

W - Will, also known as motivation.  I will use techniques such as Association and focusing on the positives to help you to harness all of your inner resources and assist your mind into a resourceful state.