Good Coaching Helps You Answer This: What Do You Want?

What do you want? That's the question to ponder and wrestle with as you read through each syllable on this page. What is it that your heart so deeply desires?

Does this scenario sound familiar? The alarm rings, and you hop out of bed with one thing brewing on your mind—the chase of success and the pursuit of happiness. Something deep within leaves a taste of dissatisfaction; a proclivity in your soul says that there has to be more and all has not been accomplished. So you get up and run after what others have promised will fulfill you, sustain your sanity, and honor your name. Cameras. Lights. Actions! You enter upon the stage of the routine better known as your life.

In the heat of the rat race and the tailspin of world domination, there is never enough time to stop and ask, "What do I want?" These so-called 'guarantees' that have vowed to finally reveal your true identity and spark life within your very being, "Are they fashioning the life you want to live?"

I myself went from legal secretary to embarking on the insurance scene, excelling at leading teams, creating culture, forming strategies, and teaching others how to do the same. This trajectory led to great titles and significant salaries, which became the two factors that coined my very definition of success. Amidst it all, I never stopped to ask myself if this was the kind of success I wanted.

It wasn't until I found myself ready to conquer the next step, or maybe more appropriately named, the next height of my career, that I slowed down just enough to be led. Ready to be elevated, I hired a coach to guide me to the next rung on the ladder. Little did I know that this coach would lead me to a place I never knew I wanted to go.

I came to terms with the kind of career and the very future I intensely wished for—my life buried in my lost dreams. Unbeknown to me, it wasn't one informed by money and titles. I didn't want to live in a world where my name was associated with corporate dominance. Instead, deep down, what I really wanted was a life where I could be present in every aspect of it. My dream is to live in a land where the work does not define me, but I define the work. Where I love what I do, and what I do doesn't consume me. I consume it. Period! I know I am successful when my world balances well on my allegorical scale. I have both time and space for the people and things I love, and the money follows.

This revelation led me here to Elissa Kelly, LLC. I set out on a road called Certified Coach and have been hooked ever since. I pinpointed a date to leave corporate behind, and when that date arrived, I did just that and haven't glanced back. Entrepreneurship was my path to a balanced scale. It hasn't been easy to obtain, but it has been possible.

I began the journey with a four-month slowdown. I allowed myself to decompress from 20 years of speed racing through someone else's definition of success. At that slower pace, I found the life I wanted to build.

Now, the past, however, wasn't a waste. The years I spent and invested in corporate provided me with tools I used along the way. I wasn't building with just bare hands and pure heart. There were skills in my back pocket that applied to the endeavor I was currently engaged in. On this path forward, I brought with me:

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Strategic Vision: the ability to see where I want to go and plan for how to get there.

Problem Solving: the ability to roll with the unexpected and resolve issues, big and small.

Decision Making: the ability to make the tough decisions that align with my vision rather than the ones I "want" to make.

Networking: the ability to connect with people and share what I do, how I add value, and keep prospecting options open.

Resilience: the ability to bounce back when you take a wrong turn, have a bad day, or don't close the deal.

Patience: the ability to recognize that business building doesn't happen overnight. Deep breaths are required.

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I am grateful I did not neglect the toolbox my past lives provided me. I couldn't have leaped into the unknown without it. And boy was this jump worth it! Success is now mine to own and now mine to define. As coaches, that is what we help others do: find their way to the life that they want. What about you? What do you want?

Ready to answer this question for yourself? Access my free Risk Quiz designed to assess your readiness for what you really want.