Small steps to success : Case study Summaries

1 : How Pauline developed her own business

2 : How Nigel discovered his ideal career path

3 : How John made positive steps to eliminate the negativity in his life

4 : How Margaret learnt to enjoy retirement

1. How Pauline developed her own business.

Pauline came to me having given up a well paid job she hated, to set up her own business.

When we first met, she felt despondent as business was slow and she felt she was not focusing on things properly to help her move her business forward. As a self-confessed perfectionist & worrier, she had a tendency to compare her progress with others and focus on her perceived view of what others thought of her.

We discovered a lot of these beliefs stemmed from poor self –esteem.

Over a few coaching sessions we looked at Pauline’s perceptions of herself & her business, built on improving her self-esteem and looked at what her business meant to her.

We examined whether Pauline was living her life according to her values which helped her focus on what is important to her in her life.

Pauline came to realise that she is happy doing what she wants in her career and that she had been clinging on to beliefs regarding her previous career which were no longer appropriate.

Pauline is now steadily building up her business, confident that it will grow and develop at a pace that is right for her.
 

I had watched Nigel grow from a young boy into a mature and enthusiastic young adult (as one of my son’s friends), but when he approached me for some coaching, he had lost his drive and ambition, most particularly at work.

Having graduated with a degree in history, Nigel started working for BT but in spite of having a nice flat, decent salary and independence, he was feeling frustrated at work. By asking appropriate questions and listening to Nigel’s responses, I was able to identify what he disliked about the job & why he wanted to change. Having looked at his core values in relation to work, it became apparent that his two core values of honesty & integrity were not being fulfilled within his workplace.

Nigel aimed to secure a new career by the end of that year and we agreed upon a number of smaller tasks to help him achieve that goal. He considered my thought provoking question of ‘what are you going to do to make your dream a reality?’ on a frequent basis.

Nigel completed a chart outlining his strengths, weaknesses, perceived values & priorities in relation to his current job & by pointing him in the right direction, he undertook research into what type of careers did/didn’t appeal to him & why. He also had guidance on updating his CV and interview preparation and was encouraged to attend career events.

Nigel had dreamed of becoming a journalist as a child but felt he had not experienced enough of ‘life’ so he went to Scotland to work with a voluntary organisation helping disadvantaged teenagers within the community. He admitted to suffering from poor motivation at times, so we worked on addressing issues of self-discipline. We also looked at re-framing previous self-limiting beliefs; Nigel worried about making the wrong decision but, with time, he learnt to trust his instincts together with undertaking appropriate research.

Nigel has recently completed a journalism course at Cardiff University and is currently attending interviews for his first job as a journalist.

 I often tell clients that one good thing can and often does lead to another and Nigel now has a steady girlfriend; another thing that was missing in his life when we had our first coaching session!

Why not take your first steps to success now and contact pavlenka