Whenever I tell people what I do, it goes something like this.
We exchange pleasantries.
They have most certainly noticed my pink hair and eventually it gets to this part:
Them: “What do you do?”
Me: “Oh! I’m a life coach!”
Them: “…I didn’t think those were real jobs…”
Or “How did you get into that?”
Or “Ooooo! That’s why you can have pink hair!”
Or “What does that mean?”
Or “Oh, so you tell people what to do.”
Or “Do people even need those?”
The list can go on and on. These conversations got me thinking that I’d really love to tell you all the answer to “How did you get into that?” The conversation about what I do leads eventually to that.
In short, I have always known that I want to help people, but I can narrow it down to one year that really helped me get on the path to becoming a Life Coach.
When I was around 25 years old I hit what people call a quarter life crisis. I was in a job that was killing my self worth, my husband was overseas and I had just been “broken up” with by my closest friend in the area. I was down in the dumps and felt lost in life. That’s when I met a woman who had her own business creating Soul Guides using Human Design. Human Design in a short definition is something that gives you a deeper look into what your soul is meant to be doing on this earth. A soul guide is created using your human design and is based on your human mapping. It gives you the breakdown of your soul and personality to help you put words to the desires, drives and traits you know you have but can’t ever seem to describe. When I met her and she told me what she created for people it really resonated with me. I was pretty much willing to try anything, so I ordered a Soul Guide for myself to see what happened. I was hoping it could give me some guidance, but in all honesty I truly had no idea the impact it would have on me.
Once I got that Soul Guide I was extremely shocked at how accurate it was. It put into words my feelings and personal tendencies that I couldn’t have done on my own. And the main thing that really stuck out to me was that I was put on this earth to be a guide.
A guide.
That hit me so hard that I felt almost a release when I read it. I knew in my heart that it was right and that I now needed to figure out HOW to be a guide.
I could go back to school, maybe become a counselor, therapist, social worker. But none of those sounded right. Then as I was exploring those options it hit me. A LIFE COACH. That’s it. I realized that everything I have done has prepared me for this journey in one way or another. I took a step back to a closer look at my life.
In high school I was the friend that always listened to everyone. They called me “Mama Devan”. I helped guide them through issues they had going on.
In college, I was a Freshman Mentor and then a Resident Assistant, where I was helping guide my peers through the trials of college.
In my first couple jobs out of college I worked in customer service, where I was helping to guide people on their purchases.
I worked for a few years in Continuing Education, where I guided other adults onto whichever path they needed to make their career goals.
For a little while I didn’t do anything with this new knowledge. I sat on it and stayed where I was. Then 2020 started and life changed drastically for everyone. I ended up starting that change just a little bit before the pandemic officially started.
In February 2020, I quit my job. Then I flew to South Korea, to be with my husband overseas, with an indefinite return date. Then the pandemic started. I wallowed a bit in self pity. Watched a lot of Netflix and played Sims. And in between I started to reflect on my life and what exactly I wanted to do with it. I knew that Life Coach sounded right, but now what?
I pondered on this. Did some research. Ended up coming back to America at the end of March 2020, because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get back home with Covid causing borders to close. Once I made it home, I quarantined for two weeks and then I finally started to piece together my next steps.
- Training
- Find Clients
- Coach Clients
- Repeat
Sounded simple enough. I found the program that resonated with me the most through the Goal Imagery Institute. I went in full force. It took me a while to figure out how to align what I do with what my heart wants, but I found it and can’t wait to keep walking this path.
What I learned so far from this path I am on:
- We don’t always know all the career options we have available to us when we are first asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Or even when we decide what to do after we graduate high school.
- Aligning your heart and your head is hard.
- Every step we take is leading us to our next step.
- It’s okay to change your mind.
- Write it down and say it out loud. It makes it more real that way.
If you need some help with figuring out your path, a life coach might be a good step. I would love to chat with you about it! You can email me at devan@developingwithdevan.com to set up a time to talk.
Warmly,
Devan
