Welcome and thanks for deciding to read more about some of the challenges and curve balls life threw my way since we last saw each other…I hope its interesting and perhaps even inspiring for you.
So back in 2011, I was forced to close my private practice due to a chronic gut health issue. I never received a diagnosis, and none of the treatments I tried seemed to help that much. I kept getting sicker, I was losing weight, and I was finding it hard to deal with the challenges of everyday life and a busy practice.
In short, my body was telling me it wasn’t happy, and so I decided to stop asking ‘professionals’ what I needed and started asking my body what it needed to recover! To my surprise it replied with great clarity: “Michelle, get your hands in the soil” (No joke)!!
So I listened. And very soon after, I enrolled in a course at my local TAFE campus studying organic agriculture. After 6 months of learning on the campus farm, I was offered an amazing opportunity to go and live and work on a real organic farm. It was a big risk, but I trusted this was what my body needed, and so I uprooted my life, closed my business and sold off most of my belongings to chase health, vitality and happiness.
It was a gorgeous 340-acre property in the hinterland of Northern NSW, right at the base of the Border Ranges. I lived on this farm, in a tiny caravan, working from 5.30am to 3.30pm for 2 years. I worked outdoors every day, with my hands in the soil, eating food that I had helped produce.
Oh my god, it was the most stunning workplace ever!!!
It was peaceful. It was pristine. It was also hard physical work…and ridiculously low wages. LOL. But I’d never felt such joy, contentment or such a deep connection to nature. And life was simple, so I didn’t have many expenses.
But the best news was, my body began to heal. The food I was eating was so fresh and so full of vitality, having been harvested just moments before consuming it. There was no internet or phone reception, no television! And because not much would fit in the caravan, I only kept a small number of personal possessions, my farming clothes, camera and yoga mat.
At night I went to sleep with the frogs and owls, and was awoken by the chatter of birdsong. Actually, I was often asleep before 6pm, because I was so physically exhausted from labouring all day in the fresh air. LOL
I loved my time on the farm. It was exactly what my body needed to heal. The big risk I’d taken had paid dividends.
But as my health returned, I started to miss the passion and purpose that I had felt in my career as a psychologist. I loved farming, but i felt like being a farm hand wasn’t making the best use of my gifts. However, I was clear that I didn’t want to return to psychology. The profession was changing, getting more uptight and losing some of what I thought were its most creative and liberating elements.
Looking back now, I realise that I was feeling really lost inside.
I had always known exactly what I wanted to do and I had been blessed to get to do that thing for 25 years! And since I didn’t want to return to psychology, I wasn’t sure how to jump back into ‘being of service to people’ (which I missed dreadfully). I still had no idea of what I wanted to offer, or what role I wanted to play.
I don’t know if you’ve ever struggled to know your purpose, but it was really challenging.
It’s a “first world problem” for sure, but without identity and purpose, who are we? It’s actually very difficult to function, or feel of value, or know what to do with your energy and gifts.
I completed my Yoga Teacher Training, thinking perhaps that might be the answer. But, much as I love yoga and my personal practice, it didn’t feel quite right as a career path.
So I went back to the drawing board.
I left the farm, and took an admin job in the city, just to pay the bills. What a shock that was! Nothing could be more different from my time on the farm. I was back in peak-hour traffic twice a day, then stuck inside this horrible bright green and white, fluro-lit office all day, sitting on my butt all day, bored to tears by my role…and, perhaps, most challenging of all, the atmosphere amongst my co-workers, who’d been stuck in that office for the past 10 years, with little acknowledgement, and no outlet for creativity or advancement, was profoundly negative and critical.
I could understand their pain.
That’s what I call a normal reaction to abnormal circumstances. If you weren’t miserable and unhealthy living that life, then there’s something seriously wrong with you!
I had to fight hard to stay positive in that workplace – it was completely toxic. So, I got out of that office as much as I could, I walked every day, watched inspirational videos on my lunch breaks, and I started drawing and painting to connect me with my creativity (something my workplace seemed intent on trying to destroy!!) I watched a lot of comedy, to keep me connected to smiling and laughing and found more positive friends outside that office.
Apart from these activities, I spent as much time as I could contemplating where I really wanted to be. It was very far from where I was, I was certain of that! But I was still lost and there was no map. I can tell you it’s hard to start confidently on a new journey with no map and no idea where you are or where you want to go.
I want to be honest with you, during this time, things did get dark for me. I was pretty down and dejected and I felt lost and confused. For a while there, I actually stopped believing in myself and what I was capable of, and started to accept that maybe this shitty small life was what I deserved. There was so much negativity around me, it became infectious. I wanted to give up on life and I was feeling anything but grateful for all the blessings I still had. I couldn’t see anything positive at all. It was a crappy time.
Thankfully, a few years earlier, I had read a book about how to have a survival mindset, and I knew I had to start by acknowledging I was lost, not panic, gather my resources and create a plan for getting out. So that’s what I focused on. Sitting in the sh*t, and coming up with a plan.
In the process of gathering resources, I started to explore the field of life coaching. I was watching Youtube’s and reading articles online (whilst at my shitty day job). Very quickly I was able to grasp a new perspective and correct the faults on my mindset. It was absolutely life changing for me.
I found coaching to be more future-oriented than psychology. It’s sole focus is taking people where they want to go – even if they are not sure where they want to actually go (like me) or how they will get there (also like me!) So I wasn’t focusing on my problems, or how I got where I was – I was 100% focused on getting myself out of the situation I found myself in.
Well, I immediately recognised I needed a coach for myself, so that’s what I did. I got a coach. She was wonderful, very supportive, encouraging, and believed 100% in my potential. She quickly helped me navigate the rough terrain and with her support I started clarifying a meaningful direction, aligned with my values, and I began taking action towards my new goals.
Naturally, I began to rediscover my identity and purpose. I enjoyed the process and the results so much, I thought, “This is what I want to do for others!!”
Suddenly I was back on the map. I had a direction, a destination and a goal. I got up and started putting one foot in front of the other. Nothing would stop me now.
Since that day, I have been consuming everything I can find on the practice of coaching, I’ve been training with the beast coaches and transformational leaders from around the world (Robin Sharma, Brendon Burchard, Tony Robbins, Jim Kwik, Lisa Nichols, T.Harv Eker) and I have completed an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certified Coaching Program.
Of course, a lot of what I do draws on my 25-years of experience as a psychologist, but there’s been a lot of new content, knowledge and skills to get my head around. I’ve loved it!
Anyway, so that’s basically what I’ve been up to this past 7 or so years.
And so now, as a Results Coach, I’m helping people to get the results they want in any part of their life. Specifically, I love to help people find their purpose and create more fulfilment in their lives.
It’s deeply rewarding work, and I feel so blessed to be serving people’s transformation once again!
So, because we already have a relationship, I wanted to reach out and let you know about what I’m doing now. I thought, you may know people that would benefit from this work and if so, I’d love to hear from them. And even if you don’t know anyone that can benefit, that’s cool.
I like to say, ‘Coaching is for anyone, but it’s not for everyone.’
When it comes to coaching, there are two kinds of people: those who will do absolutely anything they can to improve their life and reach their highest ideals, and those who are content with life as it is and sometimes wonder why their life is not better.
Coaching is only for those first types of people. You have to be hungry for something better, because coaching is hard work. It takes focus, enthusiasm, motivation and commitment.
If you know someone like that, or if you are at a place in your life where you are looking to create some positive change, and create a life you love, then drop me a line.
To be honest, I’m only working with a very limited number of people at a time, and here’s why:
I’ve realised that it’s time to take my knowledge and wisdom to many more people, so I’ve been writing workshops and I am also creating several online courses – I’ll tell you about them in another email, if you stay subscribed 😉
The workshop events and online programs will be much more affordable for the average person, and will allow me to take my message to many, many more individuals and impact many more lives. Because that’s what lights me up.
I wanted to share my first free offering with you as a way to say thank you…because not so long ago, you allowed me the privilege of hearing your story and sharing in your journey…and to be there for you actually brought me incredible fulfilment. And when I was lost, it was the memories of those deeply fulfilling moments that helped me to find my path again.
Without those experiences, I may have stayed lost for a lot longer! But I simply knew that I had to get back to serving people in their personal development goals..and now here I am. Healthy, happy and loving on purpose once again!
I have to add, it feel’s amazing to be back, and absolutely incredible to observe how ‘living on purpose’ can transform your entire world! Feeling lost is a terrible place to be, and it takes a great deal of courage to find a path out of the woods.
That’s why I developed this program and why I am giving it away. I want people to have the resources at their fingertips to get themselves out of challenging places and to be able access their courage whenever they need it!
Well here’s the link again to your free gift (please share with anyone who may benefit):
Courage, Risks & Rewards Coaching Program.
Take A Chance & Change Your Life
Thanks for reading. If this has had an impact on you, or you want to share what’s been happening for you – I’d love to hear from you, so just drop me a line at:
info@michellemcclintock.com.au
To your success and fulfilment,
Michelle