Coaching requires intentional listening. What that means is that you listen without bringing YOU and your experiences into the mix. You listen for what is being said. You note the non-verbal cues. You read between the lines - what is NOT being said.

As a coach, you develop a keen awareness as to when you are not fully present, and you can refocus your attention in the moment. Learning to really listen takes constant work. And as you get better…

Are you an introvert? Introverts need plenty of alone time especially to recharge, listen more than talk, prefer one to one connections, are independent and are often deep thinkers that take the time to reflect on their experiences and emotions.

So what does being an introvert have to do with how you deal with change? Well, quite a lot, actually.

An introvert responds to change in a number of ways:

Resistance - they tend to relish stability and may initially resist change. They really need time to warm up to the idea.

Processing - they need time to think through the implications of a particular change…

Stability is defined as the quality, state, or degree of being stable. I imagine a lot of us feel the need for stability at the present moment. Even if, as a rule, you do not crave stability, you may want it now. I certainly do, mostly because the greater world feels exceptionally unstable. I go between an obsessive need to know what’s going on in the world, trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to help, and reading everything I can find about the topic, to a forced media blackout when my emotional wellbeing is at risk.

If you crave stability, for whatever reason, here are a few tips.

Change, big or small, is pretty much a given. How you approach change differs depending on a number of factors: your past experience with change, your resilence, how you cope with stress and the unknown, your support network, your personality, your values, how motivated you are, external influences, and the list goes on.

Changemakers can be defined in a number of ways and there are many words used to describe them. In this instance, I am using the word “changemaker” as it relates to how one approaches change.

The one that describes you depends on how you evaluate yourself based on the above factors:

The Embracer runs to change.

I am excited to share an episode of the Youest You podcast that I was so fortunate to participate in with fellow coaches Priti Chandran and Crissy Freeman. Podcast host, coach and all around fabulous human being, Julie Reisler, invited us to chat about the Life Designer Coach Academy certification program which she designed and teaches. We talked about what drew us to the program and the impact it has made on our lives and the lives of others.

One critical part of the transition process is acknowledging and giving due thought to the fact that your life looks and feels different from the one you had before. We often go from old to new and skip this step. We then wonder why we feel a bit off balance. This may sound strange but we don’t allow ourselves to grieve what once was even if we are excited about the change.