some days are still tough…

I might be doing my dream job in one of the most wonderful places in the world, but not every day is amazing… Today has been a particularly challenging one and it is making me feel like a bit of a failure!

I am acutely aware that this is my first ‘high-profile’ job as an independent consultant and that I am still proving myself and up until now, I feel that I have been reasonably successful. I have had good feedback and the company has asked me to consider returning later in the year, which I would LOVE to do. But I still have so much to learn – and I really felt that today!

Of course, I cannot share any details – a coaching relationship is a little like a ‘doctor-patient confidentiality’ thing – but when I am not able to break through to someone, it can feel like I am not the right person for the job. I know everybody learns differently and has different desires to learn, so I can just hope that I will get better at ‘cracking the difficult nuts’ with experience.

So, these are my reflections with a glass of wine on curry night at the staff restaurant. Writing reports seems to be difficult and I am certainly not in a social mood, so hiding in the corner with my laptop.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day. A new challenge! Being pushed out of our comfort zone into the scary world of a steep learning curve is not always fun, but as I say to my students, it’s sometimes necessary. So, I guess I should be grateful really!