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"When things happen too fast, nobody can be certain about anything at all, not even himself". Milan Kundera, Slowness 1995

Do you have it all? Do you believe you should be happy? Yet perhaps you still feel like something is missing from your life?

Are you a high-achiever? Living life in the fast lane? Perhaps you're in the rat-race, but don't feel much like a rat.

Would you like to live more authentically (whatever that means to you?) At work, in your relationships, in your downtime?

Deep down, you know there's more to life. Perhaps you feel you haven't found it yet? Speaking with a life coach could help. A few sessions of life coaching with me can show that you have more power than you think.

You've got the power

"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." Carl Jung

Many of us fall into life or end up somewhere we never planned to be. We're often so busy getting on with it, that we're blissfully unaware that our thinking and life choices are heavily influenced by 'shoulds' and 'oughts' we've inherited from others. These patterns can come from our childhood or families and shape our perceptions to this day.

Many of us don't allow ourselves to think about what we want our lives to look like. This is where life coaching helps.

No matter what your age, life coaching with me helps you to wake up. You can begin to identify what you want - in your relationships, at home, at work, and in all areas of your life. With that awareness comes choice, the power to live your truth. What if that was available to you? Think about it.

ARE YOU KEEPING CALM AND CARRYING ON?

Apathy. Stuck. Bored. A lack of hope or optimism about your future. Depression. Anxiety. Are any of these sounding familiar?

Certainly, with COVID-19 and recent world challenges, many people are anxious, fearful or experiencing uncertainty about their futures. This is perfectly normal, and you don't have to struggle alone.

Perhaps you're experiencing big life changes, which are impacting you physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Becoming a parent; losing a parent, a dear friend or relative; you could be fearing the future or facing redundancy.

Life's challenges can affect your confidence about the choices you think you have. A life coach like me, who is also a qualified and experienced counsellor, can help.

YOU CAN HAVE MORE FREEDOM AND HAPPINESS

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
Carl Jung

Challenges in life can be painful - though not always!

With any pain, there is an opportunity to create sustainable change. We always have choices. What we can't always do, is see them on our own.

It is often through experiencing and exploring these deep and painful feelings that we are able to take tentative steps towards positive, conscious choices - towards a new life. Choices that matter to us, rather than to other people.

You have a choice. Contact me for a confidential exploratory conversation and choose your authentic life.

My Story    

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. " Confucius

One Friday lunchtime in 1998, I bought the book by Laurence G. Boldt, 'How to Find the Work You Love'. After reading it over the weekend, I sat down and typed my resignation letter to leave a corporate human resources role.

I had begun to feel like a square peg in a round hole. For some time, I had been interested in counselling. Finally, I decided to take the leap and study a three-year part-time BACP Accredited Diploma in Counselling, at Kingston College, London.

Although unaware of it at the time, that book was my first virtual life coach.

It asked me to 'fast-forward to the end of my life and think about what I would most regret,' and 'if I only had two weeks to live, what would I choose to do with my life?'

Three weeks later, I had enrolled on a counselling diploma course and found another part-time HR contract, which freed up to concentrate on my studies and training.

When I decided to listen to and trust my heart, then follow my intuition about what I was being guided to do, everything came together to support me.

MY TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

I have a deep passion for and commitment to my own mental health and emotional wellbeing. My experience with the book-as-coach cemented my belief in the power of reflective thinking and self-development.

Over the past 20+ years I have invested frequently in my personal development and training qualifications, including NLP, life coaching and business coaching. I am a qualified and experienced counsellor (2001), providing counselling to adults and young people for almost ten years.

Prior to taking this healing journey, my background was in recruitment and human resources management, working in both corporate and public sector settings, where I gained the following qualifications:

Certificate in Personnel Practice (1992)
Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management at Kingston University, London (1995)

"What you really want for yourself is always trying to break through, just as a cooling breeze flows through an open window on a hot day. Your part is to open the windows of your mind."
Vernon Howard

Recent investments and qualifications include:

ICF Accredited Diploma in Transformational Coaching (2019)
Accredited Certificate in Corporate Coaching (2019)

Both gained with Animas Coaching.

All my work is covered by insurance and I receive regular and ongoing coaching and counselling supervision.

So why the snail?

It was during one of my own life coaching sessions that the image of a snail came to me, as I was busy criticising myself for not doing things quickly enough. With careful prompting by my coach, I discovered that the pace I was forcing myself to move at, wasn't 'me'. It was an old pattern set up many years prior - and not by me!

I realised that I liked my pace. And guess what? Things still got done. I was still achieving the things I wanted to achieve. And I could finally see that I wasn't being lazy, which was also a hidden fear of mine.

SO WHERE IN YOUR LIFE ARE YOU TRYING TO FIT IN RATHER THAN ALLOWING YOUR OWN, UNIQUE IDENTITY TO UNFOLD?

The snail goes at his own pace.

Working with me means that you will go at your own pace. The coaching space allows you to slow down, reflect and start to think about yourself, your life and your relationships differently. With a little more breathing space, you can easily and intuitively take action towards creating your authentic life and positive change that is meaningful to you.

If you're ready to move at your own pace, or perhaps you're itching to burst out of your chrysalis like a beautiful butterfly, contact me for an exploratory conversation. There's no obligation and who knows - perhaps you'll find a new way of being?

Coaching for Individuals

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PERSONAL & WELLBEING COACHING

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Coaching with Slow Coach Sarah brings about:

An opportunity to slow down - enjoy focused, reflective time for yourself and take an honest look at your life

Develop awareness - of your automatic thinking, what matters to you, and how you truly feel. Recognise your hopes, dreams, fears, barriers, needs and desires for a better life - find your authentic self

Clarity - about where you are now, how and why you may have got there, and where you want to go, by setting new and meaningful goals for the coming year

Private time and space - to talk, to be heard and understood, as you make plans for stepping into your authentic life

Confidence - to take small steps or great leaps to bring your authentic self to life

Recognition of unhelpful patterns - identify unhelpful habits of thinking, feeling and behaving, so that change can take place

Support - as you take the time you need, as you move through fears, and as you shift and take action towards your milestones and towards creating a future you'll love

Opportunities to process emotions - the feelings that arise when we take full responsibility for our lives can be challenging: grief, loss, fear, excitement - even positive feelings can disturb us!

Results - establish a new version of your own relationship with change when you see the results you set out to achieve manifest, as you transform your life from the inside out. Your authentic life matters!

Coaching for Organisations

"Leadership is a way of thinking, a way of acting and, most importantly, a way of communicating."
Simon Sinek

COACHING FOR AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE CHANGE

How are you and your team showing up at work? Would you like to lead more assertively or behave more confidently? Perhaps you want to bring more of your real self to work, assured that you'll maintain professional relationships?

Coaching for more authentic engagement and relationships at work can be powerful - and empowering - for everyone.

BENEFITS OF WORKING MORE AUTHENTICALLY

Improved feelings of wellbeing - for yourself and others

Increased trust with colleagues - which boosts morale, overall performance and productivity levels

Greater psychological safety - when employees feel safe, they share ideas, speak their truth and greater collaboration can take place

A more pleasant atmosphere - more confidence, capability and support throughout the organisation can result in lower stress levels and a more caring environment for everyone

Spontaneity, creativity and fun - coaching opens diverse approaches to problem-solving

Increased openness, honesty and feedback - a more open way of being and communicating becomes the standard, thus changing the culture over time

Better staff retention - staff churn levels come down, sickness absence levels decrease, and a more adult working environment ensues

Counselling

Are you feeling anxious, lonely, emotional or overwhelmed?

Following the pandemic and with ongoing, wide-ranging world challenges that continue to impact our mental and emotional wellbeing, many people are now more aware of their feelings, fears or anxiety, which may be preventing them from enjoying their everyday lives.

Whether you are struggling with everyday living or you want to proactively invest in your own mental health, feel free to GET IN TOUCH to book an initial counselling assessment with Sarah.

Counselling assessments are 50 mins duration and £60, payable in advance. Some concessions are available, please ask Sarah. Further information can also be found by downloading this Q&A

Sarah is an experienced and Accredited Member of the BACP and she also completed a BACP accredited counselling training. All her work is insured and she is also a registered member of the ICO. You can find Sarah listed on the BACP directory.

VALUES

My values are a set of beliefs, attitudes and guidelines which inform how I do business as Slow Coach Sarah and the coaching relationship we enter into.

FUN

"At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day." Simone Biles

Whilst making changes can feel frightening (especially the big things), it doesn't have to be that way! Fun matters. When we allow fun in, we not only shift our perspective, we shift our energy.

And that can shift anything. Or everything.

I honour fun as much as fear. Oh, and all the other feelings we experience, too.

INTEGRITY

"I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashion." Lillian Hellman

In my business and in my work with you, I uphold a sense of integrity.

This means:

prioritising your privacy and confidentiality
treating you and our work together like it matters. Because it does
holding clear, professional boundaries and a safe space for you
avoiding conflicts of interest and putting things right if a conflict arises
being honest if I make a mistake
respecting you and your time
having a reparative mindset and approach
ensuring I continue to invest in my own growth & development

Relationship

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded"
Maya Angelou

We all learn, grow and change through being in relationships. I value our professional relationship and will proactively foster it.

Here's how:

provide a psychologically safe space - for you, including starting & ending sessions on time and maintaining professional boundaries
ensure you lead the way - by supporting you to define your goals, direction and outcomes of our work together
highlight relationship dynamics - by sharing my perceptions sensitively and for the purpose of increasing your self-awareness, insight and growth
investing in my own coaching supervision and counselling supervision - to support my work
respect your views, - perspectives, opinions, choices and decisions that you make
welcome feedback, ongoing dialogue, - your perceptions and insights about our professional relationship and the progress you're making
hold a fundamental belief that you are already whole, - in charge of your life and will always find your right way
communicate honestly and clearly - about any aspect of our working relationship

GROWTH

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
Soren Kierkegaard

The degree to which I am willing, invested, and committed to my personal development and growth directly impacts the depth and quality of your growth as my client.

As I continue growing, learning and dedicating myself to ongoing self-awareness and change, this transformative energy is shared with you through our coaching work.

AUTHENTICITY

"Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!"
Dr. Seuss

I place value on being true to oneself and working to discover the life's purpose inside each of us.

I will encourage you to play, discover - and if you choose to - live more authentically and express more of your real self in your own life.

Once you start to see yourself and your life differently, it can be both easy and challenging at times to live in that authentic space.

I help you to navigate both.

To explore what your authentic life means to you - and how it might feel to live it - contact me for a chat. In confidence and with no obligation.