In the past few months, my life has undergone some pretty
hefty transitions. It’s been incredible to see what God is unfolding for me and
my family as we strive to hear his voice and obediently follow his call – one step
at a time.
Many of these steps have resulted in beautiful change in my personal life. We’re living in our own home after renting for 5 years. We have a lovely new daughter, an amazing gift of grace and reminder of God’s promises. And we’re growing more deeply connected with the wonderful people in our faith community. While I could write in-depth about each of these transitions, the purpose of this communication is to share with you a bit about the professional changes that have taken place in my life and to ask for your assistance and collaboration with my new endeavors.
I recently quit my job with Indiana Wesleyan University
as their Coordinator of Life Coaching and Instructor of Leadership Studies to
pursue more independent and ministry-based coaching endeavors. Frederick
Buechner said, “The place God
calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger
meet.” Through my personal journey with Jesus Christ, I know that
my deep gladness is found in proclaiming the excellencies of God by
demonstrating his love and freedom to those in bondage, bringing emotional
healing to the hurt caused by abandonment and abuse, and developing the
potential of God’s creation. I also know that there is a deep hunger in our
broken world for this excellence, love, freedom, healing, and empowerment.
I first want to be able to live out this calling in my
own life, then for my family, then in my faith community and then in the world.
The way this is currently happening is by me accepting a position as the
Director of Recovery Coaching for a young and exceptional non-profit recovery
ministry called NewDay Recovery and by starting my own independent coaching
practice….This is the part where most people start becoming “nodding dogs.” If
you’ve done any public speaking (or parenting for that matter), you’re very
familiar with the “nodding dogs.” It’s that point in the conversation when the
person across from you mentally disengages and just smiles and nods until you’re
finished. “Nodding dogs” are polite, disinterested, and ultimately are not
incredibly useful….I’ve determined that most people become “nodding dogs”
around the topic of coaching more out of ignorance than true disinterest. Most
people just really don’t know what it is, or we all have different ideas of
what it is. SO, if you’d like to stay in the land of “nodding dogs”, you can
stop reading now and just pray for me in this transition. But if you’d like to
join me in a land of fulfilled and free human beings, keep reading and see how
we might be able to partner together.
So here’s what my kind of coaching is and how I do it:
I
start with the following coaching assumptions…
People are created in the image of God. As a result, they
are naturally creative, resourceful, and relational.
People are created uniquely and intentionally. Thus, it
can be assumed that they are different from each other on purpose, and there is
distinct value in their existence.
People are created with all of the resources they need to
live in relationship with God, to hear His voice, and to make decisions. As
such, they are fully capable of discovering and confidently living out their
life callings.
People are born into a sinful world with a sinful nature.
Because of this, to fully realize the possibilities associated with assumptions
1-3, they must be redeemed from bondage, reminded of the excellencies to which
they are called, and be held accountable to discovering and pursuing their
callings.
God is able to do far more than we could hope or imagine
through his people.
I
take these assumptions, combine them with my life calling (that deep gladness,
world’s hunger thing),and I come to this
conclusion about what coaching is and why it is needed…
Life coaching is needed because our world needs passionate and rational people committed to making it
better through living excellent, fulfilling lives connected to their giftedness
and calling. It is obvious that this sort of proactive, intentional living is
rare. It is non-existent if people try to do it alone. STOP. Read that
again....Do you believe it? If you’re just shrugging off that statement, I’d
like to invite you to do a little experiment. Answer the following questions:
1) What
is your life purpose?
2) What
is most fulfilling about your life (that’s that deep gladness thing again that
Buechner was talking about, and you can bet that their fulfillment will be
connected to a hunger or need in the world).
3) On a
scale of 1-10, how effectively are you living out your purpose/engaging in what
you know fulfills you?
Are you satisfied with your responses? If you asked five
people in your life those questions today, could they answer them confidently?
Personal life coaching is a professional partnership
between a coach and individuals designed to achieve the individual’s goals
around life purpose discovery, fulfillment, and freedom. It is founded in a
holistic and action-based approach that promotes the process of discovering
potential and purpose and confidently and courageously living it out in every
area of life.
As a
life coach, I have the great privilege of serving individuals, groups, and
teams and partnering with them as they discover purpose, awaken the courage
needed to live it out, and experience the joy and transformation that confidently
living in freedom can bring.
Pretty cool, huh? :)
I would love for you to be involved! Below are some
options for you and I to partner and collaborate:
Refer
Clients: Chances are that you probably thought of someone or a group of someone’s
that could benefit from coaching. Please pass on this information to them and
let them know that they can have a free sample session by submitting a contact
form on my website at www.megangilmore.com.
I do coaching sessions for individuals, couples, and groups via the phone,
skype, and face-to-face.
My standard rates are $100 per 45 minute
session, so the sample session is a great way to see the value of coaching and
the power of a coaching relationship before you commit to it financially.
Attend
a Workshop: I am hosting my first workshop series in partnership with Midwest
Coffee Company starting October 27, 2012. The workshop is $45 for a three-hour coaching
workshop, materials, and breakfast. The workshop is limited to a small group of
10 people. The workshop is a great way to get a whole lot of coaching value in
a condensed period of time for an affordable cost. It's also a great way for close friends and family to benefit from my coaching. Check out the AMPLIFY fall
series and register at http://www.megangilmore.com/event-registration.html.
Suggest
a Partnership: One of the most enjoyable things to me about my independent
coaching practice is the opportunity for creative partnership. If you can think
it up and it makes sense to combine it with coaching, we can probably do it.
Team building, assessment debriefing, Bible studies, relationship seminars,
family strengthening workshops, corporate training, etc. Let’s talk and create
something that will serve you, empower you to expand your reach in the world,
and collaborate with others to do the same.
In conclusion, thank you for not being a “nodding dog.”
Thank you for your interest in me and what I’m up to in the world. And thank
you in advance for your partnership and collaboration!
