If you’re looking for a FREE and FABULOUS boost to get you moving through 2019 like a WINNER, you’re in the right place.
I recently completed a Life Coaching Diploma and I’m looking to gain some experience before I offer it as a service.
What you need to know
Background: I am a qualified and experienced Family Support Worker, with an expertise in working with single mothers and women affected by domestic violence.
About the FREE coaching in January: I’m offering TWO 60 minute sessions via Skype to THREE women in January. These will be free, confidential and hold no obligations to purchase future sessions from me.
What’s in it for you: A pair of bespoke life coaching sessions with me that leave you feeling good, inspired and ready to take the next step.
What’s in it for me:All I ask in return is a written testimonial that I can put on my website.
How to apply: I’m accepting applications via email only.
Tell me who you are, who you were and who you hope to become. Tell me what 2018 taught you and what you want to do differently in 2019.
Send your email to info@annikaspalding.co.uk with “FREE COACHING” as the Subject by Friday 11th January.
What happens next: I’ll read through all entries and contact the successful applicants on Monday 14th January.
That’s it.
For further information: Please feel free to email me or comment below.
If you’re committed to being the best you can be and need the guidance of a Personal Coach, what happens when you can’t afford the fee?
A few months ago I attended a women’s networking event. It wasn’t one I’d been to before but I went anyway, because I love talking to other like-minded women and learning something new.
The line-up of speakers shared stories of overcoming adversity, detailing their failures and the journey towards success. It was quite inspirational and worth every bit of the £15 ticket I paid to attend.
It’s been said to me a few times that people who pay a higher price for a service are more invested.
After the event, I connected with one of the speakers on LinkedIn and told her how much I loved her talk. I told her that some of the milestones she’d reached were what I’d aspired to, and I was so grateful to have heard her story.
When she replied, she offered me an informal chat, a conversation via Skype where we could discuss my goals in detail and she could look at how to support me. I knew she was a coach but I was intrigued, and scheduled our conversation for that very week.
From 10 minutes into our chat, I could tell she knew I wasn’t her ideal client. I didn’t have £3000 to spend on a coaching programme to have her guidance. I wasn’t easily convinced to sign up, to borrow money from family or to sign up for a loan or credit card. She didn’t try to convince me to do this, but the phrase “you have to be willing to invest in yourself” was uttered and that was enough for me.
See, the thing is this: I know all entrepreneurs have to generate income, grow their business, pay for their resources, invest in their own development to ensure they offer a fantastic service.
However, what happens to the people who can’t afford three grand? Are they less worth your time? Are they less deserving of development?
I’m not in favour of encouraging people to get in debt so they can pay for coaching. I’m not in favour of you having to choose between paying your rent on time and paying for a coaching programme.
Everybody has different values, I get it. I know my rocky relationship with money stems from a childhood of hiding from the Provident lady, but that also means I know what it is like to not have much. I know what it is like to live on a budget and to still have dreams. I know what it is like to have the vision but lack the resources to move it forward.
I remember discussing a collaborative project with a former business partner. We spoke about offering VIP days after our upcoming event, a day where women could spend time with us 1-on-1 and develop their business or project idea. I gave thought to what to price that as when my former business partner suggested charging around £1000. It didn’t sit right, didn’t feel right with me.
Needless to say, I took my invested heart out of it and parted ways.
Because this is what it comes down to: I want to make an impact. On women. For women. Because of women.
And I would much prefer it if cost wasn’t an issue.
Yes, I know it’s all about self-worth and valuing your experience and expertise, blah blah blah. Yet, its it really worth a great deal if I’m not using it to make an impact where it is needed?
My core values and belief demand I exist, work, live and breathe integrity. And I always knew that, always felt it, but 2018 made it very clear to me that it was not something I would compromise on.
I began my self-love journey in 2013, when I was a new single mother and a complete emotional mess. It took me a long time to piece myself back together, to look in the mirror and like what I saw, to feel like anything I said wasn’t stupid, and to feel like I could cope on my own with my kids. It took even longer to acknowledge my experience of domestic violence and trace the impact it had on me in adulthood.
In 2019, I’m not the woman I was but I keep her in my thoughts. Because sometimes, that woman could be you. That woman could be someone scrolling through my page, browsing on my website or typing me an email, wondering if I can help her.
I want to be the woman who says “Yes, I can help. I can guide you through your transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, and it won’t cost you the earth.”
I want to be the coach who is driven by impact, motivated by transformation, inspired by women and creates from the heart. I want to be the coach who is affordable, who spreads payments out so women can access the guidance and begin their personal development.
I want to be the person you choose because you truly believe I understand what it might be like to be you.
Ultimately, I want to honour my core values and beliefs, and that means creating pathways for women on a budget to evolve.
I want all of us to walk into 2019 feeling confident, focused and prepared.
I want us to be clear in who we want to be and what we want to achieve, and the work begins now.
Your mind needs to be on your side.
I don’t mind telling you that I’m an intelligent woman with a flair for creativity, but the minute my head feels cloudy and anxiety creeps in, everything comes to a standstill.
We aren’t our diagnosis, scars or worries. We aren’t our negative thoughts, past experiences or self-doubts. Who we are lives under all of that, and it’s time to bring that person out.
Feeling overwhelmed is part of the process.
Sometimes I think about all the things I’d like to achieve and I get worried. Anxiety swoops in and I can feel myself begin to freak out on the inside.
It’s not because I don’t believe in myself. Or is it? I think the enormity of our goals can really intimidate us and we begin to question if we’re really equipped to strive for them. Some people say that it’s the idea of what you can achieve, the idea that it is actually achievable, that really scares us. Sort of like your potential is there and you can see that you can reach it, and get scared of what that will mean.
So, what does it all mean? It means you’ve got what it takes to try. People who fail aren’t losers, it’s people who never try who are really missing out. So many of us have ideas about who we are or what we want to be, but all of that is simply a concept until we start taking action.
Trust in who you might become if you just try.
Let’s get planning.
Write down four things you’d like to achieve next year. They don’t have to be huge things like write six books or adopt ten children. They just have to be big enough to aim for and important enough for them to matter to you.
Write a list of all the steps you need to take to achieve each goal. For example, I’d like to get back to holding events again. So my small steps would include brainstorming ideas, picking a date, looking at venues, planning the content, designing the flyer etc.
Then, write the order in which you would like to achieve these goals.
Now, write the following headings down on paper/word document –
January to March
April to June
July to September
October to December
These are the four quarters of next year. Under the first heading, put your first priority. That will be your focus for that quarter. Under the second heading, put your second priority. That will be your focus for that quarter. And so on.
Next, refer to the steps to achieve each goal that you wrote down yesterday. Place them under each relevant heading.
Congratulations! You now have a planned focus for each quarter of 2019!
I feel like I’ve spent most of 2018 with fear in my mouth. Negativity invading my language, anxiety intruding on my thoughts, and fear interrupting my affirmations.
I’m a writer, yes, published a few books, yes, studied a writing degree, yes, consulted with various creatives on content creation and personal branding, yes, good at this stuff, ABSOLUTELY, so why am I holding back?
Creativity used to pour out of me.
I used to feel so inspired, I’d stay up until dawn, writing books, stories and poetry. When I was in touch with myself and my creativity, my writing became my way of letting it all out.
The events of 2018 have caused me to retreat. It’s been a great year for professional achievements and meeting personal milestones, but it’s also been a challenging one for me.
This year felt like something was missing, but didn’t realise until now that it was me. I lost my passion, my values, my energy, and the core of who I am.
How did I lose myself?
Because, once again, I’d been busy being all things to all people. So heavily invested in dreams that were not my own, that I lost sight of my own and me with it.
I believe that knowing how to connect with yourself, and feel connected, is the foundation of any masterpiece you create.
How can you express your thoughts and ideas, if you don’t know what they are?
Out with the old, in with the new.
2018 broke the old me, and created room for the new, real me to evolve.
I had to shake away bad habits, old perspectives and stale friendships, so that I can move into the new year, and the new me, with a brighter and lighter outlook.
My experience of intense emotions has helped me to work through my demons, which has led me to do the healing I’ve needed since I was six years old.
I had to step back and strip back everything that was no longer resonating with my spirit, and pull away from any dreams that were no longer my own.
Most of all, I was forced to deal with unexpected change. Planning ahead usually helps with my anxiety, so can you imagine the turmoil I’ve felt while dealing with out-of-the-blue stuff.
2018 has been many things to me.
How was it for you?
Looking for clarity and guidance?
Book yourself in for a FREE Clarity Chat that will leave you feeling FABULOUS and FOCUSED!
