I have a questionnaire I offer to the majority of my new clients. Even when I know they are coming to me to lose weight or be a good parent or find out ways to be good to themselves for a change, 25% of the questions are regarding their work. Why is this?

For several people work is a crucial part of the background of their lives, one thing that just needs to be factored in. For quite a few it is a big part of their individuality, even.
So I like to bring it up in the questionnaire so that they, and I, can gauge the place of work in their lives; it's somewhat like checking whether a client is single or living with husband, 3 kids and an Alsatian - it does make a difference.

One of the questions is: if you didn't have your existing job, what will you be doing? Few of the answers are quite amazing; others (“I don't know”) make a few raised eyebrows.

You know what's approaching next. Yes, go on, ask yourself that question right away! Send me the answer if you like.

In my previous career I trained teachers of English (as a foreign language). A few of my trainees were just starting out at the employment market or were already teaching, and approached me to upgrade their expertise. The majority of them, nevertheless, had been working in other industries and had chosen that, in reality, they wished to do something different, at times amazingly unique. My “job” was to provide them the basic skills, but my own personal secret mission (!) was to infect them with a sense that teaching English was the complete most fun thing they could ever do.

Having been like a midwife to virtually 300 people's new, or first, professions, one day I opted to try the profession change thing for myself. The astonishing thing is, dropping an identity gladly held for 20+ years became pleasantly simple.

Several years on, I can honestly tell that taking up a second career has (cliché!) been a journey. It's enriched my life enormously and taught me several things, one of them being that I am a not a natural business man ... However, as coaching people to have fascinating lives is much more exciting than teaching English, running a business is a price I'm willing to pay.

And the greatest thing is, part of my profession now is to infect people with a sense that whatever change it is that they are making in their life is the absolute most fun thing they could probably do …

Certainly, a person’s work is just one among several fields of their life that might be well worth changing, nevertheless as it’s an area that is really abundant in exciting opportunities, it’s really worth choosing a job that means something - to you.
Live the difference Life Coaching is based in Melbourne which offers transformational one-on-one coaching both face-to-face and on the phone. People come from all walks of life and live in and around Melbourne, interstate and overseas. Visit http://livethedifference.com.au for more information on Life Coach.