As Life Coach serving the greater Washington, DC metro area and beyond, I regularly invest in my ongoing professional development. The learning is stimulating and it yields dividends for my life coaching clients! Last month I attended the 15th Annual Capital Coaches Conference in Bethesda, Maryland. It was sponsored by the International Coach Federation (ICF)’s Metro DC Chapter. The theme this year was Coaching in the Real World.
This year’s conference focused on social identities, including our sense of who we are and how we define ourselves. The keynote addresses and many breakout sessions explored how neuroscience, society and our habitual behavior influence these identities.
The conference left me feeling more validated than ever that I have something very special to offer to my Life Coaching clients.
Today’s world offers many opportunities for women like me if one is willing to look hard and take some risks. A healthy seventy-year-old woman usually has a rich tapestry of experiences and beliefs that can be effectively used as a springboard for something she really cares about, now.
That is me and coaching. Maturity means full development. It covers physical, intellectual, emotional and social behaviors. I am so grateful for all that I have learned that has helped me to create a firm foundation to coach others to find their own inner core of values. I am happy to have the good health, energy and education to live as an adult to drawing on past experiences, assuming responsibility, and living authentically.
Societal views are changing regarding possibilities for older women and our careers, relationships, and health. Coaching is a vital component to this historical shift, because women like us certainly were not provided by our culture with the tools, attitudes, and beliefs we need to face these additional years.
I personally came of age at a time when society had very little to offer women over forty. Women with advanced degrees and careers didn’t fit into a category. We were a completely new phenomenon.
I still believe ageist limitations are false, for both myself and my clients. I personally experienced many life-affirming changes as I moved into midlife. It was never a crisis, and I saw the opportunity to change the way people thought about age.
I have experienced many life-affirming changes as I moved into midlife. They included failures, successes, moments of embarrassment, huge challenges and silly situation. Yet, I have found that I am able to do more than I expected from myself, am able to surprise others, and am able to continue to grow and learn. Humor is important, too.
I believe women can change their mindset to be wise, knowledgeable, joyful, purpose-driven, even energized in midlife and beyond.
This age is our time to make perhaps our most valuable contribution, but for cultural reasons we’ve been sidelined.
Taking this perspective has allowed me to give hope to my younger clients, because they see through my example and intentional questions that there is no reason to limit themselves, or put ageist constraints on their success. I am able to offer the perspective that life doesn’t need to stop for them just because they are a certain age.
Despite the advantages of health, education and resources, our cultural context means uncertainty is a common feeling for women at midlife, regardless of whether we have dedicated our lives to our career, homemaking or some combination of both. I believe that “midlife” for women can be our most powerful time of connection, when the pieces of the puzzle really come together.
Are you ready to start fresh? You can do so anytime you want. This is why I still coach.
A life coach, no matter how skilled and talented, is not an expert on your life. You are, but as a mature, experienced life coach, I have the proven tools and techniques that will help help you put all the pieces together. When you care enough about yourself to hire me as your coach, you get a partner, an ally who commits to supporting you in figuring it all out, and helping you look at your world differently, through fresh eyes.
My Life coaching clients realize that they don’t need another parent, sibling, friend, or co-worker telling them what they should be doing. Unlike self-help books or the Internet, I will work collaboratively with you. Unlike your friends and family, I’m an expert at the process of changing behavior … which is much more valuable than instructions or advice when you truly want to make a change. Warning: it also may be far more effective!
Contact Catharine Ecton for a complimentary, no-obligations life coaching consultation to discuss the possibilities. Or use the Appointment Scheduler and pick a time that works for you. I coach 90% of my clients over the phone, and my DC-based Life Coaching clients have the option of meeting with me in person.
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