Why I Joined The Life Coach School Certification with Brooke Castillo

I’ve completed a lot of training in my lifetime. This is proven by the fact that I earned a Ph.D. in 2013! But even since earning a doctoral degree, you may be surprised to hear that The Life Coach School Certification process is the certificate I’m most proud of. It’s the first one that I earned simply because I wanted to. I didn’t do it for external validation or praise. I did it for me.

Let me take you back to the beginning of the story. In 2016, I was going through a career crisis. I was finishing up my third year as an assistant professor in my dream job, but it had been a difficult year for me. I was struggling with teaching. Our university president had just resigned. And a project I was emotionally invested in came to a screeching halt. 

I was devastated. I found myself searching for what was next. 

Getting Started with Life Coaching

So I dipped my toes into coaching that summer and into the fall. I found Brooke Castillo’s podcast in a random search and started listening. I proceeded to complete a foundational course in an ICF accredited program and then got to work coaching. My first paid coaching client started in January 2017. 

I was thrilled to be doing something that I felt connected to. I started coaching more clients, but then I started to run into a wall. While some of my clients were taking actions and getting results, some of them weren’t and I didn’t know why. I wanted to help them.

As I continued listening to Brooke’s podcast, I absorbed more of her wisdom. (Honestly, I was very suspicious of the fake nails and eyelashes. That’s not how we typically roll in academia! I wanted to see authentic evidence.) As reticent as I was, the more I read the books she recommended, the more I realized she really knew what she was talking about.

In the summer of 2018, I began wondering about my business. I questioned whether I should keep moving forward with it. If I should continue spending my free time coaching. But then it happened, as if by magic: Brooke revealed her first online certification cohort.

Something inside of me screamed YES. You have to do this! You must make this happen. I had heard the siren call when she first opened up Self-Coaching Scholars and ignored it. Now was my time and I wouldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. 

But I was PETRIFIED of spending that kind of money. I had spent less money on my car than this program cost. I had never paid for tuition in school as I was always on scholarship or fully funded in graduate school. (I took out loans for living expenses, for sure.) But this? This was a huge deal. I was on a mission to get out of debt and this felt like moving in the opposite direction.

The Life Coach School Certification

Even so, I took the leap and signed up. That’s also when I had my first experience with quality coaching for myself. I hired someone to help me work on my money beliefs (fortuitously, she’s now my accountant). A Life Coach School certified coach helped me to process through my thoughts and fears as we geared up for the program starting in October 2018. I had so many thoughts to manage but, through that coaching, I overcame my constant worrying.

And then I became unstoppable! 

Learning all of the tools and techniques from Brooke, I knew exactly how to help my clients get results. Now I have the model and I can understand what keeps a person from taking action. It’s because of the feelings that drive them. Circumstances are neutral. But it’s thoughts that create feelings. And the good news? I get to choose my thoughts.

I couldn’t have anticipated the monumental results I got simply from showing up for myself. Just from being coached, I was able to: 

• Become a time ninja as I balanced coaching and being a professor.

• Figure out with my husband how to reconnect after years of him traveling and me “being busy.”

• Become a confident mom when we adopted out of foster care.

• Reconnect with my own mother after years of not talking.

• Earn back all of the money I invested in certification (and more) within 6 months.

• Give myself permission to trust myself and make decisions for myself instead of asking everyone else around me what I should do.

• Stop outrunning myself.

• Deal with my emotions (boredom, worry, overwhelmedness, etc).

• Realize I wasn’t supposed to be happy all of the time. (100% happiness is a myth.)

And then I created an amazing result. Brooke asked me to be on the podcast.

Brooke Castillo’s Life Coach Podcast 

Her podcast is regularly in the top 250 list of all podcasts. This was huge. If you had asked me in 2016, when I started listening to her, “Do you know you’ll be on a future episode?” I would have looked at you quizzically. In 2018, I might have said, “Yeah, maybe in 2025?” 

But here I am, on one of Brooke’s episodes in 2020, sharing my enthusiasm with the world!

Related to that experience, I was also flown out to Dallas for a photo/video shoot to talk about my experience in Coach Certification. It all happened in the same week and I only had about two weeks to prepare. You know your true priorities when an event like this happens - I could have easily said my schedule was full or I was too busy. But I dropped everything!

In order from top left to bottom right - Andrea Scalici, Lauren Cash, Elizabeth Salazar, Lisa Hatlestad, Lindsay Dotzlaf, Janet Archer, myself, and Carrie Marshall

I was privileged to spend the day in Dallas surrounded by other incredible women. The conversations in between videos (and in such a fancy house!) were mind-blowing. I saw the evidence of what it’s like to put yourself in the room with smart people. These women were mirrors for myself and what I had also accomplished. 

As I soaked everything in, I heard earth-shattering statements just casually mentioned on the car ride or at dinner. We all helped each other to shine brighter. That trip gave me so much energy to move forward. 

Although Dallas was magical, I did need to come back home. But after being surrounded by these encouraging women, I am more trusting of myself now. I used this experience to anchor myself, to remember how far I’ve come and where I’m headed.

Is Life Coaching for You?

I want the same kind of energy and motivation for you to accomplish your dreams. I want you to “trust your knowing”, as Glennon Doyle puts it. When an opportunity taps you on the shoulder and you feel pulled to it - you go for it. That’s what certification was about for me. Listening to and acting on something I truly wanted to do, just for myself. 

You probably have things like this too. Are you pushing them away or leaning into them? Even if it’s scary. It’s time to take the leap! 

Giving Yourself Grace: Permission to Not Accomplish Everything

I want to talk to you today about giving yourself grace.

This is a topic that I've heard from a lot of people lately that they're saying things where they aren’t giving themselves grace. So today, I'm giving you permission to give yourself grace.

The example here is when people ask me how I get a lot of things done during my day or how I'm able to accomplish things on my to-do list.

One of the things that they are asking themselves is what's going on in their lives where maybe they're not able to complete these things. For example, my friends ask me, “How do you get everything done?” When they are a mom of at least one child, if not more, and they have to take care of another human being.

I'm not a mom! I have a whole different kind of time schedule compared to parents. 

Or they ask that question about how do you get things done and they might have a chronic illness or disease that prevents them from being able to have a whole different kind of time right? If you have fatigue, that's something that you're dealing with that takes a lot more time in your day.

Something else that has happened to me – so for example, just today this morning, it's a Monday and I forgot my lunch that was on the kitchen counter. I packed it and I forgot it and I also forgot the computer cord that connects my tablet to the projector for classes, and I forgot both of these things.

Instead of telling myself kind of the negative thought loop of, “Oh, I can't believe you left those things” or “you're so stupid for leaving those things” – things that we wouldn't ever tell our best friend, but somehow we think it's okay to tell ourselves that.

Instead of doing all that, I just remember like, “Hey, it's ok. Sometimes these kinds of things happen” and I don't have to beat myself up for thinking that something it was about me, “it’ll be fine.” The rest of my day can be fine. The rest of my week can be fine, until the rest of the month – completely the rest of the month. All these things help remind us to give ourselves grace.

So what's something that's going on in your life that you might not be accounting for when you're trying to think about all the things you need to get done?

What are some of the things you can prevent yourself from saying to yourself inside your head that you wouldn't say to anybody else, but sometimes we get trapped in telling ourselves that?

Those are two things I want you to think about today. Tell us below in the comments or send me a note because I'd love to hear what your examples are! You have my permission to not get it all done.

The Challenge to Try Something New (Again)

Are you avoiding a new habit or something that could help you be more productive because you've tried it once? Here's encouragement to try again!

Excited to talk to you today about trying things more than once. This sounds like a really simple idea, but I want to give you the pep talk today to be able to think about things that you can do or try again in your life.

Try, try again

Often with coaching clients, I hear things like “I tried meditation once…” or “I tried using a paper planner once…” “I tried you know delegating that task once…” All kinds of different things that we have in our lives that we know can be really helpful. There's a lot of scientific evidence about that this could help or other people have told you in your life that that could be helpful and we say “Oh, I've tried that once.”

And it implies I'm not doing it ever again or that's not for me, I'm not that kind of person, all these kinds of things.

One of the biggest blocks I had about something I thought I was never going to do was about running. I just had this persona of I'm not a runner. I've never run before. It's not going to happen. That's great that other people do it, I'm not going to do it right. It's just like we get into these traps of thinking that's not me. I'm not going to do that again or give it a try.

Well take a step back and really think about how we encourage children to keep trying things like what if you said – first time you're riding a bike, “I tried riding a bike once, it just didn’t work out for me.”

Keep practicing

Everybody knows that one time doesn't work, right? That you have to keep practicing and you have to keep seeing, you know, how goes. This doesn’t mean we have to try endlessly. I mean, maybe eventually decide you just don't like riding bikes, but it doesn't mean that you’ve said, “I tried it once and I'm done.” That's true for a lot of things and again back to the meditation, a lot of people find they have to keep practicing at it or come and go from it over time just to really make it stick. Different ways we can build those habits.

I had that problem about yoga for a long time. Sometimes I would struggle with it, I’d dabble in it, and it's only recently that I really felt like it's really sticking. I really see the benefit and what everybody goes on about all the time. So exercise is a common one, but also the productivity things in our lives.

What are the things that you keep ignoring because you say “I tried it once and I'm not going back” to whether that's the plan or method that you use, the way you take notes, the way your smartphone set up, the way your laptop’s organized, all of those things that we get kind of trapped in our traditional way.

I want to challenge you to think about one thing you can do this week that might be another attempt at something that didn't go so well before, but could be something you’d try again – something simple because it could really make a difference.

Want to stop procrastinating? Leave your details below, and I’ll send you my tips for reclaiming your time.

My Latest List of Optimistic and Fresh Podcasts

Are you looking you for optimistic and fresh perspectives on podcasts?

Now that I have returned to the world of the smartphone (after a refreshing 18-month hiatus), I have been listening to more podcasts while I'm driving or cleaning up around the house. These podcasts are helping me stay optimistic and hopeful about the future, especially after a long day.

The Quarter Life Comeback with Bryan Teare

I wish this podcast existed when I was in my early twenties! Every week, Bryan interviews people from a variety of backgrounds about how to navigate your twenties. I find it fascinating to hear the common themes among the podcast guests. Bryan truly wants to help others on their journey and you can hear it in his voice. Okay, maybe I'm a little biased...I was a guest on the show for episode 35 - the science of emerging adulthood. I really do listen every week though and encourage you to do the same.

Finding Mastery: Conversations with Michael Gervais

This podcast was a recommendation to me by one of our university's basketball coaches. When I saw the list of guests on the show, I knew I had to catch up quickly. I love how the guests range from experts in psychology to entrepreneurs to star athletes. The list goes on. Another excellent podcast to learn life lessons from people who have achieved and mastered so much.

Pivot Podcast with Jenny Blake

I already love everything Jenny Blake writes as an author, including her two books Life After College and PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One. The podcast really brings to life her voice and joy for helping others. Jenny openly shares her personal experiences about life, leaving Google to pursue her own dreams, and interviews many of her friends and mentors along the way.

Adulthood Made Easy by Real Simple

This is a fun podcast hosted by a 20-something living in New York - Sam Zabell. She talks about her own experiences with "adulting" and interviews guests about their life experiences. I really like the freshness of the podcast and how it ranges from lighthearted adulthood topics to serious moments of looking back. Again, another podcast I wish that existed when I was younger!

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin is quickly becoming a household name, but I started following her work in 2011 right after she released her book, The Happiness Project, one of my all-time favorite books. On the podcast, we get to hear her talk with her sister about their current, everyday challenges. It especially reminds that we all struggle along the way to becoming more productive and happier. Always an upbeat vibe on this podcast. #upholder

So what other podcasts are you listening to right now? Share below in the comments so I can check them out!

The Right Mindset for Back to School

"Can you believe we already have to go back to school?"

These are the phrases we use as students (and teachers) everywhere this time of year. "Ugh, I can't believe my summer disappeared." Or "I have to start going to class again."

But what if we shifted what we say, just slightly?

One of my favorite productivity experts, Michael Hyatt, wrote about this idea earlier this year. Instead of saying, "we have to," what if we say, "we get to."

"I get to go back to school on Monday."

See the difference? It's subtle, but it takes the dread out of the sentence and shifts our mindset. Now we have something to look forward to. Now we remember that we chose to do this. We get to go back to something we are choosing to do. Again, true for both students and teachers. You might say, "Oh no, I HAVE to go school so I can get this degree...get that job...because my parents are forcing me..." the list goes on and on.

Stop and think about all the people in the world who would love to be in your shoes.

I don't say that to make you feel guilty, but to remind you of the privilege of education. Around the globe, millions of people do not have the opportunity to go to school, whether they want to be there or not. It is a privilege to be getting ready to go back to school. By using "get to" instead of "have to," we remind ourselves of that privilege.

"I get to wake up, go to school, and learn something. What a privilege."

You don't have to run around saying, "Wow, I'm SO EXCITED to go back to school," either to get into the right mindset. Just the word "get" is what changes things.

Now for the record, I am the teacher that runs around excited about the first day of school. It's the best day of the year if you ask me. Everyone is well rested, at least somewhat interested in the newness of the year, and everything is so fresh! School supplies - don't get me started on how much I love those! Yep, just quickly walk away. Nothing to see here.

What else do you "get to do" today? Share below in the comments!

Inspiration to Keep Going When You Want to Throw in the Towel

All this talk about the Olympics has me thinking about how much the athletes have accomplished and will accomplish during their event. It is amazing to watch their stamina and skill. Lots of people are posting about past Olympic events and the feats of accomplishment.

Have you seen this clip from Derek Redmond's 1992 race?

What pain and agony he must have felt.

Watching that clip for the first time brought tears to my eyes. First, the pain he must have experienced when his hamstring tore. Then, the pain he felt while trying to get back up and run. The emotional pain sinking in was really powerful. Can you imagine training that hard and for so long to have the chance of winning disappear in an instant?

But he got back up and finished the race.

I'm pretty sure if my hamstring tore like that in front of thousands of people and surrounded by medical care - I'd be more than happy to be taken off the track on a stretcher. "That's it! I give up!" How many times have we said that to ourselves about our goals? "I'm done!" But Derek took a few seconds and got right back up.

And he didn't finish it alone. He had support.

It was Derek's father that ran down to help him. Derek didn't have to fend off any officials - his dad did it for him. And his father talked to him as he finished. Having a support system, whoever it might be, is so crucial to finishing our goals and accomplishments. Who do you rely on for support in your life? Does it vary depending on the goal?

So the next time you're feeling like throwing in the towel and giving up...

Remember Derek Redmond. He knew he wanted to finish that race and so he did it. You can keep going with your goals too and make it happen. Build your support system and remind yourself of the reasons why you want to finish your goal. You can read more details about Derek's race here. And tell us below in the comments how his story inspired you!