🌱The Unexpected Power of Therapy and Coaching - Issue 04
🌱The Unexpected Power of Therapy and Coaching - Issue 04
How I learned to communicate with my inner thoughts
👋 Hi, I’m Bea. I work in communications in food, relationships, and mental health spaces. I write weekly discoveries that have helped me stay calm in the hustle.
Today, I’m sharing a personal experiment: My 3-Month Journey with Coaching.
🌱The Unexpected Power of Therapy and Coaching
I'll be honest; I once believed therapy was solely for those grappling with deep-seated issues. Yet, following a suggestion that felt more like a critique, I hesitantly tried therapy two years ago.
What unfolded was nothing short of transformative. Regular sessions became my lifeline, reshaping my perspective and life's progress.
But why stop there? Around October, I thought instead of waiting for the typical New Year’s Resolutions I thought I would get a head start and try a coaching experiment across four bases of my life that make a good homerun for progress:
relationship with self and others
financial freedom
health goals
career clarity
💗Self-Worth and Love
Maribel Dionisio, a relationship therapist at the Love Institute, introduced me to the "wounded child" — a therapeutic term referring to unresolved traumas or emotional wounds affecting one's adult behavior and relationships.
Understanding the "wounded child" within us can be transformative. This insight came to life when I stumbled upon an article, This Family Therapist–Created Quiz Pinpoints Inner-Child Wounds That Could Be Influencing Your Behavior.
💡“The idea is to get to the root of why you might repeatedly make unhelpful decisions or act in unsupportive ways as an adult—which is why it may be especially useful to take the quiz if you’re finding yourself in a negative behavior cycle,” says Vienna Pharaon, a relationship therapist.
When I took Maribel’s questionnaire, I thought the results were wrong. Happy on the outside, I couldn't fathom being 'wounded.' Yet, Maribel from the Love Institute showed me that even high-functioning people can carry past burdens.
The revelation? Without confronting my childhood wounds, my relationships would remain stunted. So she recommended I do 3 to 5 sessions working on my self-worth. We worked on meditations, reflections, affirmations, and many other exercises.
The outcome? A reduction in anxiety and a newfound ease in connecting with others. I even spent more time with family and friends.
This quiz has many versions, but you can take this one.
🏧 Financial Freedom
The second base is working with a financial coach. Yani Moya of the School of Bliss helped me tackle my avoidance of money discussions head-on.
Implementing strategies like allocating 10% of my income to causes I believe in and employing a jar system for financial management led to a double income and a calmness over my financial well-being.
I realized financial freedom isn't just about having more but purposeful allocation and growth. Here are some of the tools I got out of this period:
CNBC Make it - Some great stories are about how people build wealth.
💪Health and Fitness
Balancing my love for food with health metrics initially seemed like a daunting stretch from second to third base. Yet, with a coach's guidance, I reduced my body fat from 32% to 29%, embracing the gym without fear. We worked together 2 to 3 times a week on strength training, accompanied by cardio.
I also logged my calorie intake in the My Fitness Pal app while hitting my daily protein targets. Some people were freaked out by me scanning bar codes or having a weighing scale to portion my food.
But, I must note that this journey wasn't about numbers but finding harmony between indulgence and well-being. I wanted to understand my body.
Regularly, I’d track where I’m at and jot down notes of what I did well or what I can adjust. Even if my results would yo-yo, I knew I could easily get back on track. One realization during my trip to Japan was that although I was not restrictive with my food, I experienced positive changes in my body. There’s a lot of research out there that shows the benefits of the Japanese diet.
Here’s an example of how I would track my progress:
This year's goal is to get to 25% body fat, but I’m still celebrating small wins.
👩🏻💼Career Direction
Finally, seeking clarity and purpose in my career felt like the final sprint to a homerun. Moving beyond what people say you should do, I worked towards what I wanted.
I worked with Cristina Espinal of Play Big, whom I met at Ali Abdaal’s meet-up in London last summer. I first followed her on Twitter and enjoyed her content on building a meaningful career.
So, I contacted her about coaching as part of my experiment. We worked together for three sessions, and she helped me define my value proposition, goals, and career story. If you ever had a guidance counselor in high school, Cristina is the one you wish you had.
💡On people pleasing and overthinking: “A lot of that is because we struggle with self trust, right? We struggle with listening to our intuition. And the thing is, all the answers are within you.”
- Cristina Espinal, career coach
She held up a mirror to those thoughts I didn’t know about. She knew exactly when to push me and to slow me down. We worked together for 3 online sessions, and this path offered a direct conversation with my aspirations, confirming that authenticity in one’s career is the true homerun. The clarity she gave me was priceless.
🌟 Special Note: If you're intrigued by Cristina's Play Big Method to career coaching, consider contacting her. Mention that you heard about her through this newsletter. You can also check out her newsletter here.
Of course, one can’t depend on coaches forever. I needed to work out a system that helped me progress between periods I was not working with coaches. Here are some habits that have helped me:
Daily journaling to keep my inner voice and actions aligned: I would do this in a notes app and answer some prompts I had. If you’d like a copy of these prompts, message me.
Weekly reflections on progress and setbacks: I did this every Sunday with a cup of coffee. Some days, I had 15 minutes; others, I had 2 hours.
Doing quarterly or monthly check-ins with coaches if one’s personal budget permits.
This 3-month coaching experiment was more than a pursuit of self-improvement; it was a testament to the transformative power of introspection, guided discovery, and the courage to confront what lies within.
For total transparency, the estimate of an experiment like this is P127,500 or $2,200. The cost will vary depending on the coaches you choose. But it’s the best investment you can make. Here’s one of my favorite messages from Reese Witherspoon, who shares why she invested in herself and put all her money into Hello Sunshine. This media company sold for a reported $900 million.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser“Don’t ever stop investing in yourself. You are your own lottery ticket.” - Reese Witherspoon.
My Content Diet 🧠
Here are some gems I found in the last few weeks:
Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal This book is a New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller, but more than that, it’s full of fun anecdotes and experiments on what motivates people to do their best work.
The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss is a classic but always a good one to reread, especially if you’re tired of the rat race!
Anna Mack’s Stack I met Anna in an online writing community. Her personal story is brilliant, having had leadership roles at MECCA and UNIQLO. Her newsletter is a breeze to read, yet full of business, career, and life lessons.