Nov 13, 2009
[Here is a personal testimonial on the background of my career change
thoughts. It was not an overnight thing, and took me few years of active
effort. I wish I could have worked with a life coach to have the support
and guidance to land on this sooner and smoother. -Sharmin]
These days whenever I talk to my friends and ex-coworkers, one question I get very often is: “How did you decide that you wanted to be a life coach?” Someone even asked, “So how did it happen, one fine morning you just decided on this?” Some people comment, “I wish I knew what my passion is”. My short answer is, it took me few years of dissatisfaction and trying out different activities, and finally one year of active thinking to find out my passion and next endeavor.
There was a time I truly enjoyed my software work; I was very proud
about my contribution which in turn satisfied my soul. At the same time
my social activities expanded beyond arranging Saturday night parties
and potlucks. I started working actively with a budding non-profit
organization and played a key role in the very first project of size
30K. On a personal level I somehow demonstrated qualities that made my
friends feel comfortable talking to me on troubling issues on career and
relationship – I became an unofficial counselor. In the meantime, I
became a mom; I started researching how to be a good parent. As I learnt
more, I thought about how I could share it with other women who have the
same questions as me. Luckily a friend of mine had an org focusing on
women’s empowerment. I, with a few other like minded friends started a
community blog on her site, writing articles on various topics – soft
skills, relationship, parenting, career and social stigma.
Deep inside I started to feel a big shift; I realized I wanted to learn
more about people, how they act in one way or other, and how can I
motivate them to live their personal best. In my job when I became a
manager, I got an opportunity to learn more about the people side. I
realized this is where my passion had shifted; I found more satisfaction
empowering people than solving technical problems. I was not happy. I
didn’t know if I belonged to this high tech industry anymore. Only half
of my job duty was people related and other half was draining my energy
every day. I spent sleepless nights thinking over it. I researched, read
books on psychology and management to find out where my passion was.
From the real world side I was getting devastated to realize a career
change meant all my educational investment in computer science was
becoming a big zero.
Around this time I bumped into (actually did a google search using some
keywords like career change, passion, people skills, etc ) a testimonial
from another woman mentioning her career change from a high tech field
to life coaching. Wow! I saw some light at the end of the tunnel. After
that I read a book on Life coaching, talked to few schools offering life
coaching courses and made some financial plans with my husband so we
could live on his paycheck. A big heavy load shifted off of my head. I
started my new journey of learning and discovery.
I am glad that I honored my dissatisfaction and was able to make it an opportunity to
find a more satisfying path for my life. I wish I knew about Life
coaching before so I could work with a coach and find my answers much
sooner!
[If my story resonates with yours and you are ready to do something
about it, contact me today and we can have a chat!]