A Coaching Model Created by Elle Wilks
(Life Coach, UNITED KINGDOM)
Realise what you really want. It stops you chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold. William Moulton Marsden
When I first read William Moulton Marsden’s quote, it really struck a chord. I love the analogy of searching for our inner gold – putting all our energy, effort and motivation into things that bring us closer to awakening and releasing our authentic selves. It also puts a lot of focus on bringing awareness to your ‘tools’ – your values, strengths, perceptions, beliefs – all the things that make us who we are; and understanding how they can support us in setting our vision, making the best choices for us in that moment and committing to the action we need to take.
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Clarity
This is a word I use a lot – at home, at work and in my coaching. For me, clarity is the single most important starting point for any journey – understanding the current situation; who I am in this moment, what I have to offer and my unique and authentic voice in this world. Only when we have a greater awareness of these things can we feel start to feel genuine confidence in our direction.
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Vision
Setting out a clear vision – in as much detail as possible at this stage (it’s something that can evolve with us) – is what gives us purpose. We have found our tools and packed our bags, and now we are choosing our destination – at least, our first destination, the one we believe right now will serve us best. We know what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like, what it tastes like, what it smells like and we’re hungry for it. We have marked our ‘X’ on our treasure map.
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Choices
There are lots of ways we can reach our vision. Sometimes it might not feel like it, and this stage is all about recognising our ability to bring choice into everything we do. Even when it might feel like we don’t have many options, and our hands are tied, there are ALWAYS choices. At a fundamental level, this may simply be the choice to reframe our perspective; to choose to see things in a different way. When we do this, we open up the paths on our treasure map. We are empowered and we are motivated.
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Action
Now it’s time to start down our chosen path – it might not be easy, it might not be the right one, it might not be the shortest route, but we are taking action towards our gold. We are trying out the new perceptions we have chosen, we are recognising the limiting beliefs that are holding us back, we are gaining confidence in our new voice. We are showing great strength and courage and when the going gets tough, we can rummage in our tool kits to find something to support us through.
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Celebration
With courage and conviction, we will reach our first ‘X’ on the map and we will dig up a nugget of gold – a pure piece of our true selves. Acknowledging our journey as we sit with our first piece of gold is so important – the challenges, the learnings, the highs and the lows of awakening this part of ourselves. We should reward this and express our gratitude. Only then will we be ready to make our next choice – where to put the next ‘X’ on our treasure maps.
Reflections
The ‘flow’ of our journey might weave us back through earlier stages before we reach our gold – we might need to question more perceptions and beliefs, we might discover new strengths and resources to support us, we might realise we put the ‘X’ in the wrong place on the map. It’s important that this fluidity is embraced as a powerful and intrinsic part of our journey, reinforcing every step and ensuring we are on an authentic route. And finding the gold isn’t the end either – it’s likely you’ll have awakened a new part of yourself that wants to find and know more, and you’ll want to draw a new ‘X’ on your map and continue on your journey. We can always unearth more inner gold – working with a coach can help you to focus on how you can find and be your very best self.