If you want to do things differently but need some help making it happen then tune in for your weekly dose of coaching from me, Maisie Hill, Master Life Coach and author of Period Power. Welcome to The Maisie Hill Experience.

Okay, folks, welcome to today’s podcast. I have a very special guest with me today, one of my long-term clients from the membership, Sarah Hall. Sarah, welcome.

Sarah: Hello. Thank you, Maisie, for having me.

Maisie: I’ve been so excited for this conversation. And we were just talking before we started recording about how I don’t think we know what we’re going to end up talking about because there’s just so much to talk about. So why don’t we just start off, if you just want to introduce yourself, let us know your pronouns and what you’re up to in the world.

Sarah: Hello. Thank you again. My name’s Sarah Hall and my pronouns are she, her. And I’m a life coach now. My background is actually in management and leadership in the charity sector. So I’ve most recently spent just over 10 years as the CEO of a relationships and counselling charity. So that’s the role that I was in when I joined The Flow Collective over three years ago now. And I was actually taking a bit of time off from work, but that’s what I was doing.

And yeah, a lot has happened, a lot has changed in those three years. And part of that is I’m now a certified life coach and I’m full-time in my business providing coaching.

Maisie: That’s so cool. We really have so much to talk about. Okay, focus, Maisie, you can do this. So you must have been, so the membership’s been running for four years now, so you must have been in one of the first intakes.

Sarah: Yes, I think it had been running about six or nine months, I think when I joined. And it was the summer of 2020, that I joined.

Maisie: Amazing. So why did you sign up, what kind of drew you to joining?

Sarah: Well, yeah, so the summer of 2020 and it was about six months, maybe a bit more after I lost my daughter. My middle child, Anna, was stillborn in January 2020. And I was looking really for ways to, I guess, support my recovery and also to support me conceiving again. And as part of all of that, a friend actually that I made through the pregnancy loss, another woman who’d gone through a similar loss at a similar time. We talked about all kinds of different things, but one of the things she did was recommend Period Power to me, which had a really big impact, including leading me to the membership.

And I’d been seeing a counsellor and finding that really helpful, but I hadn’t considered coaching at all. And I think really I joined not knowing what I was in for, what I was going to get out of it. But I just knew I’d made a decision around that time that I really wanted to support myself and to find as many different ways to do that. And also, although I didn’t know what I was going to get out of it, I knew I wanted to invest in myself.

Maisie: Yeah. Can you share a bit more about that mindset at that time, you had clearly gone through something so terrible, so heartbreaking, it’s such a huge loss. I think if you can speak a bit more about that decision that you made for yourself to get that support, to invest in yourself would be something really useful for people to hear, if you’re up for sharing some more about that.

Sarah: Yeah, definitely. I think it was probably the first time that I’d ever really made that decision and decided that I think that previously I’d always had really kind of high, quite harsh expectations of myself. That we sort of give ourselves the minimum we need to keep going, don’t we, that yes, I’ll give myself what I need. And sometimes I do need support, but it’s just a bit here and there and then I can carry on and I can just keep going. And what had happened in this situation was that that hadn’t worked. That hadn’t been enough. And that was probably sort of my initial response.

I went back to work within about four weeks of giving birth and that was kind of the pattern and the expectation that I’d had of me through my life to that point that I can carry on and that yes, a bit of support where I need it. I ended up then taking more time off work and really realised, I kind of hesitate to use the phrase, that I said I couldn’t cope. But it felt like that I needed more and sort of there was a realisation that actually this is the time when I do really need to think about what support I need.

And once I kind of made that decision and started to do it and see the benefit of it, which was a lot of what happened after I joined the membership and then I’ve really never gone back. But it was quite a step to make that decision to begin with.

Maisie: I think you’ve spoken about that and just highlighted it so perfectly. Because I think it’s often all the work that we have to do on the front end of a decision that is the hard work, the figuring it out, the negotiating, the getting past our own limiting beliefs. And kind of stepping into that and then when you make the decision, you just go with it and there’s no going back from that decision. So you signed up not really knowing what to expect.

Sarah: So I was thinking, one of the things thinking back, it’s funny how much has changed. But I was thinking about joining and the first thing that happens is that you’re encouraged to introduce yourself in the community. And that to me felt like a huge thing. I think that was one of the things, was another thing that I had to get over actually joining a community and being visible within it. And okay, now I’ve got to introduce myself to all these people, that feeling like a really big, scary thing to do.

And then obviously doing it and realising that it wasn’t a big deal at all. But thinking back, that was something that I remembered how big that felt.

Maisie: Wow, it’s so interesting because there are these, I mean, you’ve been around for over three years. So I’m sure you will kind of see the way we have things set up. And in the vast majority of cases, there’s been a lot of thought into why we do things a particular way. And I was talking to someone recently and saying, the way that we ask people to be in the community is kind of the work of the membership. The kind of being seen, taking up space, celebrating yourself, being honest with yourself and with others.

It’s all the lessons that kind of happen within the membership and in the community are representative of the things that people are working on, wanting to improve and shift in their lives in a much bigger scale. And not everyone joins the community, there are people who use the membership who aren’t in the community at all. So it’s not like you have to do it a particular way, but the invitation is come on in, say hi, introduce yourselves. And it is a block for some people and I kind of love that.

Sarah: Yeah, that’s it, because I’m a day in and already made two big leaps that have made the decision. And then you’ve shown up and been visible. So already so much has changed before I’ve even engaged with any of the materials or been coached or any of that.

Maisie: Yeah. Oh my God. I love that that’s the thing that when you look back, that’s what you remember.

Sarah: Yeah. And then the next thing that I remember is that I obviously dived in because I was in that mindset of what can support me. And I was just so interested and obviously really drawn, having read the book and so all the kind of the hormone side of things. And then the first, so the next topic you introduced to the membership, the first theme that you did with us was self-coaching.

Maisie: Was it? Oh my gosh, okay.

Sarah: Yeah, I think it was the September. That was the first full month and so that was interesting. It was because not really, that’s part of it, I don’t really know what I’m going to get. And then, okay, so what’s this? This is interesting and you introduced the self-coaching model to us. And immediately that was so helpful and so interesting and so engaging for me. And obviously over time, that use of the model and coaching myself and getting coached using the model has just changed every part of my life.

But sort of going back to then, just having that approach introduced to me and having that realisation that, okay, so my thoughts create my feelings. And there’s this really useful simple tool that I can use. And that kind of leading to that realisation and understanding that actually I have control over my experience of life. And in fact I create my experience of life, yeah, that’s what happened.

Maisie: Yeah, it’s pretty epic, isn’t it? But it is such a huge shift to go through that realisation and it’s a very straightforward tool. It’s very simple things that we’re talking about. But when you can fully grasp them and apply them to your life and all the aspects of your life, I mean I find it difficult to summarise the impact it’s had on me.

But it’s just the best thing ever to see the impact it has on everyone in the membership and just kind of see whether it’s someone’s first introduction to self-coaching and they give it a go, or they’ve been a longstanding member like yourself. And still using the same things from three years ago, but in different ways. What else has been interesting for you? When you reflect on, I mean, there’s so much, well, you let me know where you want to go. What stands out to you?

Sarah: Yeah, there’s a few things. So when I think about what’s changed for me and what I’ve absorbed into kind of how I live my life now. I think about your approach to working with the seasons, which I just love. And that’s been something that’s impacted me a lot. And your approach to working with goals. Those are things that I have integrated and are part of how I live my life now, so that’s wonderful.

The other thing that came up when I was thinking about it in terms of impact was again, another kind of topic you introduced to us that I was a bit sort of like, okay, what’s this, was when we worked on self-love. And I had a real resistance to that coming up, kind of thinking, well, I don’t know about this, Maisie. What’s this about?

Maisie: But it’s a challenging one for a lot of people, and you can literally, because I’m always trying to get the pulse of the membership. In Chinese medicine terms, I’m feeling the pulses and getting a sense of what’s going on and what things would be useful for us to focus on. Well, I’m kind of just always getting a read on what’s happening. And what’s really interesting about that is that when you introduce something and start doing it, you can hear and feel the collective in-breath.

And I’m not even talking to anyone directly like this. I can just feel the community holding their breath and tensing ever so slightly because it is that thing that we all know we need but it’s uncomfortable to acknowledge that, to say it out loud. It’s confronting and it’s the best, whenever we do something on self-love.

That’s why it’s just such a big theme in an ongoing way in the membership is because how can we go for any of those goals or stretch ourselves in all these ways if it’s not rooted in self-acceptance and self-love? But we’re just in such a hurry to get past that and onto all the kind of outward facing things whereas as you know I’m all about kind of coming in and going deep so that we can go up and out.

Sarah: Yeah. And I think thinking back, that was probably quite a pivotal month of being willing to explore that and to start to work with it. Because I then in the kind of period after that I had goal after goal that was inward facing. And I think I came back to self-love and the relationship with myself quite a few times. It’s just changed so much in terms of the way that I treat myself, the regard that I have for myself, the way I think about myself, which then just impacts everything, doesn’t it? Because as you say, how can you go out and do those things in the world unless you …

Maisie: What difference has it made?

Sarah: Well, it’s impacted every area of life. I think that it really reinforced and added to that sense that I had of wanting to support myself and getting to the point now where I make myself a priority, that I am the priority in my life. And that has then had so many different knock-on effects. It had a really big impact through my next pregnancy in the way I chose to support myself through that process.

And when I think about the experience that I had of pregnancy and of birth and the postnatal period. The fact that I made myself a priority through that period, I think really impactful in terms of how I ended up on the other side of that. And also the experience that I had during as well in terms of my own wellbeing and my own physical health. I was in a much stronger, better position after the birth of my youngest child than I had been after the birth of my first child. And that being a pregnancy after loss, I had a premature birth and an emergency, quite traumatic birth.

And a period where my other baby, my baby was in hospital, so lots of challenges and actually came out of that feeling really well and really well supported by myself.

Maisie: That’s amazing.

Sarah: Because I was making myself a priority. And I had all of these tools that I hadn’t had previously.

Maisie: That’s really incredible, I mean, yeah.

Sarah: And it spills out everywhere else in terms of my experience of parenting. I have an eight-year-old as well, and just the way in which I think about parenting. And I think I previously had been very much thinking that I had to put my kids first no matter what. And that I could just kind of limp around behind them, making sure that they’re okay. I just don’t think that at all, the way that I live my life is very different. I make sure that I’m a priority and that I’m well cared for.

And it affected the way that I then approached my work. And I did a lot of work in the membership around slowing down, not rushing so much, just experiencing less stress in life.

Maisie: I think that’s one of the universal goals within the membership that someone picks at some point in their journey with us, slowing down, not rushing. Addressing day-to-day life, so that it’s a better experience of going about your day, but also so that there is space for the things that you want instead of actually just kind of dealing with problems all the time and dealing with to-do lists. Can you remember any of the goals that you set? I’m kind of curious about the internal ones you had and any external ones.

Sarah: So I think one of my original goals was to support myself well through pregnancy. I can’t remember exactly what my goal was around self-love, but I did have one. I went through all kinds of different, really struggle to be able to put it into words, but to come deeper into a loving relationship with myself, there was something around that. And moved on really to goals that were about figuring out what it was that I wanted.

Maisie: How was that for you to make that switch?

Sarah: It kind of happened naturally, I think. I think the first year in the membership was very much about, and you encourage us to pick a word of the year. So I think for the first full calendar year, my word was’ nourish’. And it was very much about that kind of supporting myself, building myself up. The second year my word was ‘wild’, which had come from various different conversations in the membership and reading the book, The Women Who Run with the Wolves.

And again, it’s making that conscious decision. I want to connect more with who I am innately and my natural intuition, my natural guidance system. So having made the decision to do that then. Then that kind of led to all of the goals and intentions that I had going forward.

And I think it was probably in that phase. And the other thing that when I think back over my time in the membership had the biggest impact was deciding to look directly at my thoughts around the pregnancy loss that I had experienced. I think partly that came from that decision to look a bit deeper and to spend more time with that kind of thing. Because I think although I was very open to getting support and I’ve always talked a lot about the experience that I had, and I have a very strong relationship with my daughter.

I had been really unwilling to look at my thoughts specifically around what had happened and why. And really the fact that I held myself responsible, that I thought it was my fault, that was something that I wasn’t really going to look at and I’d sort of tucked away. And then I think getting to that point of being more introspective and doing that kind of investigation, opened me up to that a bit.

And then Amy, one of the other coaches in the membership, Amy Watson, who works with women who have experienced baby loss and pregnancy loss. She did a call in the membership around baby loss. And I thought I don’t know about this, again. And I watched the replay almost from my hands over my eyes. And it just opened a little window. And she talked about that process of what I’d done in lots of other areas of my life, but that I hadn’t done here is look at what are the things that I’m thinking, what are the thoughts that I have, what’s the story that I’m telling myself here and do I want to keep that or not?

And it opened this possibility in me that I thought, well, maybe one day, maybe one day I could do that, I could look at that and I could start that long painful process of maybe starting to look at that. I was really certain and really sure that it was my fault. And lots of time with a stillbirth, you don’t get an explanation of the cause of death. And in our case we did, we knew that Anna had died as a result of an infection. And so this was something that I had contracted in pregnancy and had passed through the placenta to her and that was the cause of her death.

And my brain really wanted to know a lot more about that, to figure out exactly what had happened and why, what had I done. And I spent quite a lot of time trying to get that information. But I came up with a really well evidenced theory of when this had happened and how if I’d made different choices, hadn’t been in that location, hadn’t eaten those foods or made different choices that it wouldn’t have happened.

And so although I knew there was a lot of bad luck involved and I knew this wasn’t something that other people agreed with and it wasn’t something that I really said to other people because of course, I know that it’s not my fault. I can’t take responsibility for it. I knew, I had this real certain belief that it was my fault and that I could have done something differently. And that that was something that I would have to live with forever, that feeling of guilt and shame is something that I would have to carry with me forever.

So this kind of window from Amy was, well, maybe one day I could look at it. And if I did, then maybe over a long period of time, maybe something could change there. And from there kind of a few days later, I thought, well, maybe today is the day that I could write some things down and did that. And then one of the brilliant things we have in the membership is Ask a Coach, the written coaching service.

And I kind of thought well, maybe, I know that Amy works in Ask a Coach. I thought well maybe I could go, and I could just submit a question. And it just started this process that went back into over period of, I’m not really sure but probably only a few weeks where I started to look at those thoughts. And started to get coaching on it and started to see how I could think differently about it maybe one day. And what Amy did really brilliantly, I assume it was Amy, I don’t actually know for sure, but I assume.

What she did really brilliantly was show me along the way how much progress I’d made in just a few days, in just a few weeks. I got to the thought that what was really true for me more than anything else was that I would have done anything to keep her safe. I would have done anything to prevent it happening. And therefore that being true, if there had been something, I would have done it, if I could have prevented it, I would have. That felt like a really big breakthrough and really positive.

And I kind of thought, well, I’ve got this now. So maybe again over time I can keep shifting to that and I can start to let go of these other thoughts and start to move towards that. And then when I looked for those old thoughts, I couldn’t find them. It was like I was looking for them in part of my wherever they were, my brain or my heart, where they were, and they weren’t there anymore. And I just couldn’t access that feeling, that mixture of both guilt and shame, it’s not there anymore.

And I haven’t been able to find it since then. So I think that was the realisation that that is possible was just completely mind blowing.

Maisie: Yeah. Just over here getting a little teary, but just I mean there’s so much that I would like to just pause for a moment and say here. I want to start with just really acknowledging and appreciating your willingness to explore a little bit in the way that felt doable to you. And I think you were so kind to yourself in that, in doing it at the time when you felt maybe a little bit, let’s see how that goes. Because I think the way you went about that was a very kind, tender way to approach it.

Because sometimes people with their coaching can approach it from a really harsh, hard place of you’ve got to get through this, come on. And kind of bully themselves and of course, that’s not what we want for anyone’s experience with coaching in any situation to be. So, I think for you in that place where you’re like, I don’t know about this, in all these examples you’ve given, just your willingness from in that place of I don’t know about this. To stay in that space and take a step of some kind, I mean, it is just incredible.

So I really want to celebrate you and your ability to do that repeatedly. And I also just want to give a huge shout out to Amy. I know that call was a big one for several, many of the members and also for the coaching that she and Casey do in Ask a Coach. They’re going to be on the podcast soon to talk about the work that happens over there. But it is just, I don’t know, how was it for you doing it in that written form?

Sarah: Yeah, it was really helpful. I think it felt really accessible, I think because of that. It’s not got the same visibility as being on a call or even of being one-to-one with a coach. And I think the pace of it was really helpful, that I could, like you say, it’s in those kinds of moments where it felt accessible. I could go in and do that and do that in a way that felt really kind of private to me. It’s like an extension of self-coaching, getting this written perspective in. Yeah, it was really, really life changing.

And I know that doing that work and having that shift then will affect the quality of the rest of my life for decades to come. And in my work now, I’ve spoken to other women who have carried that kind of guilt and shame for decades in some cases. Just realising that the impact on my health and wellbeing and my enjoyment of life of not having that element of suffering there.

Because I still have, of course, grief and sadness and loss and all kinds of other emotions and love and connection, all kinds of things associated with that loss and with Anna. But I don’t have the guilt and the shame and that element of suffering.

Maisie: Yeah, because it’s one thing to have those there and I think when we talk about emotions, they don’t feel great, but they’re completely appropriate to have and actually grief is a way for us to connect as well. So, it’s not that it’s one thing or another. It’s kind of all linked up together. What we don’t want, like you said, on top of that is guilt and shame and those automatic responses of criticising and judging ourselves.

Sarah: Yeah, because I think it prevents, it certainly prevented me from just being in that grief and the sadness and the loss because I couldn’t be in that without also having that side of it as well, whereas now I can be. And yeah, in one sense it doesn’t feel good, but in some ways it does, that it’s appropriate and it’s part of the connection and it’s the human experience. It’s part of my life and I do like that part in some ways.

Maisie: Yeah. I know what you mean. And I think it’s important to talk about that because I think that’s often a part of the conversation that just doesn’t happen and it might be someone’s experience but it kind of doesn’t get spoken about. Are there any other things that you would like to acknowledge and celebrate and reflect on?

Sarah: Well, I think in terms of the next stage of the story was, having done that inward work and been thinking about, well, what is it that I want? Which kind of brings us up to present day a bit, I suppose. Was that then my word of the year was powerful, which was about having kind of realised and fully understood that I get to create my experience of my life. And that I can think whatever I want about myself and make whatever I want to do a reality is that, well, I better go get on and just start to do that then.

And it all links together, but previously I’d had sort of ideas and aspirations that I might become a counsellor and working. That was the original reason why I became the CEO of a counselling charity because I had that interest and that connection. And I kind of always thought that was something that I might do. And so getting to this point in my life, well, maybe now is the time that I do that. And I was having a conversation with my husband about it and he’s like, “Well, why is it that you would be a counsellor when all you talk about is coaching and all you spend your time doing?”

Maisie: That man should be a coach.

Sarah: I was like. “Oh, no, I couldn’t be a coach.” Why not?

Maisie: Yeah, why not? What was your brain telling you then?

Sarah: I think I just had an idea of myself that I could see myself as a counsellor and I didn’t see myself as a coach. And I think it was something about maybe being outgoing enough, being confident enough, being sort of, yeah, that goes back to that initial hesitation about being visible. But then, of course he asked me that question and that set me thinking, well, actually, yes, this is what I’m interested in. This is what I spend all of my time wanting to do and I can create a different identity for myself. I can do whatever it is that I want.

And so I decided that that was what I wanted to do and that I would develop that self-concept through doing it along the way. And that’s what last year was about, is that having identified what it was that I wanted was to develop the self-confidence to do it through doing it.

Maisie: Yeah, I love that. Just I’m kind of over here giggling a bit to myself because you’ve reminded me of, I had been doing a diploma in nutritional therapy. And I think I just had the final year left. So, I’d invested all the money, the time. I was going up to London once a week to do. It was a big thing because Nelson was little at the time as well. So it was such a big thing for me to do. And I was really enjoying it.

And then I guess the pandemic happened or something, it must have been that. So we weren’t able to go in or my mum died, that was it. And I thought I’m going to take a semester off and kind of rejoin after that initial period of grief. And I remember talking it over with someone in a coaching. I was getting coached on it, and I was kind of like, “Am I going to go back to that?”

And the person was just like, “Well, if someone came into you as a nutritional therapist and they were talking about their weight as part of the consultation. Would you want to talk to them about nutrition or would you want to coach them?” I was like, “There’s no way I would go into nutrition. I would go straight to coaching.” And I was like, “Yeah, I’m not going to bother doing this anymore.”

But it is, I think you think about and I’m a huge fan of all types of all of these modalities really, I think they’re all fantastic in different ways, different people, etc. So it’s not like there’s a certain type of person who’s a counsellor or a therapist or a coach or whatever. But it’s just so interesting that your brain was saying, you’re this, you’re not that.

Sarah: Yeah, just stuff that I’ve made up about the kind of person I was that was suited to one thing and not the other.

Maisie: What happened?

Sarah: I just decided.

Maisie: I love it. I’ve got written on my paper that we have to talk about you just deciding because I talk about this all the time. You just need to decide. Make the decision and then you just go from there.

Sarah: Yeah, because I did. I then spent a little bit of time thinking about, well, if I did want to be a [inaudible], what training would I want to do? And I spent a little bit of time in that and again, I think once I’d had that conversation and started that thinking about well, what is it that I’m interested in, this is the point. What is it that I want to do, is I just decided to follow my interests. I decided to follow what were the things that I was wanting to spend time thinking and working on. And once I’d made that decision, then it’s obvious what to do, isn’t it?

Maisie: Yeah. If I could implant anything in everyone’s brains that listens to the podcast, it’s this. And that’s why I just love coaching in the membership and talking about decisions because the work that we do around making decisions and everything that is involved in making decisions, it makes life so much simpler.

Sarah: When I think about that now I haven’t reconsidered it once since. I haven’t once thought, well, maybe I should have become a counsellor. Maybe I just made that decision and that’s been it. I haven’t looked back.

Maisie: So where are you with your work now? What’s been happening since you made that decision?

Sarah: I certified last summer, and I set my business up and started in September. So I’m a few months in. Life looks very different. So I’d left my full-time role just before Christmas and yeah, it’s great. I’m loving it.

Maisie: It’s the best, isn’t it?

Sarah: It is.

Maisie: We have the best jobs.

Sarah: Absolutely.

Maisie: Yeah, I love it. Is there anything else that you want to touch on? Any kind of aha moments you’ve had? Any other results that you’ve created that could be to do with things we’ve already touched on or completely different? Any fun memories?

Sarah: The fun memory that I had actually when I was thinking about this, and I’d completely forgotten about it. Going right back to that first topic of self-coaching and doing a call with you and you taught us the model. Was then my husband coming home from work and this time during lockdown, I think, I was homeschooling our eldest.

Maisie: I think I know where this is going. Go on.

Sarah: Somewhere as part of this I had those gigantic post-it notes, flipcharts that stick on the wall. So we had stuff around and my husband came home, and he was telling me about some argument or some difficult client he’d had or some experience that he’d had. I’d just had this call, and you taught us the model. And I was like, “Well, I’ve just learned this really interesting thing, let’s use it.”

And got up on the flipchart, modelled out his experience of this exchange that he’d had with somebody. And I’ve obviously since realised that that’s not the way to use the model to start coaching your husband against his will when he comes home from work. It just kind of captures the enthusiasm that I had around, I’ve just learned this thing.

Maisie: Yeah, but I think that’s often, when you look at the different ways that people learn and that’s often spoke about is that is one of the most effective ways of learning is trying to explain it to someone else. And I’m just cracking up because I was just thinking, oh, my goodness and you thought you weren’t a coach.

Sarah: There I was with my flipchart. And there’s a lot in terms of, I think, thinking about fun memories and fun things. I think that’s been a big part of what I’ve taken from your coaching and from the community and the way that you bring in fun and playfulness. And I think about lots of examples of how that’s shown up in the way that I’ve approached things with my kids and myself. And lots of goals or periods where the thing that I’ve done has been like buy a frisbee or find a carousel to go on or fly a kite.

And I think that’s what I’d like to say something about just how special The Flow Collective is. It’s just enhanced my life in a way that I just couldn’t have imagined, in a way that I sort of didn’t know was possible and definitely had no idea that I needed. And it’s just provided me with something that’s been so supportive but also so enjoyable and so lovely.

And so I think that’s the other thing that I’d like to offer to anybody who listens to the podcast, who has any interest in joining is just to really encourage them to do that. And there’s no way it’s not going to have a massively positive impact on your life, and it will probably be in ways that you can’t currently imagine.

Maisie: It’s so fascinating that, isn’t it? I think that’s so true and thank you for sharing that. But I think just with coaching, I think we all come to it, maybe not fully knowing what we’re going to be getting into, what’s going to happen. But maybe there’s something that kind of draws us to it and thinking well, I would really like to be able to use it in this part of my life and to work on this thing and whatever that thing is. You just never know where you’re going to end up with it.

And to me, that is the adventure of it, that is the fun. And I just absolutely delight in seeing people sharing in the community and things like I thought it was going to take me years to do this and I’ve done it this amount of time. And even we have people who listen to the podcast and they’re like, “I’ve set my goal for this year, and I’ve actually achieved it in five months.” They email us in saying, “I’m just using the stuff on the podcast. I’m not in the membership, but this is what I’ve managed to do in this time.” And I’m like, “Well, you’ve got to get in the membership, wait till you see what happens there.”

Sarah: Yeah, that’s it, yeah.

Maisie: It’s incredible just to hear your journey with things and where you’ve ended up now, just amazing. Are you proud of yourself?

Sarah: Yeah, I am. And actually going through this process and discussing it with you, it’s always really helpful to look back, isn’t it? I think that supports that. Yeah, I am proud. And also I think it is recognising how far I’ve come as well, because I think you get to the next stage and that just becomes normal and accepted. And actually to look back, I think actually, yeah, a lot has changed. I have come a really long way. So that’s nice to notice as well.

Maisie: It is because we do forget, we just move on and like you say, we just acclimatise to what the new normal is and we kind of forget, no, this was something that I used to have a really hard time with, or I was really unsure about. So when we do think, no, this is what’s happened and that’s how I used to be and I’m not like that anymore. And this is how I approach things now. And to do that in a way without kind of shaming and criticising that past version of you as well.

Having that loving acceptance of the previous version of you is kind of equal love of the previous version, the current version and the future version still to come. So speaking of future versions, what’s the next chapter going to be, have you got any idea?

Saah: Well, I have some idea, but also holding space for the fact that I probably don’t have any idea as well.

Maisie: That’s the perfect way to put it, I’ve got a sense of things, but really who knows?

Sarah: Yeah. And my word for this year is connection, and it’s partly about wanting to connect deeper to myself and the work that I’m doing and also to my clients and to more people as I develop my business. And that’s my focus at the moment is really just all about coaching and developing my business and the next level that that requires.

Maisie: Yeah. Because, I mean, there really is nothing like doing all of those things to create a situation where the next version of you is going to burst through. I cannot wait to see what happens. Well, on that note, can you let people know where to find you if they are interested in hiring a coach, where do they need to go?

Sarah: Yes, of course. So my website is sarahhallcoaching.com. And if people want to connect with me on social media, the best place to do that is on LinkedIn, where again you can find me at Sarah Hall Coaching and I offer general life coaching. So I coach on any and all areas of life.

Maisie: I’m with you, general life coaching is the best.

Sarah: It’s the way to go. Yeah, so people come with all kinds of different things, as you say. Sometimes there’s a kind of a way in that people want maybe support with their business or their career or their relationships or their family. Or it’s more about themselves and their own wellbeing and investing in themselves. And usually it ends up being a combination that we cover a lot of ground.

Maisie: Coaching is the best I know I say it all the time, but I just love it. I love it. And it’s been so wonderful to hear about the impact it’s had on you and now the impact that it’s having on your clients in your work with them, amazing. Anything else you want to add before we wrap up?

Sarah: No, I don’t think so. There’s so much more that I could say or could talk about, but I think the thing that I want to say is thank you, Maisie, for everything and for the opportunity to come on and talk about it as well. It’s been really lovely.

Maisie: Thank you so much. Well, we can always do a round two [inaudible]. We can always come back to the other stuff. But you’re so welcome, I mean, this is why I do it. It’s amazing to do, it for sure has its challenges but to be able to offer coaching in this way and it’s just like I say, it’s an adventure. I never know the impact it’s going to have on someone. It’s just always so cool to hear about it. So thank you for coming on and sharing so openly and generously with us. I’m sure this will be helpful to many, many, many listeners. So thank you, Sarah.

Alright, folks, that is it for this week. I’ll catch you next time.

Hey, if you love listening to this podcast then come and check out my membership, The Flow Collective, where you get my best resources and all the coaching you need to transform your inner and outer life. Sign up to the waitlist at theflowcollective.co/join, and I’ll see you in the community.