Living Years Coaching



	Published: 2nd February 2008 in the Rochdale Observer

	Life coaching is different to counselling or therapy. I'm told it's a forward-thinking way of helping people to appreciate themselves more, give them a chance to reflect on their lives and help them to conquer fears and challenge beliefs. It asks people to address if they are satisfied with the way things are. And it helps them to face tough challenges as they work towards a new and better life. Bearing this in mind, I readily agreed to put myself in the hot seat with Kathryn Ansley of Living Years Coaching. I must admit I am really looking forward to taking time out to step off the treadmill and take a good hard look at my life. Kathryn, of Waterview close, Newhey, took up a new career after her son was diagnosed with autism in 2003 and decided to use her personal experience to help others to restore their sense of well-being. And how often do you get to do that with someone who is impartial, and less critical, than a friend of family member? I want to learn why my life isn't working in certain areas and then find inspiring and, hopefully, new goals. I am also hoping this will boost my self confidence. I'm steeling myself to answer powerful questions and have my beliefs challenged with a variety of coaching tools to help me work through the inevitable roadblocks the world has thrown my way for the last 29 years.
	Before my first coaching session Kathryn sends me a Wheel of Life, made up of eight sections representing different areas of my life - romance, career, health, money, friends and family, personal growth, fun and recreation and physical environment. I am asked to create my own 'wheel' by regarding the outer edge of the wheel as a10 and the centre as 0 and drawing a line between each life area. After much head scratching and soul searching I have my 'wheel' - and what appears to be a very bumpy ride indeed. Clutching my homework, and with a hopeful smile on my face, I head off for my first life coaching session. But just what will it reveal? As a reporter I am used to gleaning information from people. So it makes a change to be at the receiving end of someone else's questions for my first life coaching session. Kathryn, a former human resources manager, says there is a significant difference between counselling and life coaching. "Counselling helps people to deal with things that have happened to them in the past," she says. "And life coaching takes you from the present and identifies where you are heading.	It identifies the changes you are looking to make." Explaining why life coaching is so important, she says we rarely make a plan of what we want to achieve in life. We have fitness coaches to hone our bodies, but we don't afford ourselves the luxury of thinking about our lives. Kathryn looks at my Wheel of Life, which I completed for our session. She is pleased that the wheel, which identifies areas of my life that need working on, has many positive aspects, such as romance and friends and family. I tell her that I would like help to believe that I can achieve certain goals and Kathryn sets me some confidence and self-esteem building homework, which will entail me re-training the way I think. If I believe a situation is going to be awful, it probably will be. The subconscious can be a powerful thing. So in my mind I need to visualise it going well. And I need to start realising that people have a choice over the way they react to me. And I have a choice over how I react to them. I don't have to feel intimated or nervous in their company. Promising 100-per-cent determination to completing these tasks, I promise to keep in touch with Kathryn for a follow-up session.