Alana's Advice

I’ve been asked to work on a project that I feel is outside of my realm. I’ve never done it before formally and I am worried that I don’t have the understanding to complete the task successfully.

I’ve been asked to speak to families that have ran into some rough times. Immediately, I called my coach and asked him how do I coach this. I’ve done career and accountability coaching for a lot of people (side note – I am a resume wizard and I can tell you how to knock any job interview out of the park!) BUT families? Real life? I struggled with feeling inadequate enough to be bestowed with such an honor to help families.

I expressed my concern to my husband and kid. Immediately the kid says that I am perfect for it. That I have a story to tell of how I overcame my adversities and was counted out. She says that this is the perfect time for me to put together the “how to” answers that she’s been trying to draw from me. My response is always “I just did what I had to do”. My daughter says, you did, and you did an amazing job, now sit back and think of what it was that you did that kept you on the path to success…and share that! She told me that people, especially young people, need encouragement and direction and to see and talk to someone that made it out of a situation that seemed insurmountable.

I never think of myself in terms of successfulness. I am always reaching for more. But in a conversation with a close friend, we were speaking in terms of the people we’ve helped along the way. He said he defines success as the number of people that he has personally helped advance themselves. Now that’s a success story that I can definitely grasp. I have helped so many people grow and advance themselves and their careers. I have people who I’ve helped far surpass me. And it brings me great joy!

My daughter says that I have more “kids” that aren’t really my kids call and ask for more advice than she does. She tells me that I always offer them great advice and wisdom and that I just need to put that into a logical format and presentation to start my family coaching sessions. She is something else. She gives me guidance and advice all the time. She talks me off the ledge. I am blessed to have her as my daughter💜