Experimentation & Play

Some of my favorite words in the coaching space are experiment and practice.

When faced with making a big change or trying something new, framing the whole endeavor as an experiment - simply as practicing rather than fully committing to something new - can be quite liberating.

As a coach, I am all about easing transition. I don’t believe that things need to be hard to be worthy, or that "grinning and bearing it" has more value than taking a path with less resistance.

I am more curious about being curious: about approaching life with a sense of possibility and wonder.

Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to test out what I believe as a coach: that experimentation serves coaching clients. I am in my own chapter of testing the theory that play, creativity, and practice can usher in more possibility.

I’m living it after taking a leap of my own: after 2.5 years in the Pacific Northwest, I packed all my worldly possessions and moved back to the Midwest, to rural Iowa, to caretake a property.

In my last newsletter - sent before my flurry of change, transition and moving - I talked about my trip to Ireland and crying in a bog. (Riveting content!) I talked about finding my way back to center. A week or so after my return to the PNW, I allowed those big sobs to propel me forward: I said yes to this Iowa adventure.

I haven’t written much since that newsletter - not because there isn’t anything to say, but because my thoughts feel big and wild and untamable. How do I express that I am in a big change and that it has everything to do with everything? This change is about how I want to show up in the world, live a purpose-led life, and coach.

I'm making this move to get closer to my vision of what's possible - a life that is spacious, creative, adventurous, and brave. The move is also a reminder to myself of my power: my ability to shift when things aren’t aligned. And - importantly - it’s a grand experiment centered on my coaching practice.

With this move I am asking myself: with a big reduction in my cost of living and a simplification of my day-to-day life, am I able to focus fully on this thing I am building - this coaching practice? Can I make Growing Home Coaching a thriving business?

Until setting foot in Iowa, my coaching practice was one of many ways I was making money. When I decided to come to Iowa, I finished up my other projects. Now, I am letting coaching be the thing.

I decided I'd never know what this business could be, unless I tried - unless I experimented with it as my main focus and livelihood.

Scary!! I feel the tug of scarcity and uncertainty pulling my focus elsewhere already. This is a huge risk!

And yet, how exciting too! How exciting that I get to practice what I preach as a coach in this change I’m going through: I get to view this as an experiment. In doing so, I get to invite a bit of levity and a lot of possibility into what I’m doing.

That’s the thing: I think the more we play and experiment, and go into things acknowledging that we don't fully know what the hell we are doing, the more we learn and grow. And learning seems consistent in how it invites more questions, more curiosity. I believe experimentation is truly an unfolding towards what could be.

I want my coaching to feel liberatory for the humans I work with. And I think - to achieve that - I need to experiment more with what makes me feel liberated and free. I need to embrace the possibility that my personal changes and practice in the unfamiliar can actually bring about more abundance - for me and the wonderful humans I get to work with. Change is scary AND worthwhile!

So, hello from the beautiful, rolling hills of Iowa. What are you willing to try today? What’s the risk of taking a leap? What’s the risk of staying exactly where you are right now?

Here’s to bravely experimenting with what could be - I don’t know sweeter words then those three!