Life Coaching

When Steve Jobs said “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”  He probably knew that this statement would resonate with a lot of people in the world.

Too many of us, too often, forget about what we want in our life and how to stay focused on our goals, ambitions and desires and we live our lives according to what or how (or so we think) others want for us.

Whether we have many years to live in this life time or whether ours is only a fleeting visit, be clear about what you want and set yourself a goal to go out there and get it.

Live a full and fulfilling life, follow your dreams, and be the person you want to be.  Those who matter to you will love you for it and the benefits will be multiple – for you, those close to you and those who come into contact with you.

Live in such a way that at any point in time you can look back and say “This is what I’ve done, this is what I’m doing and this is where I’m going, and I love every part of my journey.”

We grow, learn, develop and enjoy our lives most when we are true to ourselves, to our hearts desires, to our dreams.

Female? 40-something? Read this client’s compelling story: Being Vulnerable

No doubt about it, cancer is a life-altering event. Life coaching through treatment and recovery is also a life-changing experience. Also known as health or wellness coaching, life coaching is a relatively new piece of the cancer support system. It can be quite valuable for improving a patient’s quality of life.

Most cancer patients understand what lies ahead, especially when faced with a terminal diagnosis like mesothelioma or pancreatic cancer. They know to expect medical tests and scans, surgeries, and aggressive treatments like radiation and chemotherapy.

But while they are focusing on the physical aspects of their cancer, they often dismiss their emotional wellbeing. And learning to live as well as they can, for as long as they can, requires help. Services such as life coaching and mind-body medicine are becoming more common as doctors and patients recognize the need for an improved quality of life.

I myself had to witness the quick decline of my grandfather after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had been struggling with my grandmother’s concurrent uterine cancer diagnosis, and his own devastating news was just too much to handle. He became distant and detached, depressed, and lost his zest for life. I have no doubt that his mental and emotional state played into the quick deterioration of his health. My grandmother passed away on June, 26^th 2007, and he passed away later that night—partially from cancer, partially from a broken heart and losing his will to live.

I have no doubt that if we had been able to help him address his mental well-being, it may have prolonged his life, or at least improved the quality of it.

Life Coaching For Cancer Support

While many people see the benefits of life coaching in business and career development, wellness coaching is not as common. But the practice is growing. Life coaching for cancer patients addresses a number of issues experienced by cancer patients, including anxiety, stress, depression, and guilt.

Those with late-stage terminal illnesses, can benefit from life coaching that addresses their emotional problems. Patients with a poor mesothelioma prognosis experience a range of emotions that are hard to express. Anger, guilt, and fear are just a few of the many emotions that can overwhelm these patients. Life coaching can help them determine the best way to live out their lives.

Life coaching also has physical benefits for cancer patients, especially those with short life expectancies. By releasing the fear, anger, dread, and guilt, cancer patients may be able to stop the negative physical effects that can affect the quality of their lives, or even shorten their lives.

Other Benefits Of Life Coaching

Life coaching has a number of benefits, and they generally integrate the physical, emotional, and mental areas of life. Wellness coaching for cancer patients helps them focus on where they are in their cancer experience, where they want to be, and how they can get there. Coaching gives them structure, and encourages them to do more than they think they can do by themselves.

Life coaching gives cancer patients confidence, support, encouragement, and motivation. It gives them a sense of control, as they invest in themselves. Coaching benefits them for the entire length of their lives, no matter the cancer prognosis. And it greatly enhances the quality of their lives.

by Emily Walsh

Emily Walsh is a blogger, cancer advocate and Outreach Director for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance.  Emily is passionate about helping those suffering from cancer find alternative and holistic therapies that may help treat the emotional and mental effects of the disease as well as the physical.

Just like the coaching clients I work with, when challenged, I also have the usual human reactions: nervous, yet excited, scared yet anticipating, desire to succeed, concerned how I’ll manage.

My 5K run is tomorrow, Sunday 2nd October; it’ll be the first time I’ve put myself under a stress of this type.

The closest, in a way, to this kind of pressure, of being with hundreds of other people, doing the same thing, going in the same direction, and wanting to do well, was a few years ago, when I rode a motorbike, and I joined those huge rides where we were either going to protest about parking charges for motorbikes in London, or going to handout Xmas gifts to children in hospitals all over London – so many of us riding together, wanting to keep up with everyone and keep upright on my bike and avoid any accidents!!

Is it that we don’t want to make a fool of ourselves, don’t want to draw attention or do we want to be as good as everyone else, to succeed, to be the same?

Humans love that sense of belonging, being equal.

So, hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be equal to those who manage to run the whole way, without stopping, it’s only about 40 minutes, and I know I can do it, because I’ve now done it twice before in my practice runs.

My chosen charity for this run is Cancer Research UK – if you want to read my story and see how much I’ve raised, click here

I’ll let you know how it went, keep an eye on my blog after tomorrow…

My previous posts on Natalie Dee, Life Coach 5K Challenge are here – my 5K Challenge and My 2011 Challenge

Female? 40-something? Read this client’s compelling story: Being Vulnerable

Self-Confidence Building
in 7 Steps
Do you want to learn how to have the self-confidence to lead a more fulfilling life? Be sure to read the tell-all guide Self-Confidence Building in 7 Steps to rocket your self-confidence and self-esteem to achieve all that you want.

Life Coach London