Following Covid19, which was both the worst time of my life but also my best! I started to rethink my life path and my life journey. Sometimes these can be the same but if we don’t keep checking these two elements can become very different.
I am an architect with a large commercial practice, specialising in retail. Covid literally brought our business to its knees and we were all left astounded at its impact. But, it also started to make me ask myself some serious questions. Covid highlighted our cashflow risk and for me how we actually work. Covid for me was the best time for me as it brought me closer to my family, working from home reduced my stress w.r.t traffic and fuel costs. I literally gained two hours of my day back again…and this time could be used at any time. I was able to go for early morning walks (solitude moments which I will talk to in a later blog) and start my day off the right way. My kids loved having daddy home and also got to see what I do all day when I’m at work. My beautiful wife also managed to work from home and we also took walks together and with the kids.
I realised that this was an amazing way to live and work….but couldn’t see how to do this within my situation at the time. I spent a lot of solitude time thinking and planning what it was that I really loved doing. I also realised that architecture was not something I could always rely on. I had to find a side hustle.
I always loved psychology and had a deep interest in the workings of the mind. I was a little too old for psychology but was advised to look into Life Coaching.
I did some research and found an amazing Life Coaching Institute that offered an online course. I decided that Lockdown was the perfect time to do this.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and was told that I was a natural. During this course I realised that it was best to specialise my life coaching and decided to focus on menswork.
So this was where things started to get interesting. I always felt different to other men in my life (also something I will get into at a later stage) and came up with the idea of calling myself ‘not your average Joe coach. I wanted to help normal men (average Joe’s) connect with their inner selves and help them become NOT average Joe’s.
I developed my own Life Coaching Model called [Man]FullnessTM which helps me understand my clients better. It focuses on the men’s relationships with their father, partner, children, work, male friends, spirituality and their career. These seven elements are based on a book called ‘Seven steps to Manhood’ by Stephen Biddulph and inspired me to make probably one of the most important decisions of my life.
I realised that I am and always have been very different to most men and because of this I am able to use this as an example to other men and help them to identify with why I am different. I want to help men to become better men who can then live a more wholesome life with their many relationships in their life.
I want to challenge the notion that highly sensitive men are actually stronger and more balanced, allowing them to enjoy a more stable relationship with themselves and those around them!
But let’s pick up on this next week…
…remember DON’T be AVERAGE….
Regards,
Joe. Blogs
