Giving up was not an option. But when I realized that my body would not want to live out of a suitcase and romp around different places and stages forever, I had to find a new solution.
To be honest, it didn’t really feel good to leave a winning arrangement. My heart told me to keep on coaching and teaching. I knew this was my vocation. It made my heart sing. I didn’t want to live without it.
But the process of aging made me downshift, bring more ease to my life and listen to the wants and needs of my body more. Also, I was pretty fed up with my super busy schedule. And tired of the fact that I already knew on January 1, where I would be on December 31.
First, I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I needed some fresh ideas and these wouldn’t come from merely racking my brains.
So, I gave myself a break from my seminar and coaching business and took a sabbatical.
Reading, writing, mountain hiking, meditating and completely cutting myself off from the crazy news of the world. No radio, no papers and – most importantly – my TV landed straight in the trash.
I just let myself live in the moment accepting not-knowingness.
An unconditional sabbatical
Months went by and my patience was tested. But I trusted the process. Obviously the right time and opportunity hadn’t come yet. Eventually, something would turn up.
Meanwhile I enjoyed living off schedule and having all the time in the world. I permitted myself to continue unconditionally.
The end of my sabbatical year passed almost unnoticed and another year came and then another one. I hadn’t expected it, but it felt very good to go with the flow. It felt safe. I wasn’t in a hurry.
But there was one question I kept asking myself: What was so great about the work I had been doing? What was so fulfilling about it? Why was it still so hard to give it up?
I knew I had to go deeper. And stay relaxed.
Funny how the Universe delivers
One day it felt like something was tapping on my shoulder. I had the impulse to go online and follow my curiosity.
Clicking my way through several websites something „hit“ me. I would only learn later that it was what online marketers call a “landingpage“.
A question caught my attention: „You are a trainer, consultant or coach? Imagine you could run your business comfortably from your couch, just by using a laptop.“
I held my breath. Here it was. My solution. Spot on.
Because I knew in a split second, it was not about being physically present at a certain place doing what I was doing. It was about the work itself.
Encouraging people, helping them find their own power and self-efficacy, teaching them how to go after their own dream and make it work in the here and now.
Something I could do from wherever I was. And the idea that I would not have to get my bags packed and leave the house anymore, but work from my comfortable home office, did the trick.
Thank you, Universe! I didn’t have to make anything happen. I just let it happen.
That was the start of a new learning experience. Going from offline to online. Quite a task for me, an old dinosaur from the paper and flipchart age.
Now, after a lot of reading and taking courses from technical and educational to online marketing, I feel „literate“ and prepared enough to build my online coaching business step by step.
Another wonderful side effect: Traveling is not a stressful duty any longer. But the colorful, curiosity-driven pleasure again it used to be when I was young.
