#MonthlyWritingChallenge: Fulfillment

noun: fulfillment; the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted; the meeting of a requirement, condition, or need.

The irony of having ‘Fulfillment’ as our December theme for the #MonthlyWritingChallenge was that I had Covid and was feeling very unwell, fatigued and generally very unfulfilled from mid-November to the end of December.

The theme this month came from my ongoing coaching accreditation with the Coactive Training Institute (CTI). I am on a 15 day intense training programme with a group of fellow international coaches, and we spend 3 days virtually together over a long weekend once a month learning and practising coaching techniques.

Fulfillment coaching is about supporting our coaching clients to find and experience a life of purpose. Fulfillment, according to CTI, is about being wholly alive. It is the state of fully expressing who we are and doing what is right for us, in every situation.

As part of our training we developed skills to help clients discover their unique values, identify self-defeating influences, and create their personalised vision for a compelling future. We explored how to facilitate opportunities for others to create lives that are centered in what makes them feel most alive.

The 3 days made me go back to my Ikigai – I revisited my sense of being and reflected on my alignment of my passion, my mission, my vocation and my profession.

Some questions to reflect on around your fulfillment that we explored:

• What are your values?

• What is your life purpose?

• What is your vision for your live?

• Who is your leader within?

• Who are your saboteurs?

• What allies do you need to slay your saboteurs?

• What makes you feel alive?

Some of the techniques we used included physical embodiment, visualisation, metaphor, powerful questions and life purpose statements to increase self-awareness and amplify resonance.

I struggled with embodiment the most, but have been practising how to bring physicality into my coaching to help people become unstuck and to change perspective. The lovely Amy Ferguson agreed to let me practise on her that weekend.

Here are some of my personal reflections from my learning…

My core values are captured in my About Me section of my website here.

My life purpose statement is:

I am a powerful light bearer – I energise, illuminate, awaken and activate.

My leader within is called ‘Standing Strong’:

I am a tree, standing strong, bending not breaking, in the wind.

I am a lighthouse, standing strong, guiding others through storms.

I bring strength, support, stability and security to others.

My saboteurs:

One of my saboteurs is my bias for action and my compulsion to be productive and busy, another is that I am a fixer, an organiser and a planner – so I restrict myself through my efficient diary management.

I reflected lots on the difference between being and doing during this 3 day course and what I could do differently moving forwards. On a different coaching course a peer shared a technique where she keeps a half day a week free in her schedule/ she creates that space in her desk for exciting projects, new ideas and unexpected opportunities to take shape.

My inner allies:

My allies to slay some of those saboteurs encompass flexibility and spontaneity – Bamboo to bring some flexibility into my life and a Balloon to bring fun and lightness.

Feeling alive:

My happy place is up a mountain or on a beach – I am outside, I am in all weathers, I feel alive and energised by my environment. I am reflecting lots on where I want to live longer term, I have a vision of being able to walk on the beach, dip in the pool, lie in the sun whilst reading a book and eating al fresco in my future.

Post Covid, starting the new year feeling like myself again, has made me realise just how lucky I am to be truly living my Ikigai. I get paid to do what I care about all day, I have passion and purpose in my work. I just need to continue to focus on being over doing and creating space in the schedule for creativity, reflection and flow.