Cathy Liska Blog series by Joann Evans
Joann Evans holds a B.S. in microbiology and chemistry. She is also a certified Paralegal. She has 20 years’ experience in quality assurance, control and engineering in fields such as pharmaceutical, medical device, IVD, biotech and blood banking. This blog series is her journey through being coached and then earning her coaching certification.
Our last coaching session before switching to coach training felt like the hardest one. The session pushed me to make some decisions. I’ve had so many options that I’ve avoided it. I have come to learn that in life that struggles come from not making a decision. My personal indecision comes from past challenges and being unsure about what might happen. I think being guided to make a choice is a good thing because indecision is also a decision not to decide and you don’t’ make any progress this way. At least with a decision, even if not optimal, it is nonetheless a decision to move forward and on.
It was very clear in looking at the analysis I put together that there is a reason it has all been so confusin
g for me. It has been confusing because there are a lot of different options. I really liked how my coach broke up the decision making process. What can I make money doing immediately? What is a more long term option? Then even looking within what I can do immediately was broken down by A, B and C for what is best to do now vs. later. The hard part will be starting down the road with this planning and then it would be my luck to have something different pop up. While this is not a bad thing it pauses the process of going forward with my plan. I know now that I have to work towards setting the stage. Even if I take a job far from home I know that I have a plan to aim toward.
After the coaching session was completed Cathy again sent to me the notes from our meeting. I have to say that it is nice to have the ability to quietly and calmly think through the entire pile of potential avenues of travel while someone else records what is being said. It is important to record this information and to determine and create goals. These listed goals included my chosen timelines. The next step in coaching sessions would be to check progress against these goals.
In closure, I can tell you that I have begun taking steps to have confidence in my career path. It’s a beginning! Next comes my coaching certification journey.
