Big Leaps & Deep Ahhhhhhs

The time is nigh; Life Coach training approacheth.

It starts Friday afternoon, March 14th and goes through Sunday evening, March 16th. This is the first of six courses; we take one weekend-long course once per month for six months, and they are:

Personal Mastery
Systems I
Systems II
Process I
Process II
Flow

Graduation requirements are as follows:

*Attend 100% of program hours (125 hours of coach-specific training);
*Provide 16 hours of peer coaching services (8 hours as a coach, 8 as a client);
*Pass the oral exam (passing grade greater than 75%);
*Pass the written exam (also greater than 75%);
*Attend 4 hours of after-hours in-person practice sessions



There is an additional certification process through ICF (International Coach Federation) which is optional and comes later; however, it's better--and more legitimizing--to be ICF certified, which is my plan, as is joining the Northwest Coaches Association (good for networking/shoulder-rubbing, etc.)

Each piece of this journey requires one focused step at a time, or I'd get utterly overwhelmed. But I'm totally excited, and I filled out my application today, which felt momentous. When I get my tax refund, a portion of that will go to the application fee, and the rest will be put into savings....for future payments toward my training. It's all sitting in a neat & tidy pile, waiting to be copied off and dropped in the mail. And since it's such a small program, the application is pretty simple; it's mostly just a placeholder. I've met the woman--a totally animated ball of fire--who runs the program and have spoken with her over the phone; she's great at getting people (me!) to focus, a great energizer and a great motivator. Well, she's a successful working coach, so she should be all of those things....

So that's that. More as it happens with my exciting career preparations!

As for the "Deep Aaaaahhhhhh's.....," that's how it feels when I dunk my hands into the fragrant, warm, melted, soothing paraffin wax bath I was given (or "Paraffin Spa") for Christmas by a friend's mom--one of these initially curious, semi-random gifts I'd never think of purchasing for myself yet find myself absolutely ENAMORED of and loving and totally blissed-out by and completely thankful for (how's that for a preposition-rich sentence?)

It was given to me to soothe my arthritic hands (something my poor joints developed the last few Winters I was living in Minnesota) and soothe it does, not to mention soften and generally beautify (I've always maintained a certain level of Cuticle Vanity, I admit). I can't wait to try different kinds of scented wax--lavender, peach, whatever....I've read there's even a chocolate wax on the market, somewhere. Now THAT would be something!

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........................