Leaping with Intentionality
Some years ago, I felt stuck. I hit a plateau in life. I was on auto-pilot and feeling unfulfilled. Through self-work, I gradually became unstuck and got to a point where I decided I needed to do something outside of my comfort zone. I ended up doing something I had told friends I would never do… I decided to go sky diving.
This was such a big deal. I didn't tell anyone about my plan. It was important to me to do the sky dive somewhere on the African continent, and so I ended up in Cape Town, South Africa.
Yes, I went to Cape Town for one reason; to sky dive.
I went to the sky dive by myself and was surprisingly calm during the long bus journey. I started to feel a little bit of nerves as the group I was with prepped, but quickly became calm again.
All of a sudden, I’m next up. My gear is being checked and I’m being given instructions about the next steps.
“How are you feeling? Nervous?”
“No, I’m good. I’m feeling ok.”
The person I was going to do the jump with was a little nervous, shifting from left foot to right, right foot to left…
Now we’re heading to the small plane… now we’re in the plane, tightly packed. The plane feels like a sardine tin but I try to push that out of my mind. The plane goes higher and higher and higher and higher… this goes on for a while, then we’re suddenly at the right altitude.
The cameraman jumps out first… now it’s my turn, in tandem with the expert…. 3… 2… 1….
I’m out. We’re so high, and we’re free-falling for a while. Then the larger parachute is opened and we shoot back up again. The feeling is inexplicable, and the view amazing. I control the parachute for some time, then it’s time to come down, and the expert takes over. We’re soon close to the ground and I prep my body for landing. The whole thing felt surreal and too quick, but what an experience!
Would I do it again?
Yes.
I have recently taken an intentional leap into becoming a Job Search and Career Coach, and it’s been an eye-opening journey already. What I particularly find interesting is that everyone who comes to work with me also feels stuck in some way, and they too take an intentional leap when they approach me and we decide to move forward and work together.
The coaching journey is also similar to sky diving. You kind of have an idea but you're not completely sure what to expect. You're in unfamiliar territory and curious about what you will learn. Then, you start to figure things out and enjoy the process. At the end, it feels like it ended too soon, but you're impressed you succeeded, coming out of the experience knowing yourself a little better and feeling empowered.
I sometimes hear people say they would love to receive coaching but need certain stars to be aligned to move forward. What people often mean is, "My current situation is not ideal, but it’s not that bad yet" or "I can’t justify investing in myself in this way right now."
I never push back. Working with a coach requires vulnerability and I don’t believe in pushing people out of the plane in these cases. It has to feel right deep down, so right that you want to take that intentional leap.
If you’re looking for something to change, don’t wait for the worst case scenario to happen. Take the leap from wherever you are now.
You won't regret it. I promise. 😊
