Kate Allen

On Coaching and Being Coached- Lessons from Brooke Castillo at the Life Coach School

Written by Kate • April 17, 2020 •
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NOTE: None of these are affiliate links. Just my honest thoughts.

I am definitely a seeker of knowledge, experience, travel, love, and more. I finally – FINALLY- decided to hire a coach for the first time back in 2007 because I realized I needed better thoughts. The way I was thinking and living my life wasn’t working for me but I didn’t know how to be happier.

IT ALL STARTED WITH UPLEVEL YOUR LIFE

So, in secret because I didn’t want to be ridiculed, I bought Christine Kane‘s group coaching class Uplevel Your Life and started on MY path. It’s been twisty. It’s been turny. It’s been steps up and steps back. Her class was exactly what I was looking for. I wept when I read the first several lessons. What a gift.

And from there I was off. I know that they are better thoughts that serve me better and I’ve hired several coaches in the intervening years. Most of them in group coaching sessions but a few handfuls in one on one sessions too. I think they both are helpful in different ways at different times in one’s life.

Group coaching is helpful when you’re super busy and you just can’t be available at a specific time. (I’m looking at you, new mom of twins or new RFP just hit the street and you’re working upwards of 100 hours per week or any such intense moments in your life).

A VERY QUICK TOUR OF SOME OF MY PAST COACHES

I’ve hired Christine Kane in multiple ways, including her UYL, Gold Business coaching, and Getting your First 10 Clients. I’ve hired and trained with Sara Wiseman in private and group calls for all my woowoo needs and got certified through her wonderful, loving Intuition University. I worked with Erin Pavlina for a long weekend in a small group setting in her home, to get further trained on doing readings and sessions with clients. Amazing.

I hired JaiKaur to help me heal some of my earlier trauma. Amazing. Totally recommend. I bought Jeff Walker’s PLF program- I think his work is for someone who’s a bit more advanced in their business than mine but he’s shown me what is possible.

BROOKE CASTILLO AND THE LIFE COACH SCHOOL

And about 2 months before we moved to Bali, I took the plunge and joined Brooke Castillo’s Self Coaching Scholars. My first month in her program was Dec 2018. Christmas. Kids. Plans fell in place to move to Bali in Jan 2019. And I didn’t get to much of the Dec program. Then we moved to Bali.

And upon arrival in Bali and about a month of settling in, I turned back to her program to “start” it in earnest. I didn’t give it the time it deserved at first and then when I tried to access the video trainings, I couldn’t do it (technology-wise). It took me a few months to figure it out that not being able to view the videos wasn’t an internet problem. It was that Indonesia blocks all Vimeo videos. Can you believe? It took me 4 long months to realize I needed to buy a VPN to tunnel back to the US (or anywhere else like Singapore or Australia) to be able to watch the videos. But by that time, I had decided I couldn’t do the program without the videos. And that I didn’t have the time. I love my excuses. I laugh at it now.

Fast forward to Jan 2020. We’d been back in the US for about a month but I’d spent the first three weeks of Jan spending three to four nights a week at the hospital with my very ill Dad (pre-Coronavirus- ah those were the days). He finally got released in late Jan and I was able to spend the next several days resting and not traveling 100 miles round trip to visit my Dad in the extremely far away hospital.

With that rest, I faced February trying to reintegrate into the US and settle back into a routine here. I knew I wanted to relaunch my business and the idea to start again on my program with Self Coaching Scholars bubbled up, to support me on my journey. And so I made the commitment to begin again on 1 March with the December program subject. (Each month has a specific subject- Dec was the Year of Doing the Impossible). And it’s been amazing. Even without the videos and with even less free time than I had in Bali, I’ve made the time and effort to listen to the teachings and Q and As that I downloaded from Dec 2018. I followed through with the program, pretty much with a 100% compliance.

And the Universe is amazing. I’m so so glad I made the true commitment in early Feb because life sure took a hard turn in early/mid March with the whole COVID-19/coronavirus upheaval. Brooke puts out free podcasts and I’ve been listening to those and I had the privilege of being able to hear her take on the crisis through additional podcasts that she put out in mid March. Such gifts. She is so incredibly compassionate and yet no nonsense. She speaks my language, for sure.

I started on the Jan 2019 month in April 2020 and have been working the program every since.

I can’t recommend her school or her teachings enough. She is DA BOMB. Amazing. I would actually ditch the idea of being a coach myself and just direct all clients to her except for one thing that sets me apart as a coach. Brooke isn’t as focused on the woowoo side of things as I want to be in my life. She has so much to offer to me in all things except the woowoo side of life. But Brooke is fully Brooke and we don’t want her any other way, right?

So definitely run to your phone RIGHT NOW to start listening to Brooke’s podcasts or even join her school. You won’t regret it.

Get the Help You Need

Each of my coaches/mentors have helped me enormously. I love learning new things and it’s clear I’m a lifelong learner. I love upgrading my mental model and my thoughts and getting additional resources to help me make my way in the world. I think working with coaches is a great way to get stuff done and there is so much content out there. There’s just no reason for you to keep living and playing small- except for your mindset. Upgrade your mindset and your thoughts and your life will be increasingly amazing.

PS I forgot to include the wise and amazing Martha Beck and Lissa Rankin, These two simply must be mentioned when talking about coaches and mentors.

Moving to Bali – A Brief Overview of the First Six Months

Written by Kate • July 4, 2019 •
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In January 2019, my family and I moved to Bali, my partner, our 4 year old twins and me. We bought one way tickets and had two months of housing booked through Airbnb. Beyond that, we would just wing it.

Because of my passion for yoga, we decided to try Ubud first to see if it was a good fit. We were so fortunate to find a house right near the Monkey Forest and had to walk past by countless monkeys to and from the street.

They grabbed at our bags and at the fruit off the trees at our villa. They were scary and thrilling at the same time.

I started at the Yoga Barn, taking classes six days a week. I needed the walk, the adult interaction, and the exercise. I was badly out of shape and getting back into shape was difficult. I almost wondered if I was too old, at 50, to get into good shape and realized that was a silly question. My children are fours years old. Their Mommy needs to be in the best shape possible, as fit as possible, to help them have a great childhood. And this thought served as all I motivation I needed.

We met our Balinese babysitter, Kadek, who would take care of our kids for most of the next few months, allowing me time to do my yoga, get some massages, shop for food and essentials, and see Ubud a bit. My partner worked in a bedroom while the twins got used to Kadek, who eventually became a trusted and beloved friend.

The first month was spent in Nyuh Kuning, a beautiful small village to the west of the Yoga Barn and south of Ubud Center. The second was in Peliatan, in a very cute villa that had connecting bedrooms and twins beds for the kids. This home also had two part time staff, who did a lot of the cooking and all of the laundry. Such a treat!

We then had to renew our visas, so we chose Singapore to visit. Singapore is not my cup of tea but there some great moments there. More on Singapore in a later post.

Then the village of Mas, and then the village of Lodtunduh for another month. After Lodtunduh, we decided to move to Sanur to allow the kids more access to their favorite activities in Bali, the beach and the indoor playground Peek A Boo.

For our second visa renewal, we decided to head to Malaysia instead. My partner was traveling for business so it was just me and the twins for 2 nights/3 days. I love Kuala Lumpur (KL). What an absolute treat. More on KL in a later post!

Then back to Sanur for a few more months. We’re now about to head to KL on our second visa renewal trip and we intend to get social visas this time so we can stay the remaining 4 months of our trip before we head to Turkey in November and Chamonix, France for December through February 2020. We’ll back in Bali in March 2020, if all goes as planned.

So far, so good.