About two weeks ago I mentioned on the blog that I had found myself a Life Coach. You guys were curious! I was kind of surprised - I thought I'd put up a little blurb for my own benefit and you'd roll your eyes. This has majorly not been the case! I've received tons of notes asking for more info which has made me realize that more people might visit one if they knew more.

If I know one thing about myself it is that I don't do well with zero accountability.

When thinking about what's next - a career change, switching up some of my routines, meeting some fitness goals - I knew I needed to develop a system of accountability in addition to exploring options and setting goals.

I began looking for a Life Coach (because it was a term I had loosely heard tossed around) but really wasn't sure what I'd find.

In a nutshell, a Life Coach will help you manage different parts of your live. For example, 'I need to develop a work / life balance' or 'I'd like to loose some weight'. A Life Coach will help you establish priorities, develop a plan, set some goals, provide accountability and help to change the plan as required.

I found something slightly more unique in that my Life Coach also specializes in Career Transitions. Meaning, we spend time exploring my strengths and weaknesses, discussing what I'm looking for, assessing things that interest me (weighing the pros and cons), and then researching different career paths.

How exactly does this work? Well, I have weekly meetings (actually in my case I've set up more than one meeting a week to fit in more before I go back to work) where we discuss / explore my priorities. My Coach then assigns homework to complete before my next appointment. These assignments are often times really easy like, find a yoga video you like and can do on the ship or, check out this book.

I've had three appointments and I will honestly tell you, I've discovered that I'm far more interested in certain things than I realized! I've also realized that maybe I'm not as discontent as I feel at times.

There is never a perfect situation though, right? It can't all be roses and sunshine, I've found some things frustrating and figure it wouldn't be fair to not share those things.

It's not a quick process. I am a creature of immediacy. I would have loved it if I had walked in and my Coach had said, 'you'd be a great maritime lawyer - you should quit your job - complete law school - you'll get married along the way and this will be perfect because you'll be ready to have a baby'. Spoiler: instead she told me to get an exercise video to manage stress and asked me lots of really hard questions like, 'what do you think you're naturally good at'.

One hundred percent transparency is required for this next one....it's not cheap. It costs as much as visiting a well regarded psychologist. I tell myself that I'm investing in my future I grit my teeth and pay the bill. I realize this could definitely be cost prohibitive for some.

Here's what it boils down to for me: I'm willing to invest in change.

I love exploring possibilities (in fact it's one of the things I listed as things I'm naturally good at). I love trying new things. I love writing. I love the sea. I love adventure. I love growth.