I'm a middle-aged professional carrying a couple of chronic conditions around with me on my life journey. They're hard work at times, a bit like kids; sometimes you'd like to give them away, but nobody'll take them.
I've spent a lot of time being inspected, injected, selected, neglected and rejected, and after losing a large section of bowel during one stay in hospital I thought about playing the "poor me" card. There are battalions of wonderful people providing professional support programs, but I have places to be that don't include hospitals, doctors' clinics and community services centres.
I have goals and ambitions that don't fit with being told what NOT to do. I grew up in the '70s and I'm still a proud non-conformist.
I quit my teaching job in 2022 partly because my poorly managed Crohn's was becoming embarrassing and partly because I wanted to write and publish a book. I drew on my experiences in the '70s and how they shaped my values, beliefs and most importantly, my sense of humour. The work titled Runaway Retiree came to fruition after 7 months thanks to a positive mindset and a structured plan. It consists of stories and strategies to help potential retirees recapture their '70s invincibility and apply it to kicking ass in their golden years.
The tagline is, "We achieved great things in the '70s, now let's do our best work in our 70s." That's my mantra.
In 2023 at the age of 68, I achieved one of my passionate goals, to become a qualified NLP practitioner. So many amazing learnings!
Coaching isn't about diagnosing, advising or patting on the back with, "You're doing as well as can be expected, Dear." It's about creating a non-judgemental environment where clients realize they have everything inside them they need to achieve their goals often surprising most commentators.
I use my coaching skills every day to get me through bad days and to share the good days with my family and friends. I'm here to share my experiences and the strategies I've developed that allow me to not just survive but to thrive with chronic disease.
I help middle-aged professionals to thrive after being diagnosed with a chronic disease. Well, actually I help them help themselves.
For years I was just hanging on, surviving, now I'm thriving thanks to the unconditional love and support of the most amazing person in the universe, my darling wife Barb.
It took me a long time to face the reality that her encouragement and affirmation wasn't coming from pity. The only person feeling sorry for me was myself.
Barb believes in me, so I owe it to her to believe in myself.
Belief is the most powerful force in nature, and I have the opportunity to grab a free double dose.
That kind of power is like stepping into a two-up ring with a double headed penny!
Barb will tell you I'm a complex person, but I do have simple yet empowering values.
My Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, Non-judgementalism, Equity and Responsibility are born from Authenticity and Honesty.
I am curious, respectful, grateful and compassionate.
I love the ancient Chinese proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll feed his family for a lifetime."
I see a distinction between sympathetic and empathetic.
It's nice to hold the hand of someone who's doing it tough, offer words of encouragement and pat them on the back when they make some positive progress.
That's sympathetic, and prone to dependency. As with all dependencies, if a fix isn't available at a crucial time, the proverbial hits the fan.
If the person who needs help learns how to help themself, there's no need for a "fix". The only "dependency" is to keep learning and growing, moving from chronic to iconic. That's empathetic.
My Chronic to Iconic (C2I) program provides a blueprint on "how to fish."
I am a qualified Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner, certified by The Life Coaching College (TLCC) in Australia.
I also have Coach Mastery and Advance Coach Mastery certification with TLCC.
I am a qualified TAFE teacher with extensive experience with Zoom and other online learning platforms.
My working life CV is long and diverse. I speak fluent Tradie, Sales Professional, Consultant, Teacher and Coach, and I'm conversant in Tech, Authorship and most recently, Web Development.
Above all, I get the chronic disease conundrum. I don't want to see anyone waste their hard-earned skills just because some microscopic bug has got under their skin.
I insist on chatting with potential clients before they sign up, to make sure we are all on the same page. Since my expected reach is global, I do this mostly with online meetings, usually Zoom.
I love sharing experiences, emotions and challenges that shape the lives of good people who have been dealt a weak hand but are prepared to go all in and turn their fortunes around.