Hi, I’m Nicole and this is my fourth time writing for Healthy Living London. Did you see my reviews of Tesco’s Wicked Vegan ready-made meals, Frame’s Yin and Gin Yoga at 100 Wardour Street in Soho and my interview with Chronic Sleep Fatigue expert, Dr. Rajendra Sharma? What did you think? This time, I had the immense pleasure of reviewing a life coaching session with Elisabetta Franzoso. Do you have a goal in life you want to achieve but have no idea how to get started? Do you want to change careers, be happy or sort out a toxic relationship? Read on to find out how I got on when chatting to one of the most inspirational people I have ever met. I went from having a dream to getting structure in how to achieve it in just over an hour!
So what is life coaching anyways? This is how Elisabetta’s website describes it:
“In short, a Life Coach is someone who is trained to help you acknowledge where you are today more clearly, and then help and support you in finding ways, strategies and tools to move you forward and closer toward your goals. A Life/Personal Coach does not tell you what to do, but rather acts as a sounding board to help you discover what is that you want to do in your life, career and with your personal wellbeing”.
She goes on to suggest that life coaching might be for you if you are:
- “… a leader, an executive or the owner of a successful small business looking to find balance between the demands of work and the needs of your family
- you might be a young adult with a dream or desire to have more clarity about your future and career
- you might be a mature woman or man looking to re-energize, re-juvenate and enhance your sense of self, self-image, confidence and wellness
- you might be a parent looking to understand your children better and get more informed about parenting skills you might be a retired professional or an empty-nester looking to find a higher purpose or simply to make the difference in the lives of others, but unsure as to which direction to choose
- you are a writer, a musician or an artist looking for a creative breakthrough or support juggling your craft with other responsibilities
- you might be a cancer or other life-threatening disease survivor looking to plan out and begin practicing a totally new lifestyle
- maybe you desire to take your already strong relationship to new heights and venture out of your comfort zone
- maybe you are a twenty-something tech whiz enterpreneur with a brilliant idea or a dream you want to come true but with little access to advice and guidance on how to bring it to fruition maybe you simply want to learn how to have more fun”.
Elisabetta explains that “the objective of coaching is helping people achieve their goals. The basic presumption of coaching is that coaching clients are in a good and willing place mentally and emotionally, and ready to receive guidance and instruction on how to make changes that will help them achieve their goals. The work focuses on creating and maintaining motivation for change, exploring obstacles to change, and creating plans for change”.
So surely, we could achieve all of this by chatting to our best friends? Elisabetta summarises why coaching is different to just talking to a friend:
- Coaching is confidential
- Coaching comes with clear boundaries
- Coaching focuses on you
- Coaching focuses on your present and future, working on a conscious level and addressing what we’re already aware of and want to achieve
- Coaches are skilled motivators and communicators
- Coaches are trained professionals and you are entitled to ask for their credentials
- Coaches are objective. Family and friends are emotionally invested, not only in their own dreams and desires, but also in the dreams and desires they have for you. Plus, they see you through the filters of their history with you.
So, I was really excited to try this out. I am super interested in psychology, counselling and life coaching and do a lot of coaching as part of my job as a physiotherapist with my patients but also as a team lead with my team members and thoroughly enjoy this aspect of my job. I have always been keen to try some sort of therapy myself but never had the chance. This opportunity came up and I jumped at the idea. I have been in my current career for coming up to a decade now and have been thinking about “what’s next?”. Elisabetta got in touch with me before hand to ask me a few questions about which aspect of my life I wanted to discuss. I chose career as I thought maybe she could help me add value to this, I also wanted to discuss a crazy career dream I had with her. She asked questions to obtain a good background knowledge of my role. Our appointment was over skype with webcam as Elisabetta spends half her time in Barcelona and half her time in London, as this point she was in Barcelona.
Elisabetta immediately made me feel at ease with her warm greeting and the 75 minutes it lasted flew by! I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy the life coaching session as this is a passion of mine but I couldn’t believe how exhausted I was after the session; I had taken notes, become emotional, felt inspired and felt clarity and motivation. Elisabetta ended the session by summarising the points we’d discussed as well as coaching me to setting an action plan with goals to flexible time-frames. I felt excited to be loaded with confidence, tools and an action plan to allow me to move forwards. I have never tried life coaching before but I loved every minute and found it so beneficial!
Was one session enough? For me, it was absolutely enough to get my crazy dream brought into real life. I have since dedicated time every week on achieving it and have set goals in my diary with timelines. The session gave me motivation and structure. Do I think I’d need more sessions? Of course! I think I am alright at self-managing so I feel I could probably have a few with a bit of time in between to give me enough space to crack on but to provide me with enough guidance to allow me to enter each new stage with the support of a coach who truly believes in me.
To summarise, Elisabetta’s life coaching was incredible, it was just so easy to talk to her and she was able to coach and guide, as well as sometimes share more personal tips, due to her previous qualification in Counselling. Elisabetta seemed like a genuinely caring person, in her job for the right reasons; to motivate and help. I would say though that you have to go into life coaching with some kind of goal. If you are just emotional and need help with this, counselling is probably better for you, which Elisabetta offers too, and she will assess this in your initial consultation but also throughout. I cannot recommend her enough, she is one of the most inspirational people I have ever met!
More Information
Who’s it for: Absolutely anyone! Counselling tends to be for people who require support with sorting out something emotional whereas life coaching is more about being coached towards achieving a specific goal (in health, love, relationships, careers etc).
How much:
- Free 30 minute initial consultation
- One-off life coaching session £180 (75 mins)
- 6 x session package £1050 (75 min sessions)
- 12 x session package 12 x session package £2040 (75 min sessions)
It is also worth noting that Elisabetta likes to learn about her clients’ financial and socia-cultural background during the consultation and as part of her contribution is open to adjusting her fees / making concessions if the circumstances demands it.
Where from: Go to Elisabetta’s website for lots more info, and check out her inspiring blog on there. You can also pick up her book, Stella’s Mum Gets Her Groove Back, from Amazon or wait for her second one…
Website: Elisabetta Franzoso
Nicole is a half Swedish, half Danish Physiotherapist in my thirties, living in London. She started blogging a year ago and loves inspiring and motivating others to lead a healthy life, physically and mentally, with a focus on self-development. Her blog is nouw.com/nicolesblog and you can follow her on Instagram at @nicolek_nielsen and Pinterest at @nicky_kn
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