This is the first blog for my Life Coaching website and my first attempt at blogging. My starting point was that the blog has to be high level enough, yet relevant and personal, hence the topic of this blog, Life. After landing on this topic, my next step was to choose the place that can help with the flow of ideas, a place where I can sit and write the blog. I went to my favorite spot in Dubai, the Belgian Café by the Dubai Creek, water is always helpful in these situations. And lastly, the cherry on the cake, choosing the right drink to get the spark of inspiration, in my case, a sugar free Espresso Martini.

With these tools by my side, I started writing this first blog focusing it on the topic of Life, with a capital L. Of course talking about Life is central to the kind of coaching I’m specialized in, Life Coaching. Though this pun wasn’t intended, it fits very well and leads nicely to the question, why would one seek a Life Coach? I asked myself this very question when I hired a Life Coach four years ago. I was at a point in my life where I was hungry for meaning, purpose and direction. I had already crossed over the 40 years mark and was at this point in Life when one asks, what’s next? What am I willing to commit to in the next 40 years of my life. Personally, I love Life and I’m planning on living a long one that will get better and better with time, and reflecting back, as I’m writing this blog, that was the mindset that led me to seek a Life Coach.

I wouldn’t say that my search was long or hard, after spending one afternoon reading and researching, I found what I was looking for. I quickly connected with a Life Coach, I resonated with the keywords: growth, fierce change, and transformation, as I read them in her bio and the fact that she lived in Dubai was just convenient.

I journeyed with my first Life Coach for 8 months, the first thing she did was help me connect with my values. At 40 plus, I thought I knew what my values were. What I discovered was that what I thought were my values, were values I shared with my family, friends, culture, etc. but not my own set of unique values, those that fire me up, that are vital to who I am as an individual. I discovered that Joy, tops them all, ahead of success and achievement. Truth was the second one on the list of the top three values I live by, and the third one, was Dreaming.

The second thing the Life Coach and I worked on, after defining the top three core values, was honoring them in my life by expressing them in a Life purpose statement. One of the most transformational exercises I had ever done in my life up until that point. The outcome of which, I wasn’t anticipating at all, coming from a 25 year corporate background, it wasn’t in my wildest dreams that my life statement was going to be “I’m the truth-bearing Unicorn that brings joy to people’s lives by helping them fulfill their dreams.” The other thing that surprised me was the fact that every time I closed my eyes and thought of the metaphor of the Unicorn and repeated my life statement I felt this surge of newly-discovered energy that’s so innate to my inner being and so empowering.

That Life statement sums up in few words what my coaching is all about and what I’m here to serve in this Life. So if you’re ready to take that leap of faith to find your inner calling and true purpose in Life, or if you’re just looking for a new source of energy to fire you up, you can count on me to be by your side coaching you towards success and fulfillment.

I’m a Co-Active Life Coach providing face to face Life coaching service in Dubai, and online, if you happen to live elsewhere in the world. To connect for a free exploration session please email me at connect@raniahatoum.org