Do You Need A Life Coach?
by Ngozi Osuagwu, MD | December 13th, 2015
My daughter is a senior in high school and applying to colleges. Her major is ‘Undecided’. She knows she wants to be a teacher one day, but she is not sure what she wants to study in college. I remember those days. I knew I wanted to be a doctor but I was not exactly sure what would be my major. I changed my major four times before settling on biology.
After being a physician for over 20 years, I found myself in my daughter’s position – undecided – what next? No one really prepared me for this predicament. I thought it was over when you were passed your teens, but I have found out that it is rather common. For some, it happens every time they turn a new decade- their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. For others, it has to be a milestone event, like turning a quarter of a century old or half a century old.
My brother’s solution to this predicament is answering the following question – What is your greater goal? If you can answer this question, then life becomes easy. Everything you do in life and all the decisions you make is based on fulfilling your greater goal. The problem comes when you are not sure what your greater goal is or you have achieved your goal and you are not sure what to do next. What ends up happening, you end up doing a lot of things but at the end you do not feel you are where you need to be.
That is how I have felt for the past few years. I was getting a lot of certificates – North American Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner (NCMP) and Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine (ABIHM) to name a few, but really did not have direction. I even performed at the Funny Bone – I liked being on stage, but not yet ready to leave my day job. Then I had an aha moment – Why not get a life coach.
WebMD defines a life coach as a professional who provides the drive and guidance to their clients need to improve their careers, relationships, and lives. They help clients to:
- Recognize their skills and dreams
- Refocus their life’s goals
- Move past challenges that stand in the way of those goals
I began looking for a life coach and then I realized I had one under my nose – my sister. I know that sometimes it is frowned upon for physicians to take care of their family members, but if you are good at what you do, why not. I knew some of the people that she assisted and I decided to make her my life coach. She helped me define by greater goal. I wanted to be part of the solution in eliminating the health disparity that is part of our community here in the United States and abroad. It took about two years and a lot of pushing, but I am in a good place now.
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