When I started my coaching business, I was greeted with a flurry of questions about who and what I would be coaching, and my answer was that I would be coaching octopuses¹. Or perhaps, octopi. 

When I was going through some personal challenges some years ago, I was introduced to a form of coaching that introduced personal narratives – that is, a story or an archetype that described the state I was living in and colored everything I would say, feel, do (or not do). Mine was an octopus. I stopped in my tracks when my coach said that. He noticed my sharp intake of breath, and asked me, “Well, what does that mean to you?”

And this is what it meant: Octopuses are smart, astute creatures, capable of getting out of the tightest spots – but most of the time, they have multiple things on their hands (tentacles), and live underwater (under pressure) and in the dark.

I knew he’d hit the spot. And his invitation was to live in a new narrative. Something that would empower me to manage my multi-hyphenated life (wife-mother-student-professional-career woman-daughter-sister-drama queen) with grace and power. That new narrative worked but I do constantly find myself reminding myself to stop floating back to being that octopus. Or if I had to be an octopus, to be one swimming closer to the surface. Not lurking in the dark.

How many of you can relate to this analogy or narrative? 

Visit The Light Quotient to find out more about Avalyn’s work. 

_{This article was originally published on The Light Quotient and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author. 
Edited by Michelle Sarthou 
Image credit: Shutterstock
Reference: octopuses. Or perhaps, octopi.}

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