Ten years ago, I was still living with the delusion that the hairline fractures in my spine were nothing to worry about. This was something that came to a head in the summer of that year. Reaching down to close a drawer, my back spasmed and I spent the next seven hours on the carpet trying to persuade myself that mind over body could get me back on my feet.
It didn’t.
That year I faced the reality of a vertebra broken in two places, the possibility of never walking again, and the need to move my mindset from a fixed “nothing can make it better”, which was my way of saying “this scares me too much to act”, to a growth mindset of change, moving out of my discomfort zone and asking for help.
Changes had to be made.
1. I had surgery that involved two titanium rods, six screws and two cages to replace the discs that were also no longer there.
2. I completed my physio – and that’s with perseverance and self-regulation being two of my lesser strengths.
3. I started a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology (MAPPCP), graduating with distinction.
Today I live in Devon, with a thriving Coaching Psychology business. I coach on Leadership programmes with INSEAD Executive Education, a role I found through the amazing Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology at UEL . network. I am the programme and assessment coordinator for the Institute of Positive Psychology Coaching, leading two of their programmes. I supervise other coaches towards accreditation. I am a coach assessor and I have spoken about my research at conferences in PP MENA, Kuwait, Saudi, Dubai and Poland, and online. I am a published author, writing about wellbeing, adventure and gardening.
I still dive, just less frequently, and have swapped my everyday flipflops for wellies. I hike, I exercise and this month skied for the first time in eight years.
All this from pushing outside of my ‘comfort zone’.
What could you achieve?
