Change your life for the better.. When Gillian Brown visited a life coach she had no idea how much it would transform her world.

Byline: CRAIG MCQUEEN

NAVIGATING your way through the choppy waters of the current economic crisis can be tough, even if you're lucky enough to have a stable job.

But for many of us, these turbulent times have meant having to make some big decisions about our future.

Most of us do our best to muddle through by ourselves, taking advice only from those closest to us.

But more and more people are turning to professional life coaches for help as they reach a crossroads.

Gillian Brown is one such person who knows how much help they can be. The 36-year-old from Edinburgh spent 12 years working in human resources and had just become a mum when she turned to a life coach.

She was so impressed with the help she received, that she decided to become a life coach herself.

Gillian said: "It was a powerful experience for me, as when you're working and wrapped up in day-to-day life you don't really get the opportunity or the time to take stock. I hadn't looked at what I had to offer in terms of skills, strengths, talents, and whether I was really happy.

"I realised that I wasn't happy in my job and that I was struggling with the balance between work and life, being a new mum but still wanting a successful career.

"So life coaching gave me the opportunity to take time out. Even though I was only seeing her for an hour every couple of weeks for a few months, by the end of that I had packed in my job, set up my company and written my first training course."

Gillian is now managing director of New-U Coaching, offering the same support and advice that she benefited from.

And it's not just a case of helping people sort out their working lives.

She said: "Many of us know people who have been made redundant or have fears about jobs, so we explore those topics in detail and look at the impact it will have on their life.

"That includes everything from their family to their lifestyle. Life coaching is a very future-focused thing so you have to accept what is happening and put together a strategy based on what you want to do in the future.

"So if it's a change in career, we will help an individual map the steps to get from A to B.We've had lawyers, accountants, people working in property, people in the financial industry, and recently we had someone working in education who'd had enough, and is now selling her own jewellery, so it's a real mixed bag."

One of Gillian's first pieces of advice is that people shouldn't panic if they face losing their jobs.

She said: "When people do lose their jobs they tend to think 'why me?' and take it personally, so what we do is to help people acknowledge what has happened and to look towards the future.

"Getting a piece of paper and writing down what your ideal life would look like is a good idea. Then you can put together a plan which will help you achieve it.

"By doing that you focus on the possibilities and the opportunities of the future rather than the anxiety and frustration of the past.

"So what might seem like a negative experience could be seen as an opportunity. Life coaching can help you focus on the positives."

Speaking to someone who doesn't know about your life can make a huge difference in terms of working out the way forward.

Gillian added: "The help of family and friends is wonderful if you're going through a crisis or a time of change, but the reason many people go for life coaching is because family and friends all have an opinion as they are all emotionally involved.

"Life coaching gives you the space to make the right decision for you, and that's why it's successful. It's objective. It's the client's life, not ours.

" We're there to listen, to provide support and ask the right questions so that people can find out more about themselves, understand themselves and find the confidence to make the decisions they need to make."

For information, visit www.newucoaching.co.uk

CAPTION(S):

New you ... After she visited a life coach, Gillian Brown became a new woman Finding direction ... Gillian now helps people find their own path to fulfilment