I started working with Gideon because I was unhappy as a corporate lawyer and wanted to build a career as a writer. In the beginning, I thought that Gideon’s role would be simply this: to help me set career and creative goals and to make me stick to them.

I thought that if I just had someone to force me to do the things I set out to do, I would have no choice but to do them because, although I could easily break a promise to myself (after all, who was I?), breaking a promise to someone else was was much more difficult and would leave me awash with guilt and anxiety. Coaching with Gideon ended up working on a much deeper, and, I believe, lasting, level.

While in coaching, I set ambitious goals that I didn’t reach. The demands of my job were unpredictable and heavy, requiring early mornings and late nights on little to no notice. In the limited free time I had, my mind was a blank, unable to remember or focus, and my body ached and was overwhelmed with fatigue. I felt like a failure because I wasn’t doing everything.

By carefully listening and asking questions, Gideon helped me realize that (1) it was okay not to do everything, (2) if I was to achieve what I wanted, I could not continue to put the demands of others over my own needs and (3) I needed, foremost, to devote less time to work and to feel physically better.

I negotiated a part-time schedule with my employer and saw a doctor about my symptoms, actions I would not have taken until I began to believe it was acceptable to put myself first. I was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease, news that I first found discouraging but that I have come to find helpful: knowing how my body is malfunctioning has allowed me to begin to find ways to heal it

I now feel stronger in my body, clearer in my mind and able to separate what I want from what others want from me, and I care about myself enough to keep the promises that are only for myself. Working with Gideon gave me the tools, the perspective, the inner strength to be my own coach. Thank you, Gideon.