Blog – Lara Layout
The Storm Before the Calm – Clarity through Adult Temper Tantrums
It was 2 am and I was lying there, staring at the ceiling. Thoughts were racing a mile a minute in my head. And my whole body was reacting with a tornado of emotions. Frustrated, ashamed, angry, defeated. My brain was cycling through doomsday predictions: “I’m...
How to be An Example to Clients Even if You Feel Like You’re Still a Work in Progress
99.9% of wellness coaches are in business because they’ve overcome something life changing — or someone close to them has. And those wellness coaches — they want to show people who are suffering how to overcome their challenges as well. Okay, I made up that statistic....
How Validation Can Sink Your Coaching Business
“So, what do you do?” Hearing this question used to be my worst nightmare. Telling people I was a life coach seemed to elicit either confused looks or the proverbial pat on the head before they moved on. Either way I was pretty sure it was a slightly patronizing...
When Boundaries We’re Taught in Coach Training Don’t Apply
Can we talk about boundaries for a second? Specifically, how the business boundaries we’re taught in coach training programs don’t really vibe in the real world? As coaches, we’re taught to never go over time in a client session because it’s bad business to give away...
5 Reasons Why Not to Blame Yourself
“I don’t know if I should tell you this.” She said. I was intrigued. This person just hired me for 6 months of coaching - and in our first session she was openly considering holding back. “I don’t want to be blamed for what’s going on with me.” She continued, “I...
Am I Enough?
I, like many of us, believed from a young age that I wasn’t as worthy as those around me. Let me be clear - I had a great family. This is not a story of hardship. But like a lot of people, I had a great childhood and still emerged with life-altering insecurities. I...
When I Finally Learned to Relax
I’m a tough cookie. I’ve always had the brush-yourself-off-and-carry-on mentality. I’m pretty sure I learned it from being the youngest of five children and growing up with a mother from England. That soldier-on mentality has taken me far. But for a long time, I...
The Quickest Way to Change Your World
“If I just had a man, this would be so much better.” “Things would be so much easier if I just made more money.” “If I just lost the weight, everything would look better.” These were real things I told myself on a daily basis. To me it made all the sense in the world...
Taking the Long Way Home
Something has weighed me down for a long time. The funny thing about issues that weigh us down is that we can tell ourselves carrying that burden isn’t that bad. We eventually get used to feeling weighed down and even feel like something’s missing if it’s gone. I...
Good Days and Bad Days
.. When I was first diagnosed with MS, a friend of mine bought me a journal to help me process everything. One side of the journal had a happy baby face with the title “Good Days,” and the other side had a crying baby face with the title “Bad Days.” I loved my kind,...
5 More Things I Wish Knew When I Was Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis
When I wrote 5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis four years ago, I focused on the top-level, must know things that I wish someone had told me but didn’t. I discussed ideas like how to make your MRIs more comfortable, how your...
When Someone Makes You Question Everything- And What to Do About it
Don't worry, you'll be in pain soon." That’s how she replied when I said I didn’t feel any pain from my MS. What?! I had just led a workshop at the MS Society about how to lower stress and effectively use positive thinking. Everyone was very open and honest...