The Artist and The Performer

These past 9 days of The Wellness Recovery Program have revealed so many things to me, things about me and business.


What I’ve learned about myself is that I am an artist, not a performer. By that I mean I feel very deeply, it matters to me that I am helping people through legitimate life challenges and by being blessed with so much life experience I am able to draw on the wisdom to create my own work. I could for what of a better analogy sing other people’s songs and perform them well but it’s just not the same. Don’t get me wrong, the world needs performers and you don’t have to look very far these days to find them but what of the artists?


I’m doing what I love, what I’m passionate about and I was reminded this week while wearing my massage hat why I got into coaching in the first place.


Asking people to get almost naked and them trusting you to work with their body is also them trusting you to work with their mind and soul too. Tapping into neuromuscular patterns and energy is something I’ve learned to do over 15yrs during a treatment. The body can tell you a lot. A constant on my table all these years has been the conversations, the tears, the vulnerability and the openness.
Way back in 2005 when I was working full time in my business with professional sport for the first year I noticed my footy guys were the ones that opened up the most. Some very challenged and I thought I want to help these guys more but how? They trusted me to open up and that’s a special thing.
That was the catalyst for me to go back to school to study a Bachelor of Applied Social Science, Counselling with Sports Performance. I found the structure of Counselling and psychology too restrictive as I discovered while I was applying what I was learning is that people are not text books. I found more flexibility in the coaching paradigm and I’ve found it to empower people more effectively, bringing about faster outcomes which when your a professional athlete with a mindset block matters. I have been coaching for many years before actually becoming a “coach”.


There is nothing more rewarding for me than seeing the person you’re working with thrive in a new way. Whilst I am a guide, a skill giver, a cheerleader, an accountability partner it’s not me that makes the changes, it’s them. The work always has to be done.


I love creating new rituals and new content that comes from a depth of knowing that only I can birth. That’s the artist in me. While performers become popular, it’s artists that create legacy and live on, well after the final curtain call.


Which are you?