KM, got a one on one with Sophia and asked her about notions of living a happy and a purposeful life.
INTERVIEW: SOPHIA FROMELL, ITHACA LIFE
When did you realise you had to be a life coach and what has it taught you about people and corporations?
I always knew that banking was not something I could see myself doing for a long period of time. Exciting as it was in the beginning, it was not particularly fulfilling or rewarding. In my search to find what I really wanted to do in life, I got trained by master thinker Bob Proctor and that changed my life completely. It not only made me realise what I really wanted to do in life but it also changed my perception of the world around me and taught me how to think in a completely different way.
Being a life coach is as rewarding as it is challenging. Every day I meet new people who are unique and different. No two cases are alike no matter how similar it might look at the outset. To be a coach, it is necessary to learn to hold back judgment and to put personal views aside – whether meeting with a person or an organisation and it’s essential to willingly keep an open mind and listen and restrain oneself from offering advice.
What are the common problems that people like to solve in their lives and how can we in general overcome those issues?
I work with clients in the UAE, US and Europe and it still surprises me to see that while we are all from different nationalities, backgrounds and cultures, we all face the same challenges. Many of my clients go through a phase in their lives where they feel ‘stuck’, personally or professionally. It is really normal to have phases in life where we sometimes cannot see the woods for the trees and working with a life coach can help and provide clarity and direction. A life coach will always give honest feedback and hand individuals the mirror they need in order to see themselves as others see them.
How do you visualise a perfect life setting and why?
There is no such thing as a perfect life; there is only what is best for a certain point in our life. As individuals, we change and evolve all the time, so what is ideal today might not be ideal in a year’s time. The secret is to take the time and reflect on what is really important in our life. Who do we really want to be? How do we really want to live?
World-renowned professional speaker Bill Goveonce said: “If I want to be free, I’ve got to be me. Not the ‘me’I think you think I should be. Not the ‘me’ I think my wife thinks I should be. Not the ‘me’ I think my kids think I should be. If I want to be free, I’ve got to be me. So, we just need to take the time and ask ourselves, who do we really want to be? Only then we can visualise the life that truly matters, once we know who we are.”
Tell us something about yourself. What are your best achievements as a life coach?
Often as a coach, I see people come to my office quite distressed. They are often at a loss about what to do next and have been feeling unhappy and unfulfilled for an extended period of time before making the first step to change their life. So to see them happier and on the path to self-development is incredible! My biggest reward as a coach is to see the difference in people’s lives. When a client says to me “you’ve changed my life,” there is nothing more I’d rather do as a profession.
Finally, as a member of the global community, what would be your universal advice to people who want to achieve success and personal fulfillment?
Bob Proctor always says: “Two percent of the people think. Three percent of the people think they think … and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die than think.”.My advise to anyone who wants to make a change in their life is to take some time alone and sit down with a pen and paper, completely undistracted and do some thinking about their day, career, life or anything that they want to be improved. They should make sure to sit undistracted, without their telephone beeping next to them or the TV playing and take the time to write down their ideas and thoughts and make a plan about what they want to achieve. If they are not thinking about the life they want to live, then they are merely reacting to whatever is happening in their day from the minute they wake up to the time they go back to sleep.
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