{"id":16280,"date":"2021-05-10T16:50:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T22:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/?p=16280"},"modified":"2025-08-11T16:50:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T22:50:35","slug":"coaching-for-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/coaching-for-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaching for Women at Midlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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MIDLIFE<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Midlife can be a confusing time – a life coach can help us turn uncertainty into opportunity, and create a life we love<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Midlife can be a confusing time for women; it certainly was for me.\u00a0And I had no idea that coaching for women at midlife was an option I might consider.<\/p>

In my late 40\u2019s I went from feeling content to feeling confused and lost in my own life. It never occurred to me that other women my age might be struggling with similar emotions and that there might be options for support beyond traditional therapy.\u00a0So I muddled my way through. That period of upheaval served a purpose: it led me to start Midlife Globetrotter, and ultimately, to a much happier place. (You can read that story here: My Midlife Upheaval<\/span><\/a>). But working with a life coach probably would have expedited that process, and likely made it a lot more fun.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I was curious about coaching for women, so I spoke to Deborah Voll<\/span><\/a>, a Certified Professional Life Coach, based in Seattle. We talked about her passion for coaching midlife women, something she discovered as she went through her own transformation in her 50’s. She shared some of the things she sees women often struggle with (she exclusively coaches women aged 40-plus) and we talked about why this confusing time can be an incredible opportunity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019re curious about coaching for women, I hope our conversation will answer some of your questions.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Deborah Voll coaches midlife women to help them discover their purpose and passion at midlife<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Q. Can you describe the role of a life coach for women?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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People often ask me \u201cwhat\u2019s the difference between a life coach and a therapist?\u201d Therapy will take you from dysfunctional to functional and a life coach will take you from functional to exceptional. It\u2019s an opportunity for the client to come to a session that\u2019s safe and non-judgmental, where they can articulate their fears, their frustrations, their goals and dreams. So we can begin to get curious and explore what it is they would be passionate about exploring or doing.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. Why did you specifically choose women aged 40-plus for coaching?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Because I am a woman in midlife and I went through this process myself. I woke up and noticed that the kids were grown up. I didn\u2019t have to do the carpools, I wasn\u2019t needing to fix dinner on a consistent schedule. I thought, I have so much more time, what would I really like to be doing with that time? So I hired my own life coach, and I took the time to explore what I wanted to do. What I was passionate about and then most importantly what did I want my lifestyle to look like in these future years and into retirement? What is it that\u2019s really going to light my fire? As a result, I began to explore life coaching and received my certification. I thought: there are so many women out there at midlife who are confused and feeling stuck, and not knowing where to start. Since I\u2019ve already walked the journey and figured that part out for myself, who better to guide them along their path?<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. Why is it common for women to feel a desire for change, at midlife?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Any number of things can trigger this need to want to go deeper and explore how they can feel more fulfilled in their life. It can be an empty nest. It could just be getting to a certain age – it can be 40, 50, or hitting your 60\u2019s.\u00a0 They think wow, instead of continuing my daily grind, I want to explore something I am more passionate about, something that gives me a sense of purpose. Moving to a new city or country, and being exposed to new opportunities can also trigger someone to want to get more in touch with who they are and how they want to spend their future. It can also be the death of a loved one.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. So we desire change, yet sometimes stand in our own way. Why do we sabotage ourselves?\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What causes that sabotage is fear. Fear of really looking at who we are. Fear of setting boundaries with others and ourselves. What is helpful is getting very clear on your why. Why is this so important for you to achieve? I sometimes notice my clients aren\u2019t getting to the real reason ‘why’, so I keep probing and asking the questions, we keep going deeper until we find the reason why. And when we do, they step back and say, wow. When we start to work together it\u2019s: knowing where we are at today, defining the goals and then really getting clear on why it\u2019s so important to us. With all of that, we are less likely to sabotage ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I felt lost and scared at midlife, when the life I knew suddenly didn't seem to fit<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Q. What do you commonly hear from women, when you first meet with them?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The one question I ask my clients when I first do an exploratory call is: how do you feel going into this journey? So often they say, \u2018I feel confused and I feel fearful\u2019.\u00a0 What I\u2018d like for them to be feeling is excitement. This should be a really exciting time for them. And often what drives a lot of the fear and confusion is that they haven\u2019t spent a lot of time working on themselves so don\u2019t know what is making (or will make) them feel fulfilled in life. They\u2019ve spent so much time giving to others: their family, their career, their neighbors. So it\u2019s taking the time to step back and really take a look at you and see where you\u2019re at today, and where you want to be in the future.\u00a0 I take them from that feeling of frustration and confusion to having the clarity and excitement to move forward.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. What should we look for in a life coach? <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When picking a coach what\u2019s most important is just that vibe and synergy. Is your coach creating a safe place? Do you feel comfortable that you could build a relationship with this individual and be able to share whatever it is that you want to share? And is the coach going to be able to get you the results? They need to be clearly saying: this is what you want to achieve, this is how we would get you there and this is where you would be at the end of your journey.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. How long do women typically work with you?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Typically, eight weeks. My <\/span>\u201cNext Chapter\u201d<\/span><\/i> program is eight weeks. We spend time <\/span>on the action steps for three<\/span> specific goals\u00a0<\/span>as well as complete specific worksheets in my <\/span>Passion and Purpose<\/span><\/i> Workbook<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>. <\/span>It’s a blended learning process (the client works independently and we work together) so you obtain your results faster and learn some important tools along the way, to use in the future.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. What if a woman isn\u2019t sure if a life coach is right for her, or can\u2019t invest in coaching right now?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The first thing to do if you are not sure is reach out to a life coach and do an exploratory call. Most coaches will offer you a free 30-minute call to talk about where you are at, and determine if coaching is a good fit.<\/span><\/p>

If you can not financially make the investment, I have all of my workbooks available on my website in downloadable PDF\u2019s. So women can start working on their own: getting clarity on where they are at now, and finding out their ‘why’. Also, they can look at their priorities, at self-care and what they want for their future self. They can start doing that work on their own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

If you are interested, Deborah\u2019s workbooks can be purchased here:\u00a0Passion & Purpose workbooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0($60).\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Get $10 off with code Midlife.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. I think a growth mindset is so important at midlife; believing we can learn new things enables us to pursue big dreams. How have you used a growth mindset at this stage?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Before the pandemic started last year, I started a podcast. I wanted to be able to inspire more women in midlife. I didn\u2019t know anything about podcasting, I didn\u2019t know how to do any of that, but you can learn. And once you start learning and meeting people and they start helping you, it just snowballs from there. My podcast is called <\/span>Calm the Chaos<\/span><\/i> and I interview midlife women; I interviewed you. (Our interview is here: Calm the Chaos)<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. What is your favourite thing about coaching women?\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I love to see the transformation that these women have. From starting with a feeling of confusion, to getting clarity and then launching. And they do it all on their own. I just ask the questions; they do all the work. It\u2019s so much fun to see them succeed.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. And what\u2019s your favourite part of this stage of life? <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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My favourite part about midlife is knowing that I\u2019ve earned the time. We all have. Once we get to midlife, we\u2019ve paid our dues. We\u2019ve put up with a lot and we\u2019ve done a lot and we also have a lot of really great experience. So we should be looking at this opportunity like: ‘hey, if I put my mind to it I can do anything I want’.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Q. Can you share a final piece of advice for midlife women who want to create change in their life? <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I always say if you want to do something: declare it, write it down and take the first step. Once you take that first step, you are opening yourself up to all sorts of possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Deborah Voll has three different coaching programs and offers a free 30-minute exploratory call. Find out more at <\/span>deborahvoll.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0
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Her\u00a0Calm The Chaos<\/span><\/a>\u00a0podcast releases new episodes every Monday. You can listen to my conversation with Deborah here: Calm the Chaos – Susan Heinrich<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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MIDLIFE Midlife can be a confusing time – a life coach can help us turn uncertainty into opportunity, and create a life we love Midlife can be a confusing time for women; it certainly was for me.\u00a0And I had no idea that coaching for women at midlife was an option I might consider. In my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[206,208,247,248,198,207,147,163,161,115,167],"class_list":["post-16280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-midlife-inspiration","tag-career","tag-career-advice","tag-coaching","tag-life-coaching","tag-midlife-crisis","tag-midlife-inspiration","tag-midlife-priorities","tag-midlife-transformation","tag-midlife-women","tag-opportunity-of-midlife","tag-womens-empowerment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/susan-heinrich-writer-midlife-blog.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midlifeglobetrotter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}