We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alison Cohen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Alison , thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
Before becoming a full-time wellness and life coach, I worked in Private Banking. Within the first couple of months in the role, I was burnt out. A lot of my coaching when I first left private banking was to help high-achieving women break cycles of burnout. What I learned from experiencing burnout firsthand and coaching others through burnout was that burnout is the result of being disconnected from (1) your worth and (2) your purpose.
Perfectionism, people pleasing, over-working, lacking boundaries, and over-thinking are all leading causes of burnout. They are also the result of low self-worth. In fact, people engage in these behaviors in an attempt to prove their worth. How did I figure this out? Because this is what I spent the first 21 years of my life doing. I was always trying to be the best, do the most, and impress others in exchange for validation. I was willing to go to any length to prove that I was good enough. I put other’s opinions of me before my time, my boundaries, and my mental and physical health.
Burnout is also the result of being out of alignment with your purpose. When you are in a job that does not fulfill you, you will burn out easily. It doesn’t matter how easy the job is or how much time you spend working. The mental and emotional resistance to a job that you don’t enjoy will make you feel exhausted, unmotivated, and fatigued. This was also a big reason why I burnt out.
To overcome burnout, I reconnected to my inner worth and quit the job that was out of alignment with me. Since starting my coaching business, I have made it a priority to make rest a daily practice and release unnecessary pressure that I put on myself. I also continue to remind myself that my business is not a representation of my worth. My coaching business is the way that I help others and make an income. I am worthy and whole no matter what’s going on in that part of my life. I am also extremely intentional with taking action when I have the motivation and inspiration to do so and giving myself breaks when I am feeling unmotivated instead of shaming myself into action. Self-trust has been an extremely important part of being a business owner and avoiding burnout.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a holistic health coach and life coach and the founder of my coaching business Transforme LLC. I help high-achieving women heal their relationship to body and self. My method incorporates regulating the nervous system to create safety in the body with mindset coaching to help clients release past limiting beliefs and fears and step into their power.
I got into personal development work after starting my own healing journey. I saw such a transformation in my energy, my confidence, and my lifestyle that I became obsessed with the personal development space. I have always been a high-achiever with high self-esteem. But it wasn’t until I started doing the inner work that I realized that I was using my high self-esteem to cover up my low self-worth. Although on the outside I looked successful and happy, I was struggling with perfectionism, people-pleasing, disordered eating, and a victim mindset. Once I reconnected to my inner worth, I finally felt safe and confident in myself and my body.
Witnessing my transformation confirmed to me that it was possible for anyone. I knew I could help other women heal their relationship with body and self to finally feel at home in their bodies, so I started Transforme LLC. I currently offer 1:1 coaching and am looking to expand my offerings soon. Visit my instagram page @transforme_coaching to book a discovery call with me!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Self-trust, intuition, and open-mindedness have been extremely impactful on my journey.
Self-trust is essential to being a business owner. To feel comfortable taking risks and making decisions, you need to trust yourself. You need to trust that you have the strength and skills to get through challenging situations, setbacks, and even failure. I work with a lot of my clients on developing self-trust. Self-trust is strengthened by making promises to yourself and keeping them. Start making small promises to yourself such as “I will make 1 cold call per day” and do not break them. As you feel more confident, you can start adding in bigger promises. Avoid making promises to yourself that you don’t feel confident you can complete as this breaks self-trust.
Intuition is not only a huge part of how I run my business but I also use it in my coaching. As I have developed my connection to my intuition, I have been able to effectively align my business and my actions with my desires. Being in touch with myself has allowed me to understand when I am out of alignment or starting to burn out. If you are looking to develop your intuition, start tapping into the body after you do something or see someone. Your body is always trying to send you signs about what is and is not working well.
Open-mindedness has been one of the most important traits to have since starting a business. Many times, we are subconsciously blocking out opportunities because they don’t fit into our picture of how it should go or what it should look like. Being flexible and learning to trust the journey while still being committed to taking action day in and day out will take you very far.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client is a high-achieving woman who cares about her health, career and relationships. However, she finds herself feeling like she is in a rut. She never really feels at home in her body or in her life. She constantly feels like she wants to change, run away or start over. She feels like she keeps achieving her goals, but never actually feels fulfilled with them. She wants to do the work to heal so that she can live a life that feels safe, sustainable and fulfilling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.transforme-coaching.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transforme_coaching
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