I have been fortunate to have grown up with several mentors who valued me and assisted me throughout my childhood and adulthood. I have struggled with depression since I was a teenager and was more recently re-diagnosed as bipolar II. These mental health issues and my pursuit to treat myself holistically forced me to seek out different types of modalities and treatments for my mental health, and my human condition.
I had a successful career where I worked extremely hard to climb the corporate ladder, but it also came with its demons. Alcohol and drug abuse, a lack of self-love and self-compassion, and being extremely hard on myself to achieve my version of success (which was rooted in money and things). I have always felt fearful and self-conscious on the inside while showing bravery and an abundance of self-confidence on the outside (a fake it-till-you-make-it attitude). This helped but was not the answer.
I have always been a mentor and an unbiased ear, listening to issues without judgment, and when I went sober, I vowed to share my story, including my struggles if it may provide support to someone else. At the beginning of this year, after 2-years of working on a start-up business, I realized I was burnt out and something was not aligned. I then embarked on another self-awareness journey, and together with a life coach, I was able to work through quite a lot of my limiting beliefs and learn what self-love, self-acceptance, and true self-compassion meant. Halfway through our second stint together, I told her that I felt compelled to take a certification course (I was already aware of Mindvalley).
My intention? Re-affirm the lessons and practices that I had learned, learn how to be a true mentor and empathetic coach, so that perhaps I could move through the world with more compassion, have a more open and honest relationship with my family, and perhaps assist me when helping clients.
At first, I was not sure how much I would take in, or how this community would be helpful. In our first group class, I met someone who became my accountability partner and now friend. While my work life kept me from attending all of the live coaching sessions, it was very powerful listening to the recordings and seeing the transformations. The coursework was in-depth and extremely powerful. I am very grateful for having started and completed this certification, which I feel will help me in so many ways.
Thank you to all of the instructors and facilitators at Mindvalley. Hats off to everyone else who started this journey a little fearful, but stuck with it and completed it. I believe you are also better off in life for having done this, and now there is a much larger group of human beings compelled to serve and make someone else's life easier, better, and more understood.