I arrived in London last week from the States, having completed my five-session coaching package with Steve Hardison – The Ultimate Coach. There have been many insights, aha moments and realisations in 2022 through our work together. I’m definitely a very different man, husband, son and coach as a result of that experience.
One of the many learnings has been to ACT on my intuition. Now, I learned over a decade ago to trust my intuition and see it as a gift. That voice inside that would sometimes nudge me to take some action that my logical mind would try and talk me out of. The more I listened to, trusted and act on what this voice suggested, I noticed the better life seemed to get.
However, I hadn’t realised how many times this voice would speak to me and I didn’t act. It’s as if the voice needed to shout before I acted. This year that has changed.
One example is the voice nudging me to reach out to Terri Broughton earlier this year after I saw a painting she did of her brother in law:
I asked her to paint me. I had many thoughts come up as to why I shouldn’t but I trusted that voice and acted on it. It became clear that this painting was not just a painting. But a reflection of my journey of personal growth and an expression of self love. Something I have struggled with my whole life but now is seeping into every area of my life.
It became obvious to me that whilst Terri is incredibly talented as an artist, there was more to why I asked her to take on this project. No one else could have painted me. We have way more in common than people realise. Terri has known me for years and witnessed so much of my growth. She did not simply paint something. She captured me. She went over and above simply painting me. This lady is a true master of her craft. Her work will sell for a hundred times what she currently charges. She is one of the most wonderful, genuine, honest and loving people I have ever met.
The painting has partial words from both my document (which is a list of “I am” declarations and commitments I make every day) and powerful words which have been used to describe me by people Terri reached out to. To say I am impressed is an understatement. I am touched and moved by both the outcome and the process of this project.
Next year this very large oil painting will be hand delivered to my house (yet another example of beautiful service) and it will hang up, pride of place, in my office. I will use this as a coaching tool and as a major inspiration for my clients. So many of us, and this was me my whole life, think it is arrogant to really love ourselves. Yet I believe there is nothing that would impact the world in a positive way than if we all did exactly that. It doesn’t need to look like having a painting of yourself in your home office. It probably won’t.
But it is part of my expression of self love and I hope this sharing inspires others to connect with that in some way.
P.S. if you’ve read this and judged me, I love you. I would do this too and it was simply a reflection of my own created self judgement. My only wish for you is that you forgive yourself for whatever that judgment is. Doing that changed my life and business.
With love and appreciation,
Ankush Jain
Coach and Author of Sweet Sharing – Rediscovering the REAL You