Before moving on to the sixth house theme of health, I would like to dedicate one more post to work. More specifically the work environment where I am my own employer; my coaching and my creative practice.
Both are slow burners. Which may well have something to do with the sign in my natal chart presiding over my sixth house: Taurus. I will explore the qualities of this fixed earth sign in a separate blog and see if any of those qualities show up in my work habits.
At this moment, in May 2022, I only have two individual clients and two organisations I work with as a coach. I generate most of my income via freelance projects, and have done for quite some time. When I started my coaching practice, I had no funding in place, no savings to put into my business. And yet, I had to pay the bills, so I fell back on other skills and experience and took on projects I described earlier in this blog.
Thankfully, I will soon have a little window, a few months where, unless energy prices and inflation keep rising, I do not have to worry about my income, but can focus on acquiring new coaching clients instead.
What do I need to do to facilitate those acquisitions? What should I get in place to ensure it will all run smoothly once those new clients sign up? Firstly, I will have to update my website. I have just designed a new series of workshops, aimed at creative entrepreneurs and artists, which I still have to describe as part of my offering. I would love to try this series with a few creatives and ask for their feedback to use in this description. And I would like to update the feedback previous clients have shared, so people can see how these clients have experienced working with me. Some other things to update are my intake questionnaire, terms and contract.
Apart from these writing and admin tasks, I would also like to spend some time preparing the content of my sessions. Each client is different and will be given the support and assignments they most need. However, there are some tools that are really useful for most people. It will help me to help them when I already have those tools prepared. The two individual clients who I am currently working with, have been with me for a long time. Our sessions are often counselling sessions and I use very few assignments with them. I would therefore like to brush up my toolbox and redesign some of my favourite assignments, use my new lay-out etcetera. And I also look forward to diving back into books and podcasts that inspire me.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I myself like to really be present with my clients, whether these are individual clients or teams. Thankfully, this comes naturally to me. But I know that the better I look after my own physical, emotional and spiritual health, the easier it is for me to really show up and the more powerful one coaching session can be. So this is where diving into the health theme will probably be really helpful and beneficial for my work.
It will also greatly benefit my creative practice, which is another thing that simply takes a while to develop (again because there has been little financial wriggle room). Once I have more coaching projects, my work week will become much shorter, allowing for more time to spend on writing, drawing, photography etcetera.
Other than carving out time and looking after my health and well-being, there is very little I need or that I need to get in place in order to work on my creative projects. I have my laptop, my art supplies, my camera and plenty of ideas. Perhaps in the future, I would like to take classes, but that is not a priority.
One final thing to look at, is the physical work environment. As probably transpired from my previous post, I am considering leaving the place where I currently rent my studio. I intended to use it for coaching and creative projects, but haven’t really settled there yet. My home is not big enough to create a proper work space in, so if I were to give up the studio I would either have to really declutter or find an alternative location. Actually, moving house might be on the cards this year or the next, and I would really love to have one room (or shed in the garden) for my creative projects in the new place. I would use it for remote coaching too, but arrange other sessions in cafés, parks or meet my clients in their office.
However, I will likely keep my studio for at least another five to six months. July and August are the months when I can focus on acquiring new coaching clients and also on my creative projects. Already at the start of this year, when reflecting upon property and belongings, I realised I had to give both my present home and my studio a drastic declutter. I say declutter, but I do not really have that many useless little objects to get rid off. What I am speaking about are actually files, folders, boxes and books that I have carried around move after move, materials and objects that I no longer use. I do not want to dispose of all my keepsakes and of the things that are really dear to me, but it will be lovely to travel lighter in the future.
My rising sign 