Inspiration Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Chantal Breytenbach Coaching

Reflections on love and belonging

During my second year in Canada, just before I decided to become a coach, I had a conversation with a coach about life purpose. In the coaching model she was trained in, they were taught to narrow down your life purpose to ONE word that summarises what you are all about or what you are trying to create in your lifetime. A one-word life purpose sounded absurd to me. Could you really narrow it down to just one word? And of course, I was surprised when she shared what she thought my life purpose was. She observed that it sounded like mine was connection. I’ve discovered two things since then… […]

Dreams are for losers

Posted on June 22, 2022By ChantalPosted in Authenticity / Bias for action / Commitment / Courage / Decision-Making / Goals / In the muck / Inspiration / Leadership / Life / Meaning / Mindset / Perspective / Thriving

I want to speak to you about a commencement speech Shonda Rhimes gave at her alma mater Dartmouth College in 2014, where she said this simple yet striking line: “Dreams are for losers”. Yes, you heard that right, she said dreams are for losers. She goes on to explain why. At almost every commencement speech someone will tell the graduates to go follow their dreams, or to never stop dreaming. And what Shonda says is that isn’t helpful advice. It won’t actually help you succeed, because dreamers aren’t successful… […]

Of puzzle pieces and postage stamps

Posted on May 9, 2022By ChantalPosted in Authenticity / Inspiration / Leadership / Life / Love / Meaning / Perspective / Rejection

How many times have you heard the cliché, “you’re unique” and just rolled your eyes? From my perspective, it seems as if people have taken this idea of uniqueness to such an extreme that it has lost its true meaning. The truth is that you are unique. However, how that is often interpreted, is that you are special or different from others in a way that is meant to have you stand out from others. And that is not entirely accurate.

You see we all share certain common traits as human beings. We are all mammals. We are all social animals seeking belonging. We are all meaning seekers and meaning makers. We all experience emotions. We are all capable of critical thought and of creativity. There are certain things that we have in common with other people because we are all human.

That being said, you are still unique in the sense that there is only ONE human like YOU. […]

Thoughts on motherhood

Posted on May 9, 2022By ChantalPosted in Courage / Gratitude / In the muck / Inspiration / Leadership / Life / Love / Meaning

Mother’s Day can be a complicated day for many, and I have always had mixed feelings about the day. Often the stage of life I find myself in, also dictates the scale and intensity of those mixed feelings. […]

You don’t need motivation to get started on something

Posted on April 12, 2022By ChantalPosted in Commitment / Courage / Failure / Grit / Happiness / In the muck / Inspiration / Life / Meaning / Mindset / Passion / Purpose / Resilience / Thriving / Transformation

I’ve always been a highly driven and motivated person. I seldom have difficulty getting into action on something once I’ve decided that I want to do it. I can’t relate much to procrastinating on things, because I don’t do it often. And people have often described me as someone who knows what she wants and goes after it.

Two weeks ago, I attended a coaching development workshop. In many ways it was a life-changing experience. And then almost at the very end of the workshop, I received a new insight on motivation that not only changed my perspective on the whole concept, but also made me realise why some people get into action quickly and others don’t. And I want to share what I’ve learnt with you, because it will change the way you think about motivation.

The most important thing I’ve learnt from this experience and from reflecting back on my own life experiences, is that you don’t need motivation to get started. You need something else. […]