Praise

I am eternally grateful for the conversation that lead me to Chantal. A little over a year ago I found myself stuck in a life I didn’t want. I was slowly starting to come to terms with the decisions that had led me there, but somehow knew I needed to start doing something different. All I wanted, was to get out. I was in an exorbitant amount of debt. I am not yet 30, and I owed over R300k. I was struggling to make decisions that would best serve me, regarding getting out of debt, finding a new home, and effectively discovering my purpose. I didn’t know how to ask for support, or how to back myself. I was upset about the decisions I made, instead of showing myself compassion and figuring out a way forward that would better align with the life I wanted, rather than ending up in the same cycle of behaviour and results.

After an initial phone call with Chantal, my world changed. Or it seemed like it did. The darkness was no longer a never-ending tunnel, and I was able to see the light. Initially I wanted to change where I was living, as well as what I was doing to earn a salary, and of course, get out of debt. But what has resulted now after a year of consistent work and facing challenging but enlightening conversations, is a true understanding of myself, my values, my purpose; healing for the first time in years from things I thought were long past, but still somehow guided my thoughts and actions; and the confidence and clarity to show up and stand in my power (with both fear and courage).

I have come to appreciate many things during this year, and one of the things I appreciate most is Chantal’s ability to see what even those closest to me have seemingly missed, and at times, what I have forgotten exists within myself.

A year later, I am out of debt. My husband and I have bought our first home, after a year of renting a place which helped us create our own space and independence. I have been able to have difficult conversations and be heard, to ask for the support I want, to engage in relationships with more understanding, and in some cases, more directness; which have all resulted in more positive engagements than they have in the past. And I have found what it is that fuels the fire in my soul.

Chantal’s unconditional support has been invaluable, and her unwavering belief in me, has ensured that even the smallest tether of belief I have in myself at times, is magnified to help me achieve whatever it is I want.

Let me start by saying that working with Chantal has been the greatest gift I could have ever given myself.

Before I started working with Chantal I had a knowing that there was something more for me, there was a need to understand my purpose. Let me explain further, I didn’t know what I wanted, I didn’t know what I needed, I didn’t know what was missing in my life. I kept thinking: I have a wonderful marriage, I have two amazing children, I have a great job, everyone is healthy and I have everything to be grateful for and I was grateful for everything; but I still felt like there was something missing. I did not feel complete, I knew that this was not it for me, it couldn’t be. I knew there was something that I needed to discover. So, in making the decision to work with Chantal I figured I had nothing to lose, I was already happy with my life so I went in with a very curious approach to see what was possible. Well, let me say that I was not prepared for what was about to happen or how quickly it was going to happen. The most fantastic thing about coaching is that it works and it works immediately. Every single conversation with Chantal I walked away with a new piece of a puzzle. As time went on, I could see how the different pieces fit together.

Today I am a lighter, a more open version of my previous self. When I think about the coaching I have done with Chantal, I celebrate my journey, my growth and my courage. I am the one who did the work and I own that proudly; but none of it would have been possible without the loving supportive space that was held for me each and every time we spoke. Chantal is a South African gem, a concrete unwavering pillar that encouraged me to take up more space and to truly see the effects of slowing down.

I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am light. I am love. I am on purpose. I did not know this before my work with Chantal but I do now.

The completion I want to acknowledge first, as I believe it is one of the most important achievements I have experienced in this year, is increased self-love, self-compassion and self-forgiveness. I acknowledge and celebrate an important shift in my being where I am no longer driven, led or tortured by the forceful, pushing, punishing, judging, harsh tyrant within me. I am showing myself compassion when I am momentarily confronted with old, limiting stories of “not enoughness,” and I am forgiving myself when I may slip into self-judgments. I am being more loving, kind and gentle with myself when I face challenges, whether these challenges come from internal hurdles or external circumstances. Yes, old habits may surface, and I quickly acknowledge them and say, “no, not choosing that path.” I shift my focus to direction and guidance from the wise, compassionate part of my being. This feels like a real shift, it feels genuine, authentic. I also acknowledge a wonderful by-product of this shift — I feel more ease, less struggle, less “efforting” and more joy. This is refreshing, energizing and fulfilling.

A second completion I want to acknowledge and celebrate is the shift in my relationship with money. With this shift comes a genuine belief that money does not determine my worth nor does it create a sense of safety and security. I also believe that money is an instrument, a tool, a resource that I can use to create experiences I want in my life. It is not an end-all, be-all. As you have said, money is a tool, not a thing. I now believe this. I no longer define my own worth or judge myself based on how much money I have. I also recognize my own power and ability in making money. I am overcoming underearning. I acknowledge and celebrate a by-product of this shift. I feel more ease, more trust, less struggle, less “efforting” and more joy.

A third completion I want to acknowledge and celebrate is my shift from a traumatized, broke, victim mindset to a powerful ownership/creator mindset. There is no more pity. There is no more victimhood. There is no more passivity. In each moment, I am now consistently asking myself, “what do I choose to do with this?” I allow myself to feel the feelings, then I move on to what it is I want to experience and create from the experience. This is an empowering shift in perspective.

A fourth completion I want to acknowledge and celebrate is also a by-product of all the work I have done (with your support!). It is a renewed connection and trust in Spirit, the Universe, Divine Intelligence, whatever you want to call it. I have come home again to this connection and with this renewed connection, with this coming home, I feel at peace, at ease, a sense of trust, a Knowingness.

I can genuinely say that for decades I have been chasing these things (self-worth, healing, trust, ease, etc.), hoping that something would change. I just couldn’t get there for some reason.

Chantal has been a phenomenal coach. She got me. She saw me. She believed in me. She saw my potential in a way no other human being has seen it. She challenged me in ways I have never been challenged. I think it was a perfect alchemy of all the above and what a powerful experience that has come from this alchemy.

I have experienced so much growth and healing, all of which have brought me that much closer to my soul line. I no longer feel constricted, weighed down, afraid to be myself or as if I am “efforting” through life. Instead, I feel expansive, and I see so much possibility. I am enjoying my life more and I am playing, relaxing, pursuing interests as much as I am working, so I am finding more balance.

Ease and flow came from how I am with myself and from my renewed trust in and connection to my higher self and the Universe. Ease has come from trusting that I am enough and from my recognition that I am not alone, and I am completely loved and supported by the Universe.

12 months ago, I was in the middle of physically unpacking all of our things in Chicago. My plan was to start working toward my goal of starting my own business in the Fall of 2023 — but then a couple weeks later I was offered a position and accepted it because of the stability. I felt scared and unsettled about life — our move, my next career path, my husband’s ability to contribute to our family — just scared and unsettled overall about the big transition. Also excited for the possibility, but I felt I was in a panicked state of mind most of the time — new city, new life and a lot of uncertainty. I really wanted to stand for what I wanted but I didn’t know what that meant or looked like in this new life.

6 months ago, I was really aware of how much the fit of my contract work at the time felt off. I felt really unsettled about the health of my marriage and the future of our family, and my own career path.

Since starting to work with you, everything has settled. I really believe you’ve helped me gain an important perspective about my own narratives around my relationship, my relationship with our finances and the intertangled story I had about my husband’s career and my own. It helped me out of a very dark place in our chapter together and strengthened my marriage. I feel like I am also on the path of healing my own inner narrative around my value, my relationship to money and really most importantly to me, I’ve started taking action in a very familiar way that I hadn’t for myself in a very long time.

I am celebrating that I am in a space where I’m unafraid to take action toward my dreams. I am unafraid to acknowledge that I matter just by being. That I am getting wins in life left and right because I’ve made commitments that I’ve kept for myself. Doing this work, and running a half-marathon with two people who have become dear friends have been the highlights of my year. I feel like I’m building the life I’ve envisioned and when I look back at some writing I’ve done around my dream life, I see I’m creating it, brick by brick.

I’ve realized I don’t need ANYONE’S PERMISSION to create the life of my dreams.

So far, my experience of coaching has been great. I was introduced to the idea of a growth mindset, vs. a fixed mindset. I have begun to understand more deeply my gifts of imperfection, and how to learn to embrace those gifts and view them less as “bad” and more of just something that is. I have learnt that play is a form of self-care, and that making time for play, now, helps fill my cup.

I have discovered that acknowledgment is a value of mine, and that it’s important to live in alignment with my values, in order to live wholeheartedly. I have discovered that it is possible to live in alignment with my values and also protect my own energy. I discovered that my own inner critic is incredibly strong. My perfectionist and people-pleasing tendencies are also very strong, and I realized that letting them drive the ship results in undue emotional and mental energy expenditure.

I have learnt how to lean into my inner trust and knowing. I have learnt that having good boundaries is an essential component to wholehearted living. It takes 90 seconds to really feel an emotion and that letting myself feel them, overall helps keep my nervous system more regulated. I have discovered the power of setting aside even 15 minutes to slow down and take care of myself.

I have more love and compassion for myself. For most of my life, I have hustled for my own worthiness. Rather than continuing on that path, it now feels possible to learn to be what I need to be, in order to do what I need/want to, to have what I need/want.

I feel like I am in a different place, that I didn’t even know I needed to be when we started. In this place, my needs and my family are squarely at the center. I am looking at my own behaviors and others’ behaviors through this different lens. I am questioning things that I wasn’t even considering a year ago (Why am I doing this? Does this serve me? What are my other options? Is this in integrity with myself?). I am less afraid of saying no.

I recognize that I am precious and valuable just be being me. My worth is not predicated on what I do to deserve it, but it is inherent in my being. I can bring this perspective to my decision making and inner process. I can conjure this feeling by remembering my little one. I have recently begun to come to terms with my family of origin on a different level than I had before.

I feel like I have a new gentleness towards myself. Instead of judging myself (why am I having such a hard time?), I can see it for what it is worth (my fear was well founded and reasonable, but maybe I don’t need to apply it everywhere). From this, I am beginning to recognize that a driving force in my life was in a large part fear. I never realized this before. I thought I was resilient, but under that resilience and drive was an intense fear of needing to do good enough to be good enough to avoid shame. I feel like I am on the brink of something new – recognizing and addressing the fear that often motivates my decision-making without questioning what is wrong with me.

I now pre-emptively slow down and create time for self-reflection. I carve out time for a walk to think or time to journal. I have begun to set boundaries. I am more grounded and authentic. I am in better integrity with myself. I am a little less afraid of putting things down and disappointing others, and a little less afraid of doing less. I am more gentle.