Every day I walk to and from my daughter's school, which is about a 6.5km walk roundtrip. I do this because it offers fitness, freedom from having to take transportation, time to listen to music, and most importantly time for me to think. And thinking is what I have done a lot of recently. Thinking to drive strategy, thinking to pinpoint values and vision, thinking to understand what it is I am doing and what will motivate me to move forward. I am a professional coach about to embark on a new journey towards supporting, guiding and most importantly partnering with others to build insights and achieve results.
Which brings me to the wild chicken neighborhood. Why the title? Well, on these walks to and from my daughter's school, there is about a 400 meter-long area for which an assortment of maybe 40-50 of these wild chickens (or Red junglefowl) linger about in various states of eating, walking, running, or observing. They are truly a delight to behold because each experience is completely different from the last. Sometimes there are chirping newborn chicks closely following their mother; sometimes there is a cacophony of crowing from different males perched atop different vehicles, fenceposts and rooftops; sometimes there are large groups of males and females; and sometimes there are no chickens to be found at all. Each time I walk in the wild chicken neighborhood I am struck by how utterly unique, remarkable and absorbing the experience of seeing these chickens can be. And each time I gain new perspectives from observing the chickens.
So what's the deal with wild chickens? Why make wild chickens the theme of the very first blog post? Because to me the experience of walking through the wild chicken neighborhood could be perceived as entirely ordinary and routine. It is after all what I do almost every day. It is part of my role as a parent to drop off my daughter at school and get on with other tasks and responsibilities. It is the everyday journey from point A to B. Points A and B should be more interesting than whatever space occupies the area between the two, right? The easiest inference would be to perceive the wild chicken neighborhood as yet another obstacle in my way to reaching point B. The wild chicken neighborhood does not need to be assigned any meaning or significance because its presence does not occupy my mind throughout the day; it is merely a moment of time that preoccupies no more than five minutes of my day. Yet those five minutes represent new insights and observations that the day before did not produce. The chickens are doing what chickens do; but because my presence in their space is wholly unique every day, it is that distinctiveness that offers the real perspectives and ideas. And that revelation presents the real purpose of my endeavoring into the field of coaching.
My presence in others' lives represents a mere moment in a film reel whose images and memories can seemingly eclipse the light that is offered through a coaching space. Yet a stroll through any wild chicken neighborhood is either thoroughly monotonous or completely engrossing. It is about perspective and mindset, and as a coach I aim to use all coaching spaces as an opportunity to observe and illuminate new lenses, new ideas and new paths to help others achieve the motivating and enriching goals that add value and drive growth.
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