Have you ever shared a great idea with a friend or loved one and gotten a skeptical reply? Usually, a skeptical response would deflate any person of confidence- I know it has for me before- but I’ve started seeing the positive side of it.
Before I decided to launch my high agency coaching business, I had shared my idea with my family and friends to get their thoughts. As you can imagine, I received some reluctant support. A loved one even asked, “Are you sure you have the experience to coach someone on that?”
There it was, the question I’d been too scared to ask myself- spoken out loud. And honestly, it was a valid question. It gave me pause and actually ask myself that question. And the answer was yes- I did.
As a first generation Hmong-American woman of refugee parents, there has always been a heavy weight of external pressure and expectations of who I needed to be and a very narrow definition what success looks like..
But I’ve always been rebellious. Never quite the status quo. When my parents wanted me to pursue medicine, I decided on business instead. When they wanted me to go back to school to get a PHD, I said no because it wouldn’t benefit me more than a title. And when I was offered a promotion with a boost in title and pay with minimal increase in responsibilities, I turned it down because it didn’t align with what I wanted next for my career.
When faced with decisions in my life, I’ve always been able to make a decision that I felt was right for me. So, yes, I did feel like I had the experience to be able to coach someone to trust themselves in building their own path. I just needed a nay-sayyer to help me realize that.
The nay-sayyers in life are not always malicious- quite the opposite actually. Oftentimes, they’re the loved ones who just want you to be safe. But they don’t have your vision or your capability, so it’s up to you to decide if your vision and your belief in yourself can outweigh their skepticism.
Always rooting for you,
Xee
EnviSage Coaching 
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