Embracing What Makes You Unique | ep171
What makes you unique? What is it that makes you so incredibly special?
This is one of the most common questions that clients will come to me with and now, in the Wholehearted Life Coaching Certification, I hear this question from the student coaches struggling with figuring out what is it that makes them stand out in the world of life coaches.
There is something so inherently special about each and every one of us. But it's really easy to get lost, to get confused, and to not really understand what our magic and medicine is.
Today we’re going to explore this deeper and I’ll share with you some reflective prompts to help you uncover what it is that is so special about you, love.
Before we dive in, I have a BIG announcement…
The Wholehearted Coaching Certification Program is now open!
I have shared this dream with you all for a while now through big announcements and preview announcements, and now you can apply to become a heart-centered coach. If you’ve ever dreamed of coaching others towards a life they truly love and doing so with so much care, skill, and ethics, this is the opportunity for you, love. If you’d love to learn more, just head to wholeheartedcertification.com/programs.
Our next cohort begins January 2024 and there are only a few spaces left.
When I first started coaching, I looked around and saw a lot of the same things
I saw so many coaches with the same messaging, the same branding, the same look.
It was all very positive, very love and light, but it was also lots of gauzy fabrics, hats, and crystals. I just kind of looked around and thought, “This isn't me…”
Maybe I was supposed to conform or try to fit in. But honestly, I didn't even try. I knew that this just was not going to work for me. I really had to sit with the question of what makes me unique, what makes me so special? Why would someone want to work with me?
In coaching, we often hear the term “superpower.”
What is your superpower?
When we think of that, we think of things like being organized, being funny, being a dynamic speaker, being generous, being warm.
And while yes, those are your superpowers, you may not feel like that is what makes you unique because other people are organized and other people are great at public speaking, right? It's not what makes you you.
As I sat with this, I realized that in order to find my uniqueness, my specialness, my magic and medicine, I had to look in the shadows. I had to look at the parts of me, the parts of my identity, the parts of my history, the parts of my lived experience that I once used to be ashamed of, the parts of me that I once used to wish were “more normal,” the parts of me that I once used to judge and be so ashamed of.
This was what made me so damn unique and special. This was my magic and medicine.
What makes you unique, your magic and medicine, lies in the shadows
When I was a young girl, I used to be so ashamed and judgmental of several parts of my identity:
my immigrant-ness
my Iranian-ness
my other-ness
my hair
my body
my weird sense of humor
Now, as a coach, I realize that those are actually the things that make me so unique. These are actually my superpowers.
When I think of the Wholehearted Community, y'all are here because of those things. You’re here for my odd sense of humor, for my particular look at the wellness industry, the fact that I am a woman of color who approaches this work with a lens rooted in justice and liberation.
I can’t speak for you personally, but that is why I think you are here, why you listen to the podcast, why you follow me on Instagram, and why you’re on my email list.
Those things about me are my magic and medicine. It's all the stuff in the shadows. It’s the parts of us that we have felt we needed to hide, but really we need to illuminate them.
When I was able to fully embrace all of those things, that is when Wholehearted Coaching became what it is today. This community is made up of some incredible individuals, very unique and special individuals. I love this community and it is because I am so clear about who I am, where I come from, and what I value.
Love, your magic and medicine is rooted in those parts of you that maybe you once couldn't or didn't want to accept.
The parts of you that you maybe once really didn't like. The parts of you that you once wished were different. Those parts of you are your medicine. They are your magic.
In the Wholehearted Life Coaching Certification, we spend so much of our foundational work figuring out who you are and what that magic and medicine really is.
You do not need to do this work like anyone else. You do not need to do life like anyone else. You need to do it how you want to do it and that takes some time to really figure out.
But once you do, that is when you and the work you do will flourish.
If you’re ready to discover your unique magic and medicine, answer these prompts:
Prompt #1: Make a list of all the things you would wish were more “normal” about you.
What were the things you felt ashamed of as a kid? In high school? In college? Maybe even now wherever you are in life.
Once you have your list, really sit with it. Look at it through the lens of the person you are right now. How do these things inform who you are? How you move in the world? Your values? Your beliefs? How you express yourself?
So much of the work I do today is because of what I experienced when I was growing up, of not feeling like I belonged, of not feeling like I had anyone. That has now made me into this wholehearted human.
Prompt #2: Reach out to 3 to 5 people from your life and ask them these 4 questions
How do I make you feel when you’re with me?
What would you say are my gifts or talents?
What would you say is exceptional about me?
What is your favorite thing about me?
This is a very vulnerable exercise and it may feel a little scary, but I highly encourage you to do it. So often, other people can see things in us that we just can’t. Think of people that you really trust who know you fairly well and believe the people who believe in you.
This week, I want you to sit with these prompts and reflect on what your unique magic and medicine is.
What we need more of in this world is the thing that makes you special. For me, the more and more I embraced my magic and medicine fully without shame and judgment, that is when my life magnified.
Tune into this week’s podcast episode — 171 | Embracing What Makes You Unique — to hear the full conversation plus the special interview with Chrissy Chard, one of the current Wholehearted Coaches.
If you’re ready to hold spaces for others as a certified life coach, I invite you to apply to become a heart-centered coach with me in The Wholehearted Coaching Certification Program.
Applications are now open and our next cohort begins January 2024.
Did you know that each podcast episode comes with free guided journal prompts?
If you want to be in the know and get each Mindset Monday straight to your inbox complete with journal prompts to take you even further, get on my email list.
About your host, Shirin Eskandani
Hi, love! I’m Shirin.
Coach, speaker, writer, and life alchemist.
I teach you how to listen to your intuition again, tune out all the BS, and let your heart lead the way.
Because once you strengthen your inner GPS, decisions become easier, boundaries become clearer, and belly laughs become a daily thing.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME:
I’m a certified life coach (accredited through the International Coach Federation)
My husband and I met on Instagram and we live in Brooklyn, NY with our plant babies
I have a masters degree in Music and was a professional opera singer for twelve years. I worked all over the world singing on stage at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera (more on that later…).
I believe in the woo just as much as I do the work (internal and external). No amount of crystals and affirmations will make up for a lack of a healthy mindset and aligned action.
I love all the Real Housewives franchises. Don’t make me choose one… seriously, don’t.