Welcome to the seventh issue of About The Adventure newsletter! This one has taken a little longer to get together, but finally here it is. I hope that it will brighten your inbox - especially my latest guest on the podcast. How are you getting on with the coaching questions? This is the final one of the first series of questions - so next time we will have a completely fresh batch! Here’s a quick re-cap:
“What’s critical to resolve right now?”
“What impact is this having on your life?”
“What do you know you’ve been doing that’s prevented you from resolving this?”
“What’s this cost you in the past?”
“What’s the impact now?”
“What’s going to happen in the future if you don’t get this resolved?”
To follow on from these, my final question for you is:
What decision are you making inside yourself right now?
This series of questions brings you towards making a decision that you feel really committed to. If you’d like to share your decision with me you can email sarah@sarahventurer.com and I will read it in confidence. If you’d like to go through these questions together then I’m very happy to do that as an introduction to my coaching work. At the moment that will need to be over the phone or on a video call.
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“Life is happening now, live it!”
Episode six of About The Adventure podcast is an interview with Helen Turton - manager of Newland Expeditions, which specialises in guided ski expeditions and winter polar training at all levels. We met for the first time this Autumn when I discovered that Helen was spending some time in the Peak District this year. I invited her to Edale for hot drinks at the Penny Pot Cafe on a rainy day, where we sat outdoors undercover getting to know each other. After hearing about her amazing adventures and career journey, of course I had to invite her on as a guest on my podcast. It was such a great opportunity while she’s here in the Peaks.
I invited Helen to be a guest on the show because of her dynamic personality, inspiring stories, and positive outlook towards life. She really lives by her company motto "Life is happening now....live it!" In fact, she wears it too! Tune into this podcast episode to find out Helen's approach to making decisions in work and life, listen to snippets of her adventure stories, and enjoy her dynamic personality as she shines through the audio waves!
I think that this episode will be of particular interest to people who are: thinking about moving towards a career that involves outdoor leadership, planning an adventure or expedition, needing a nudge to step out of their comfort zone, or if you’re noticing a lack of direction. Make sure that you listen all the way to the end because Helen asks you a question to take away and think about.
Click here to tune in right away, or read my blog post and the list of questions that I asked during our interview. You will hopefully be able to hear Grindsbrook flowing in the background of our interview. If you have any suggestions or feedback about this episode please do send them my way: sarah@sarahventurer.com
A new idea for 2021 - what do you think?
I’ve had an idea for next year - a seasonal group coaching programme online. It would be focused on making changes guided by the seasons throughout the year 2021. The committment would be small in terms of time and cost, so that it is accessible to people. My aim would be for you to experience a new approach to making changes in your life that are grounded by nature, creativity, and connection with people. My question to you now - how does that sound?
If there are a few people interested, then I will start to flesh out the details and see what format you would prefer.
To let me know what you think, you can email me: sarah@sarahventurer.com or leave a comment below. This doesn’t commit you to anything, I would just appreciate your feedback on my initial idea.
On my blog: What does fear stop you from doing?
Earlier this month I spent a day with Clare Kelly from Her on a Hill to learn and practice advanced navigation skills in the local hills of Kinder Scout. Getting to this point has been a revelation for me, as I was very reluctant to learn map and compass skills before meeting Clare a couple of years ago.
My experience got me thinking about how fear can stop me from doing things that can actually really help and nurture me, in my career and other aspects of life. In this blog post I share:
my fear of learning in a group environment
how Clare has helped to change my perspective
a short exercise to help you explore your own fears
I’ve also included some links to a previous blog post connected to this one, my podcast episode with Clare Kelly, and to her websites for information on navigation courses, guided walks and all of the other wonderful work that she does when not in lockdown.
Get involved with my newsletter content
Here are a few ways that you can take part and help to shape my content:
Put forward a question to ask the founders of The Living Project about their career changes. Josh used to work in property and education & Cormac used to support humanitarian and development projects. Now they work together to create wild group experiences and a fantastic podcast.
Join the discussion on: Career change - What do you absolutely need to know before you make it happen?
Leave a comment about what you’re enjoying, or what you’d like to see more of in this newsletter. Make suggestions for future topics or ask questions.
Featured coaching session
I have temporarily moved all of my career coaching sessions to phone and video calls, but I do encourage people to walk while we talk on the phone if the weather and phone signal allows. I think that movement while talking can really help with thoughtful flow, with energy shifts, and with opening up to new ideas. I also think it’s great for stomping out frustration, or having a few moments to yourself for reflection and emotional release.
When I can meet with people again, I would really like to share some of the beautiful waterfall spots that I have discovered while living here in Edale. It is particularly exciting to be here after heavy rainfall because the cloughs get really loud with the rush of water flowing through.
This week I tried out some waterfall photography for the first time, which was a lot of fun. You would’ve laughed if you’d seen me learning how to set up a tripod and slipping about in the water. This is all new to me and a great challenge to capture the places that I really love and appreciate. The featured photograph has been edited by my neighbour who has very kindly let me borrow his camera. He’s been really encouraging me and giving me great tips along the way, which makes me want to get out even more to experiment.
As this waterfall is very close to Edale village we could walk here during a coaching session in about half an hour, then sit by the water enjoying the view with a brew. It’s not super easy to reach, but we’d have a lot of fun arriving as long as you don’t mind getting your boots a bit wet. We could even take our boots off and enjoy a cold foot bath - I’ll go first! After warming up with brews, we could then continue along Grindsbrook and scramble to the hilltop, or return to the village for a shorter and more relaxed coaching session.
Although we can’t meet this month, let’s see what December and the new year brings. You can still book ahead with me and if we need to cancel or reschedule then that’s all good, I work in a very flexible way. And if you like, we can start with an online chat or phone call, then move to a walking session when we can. If you have any questions please get in touch, I welcome curiosity with open arms.
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Thank you so much for reading my newsletter, I really enjoy putting together my content in this space and connecting with you. I already have a new interview to upload on my blog, which will be featured in the next issue. And my list of podcast guests is growing every day, so if you have any suggestions please send them in because it keeps me going with these projects. What projects are you working on?