"So how was the Women’s Show?" curious friends asked me. "Well," was my cautious answer, "I’m not sure what to make of it."
Talk about life!
It was fun. No question there. Very little lights me up more than talking to people about their lives and their work. Women of all ages stopped by to pick up a fortune cookie and laugh at my bad joke: "Your fortunes improve when you work with a coach!" (Just because it’s true, doesn’t make it any less corny.)
Many who stopped by agreed to do the "Life Wheel," sharing how satisfied they are with eight major dimensions of life. The result of that conversation is a "snapshot" of their situation and, often, some insight about where they might want to do some work. "It’s not that I didn’t sense this," said one of our booth visitors, "But I didn’t really see how out of balance things are."
Mini Trends
I noticed some patterns that weren’t surprising.
Many of the people who reported that they aren’t having much fun in life also report concerns about their health. And vice versa. That mind/body connection is clearly at work.
There seemed to be a similar relationship between satisfaction with one’s financial situation and the personal growth dimension. Those who are yearning for more of one, tend also to be yearning for more of the other.
The people visiting the show on Saturday were more likely to rate their satisfaction with career as a 7 or 8 out of a possible 10. The Sunday folk tended, on average, to be around 5. Theories anyone? Perhaps people who just jump in and do things, whether it’s work or play, just have a better time.
The other interesting thing was that some of the people who visited the booth actually knew what life and business coaching is and wanted to come and talk about it. (It didn’t hurt that the business section of the Saturday newspaper featured an article on how coaching isn’t just for executives anymore. )
Theme: More of everything
As for the rest of the show, anyone looking for a pattern was left confused. Booths around us included local colleges, the police department, cosmetics of all sorts, belly dancing, armed forces recruiting, fitness clubs, chiropractors, sewing machines, handbags, aromatherapy, mutual funds, real estate – in a word, "eclectic." The only conclusion I drew is that women are interested in everything – like that’s news to anyone?