Last Saturday, I held the final session for my first cohort on my group menopause coaching course, Coping to Confidence. It went really well, and I had some lovely feedback. The review that one of my participants posted was heart-warming.

I’d already decided to extend it from 6 weeks to 7, so I asked Copilot AI to suggest content for a new session, explicitly around menopausal weight issues. It rewrote my session plan in some detail, leaving what worked and adding in another session. I still need to write that session, of course, but it may have saved me some hours of thought, planning and rewriting. Only time will tell about that, of course, when I get to work on that session.

It also occurred to me, rather belatedly (but better late than never) that it would be really helpful to some of my participants to have a workbook to complete, not only during the session, but to return to afterwards. That way, they have everything in one place, they can take the time to add in later thoughts, and they can refer back to it at a glance.

I didn’t want them to have sight of the whole programme in advance, though. Some people might rush ahead and try to do the work on their own, which could compromise their ability to be fully present in the exercises during our sessions, feeling they’ve already covered it. And with the visualisations, they’re more likely to get the most out of them by listening to me talking them through it than having to keep reading the next part.

So I asked Copilot to put together a workbook for the course. What it came up with wasn’t complete. I should have asked it to include the questions from the slides. But it’s a good start, and I can just copy and paste those into each session’s workbook, adjusting them as necessary. What Copilot has done rather nicely is to suggest some ideas to pursue in between the group sessions. I’m sharing these workbooks with the first cohort, so they don’t miss out.

My first participants also said they’d love to have a follow-up course to attend, so I asked Copilot for ideas on what to include in the second course, which I’m calling Confidence to Clarity. I haven’t had a close look at it yet, but at a brief glance, it appears to have some great ideas, again saving me hours of work. I’ve already asked for a workbook for that course, too, and I can’t wait to spend some time putting it all together.

That may have to wait a little while, though. I have my hands full with a full-time day job and making adjustments to my first course at the moment – plus writing posts here and on Substack and LinkedIn. I’ll have way more time when I take early retirement in June, but it would be great to have already made a start by then.

I can’t wait for retirement! I guess most people feel that way. But underneath the excitement, there’s a small bubble of panic. I’m taking a nice lump sum from my pension pot to tide me over as I get the business ramped up, but what if that doesn’t happen? Will I have to go back to the world of work? I know there are many people out there who I’m here to help, but I’m also well aware that this sense of panic could be getting in the way of allowing them to find and connect with me.

That panic has subsided a lot after last night, when I had an amazing hypnotherapy session with Lindsay McMillan, which finally and spectacularly healed an eons-old wound that I’d been working on for years. At the end, I felt myself gathering in golden threads from each of the clients I’m here to serve – not tying them to me, just gently connecting, because they want to. I still don’t know how they will find me, but I know they will.

My second cohort started yesterday. One of the participants was a fellow coach who I’m hoping will be able to deliver these sessions herself when I have enough clients to run multiple cohorts at once. I asked her to stay on the call afterwards and give me her feedback, and she was hugely encouraging. Zoom has also given me some great feedback. Alongside a few minor suggestions for improvement (and I’m all for improving where I can), its greatest compliment was that I created a psychologically safe space and ’empathetic leadership’, ensuring all participants felt able to be vulnerable and share their deepest thoughts. As I often say, you can only expand your comfort zone when you’re willing to spend time at the edges of it. I’m so happy that these ladies felt able to go there, with my guidance, and that’s all I can really ask. I closed the session feeling energised, uplifted and accomplished. This is part of the reason why I do this work – because of how it makes me feel. Of course, there’s also the service aspect – I love helping others feel that way too.

So I’m raising a glass to all my clients, past, present and future. Thank you for being part of my network. Thank you for showing up and taking care of yourselves. And thank you for giving me the chance to support you, you amazing people!