Tom Leegstra was stuck in life, and he had no idea where to go next. Then he read a book and took a course where a friend of his recommended the Transformational Life Coaching program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts (SWIHA). After debating for a few months, he decided to take the plunge and do it, with the aim of helping others to change the direction of their lives, and never did her stop and think that may he was the one who needed coaching the most! He has now been coaching for a little over a year now, and this includes coaching himself every day!
The tools that changed Tom’s life for the better were the ones that used guided imagery around dreams, which require us going within to finding our goals and aspirations. “This has created a completely new path in life for me to go next. Along with the ‘Values Prioritizer’, this also has changed my life for the best, and it was the catalyst in my understanding what I needed to work on most.” He loves to use the ‘More or Less’ tool with his clients, as it’s one of his favorites and it's quick and easy to use. When people get to see, side by side, what they need to do less of, impacts what they want more of. He also loves working on forgiveness with clients since it does so many positive things and opens many doors.
Tom’s favorite quotes around life coaching are,“Tell me more” and “Becaaaaaause?” Other quotes he has picked up are:
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change’ – Wayne Dyer
Letting go, letting God.
I tell myself these all the time to be patient and let things work out by themselves, and use it to shift my perspective on the situation. I remember that I always have a choice.”
Tom would tell this to a potential life coach student:
“Say goodbye to your old selves and get ready for a fun, wild roller-coaster ride! Lao Tzu once said it best: ’When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.’ You will do things you've never even imagined you were capable of, and you will discover that you have so much greatness within you, so much love and energy to give to the world. Your life and lives of the people around you will all change for the better. You will do greater things in the world; you will discover your gifts and those of others. And you'll become really smart at reading people so you can see where people are stuck and then help them get unstuck. There’s never a dull moment in the life of a life coach!”
What Tom loves most about being a life coach, and now also a mentor, motivational speaker, and life-long learner, is that he has a direct and immediate impact on someone's life. He believes that everyone has the answers within themselves, and by giving the client a space to do their work, he gets impacted directly, as well. “I improve. I get better as a person. It is so rewarding to get to see the big changes in the lives of my clients.”
“SWIHA is unlike any other place I have ever seen. You will be loved, supported and developed into a much better version of yourself. By just walking into SWIHA, your energy changes. you may have had a bad day, and walking into SWIHA will make you feel better immediately. Everyone is very supportive of each other, all staff is very helpful and you will build great relationships at a very deep level. I think this is profound and this is something that I do not think you'll do anywhere else.” Tom believes that this is what sets SWIHA apart.