The Quiet Work of Becoming: What Becoming a NeuroCoach® Taught Me About Change

There were moments during this journey when I wasn't sure I would finish.

In fact, I went as far as talking myself out of completing the course.

"Surely the certificate is not that important."

"I am already coaching through a neuro-lens."

"I know this work."

The noise in my head was loud.

Yet, every time I considered walking away, I came back to one question:

Why did I start this journey in the first place?

I've been coaching for a number of years, and while thinking about my next chapter, I stayed connected with many of my clients. Some were thriving and continuing their wellbeing journey. Others sounded frustrated, feeling as though they had slipped back into old patterns despite their best intentions.

Years ago, while studying through @HealthCoachesAcademy, I learned that it can take a few weeks to begin changing a habit, several more weeks to become comfortable with it, and many months before it becomes second nature.

That stayed with me.

In fact, I learned it can take minimum of 36 weeks for a new habit to become second nature.

That's nine months.

I often describe it as being pregnant with a new version of yourself.

You don't become that version overnight.

There is growth happening beneath the surface long before anyone else can see it.

Often, before you can even see it yourself.

There are moments of discomfort, uncertainty, setbacks, and breakthroughs.

And then one day, you realise you are no longer becoming that person.

You have become them.

In early 2024, that curiosity led me to the @NeuroCoach&MentorInstitute. What started as professional development quickly became something much more personal.

Then came May 2025. I found myself sitting in the in-person sessions, absorbing concepts that both challenged and fascinated me. Learning about neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and rewire itself, felt like a lightbulb moment.

What surprised me most was the realisation that I had been rewiring my own thinking long before I understood the science behind it.

The journey didn't begin with #NeuroCoaching.

It began in 2020.

A year that changed my life.

Becoming a coach gave me purpose during a season when I desperately needed it. Looking back now, I realise I thought I was learning how to coach others. What I didn't realise was that I was first learning how to coach myself. It gave me something to work towards. Something to believe in. Something that challenged me to grow.

Looking back, coaching has never just been a profession for me.

It has been a personal transformation journey.

Because before we can partner with others in change, we are first invited to change ourselves.

That is why this moment means so much. Not because I finally received a certificate.

But because I can look back and see the woman I have become since saying yes to the journey.

This certification is not simply about being recognised as a Certified NeuroCoach®.

It represents the questions I refused to stop asking.

The moments of doubt I chose to work through.

The curiosity that kept pulling me forward.

The growth that happened long before the qualification arrived.

And strangely enough, it reminds me of the day I passed my driver's license many years ago.

Not because they are the same achievement.

But because both represented something I deeply wanted.

Sometimes you don't realise how much you want something until it's finally yours.

• So stay curious.

• Stay fascinated by your own journey.

• Stay open to learning.

Remember, our thoughts are only a part of us. They are not who we are.

The brain is naturally wired to pay more attention to threat than reward. Real or perceived danger often gets more of our attention than possibility.

But growth happens when we choose to walk towards possibility anyway.

Every meaningful change in my life started with curiosity.

Not certainty.

Not confidence.

Curiosity.

And perhaps the greatest transformation begins the moment we stop asking,

"What is wrong with me?"

and start asking:

What if change is possible?