Unemployed and Fabulous: Be the Butterfly: Personal Action Coach, Perri Gorman, to the Rescue!

Unemployment: Day 87 in Business Days; Day 119 in Human Days

It's been 7 hours and 119 days...since they took my job away.

This just in: I have a Life Coach. Actually, she's a Personal Action Coach. That term is so hot, it ain't even on wikipedia yet. My coach is Perri Gorman and she is the founder of BE THE BUTTERFLY.

I know what you're thinking...Personal Action Coach? For realz? What could a complete stranger possibly tell you about your own life and actions that you don't already know? Besides, I already get that here. So I was incredibly skeptical before my first meeting with Perri last week. I was expecting the obvious: stop sleeping until noon, stop watching Law and Order all day, stop using the adult section on craigslist as your primary job search source, stop shooting whipped cream into your mouth at 2am while standing in front of the fridge, yes those calories do count, etc. But I kept an open mind because her background includes over 10 years as an executive recruiter, coursework at The International School of Coaching and study of feng shui. And because curiosity killed this cat. I hadn't seen her since high school. Yes, Perri and I knew one another in the days of uni-brows and foot-high hair. Mine, not hers. Perri was cool in high school; I was not.

And so, all these years later, Perri stumbled upon this here blog and offered to help me morph from my current caterpillar state into the butterfly I deserve to be.

During our first session, Perri asked me many questions about what I want to do and what steps I could take to get from point A to point B. In my case, that's from unemployed couch potato to employed story teller. Don't know what point B is? No problem! She helps you figure that out, too. Have more than one point B? Also no problem. She helps you prioritize goals. For example, I also want to get involved in more charity work, start my own production company and go back to school for my Masters. But we decided it's most important right now for me to focus on turning my writing in work. Cause a girl's gotta eat. And buy shoes. All of the questioning was more like a conversation than an interrogation, and I came to many conclusions on my own. By the end of the session, I couldn't believe that 3 hours had passed.

I walked away with a clear vision of point B and a homework assignment: email Perri with the first steps I intend to take on my path to becoming a butterfly. One of the first to-dos on the list is to declutter. Perri recommends that you declutter in three different ways:

Physical Decluttering- This is the obvious one. Get rid of anything and everything you don't need. But not so easy for me (see photos below).
Energetic Decluttering - We often put our day-to-day actions on autopilot, causing energetic clutter. This is about creating different actions that will breathe new energy into your life. In other words, try watching The Price is Right instead of Law and Order and switch up your bon bon flavor. I jest, of course.
People Decluttering - This is the toughest one, I think. This requires you to stop associating with people who stand in the way of point B. Luckily, I don't keep much people clutter. I'm wicked good at un-friending people on Facebook. Rip that bandaid off! I'm also not friends with any of my exes (including The Artist Formerly Known As My Husband). I don't have superfluous friendships and I keep those tough but necessary relationships with crazy family members at arms length. However, I think the people decluttering goes deeper than this. If I were truly free of people clutter, I would not obsess on a daily basis over my ex boyfriend, Do Wrong. I may not be in contact with him, but he continues to clutter my mind. I admit that this one will take some time.

In the meantime, I'll start with the physical decluttering. By the looks of things, I should probably get cracking. On the upside, I take pride in knowing that I have a superhero power: the ability to make any space look as though a bomb hit it using only my bare hands and the contents of two suitcases. Should this skill be on my resume? I'll have to ask Perri at our next session. Before and after photos are being posted for your enjoyment.