Wanderlust and Life Coach Claudia Unger
What is a Wanderlust Coach?
Maybe we need to start a bit earlier: what is wanderlust? Being German, this is a word my grandparents used and I would roughly interpret it as “the urge and joy you feel about going on an adventure”.
Does that mean I coach you to hike?
No, I assure you it doesn’t! I wouldn’t even say that I’m a good hiker myself. Sure, I do a lot of walking and hiking, but I still get out of breath quickly and turn bright red and sweaty (I really dislike that part!).
So, if I don’t help you with your hiking boots and rucksack, what do I do?
In essence, I’m a life and career coach: I help you discover what you want from your life. And make it reality.
There are a few reasons why I call myself a Wanderlust Coach:
You are excited for the adventure that’s calling you.
You want to take action and not merely have a(n unfulfilled) dream.
You want to feel the joy by going after what’s calling you.
You are ready to hit the road.
There is another reason: my own Wanderlust. Whether that’s the adventure hike I took last year (walking from Sodbury, England, to Inverness, Scotland in eight weeks, covering 955km) or the inner wanderlust to find out more about who I am, what I want, and make it happen.
“Looking back over my life I can see how ‘lucky’ I’ve been with my career: being a Director in a multi-billion global company before hitting 30 was the icing on the cake. It just turned out that the cake wasn’t as yummy as I had thought it would be.”
The Turning Tide
Until I left the corporate world, I had not planned my career as such: I trusted that good opportunities would find me and I’d know what to go for. But there came a time when I started to think that I would like to be more proactive towards a career that was fulfilling me. I did a lot of soul searching, coaching, and personality tests (you name it, I’ve done it). I read countless books on self-help, resilience, happiness, finding peace and fulfilment.
In a way, I had Wanderlust, without knowing that I did.
And then I found Quantum Human Design™ (a new way to find out about our strengths, limits, behaviours, patterns, and purpose, built on astrology and wisdom scriptures from around the globe). This speaks to me because it’s not built on a test that I have to consciously fill in; rather all the information is received through birth details. Thus there is no chance of fudging the results (or trying to).
Since discovering my own type and best way to live accordingly, I have gone from strength to strength: being more and more myself; not trying to conform to family or society expectations. Instead, doing what I love to do and enabling others to do the same.
What I’ve noticed is that I feel more at ease with myself, my relationships are improving (because I have a clear idea of who I am and what I want), and my life is unfolding in a more beautiful way than I could have imagined.
But this isn’t about me: it’s about you, and my clients. Seeing their lives take off in directions they couldn’t have imagined:
Like Wendy, who was in the senior executive team and took voluntary leave during Covid. She now runs her own furniture business turning old, unused items into functional and fun home pieces.
Or like Anita, who was running herself low with an unfulfilling corporate job and putting herself down for also wanting to pursue her opera career. She now has a new corporate job that is fulfilling and is on stage at least once a month having embraced her authentic self and needs.
Or like Gregor, who was losing perspective in the corporate world feeling everything was so senseless. He has been promoted and brings new sense and meaning to the company.
These are just some of the success stories. They unfolded through our work and there are many more. The common factor they all share is understanding what’s important for them in their life.
And that’s unique to everyone.
Do you want to talk?
Let’s spend some time together to see if I could help you turn your life around.
With time and reflection (and the guidance of a coach) I was able to see how my career wasn’t really down to luck at all. It was down to being open to opportunities, wanting to learn and share that knowledge, and trusting that I would make my way.
I used my twenties to explore the working world (and as usual, I can only say that with hindsight). During my corporate career, I met many people and colleagues who were stretched to the limit. At times I was stretched to the limit, too: as I worked from home, I started at 8am and would often not finish until 9pm. It was the norm. BUT I wouldn’t ever allow my team to have those hours. I told them off if I got email replies later than 6pm. Trying my best to shield them.
It was then that I started to realize the problem was much larger: when the diary is filled up with calls and meetings there is no time to take action on what was discussed. And often, when I pushed myself on I found that the many hours I had spent were wasted because the requested research was not needed any longer (they had just forgotten to fill me in on it).
That’s when I started to put in boundaries for myself: questioning the requests that came to the team and I, prioritizing those projects, and saying “no” to things that were beyond our scope or (more often) resources (mainly in terms of time).
What I learned during that time is that you get promoted by being clear on what you can and can’t do. Showing up with real value rather than just fulfilling orders without giving it thought. Being confident in what you do rather than fearful whether it’s good enough. And, knowing what you want.
I’ve seen too many people stay in roles that weren’t fulfilling them. I knew that wasn’t for me, so I tried to change things within the role: take on different projects, make suggestions on what else we could offer as a team for the company and the industry. But while I was encouraged to come up with these things, there was no direction or willingness to actually do something. I stayed in this uncomfortable position for about a year before I came to realize that my choice at this stage was to stay and continue in a lackluster way or resign. I resigned. Much to the horror of my boss, his boss, my team - and many other colleagues.
Funnily enough, for the last three months they asked me to stay until a replacement was found and a handover done, I did get what I had asked for afterall: a part-time role and a salary increase.
It was really this experience in the corporate world that had a profound effect on me and the way I view the world: with too many people doing something they just fell into, rather than people who love what they do and thereby create a world that’s so much better to live in (let alone their lives being much more worth living!).
