Emily Downward

Author: emilydownward

  • How to Play Big in Life

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    Throughout my childhood, my family moved around a lot, due to my father’s career in the airline industry and his progress up the corporate ladder. Being the new girl in classes and social groups became familiar, if not comfortable. I learned to listen a lot before I spoke, to sense the dynamics of the crowd…

  • My Journey to Become a Master Coach

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    I recently finished my masters program and received certification as a Martha Beck Master Life Coach. To me, this is the culmination of a dream, and at the same time, the process and achievement were completely different than what I had imagined. Many people have asked me what the Master Coach certification means. On paper,…

  • Getting Past Stuck

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    I talk to a lot of clients who tell me they feel stuck. I know that place. It’s not one of my favorites. When I’ve been mired in it, I feel a sense of powerlessness, like I can’t do anything to change my circumstances. Fortunately, this is completely untrue. You can ALWAYS do something –…

  • The Roles We Play

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    I’ve been in Seattle now for about seven months. Not long, if you consider that many people live in the same area their whole lives. But it seems like a good amount of time to me, after last year’s scattered approach of living in three different cities in seven months. I’ve realized as I meet…

  • The Biggest Mistake in my Career

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    Six years ago, I knew I wasn’t in the right career. Don’t get me wrong, I was very good at what I did. I had risen to an executive level in a respected organization and was well respected by my clients, colleagues and industry peers. But being good at something isn’t enough. While I enjoyed…

  • How Losing the Ability to Walk Taught Me a Valuable Lesson

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    One of the significant losses for me last year was the loss of my physical abilities. I went from being a proud 7-time triathlete to someone who had to reserve a wheelchair in the airport because I couldn’t walk the distance from the check-in to the gate without excruciating pain. At the beginning, it was…

  • Recalibrating the Internal GPS

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    I have a GPS map component that came with my car. It’s been very helpful to glance over and see where I am on the larger map as I’m learning new areas of Seattle. But occasionally, it gets completely off – the GPS locator isn’t working and rather than driving down the road, on the…

  • Finding Your Way

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    I keep getting more and more reminders that success for each of us is really very individual. While we may look to experts or others who have “made it” for inspiration and ideas, we still have to find our own way. And for most of us, this requires quite a bit of trial and error.…

  • Claim What You Want

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    Over coffee with a friend, I encourage her to claim what she wants, to state it aloud, and as I’m saying it, I recognize the irony as I realize this is EXACTLY what I have been not doing for myself. Why can’t I claim what I want for myself? Perhaps it’s a strange attempt at…

  • Peace in a Moment

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    I recently had another birthday. I found myself nostalgic as I remembered how much things have changed in the past year. It was a really challenging year, in so many ways, and I can honestly say now that I’m so grateful for all the lessons I learned, and not just because I’m on the other…