Life can be very challenging, and young people are often the most adversely affected. The Daily Vox chatted to a Durban-based life coach Zaahida Mahomedy who’s dedicated herself to help improve the quality of people’s lives, to find out why young people are struggling and what role life coaching plays in their lives. Mohamedy was recently nominated in the Roshgold Young Business Achievers Awards.
What is life coaching about, and would you say it’s something for the rich?
Life coaching is one of the aspects of what I do but for me essentially, a life coach is somebody who can mentor you through a difficult situation in your life, not somebody who tells you what to do. But somebody who helps you to find your own sense of direction and get clarity in that. Also somebody who can help you overcome any blind spots and limitations that you have and are keeping you from finding your sense of self-worth and self acceptance. It’s also mentoring someone through their emotional and stress issues.
In terms of who it is for, I feel like we live in a beautiful time where there are so many outlets amd access to amazing information and amazing minds, that 10 or 15 years ago one would have had no chance accessing it. One of the main reasons that I offer online content is to be able to offer that to people who perhaps don’t have resources to come through to life coach but can still get to see a different side of it.
Who do you try to help and why?
I help a lot of people from different backgrounds. Men and women between ages of 25 and 50 years old, and these are the people who feel like their struggles have taken a toll on them. So, whatever they are experiencing, it might be emotional stress, it might be relationships conflict, it might be parenting challenges, physical illnesses they feel like they’ve lost themselves between the process like life has taken a toll on them. As a result of this they feel like they are out of control, like they are living in a limbo and going through emotions everyday, and that their, relationships and marriages are spiralling out of control as well.
A lot of times when people contact me it’s people that have a level of self awareness already, and even though they have an idea of where they need change in life, they have a difficulty because they never know where to start. They need clarity and that’s the process that I help them with.
Why are young people struggling so much these days?
It’s a combination of a lot of things. there might be conflict or financial stresses at home and kids tend to pick on this. I think people have always struggled, there’s always been issues, it’s just that now there’s more awareness. It’s just that now there’s a lot of platforms in terms of being able to speak about things. There are new issues like social media but they are just highlighting what was already there. Â I think one big issue that causes anxiety and even even depression, and low self worth is being thrown into a world where there’s such a level of perfectionism that people are exposed to.
How did you get in this job?
I was always drawn to self development. I have a degree in marketing and business, and then I went and did my undergrad in psychology. It was my own self development journey because I have this desire to understand people and behaviours, and what drives our decisions. Also, to find out why is change so hard for people, if they say they want to change and be happy then why is it so difficult? So, it was my own curiosity and own need to help myself, and in that way serve other people.
What have been your success and how does one measure success?
Success is a very personal thing and one of the key things that I work through, with clients, is defining what their idea of success is. For me success is about having positive impact on people’s lives, so in this regard I feel very successful and and blessed.
How can people reach you?
People can reach me through social media such as Instagram and I have a YouTube channel which is really helpful. I also have a website at www.liveinspired.co.za
Featured image via PublicDomainPictures
