My compass – more than just a navigation tool

I start my Barefoot ICF accredited Post Graduate Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching this week. Exciting times and I’m loving it already. As a part of the preparation ahead of the first day we were asked to bring along an object,  poem, song or something else that we felt represented our start on the course. I thought long and hard about this, trying to find something that would have meaning and significance that was also relevant to my life and my coaching journey. My Silva Compass!

This wee device has magic powers and has quite literally saved my life at times whilst I’ve been out on Kinder Scout, in the dark, in appalling weather.  So, I have much to be grateful to it for but then I thought about it in a different way, and its relevance as a coaching aid for outdoor coaching when we are considering navigation and journeys. 

 My compass quite literally has got me to this point and changed my life. Sounds dramatic, but I have used it to qualify as a Hill and Moorland Leader and set my new direction with Mind and Body Walking. It has metaphorically freed me from the confines of my desk and my safe and secure business which I’ve run for 25 years, to start this new exciting chapter of my life working in the outdoors. And I couldn’t be happier – I haven’t felt this motivated quite literally in decades! 

There are loads of navigational metaphors around the compass which are relevant to outdoor coaching and wellness walking. It has scope to help you navigate literally 360 degrees – so in any direction, but it can also send you on a solid accurate path on a specific bearing. It can literally save your life if you’re lost on a moor and give you a clear focus – a strong metaphor for people not knowing which way to turn in their life. 

The compass is also grounded and set strongly to the earth’s magnetic core with the red needle pointing to magnetic north. It shows you your direction of travel – and can even do this in the dark with luminous dials. There’s a small magnifying glass so I can see things in more detail and Roma measures along the side when I need to measure distances

I owe this little tool a lot and it rarely leaves my side now when I’m out and about. I’m really looking forward to using it in my coaching sessions to help my clients to navigate their way.