MINDSET TOOLS
Worthington Christian graduate helps clients see themselves the way Jesus does.
For the first time in decades, “Adele” (not her real name) wakes up thinking about her needs instead of how to please and appease a member of her family.
According to Lisa (Mank) Wells (WC ‘95), an online life coach, that is one gigantic step forward. Wells founded Lisa Wells Coaching last year as a way of helping clients to view themselves as Jesus does and make much-needed changes in their outlook on life.
Wells smiles when she thinks about the alterations “Adele” has made in her life.
“For the first time in years, the first person she thinks about when she wakes up is herself,” Wells said. “That sounds selfish, right? We’re taught as Christians not to think about ourselves, but there is a reason why Jesus says that we need to love others as we love ourselves.
“We can’t love others better than we love ourselves. So if we do not love ourselves well, it’s hard for us to love others as much as God does.”
Before enrolling in Well’s life coaching program, “Adele” viewed herself through the lens of a family member’s disinterest in her. She would constantly make plans with this relative and go to great extents to prepare for the visit, only to have the relative not show up.
Wells’ training taught “Adele” she could only control herself and not depend on another person’s approval or disapproval.
“She said, ‘You’re opening my eyes to a lot of different things I never really understood about myself,’” said Wells, who lives in Maine with her husband Dan, and three teenage daughters, Sophie (17), Claire (14), and Josie (13). “That’s what life coaching is. I partner with people who are interested in moving their life forward.
“It’s a little bit different than counseling. Coaching tends to focus a little bit more on what people want their life to look like, what they want to build, goals they want to achieve.”
Life coaching is something Wells knows a lot about. She began starting her program after a positive experience with her life coach, Dr. Edie Wadsworth.
Wells discovered Wadworth’s blog, and the words she had written just seemed to ring true to Wells.
“By the time I’d hit my mid-forties, I had a graduate degree, a beautiful family, decades of experience in contemplative spiritual practice, professional ministry, and non-profit work, and a pervasive sense that I was failing at life,” Wells wrote on her introduction page to her website.
“Stretched thin by the demands of parenting during a pandemic, struggling to support mentally ill family members, and frustrated by my inability to be the person/mom/wife/daughter/employee/etc. I wanted to be, I went out on a limb and joined a coaching program.”
“Coaching gave me the tools to live in peace and purpose no matter what circumstances swirled around me,” she said. “I started to become the person I knew it was possible to be — confident, compassionate, imperfect, and yet convinced of her immeasurable value.”
Wells followed Wadsworth’s blog online for years. When Wadsworth opened the door for coaching and mentoring others to be coaches, Wells signed up immediately and went through Wadsworth’s certification program.
The training helped her make the step from being coached to coaching others. In December 2022, Wells began receiving clients on her website.
“The main thing I give people is a mindset tool that helps them understand the power of their thoughts in creating their current results,” she said. “Scripture talks a lot about renewing your mind, choosing our thoughts, and taking our thoughts captive.”