Ann Werner

Registered Life Transition, Career and Business Coach

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.” (Buddha-like saying)

Many clients do indeed present with oft stuck mental models and perspectives without even realizing this!  A revelation or even a simple awareness of this current mindset could put in motion a shift in thinking and can open up a wide range of new possibilities. Certainly, this sort of habitual and stuck thinking can be unlocked and instead of thwarting their advancement, clients can move towards their innermost desires of living the better version of themselves.

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.” – Khalil Gibran

Gibran’s quote sums up the very essence of coaching: It is not teaching, nor counselling, nor mentoring and consulting, but it is the steady, reasonable and insightful questioning around stumbling blocks in order to empower, inspire and encourage clients to move into a place of stronger resilience and meaningful being; to discover (and grow into) their best version of themselves.

Indeed, Gibran continues to say “… we don’t see things as they are.  We see things as we are”; and hence reviewing, reframing and re-ordering perspectives from one’s own sense of need and purpose become vital building blocks to that desired new way of being.

Thus, the road to successful shifts, forward movement or goal achievement, begins with the need for a clearer idea of self.  Inherent in this is the understanding of who you want to be, rather than what you want to do, but more about what inspires you; the things that you, particularly, uniquely, are best destined for… the things that you strive for…

I am a registered industrial / organisational psychologist and a registered Life Transition, Business and Career coach, running my own practice in the southern suburbs of Cape Town.

I draw great satisfaction from working together with clients towards finding and creating clearer, meaningful and sustainable approaches to life and work.

As such, I coach, counsel, guide, co-create, and facilitate:

• school leavers needing degree / course clarity;
• university graduates;
• those experiencing quarter-life and mid-life transitions;
• parents who are struggling with “empty nest syndrome”;
• business and corporate clients; and
• retirees attempting to come to terms with the end of their working lives.

My approach to my work is individual, holistic and integrated with a strong commitment to co-working towards reaching that desired shift. I encourage clients to approach different perspectives with an open mind and to see their selves within a system, rather than as parts that have perhaps become a little misaligned. Fresh insights allow for deeper knowledge of themselves and their interactions with the world.

The Buddha did use sky metaphors, but the second part, about creating distinctions in the mind and then believing in them, didn’t seem typical of the way the Buddha’s recorded as speaking. The original source appears to be a book called “The Teachings of Buddha,” which is a Gideon Bible-type publication by a non-profit organization called Bukkyo Dendo Kyonkai, which puts copies in every hotel room in Japan

Practice Number:  086 000 030 9087
HPCSA Number:  PS0099953
COMENSA membership:  4709

Constantia, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa