I was walking along the coastpath near where I live at the weekend and I spotted what looked like a way down to the beach, but I wasn't sure.

I was dithering at the top when two runners came up behind me – "Is there a way down?" one of them asked.

"I'm not sure – that's just what I'm trying to work out," I replied.

"Want me to take a look?" he said. "Sure." I replied and let him pass.

About halfway down, he turned around a smiled – "it's fine!" he said, and his friend followed him down – at speed.

Fast forward five minutes and I am 'skiing' down collapsing sand, holding onto grasses for dear life – in now way is this what I would call "fine"!

I'm two-parts terrified and one-part pleased as punch that those extremely fit humans (It turns out they were running a coastal ultra-marathon!) looked at me – a slightly overweight, middle-aged lady in a Seasalt coat and a bobble hat – and thought, "Yeah, she can handle this."

I made it down in one piece and walked back to the car park along the beach. Feeling fearless now, I even stopped to take my shoes off and paddle in the crazy-cold sea on my way.

You see, sometimes you just need someone to believe in you – someone to say, "do you know what? I think you've got this."

Often our friends and family see us ploughing a different furrow in life and it scares them. What if we fail and we're unhappy? What if we succeed and we shine a light on the fact they didn't try? When people doubt your ability to do something, it often has more to do with them than it does with you. But that doesn't mean it can't hold you back.

That's where coaching comes in. You get to have someone in your corner – someone with no vested interest. Someone with actual experience in your exact furrow. Someone to believe in you, no matter what.

And when you do that coaching in collaboration with nature – you get to experience things like sand-skiing and February-sea-paddling firsthand. Not just talking about the theory on Zoom (although we might do that too!) – but actually doing something brave and living to tell the tale.

My new nature-informed coaching and mentoring offers you the chance to do just that – and there are options to suit different investment levels and timescales.