Very sad news

I am very, very sad today. I just learned that on Sunday, May 10th Barbara Sher passed away. You may not know her, but for many, she was a force that came in their lives and altered them for the better. I am grateful that I was one of them. My thoughts go out to her family and friends. It is a great loss to all.

If you never heard about her, please do yourself a favor and check out her books or videos. She was one of the first life-coaches back in the 1970s, and some called her “the grandmother of life-coaching.” Her TED talk has almost 2.5 million views by now.

Barbara was one of the most influential people in my life. She was a great mentor, and I feel thankful to have been part of her Coaching masterclass in 2015 and could attend a retreat in France and several workshops during her time working in Germany.

Her teaching style was incredible because she was able to take things seriously yet lightly. I admired that. Working with her was always fun, enlightening, and delightful. She could find VERY clear words if necessary, though.

I can’t even say what my favorite quote from her might be. There are so many which resonate with me. By repeatedly reading her books and listening to her videos, I think that some of her ideas and things she said became part of my thinking. That’s the valid and wise words inside my head then.

“Praise makes you brave.” That was one I had to chew on for a very long time. I couldn’t understand how telling me how wonderful I do something could make me better. Now I know that by encouraging me like this, I become better almost automatically because I keep on doing what I do. In the end, it is about encouraging me to practice.

But probably the most important thing for me was her writing a permission slip to love and do as many things as I want to during my lifetime. This permission slip was her book “Refuse to choose”, my first encounter with her work in 2011. I was happy to finally have a name for my problem, which turned out to be no problem to be fixed at all. I am simply someone Barbara calls “scanner”.

I owe her some of the most precious, exciting, and beautiful moments of my life. Without Barbara, her books and live-teaching, I would not have found friends all over the world, wouldn’t have tried the multitude of things I tried in the last years.

I’ll be forever grateful to you, Barbara, you changed my life. I’m very sad. May you rest in peace.