How a coach helped her take control of work stress

SINGAPORE – Five years ago, a friend introduced financial services marketing professional Deepa Balji to Singapore-based executive and life coach Ruchi Parekh.

Ms Balji initially bought a six-session package to help herself become more confident and speak up at meetings. She remains a regular client, meeting Mrs Parekh – who charges between $300 and $400 a session – monthly through Zoom to talk through everything from work stress to specific goals.

“It’s very hard in the workplace to go and talk to somebody about these things – everyone has their day job – unless the company has its own coach internally, which is very rare,” she says. 

She adds: “Among C-suites and people in management positions, I think it is very common to get coaching, but people may not want to talk about it.”

Coaching has transformed her mindset, she says.

“When I started, I thought I lacked confidence, but Ruchi helped me realise it was about changing my self-limiting beliefs.”

While Ms Balji came across as a confident, high-powered career woman, she was plagued with negative internal narratives like “Are you sure you can do that?” or “I can’t do this”, which were mental obstacles to her professional growth.

Mrs Parekh instructed Ms Balji to write down daily affirmations, starting with “I am awesome at this”, and document what she did to demonstrate her awesomeness.

This simple exercise helped her challenge her own self-limiting beliefs, encouraging her to replace negative thoughts with positive, empowering statements like “I can, and I will do it” and “I believe in myself”.

“The moment you keep building on that, after a while, you will realise that what is going on in your head is just ridiculous. Did somebody put that thought in you, or did you just grow up that way?” Ms Balji muses.

“There are a lot of tools that she shares, which is what I like. I think that is what has seen me fairly successful in my role.”

She has no plans to stop their monthly sessions any time soon, as she believes coaching is essential for top performance, likening it to athletes having coaches to support their goals.

“Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has two coaches. If you want to perform at the top of your game, it’s imperative to have a coach to support you and keep you honest to your goals.”