I met Nikki Simos at the Coaching Institute’s foundation intake in Feb 2015. We did one exercise together where we practiced to feel each other’s presence through ‘eye contact’, and each person took turn throwing a short line of sentence once at a time. That was my first moment of deep connection with Nikki through that ‘silence’ presence. Although I did not get a chance to find out more about her during the three-days intake, from her class participation I had a vivid recollection of ‘quiet confidence’ energy that shone from her presence.
My second connection with Nikki was when she said YES to my invitation to go to the ConFest during last Easter weekend, in early April 2015. ConFest is a non-profit volunteer run outdoor gathering where attendee can participate in a safe and comfortable environment for alternative cultures. My mission at the time was to find other like-minded coaches to travel together there and to meet new people, share ideas and even to coach whoever may need us there. I am glad that Nikki agreed to join me in this incredible and exciting journey. And not just that she brought along her beautiful son and friend; Vangelis and Julie.
Through the ConFest experience I had a chance to see the many sides of Nikki. She is a loving and open-minded mother; she is a non-judgemental and easy-going friend; she is light-hearted person who knows how to laugh at life and how to dance to the drum’s beats, she is a unique individual, who always has time to listen and empower people around her. Through her workshop during the ConFest, I had witnessed how she could effectively shifted a 42 years old’s mindset by helping her to let go the burden that she had been carrying with her from the age of 2.
I am sure that this is just a beginning of my life-time friendship with Nikki and I am looking forward to many more moments of deeper connection with her in the future. In my coaching intake, I was thought to be careful in taking my advice from. The two important questions that I need to ask myself about from whom I can take advice from are; Who is she/he? and What has she/ he done? And if I have to answer these two questions about Nikki. My answer would be she is Nikki Simos and she has the result that I am inspiring to have and that is to be the better version of myself.
“For many years, I have lived with a man, who I felt that I had to commit to via our marriage because of the oath that I had taken and because of the strong cultural beliefs that I have been brought up with since a very young age. I am now 48 and only now realising that my years with this man have not been for the right reasons. It has taken a beautiful person like Nikki, so vibrant, positive, ethical, knowledgeable and skilful to assist me in accepting all that I have and done for all these years for all the incorrect reasons. I was scared. I wasn’t working. I wasn’t confident. I didn’t feel that I had the intelligence that I could move on without this man on my own and support 5 children.
I for many years have felt trapped until I met up with Nikki. Nikki asked me one simple question. “What do I want”? Our conversation went from there. It leads into another conversation, upon another, upon another. As we were discussing we came to realisation and understood that I had to implement some firm structure into my environment and I also had to believe that I can do this. No longer was I going to be the women without a voice. Nikki has helped me to write this brief story which has allowed me to feel empowered and to move on with my life and my children’s wellbeing.
I have so many goals to write and reflect on. I thank Nikki for all of her guidance and professionalism. Thank you, Nikki.”
“My marriage was going downhill until I finally had the chance to speak with you. You were able to use appropriate language that made sense to me. I was able to change my thinking and understand why it was that I was thinking when I was thinking it and why I needed to change my thinking because it was affecting my marriage and my children. I can’t thank you enough. You have really brought new meaning to everything that I can do and if only I came to you sooner I probably could’ve saved some hardship conversation in my household that didn’t need to take place.
Thank you so much Nikki. Your coaching strategies and counselling service has been an awesome experience for me. Not only have you helped me in saving my marriage but you have also provided the ability for me to believe in myself.”
“Thank you Mrs Simos. I would never ever have had the courage and belief in myself to speak up and tell people what I really thought and felt about things that they were doing to me that wasn’t acceptable for some time. You helped me a lot. You listened to me. You changed my thinking of me from being negative to being positive. You have helped me write positive affirmations that apply to me and my life. I feel I can stand up to anyone that puts me down. You supported me and believed in me. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.”
“You are a true spirit. Your smile and laugh is certainly infectious. We should have more people in our world like you. Thank you for your support Nikki and thank you for listening.”
“Thank you Mrs Simos. I have never had the confidence to sing in front of anyone before. You believed in me and helped me gain the courage I needed to get there. You gave me the opportunity build my self – worth and belief. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Nikki you are so good a what you do. You are caring, passionate, considerate, warm and welcoming. Thank you for just being you and for listening to me, supporting me when I needed it most, helping me with things that I found to difficult to complete and for just guiding me to think positive and to keep going”.
“My name is Van. I am 14 years of age and I was feeling saddened about a deeply loved turtle pet that was given to me by my parents for my birthday but sadly it died due to a tragic accident as it got run over by a car and died on site. In January of this year I felt myself becoming distant from my friends and my family. I didn’t speak to any one, I had lost weight. I would cry often in my bedroom and I was too embarrassed to tell anybody about how I was feeling. It was August of this year that I decided to talk to my friend about how I was feeling and I then decided that I wasn’t in the right mindset as every time an animal past away I became extremely anxious and it all linked back to my pet turtle that I never really gave myself the chance to grieve for. So my friend and I did a search on the web and found ‘Mind Ahead’. I decided to call. I explained to Nikki from Mind Ahead what had happened and why I was feeling sad for such a long time and how I would feel around other pet stories when someone would share their pet story dying or being injured. Immediately, when I spoke with her over the phone I felt a connection. Nikki made me feel comfortable and calm. She listened to me for hours that day and gave me the best coaching and advice. Nikki was very professional and she knew exactly what to say to help me. I now own another pet, it a bird. I’ve named it fluffy lemon. I sleep well. I eat well. I don’t get anxious around people and pets and my state of mind and thinking is positive. I all of this to Nikki – ‘Mind Ahead’.”
“I have been too close to wanting to take my own life many times. I am so glad that I found you Nikki. You have literally helped me shake my world and get back onto track. I now have a vision, I have a goal to aspire to and I know I am going to get there because you believe in me.”
“People need to see things like you do Nikki. You put things in simple form and you have a natural intuitive instinct knowing where people are at. I thank you for the time you made available for me and helping me see things that aren’t as bad as what I thought they may have been. Placing ideas into perspectives is what I needed to see. We had a great laugh together and I needed it. Thanks”
“Mrs Simos you know that I am really shy and for a long time now I hadn’t had any strategies on how to help myself. When people have said things that are directed to me, I immediately would feel intimidated and would get embarrassed and not having the confidence to deal with it. Who to look at for help. When I decided to have a session in Time Line Therapy with you, you guided me through the process and helped me understand how I can let go of this feeling and emotion that I would experience and have done so for many years.
Time Line Therapy works and I am grateful to you for providing your time and expertise in assisting me with my values and beliefs. I know that I will be okay at high school now and I will continue to practise the strategies that you have suggested for me to refer to for the possible moments of when I may get stuck. However, I believe that these moments of feeling insecure have gone because that’s what Time Line Therapy has done for me!”