Carrie - What It’s Like to Stop Doing Life Alone

In this episode of Project You 2.2, Carrie Helmer pulls back the curtain on the coaching experience—what it looks like, how it feels, and why it creates real, lasting change.

This is an honest, behind-the-scenes look at what happens when you stop trying to figure everything out on your own… and start working with someone who can help you see clearly, move forward, and stay consistent.

Carrie shares how she works with both teens and adults—from building confidence and stepping outside comfort zones, to weight loss, life direction, and creating sustainable habits that actually stick. You’ll hear real examples of client wins, the structure behind her coaching process, and the powerful role awareness plays in creating change.

This episode explores:

• What coaching actually looks like (week to week)
• Why the right coach-client fit matters
• How small, consistent shifts lead to real results
• The difference between awareness and action—and why you need both
• Why trying to do it all alone keeps so many people stuck

If you’ve ever wondered whether coaching could help you—or felt like you’re carrying too much on your own—this episode will give you clarity on what’s possible.

Learn more or connect with Carrie at www.projectyou22.org 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hi friends, welcome back to Project U Two. I'm Carrie Helmer, a life coach, former teacher of 31 years, a mom of three boys, and someone who deeply believes that we are not meant to figure out life alone. And for years, I thought I was. Today's episode is a little different because I want to pull back the curtain on something that people are often curious about, but they don't always ask directly. What actually happens when someone works with a coach? Not in the Instagram quotes or the little videos you see online, but in real life, what does it feel like week to week to have someone in your corner who is actually walking with you through change? So I want to just be honest and talk simply in a way that helps you decide what kind of support you actually want in your life. Because I think a lot of people are trying to carry everything alone, and they don't even realize that there's another way. If I'm going to walk with someone through their life, their habits, their mindset, their confidence, I want to know that I can actually help them move forward. And I want them to feel that way too. I want it to be a heck yes by the time they're ready to decide. And that sense of yes, this feels right, this feels safe, this feels like someone who can actually help me change things. And when it is the right fit, that's where the real work can begin. The first thing I always do with a new client is something I call a wheel of life. And I love this because it takes everything swirling in someone's mind and it slows it down. We look at things like their health, their energy, their home environment, relationships, confidence, work or school, routines, and stress levels, and we don't try to fix it all at once. We just ask, where are we right now? And where do you actually want to start? And if I'm working with a teen, I bring a parent into that process. And the parent's job isn't to control it or judge it, but I just want everyone aligned and on the same page. And I want that teen to feel supported, not monitored, and I want the parent to feel involved so they're not guessing, but I also really appreciate allowing the teenager to share things in confidence and to just keep the parents up to date on big things. My coaching is one-on-one. We work together for six months, and every plan is completely unique and individualized because no two people walk in the same patterns, the same habits, or the same noise in their head. Some people like more structure, some need more flexibility, and some need high accountability, or even a person might go through stages where they need more accountability at different steps. Some need someone to just simply help them, not spiral when things feel overwhelming. And so we adjust as we go, because life doesn't come in this perfect plan, and so coaching can't either. We have to be flexible and make adjustments. And I want to also just talk about something important because people always wonder, does this actually work? And what I can tell you is absolutely yes. And it isn't magic, it's consistency, it's becoming aware, and some small decisions repeated over time. And I have seen some really real early wins. One client lost 10 pounds in the first month. Um, actually, several clients have done that, and even more, not through extremes, but through structure, awareness, and support. One of my clients started fully decluttering her home, room by room, drawer by drawer, and for the first time in years, she said her brain felt quiet, her nervous system felt rested. Another client started making decisions faster, not overthinking every single thing. And she told me it felt like she got so much time back. One teen went from D's and F's to A's and B's because we focused on something simple. What does an engaged student actually do in a day? What do they look like? Another client started choosing clothes that fit her body, made her feel confident instead of hidden. And something happens in all of those stories. It isn't just the result, it's the identity shift. They start showing up differently in their own life. And that brings me so much joy, and them too. And I wish more people understood what coaching actually is. It isn't someone just telling you what to do, and it isn't digging back and looking at your past, but it's awareness paired with forward movement. It's someone helping you see what you can't see when you're in it, and then helping you take steps forward. And I really believe this. We all benefit from having someone in our corner. If a teen is shy or stuck or lacking confidence, those things don't just magically fix themselves with time. The same is true for adults. We don't just wake up one day and feel different. We change because we start doing things differently with support and intention and consistency. And I've learned stuff from doing this work that becoming aware is actually the first breakthrough. It doesn't take motivation and or discipline, but it's awareness. And when you see something, clearly you can't really unsee it, and then that work becomes easier. It isn't easy, but it becomes easier because we stop avoiding it, we stop overcomplicating it, and we start doing the work that's in front of us. So if you are listening to this and something in you has been thinking that you have a goal, you want your spark back, you want to feel alive again, you want to work on something in your life, some area or areas, then maybe you don't want to do it alone. And I want you to trust those thoughts because this is the work that I do. I help people get unstuck, I help them see patterns, I help them create structure when they're feeling overwhelmed, and I help them move forward in their life in a way that feels sustainable. If you feel called to explore that, you can go to www.project you22.org and we can have a conversation to see if it's the right fit. Because you don't need a completely different life, you just need space, some clarity, and some support to start showing up differently in the life you already have. I'm Carrie Helmer. This is Project U Two. Have a great day, and I will see you in the next episode.