“I  found my calling when I was 52 years old. I  lived my whole life without really knowing what I wanted to do. This is why I studied political sciences when I was young: it’s a type a studies which allowed me to work in many different domains: I worked in editing, translation, and in NGOs. 

But it wasn’t until I discovered Positive Discipline four years ago that I found my calling.

I had just gotten separated from my husband, my daughter was on her way to leave home and go study. I felt the need to rebuild myself, to live my own life. 20 years ago, I  had moved from Switzerland to Germany to follow my ex-husband. We raised our daughter there, but I didn’t see myself staying anymore. I wanted to live in a French-speaking country, to find myself again. I needed a fresh start. 

I figured, I could start by having a new career. A friend of mine had attended some Positive Discipline workshops, to become a parental coach. The idea is to help parents raise happy kids, using a steady hand and kindness. He used to rave about this job, and encouraged me to try it out. I figured I would give it a try. 

In 2015, I trained at the Positive Discipline Association, in Paris. I absolutely loved it. 

When I went back to Lebanon during the holidays, I started talking about my experience with my Lebanese friends. They loved the idea and told me that there was a true need for it in Lebanon.  But parents would not be at ease here sharing their struggles in public, as is the case in the Positive Discipline workshops, they would prefer individual sessions.

That summer, I started dreaming about returning to Beirut to practice Positive Discipline. 

I first went back to Paris to the Haute Ecole de Coaching, to get training in individual life coaching. This is where I discovered my passion. Because to be certified, you need to be coached first,  and I discovered things about myself that I didn’t know.
I realized that for most of my life I had hidden my Lebanese origins, and that I needed them. I’ve been living abroad for 40 years, and each time someone asked me : why don’t you come back to Lebanon? I would answer that I didn’t see myself living there: too hot, too much traffic, etc. 

But being coached allowed me to understand that my values and principles were in phase with Lebanon and that I was supposed to be in Beirut. 

After I got my diploma, I came back to Lebanon in 2018 and started working as a life coach. I also conduct Positive Discipline Workshops. 

It’s hard to raise a kid here. Fathers for example often do the mistake of buying a lot of gifts to their kids to make up for their absence. But kids would rather see them more often and have fun with them instead of having a gift! 

Some parents also request way too much from their kids at school. I see youngsters work until midnight to get good grades. This is unacceptable. All the threats and pressures these children face have profound effects on their self-esteem. 

And let’s not forget the fact that a lot of these kids have nannies who provide everything for them. How can they become autonomous adults if they never learned, as a child, how to do the small things, such as getting their own drinks or cleaning their plate at the end of the meal? 

Through my job as a coach and through Positive Discipline, I help parents raise kids who are happy and confident in themselves. I also offer life coaching sessions to teenagers and adults who want to achieve a goal and need to be accompanied to put in place an action plan. For example, I helped teenagers come out as gay to their parents, I helped women change careers. After all, it’s something I went through myself when I was coached. 

When I studied coaching in Paris, the objective I had set with my own coach was to come back to Lebanon and practice my passion. Today I live here and I am currently pursuing a third degree to be able to integrate Positive Discipline in the schools. 

What’s left for me to do is to get used to the Lebanese chaos, and here again I have some work to do on myself :)”

Rima Mecattaf, 55, is a  Life Coach and a Positive Discipline certified facilitator. You can contact her at: 70 523 743 info@coachingbyrima.com 

#GSC This post is sponsored by Coaching by Rima