If any of the following questions strikes a chord with you, you may wish to consider coaching:

• Have you started to think about the next phase of your life, perhaps still a few years away, and about the new challenges that could lie ahead?

• Are you about to step down from full-time employment, and anxious or excited about the options open to you?

• Are you perhaps already embarked on the next phase but still uncertain about your direction and priorities? Are you wondering whether you’ve got your work life balance right?

Questions like these were central to my own self-reflection as I moved from a career in diplomacy and trained to be an executive coach at UCD’s Smurfit Business School.