A Credential At 50.

It’s funny what triggers us to remember loved ones who are no longer with us. One way to know that you lost a good relationship is when you want to share a key life milestone with them then you remember they are gone. Yes, we are told to move on but the moving on reminds us of their absence every so often. We miss them but are also grateful that we had them.

That’s how I feel this week. I’ve been missing my dad more over the last few weeks because I’d have wanted him to see his son turn 50. I wonder what his thoughts would have been. I think he’d have been proud of me hehe. This week has made me miss him even more. One of my goals for this year and last year too was to become a credentialed coach. I have been a certified professional coach since 2020. That was a diploma qualification. I sat my credentialing exam on the 22^nd of March this year and passed.

It was a grueling almost 5-hour proctored exam at an examination center. I had been preparing for it intensely with whole days in the house revising and watching lots of videos to prepare. I was determined to pass it with the first take. And I did. I remember sitting in the car for an hour just processing what I had gone through and what this new credential meant. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present, especially for a landmark birthday.

This week the long-awaited email came from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) officially awarding me the ACC credential. I’m now an Associate Certified Coach. This to me is like a degree of sorts in coaching. There is the PCC (professional certified coach) next followed by the MCC (master certified coach) which I’d call the Ph.D. of coaching certification. Now I can pursue coaching opportunities that require credentialed coaches as I am one of them.

This is why I miss my dad more this week. When I graduated back in 99 with my MBA he asked me surprisingly, “You mean you can be clever?” That’s because I had graduated with an MBA and it was a first-class honor. I don’t blame my Mzee for the surprise. The poor man spent a small fortune paying for holiday tuition for me to avoid repeating classes or being kicked out of school altogether. I was a terribly average student and did not enjoy formal schooling. School became fun when doing my master’s degree. It was practical learning with real-life situations and that made the difference. I winged all the rest before that I believe. I hope my baby sharks don’t get to read this story. They might just use me as their scapegoat at school hehe.

Now with this new coaching credential, he would have hopefully said, “Wow my son now I believe you are clever”. Knowing my Mzee he would have jabbed me with a rider, “only that it’s taken 50 years to prove it”. Dad, I hope I continue to make you proud.

I know people with many alphabets before or after their names. I want to be clever so I try to hang out with clever people hehe. The only one I’ve had is MR and that’s because of my gender. Nothing I did to earn that. Sir God probably said, “Shikilia hii as we work on you”.  I attained a CPM (certified professional mediator) in 2019 but it somehow didn’t feel as significant as this one. Now with an ACC, I can proudly start accumulating alphabets next to my name. Folks, what we have is our gift from God (like the Mr for me). What we do with it is our gift back to God (the ACC in this case). What debt do we owe Sir God after all the gifts, talents, passions and abilities He has given us? Let’s pay that debt by sharpening our skills for better use.

My mum was the first person in our family to earn those letters next to her name. She became a Ph.D. at 70. Yea, imagine that. So my credential at 50 is not too bad in comparison ama. I feel cooked and ready to be served to the universe. Pablo said that it takes a really long time to be young. We can retire and get older or reFIRE and get younger. The choice is ours, folks. I choose to refire.

One of my best reads is – Never Too Late To Be Great by Tom Butler-Bowdon. He says “The ability to have a dramatic impact on the world only comes after a person has paradoxically, been through intense personal changes”. I feel that describes many folks over 40 because most personal changes take a long time. We have to be aware and open to opportunities until the right moment appears. Bidding our time is the boring yet necessary part.

Now I know why people put up those qualifications next to their names. It’s because they have paid for it with sweat, blood and tears. And when ready to serve they do a lot of good to and for society. It has taken 50 years for me to appear clever on paper with the extra initials finally. I’m glad it’s come now when I’m ready to deploy as this will be the decade to maximise my gift. The timing couldn’t have been better.

That said I best remember that to him whom much is given, much will be required. Folks, with or without initials next to our names, may we remember that we still have a lot in us to share with others and we can start just from where we are. I hope I wont get my next initials in 50 years hehe