SHIFT-IT® Visual Coaching

As a Certified Visual Coach^®, I have been trained by Christina Merkley, pioneering Visual Coach and creator of The SHIFT-IT Visual Coaching Process^®.

SHIFT-IT^® is a unique coaching experience that expertly employs 17 visual maps to guide you through the powerful process of SHIFTing your work and/or life. The seven modules for the process are:

1. Satisfaction Interrupted
2. Harvest Your History
3. Investigate Your Now
4. Focus on Your Future
5. Trouble at the Border
6. Ink It, Don’t Just Think It
7. Take Action

SHIFT-IT is available as a full or partial program and is customized to meet your specific needs. Coaching sessions are available in person and via Zoom.

The first stage of the SHIFT-IT Process is called Satisfaction Interrupted. People come to reflection and coaching support when their general satisfaction has been interrupted in some way. Perhaps you are at a personal or professional crossroads. Or you have a goal but don’t see a clear path to get there. Or maybe you see a clear path but just can’t seem to make it happen. Perhaps you have no idea what you want for your future. Whatever your reason(s), the first stage of this process is mapping out what’s happening with you – identifying the crossroads on which you are standing.

The second stage of the SHIFT-IT Process is to Harvest Your History. You are in the midst of your own unique evolutionary process. Nothing happens in a vacuum … there is always a larger context that can help you make greater sense of your current situation. In this second part of the process, we record your history-to-date. We track where you have been to better understand your now and your desired future. As you step back and look at the big picture of your life – harvest your life map experience – you’ll gain new insights and determine what you want to bring forward with you and what you want to release.

The third stage of the SHIFT-IT Process is to Investigate Your Now. This is an opportunity to focus on you and your current situation, to find out what is going on for you right now. You’ll examine at how satisfied and dissatisfied you are in the different areas of your life, and determine in which area (s) of life you most want to focus your SHIFT-IT process. And, you’ll explore what you have going for you and what you are working on – a visual look at your current edge.

The fourth stage of the SHIFT-IT Process is to Focus on Your Future. After looking at where you have been and where you are now, we next look to your future. This stage is all about identifying and claiming what you really, really want. You’ll build a clear, specific, and well-written personal vision, a tool that becomes your guiding North Star. Your personal vision also provides a comparison tool you can use to assist you in making decisions and determining your actions.

The fifth stage of the SHIFT-IT Process is Trouble at the Border. Often, in the creation of a vision, there are one or more components of the vision that are difficult to hold or allow. These are the areas where doubt and critical thoughts reign – resistance. After completing your vision, we determine which components you can fully allow, and which components you have more difficulty in holding. We work to overcome your resistance and shift your ability to allow and create your desired future.

The sixth stage of the SHIFT-IT process is Ink It, Don’t Just Think It. This is the stage that pulls all of your SHIFT-IT work (to date) together into one place – into one picture called your Big Picture. The Big Picture is a linking move – it links your vision to your current reality and begins to bridge the gap between the two. It helps you organize and collect your work-to-date — creating a kind of ramp or launch pad for action. You move from thinking to doing and determine preliminary steps to creating a realistic, timely, achievable Action Plan.

The seventh and final stage of the SHIFT-IT process is Take Action. This is where you take the big shift areas from your Big Picture and break them into an immediate, achievable plan. You’ll brainstorm the specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and timely steps that you can begin to take now to move toward your personal vision. These are actions you naturally want to take and that feel enjoyable or at least easy to do. You’ll create an overall Action Plan that will keep you organized, on track and accountable.

Are you ready to make a shift? Do you want to learn more? Let’s connect!

I highly recommend Christy Gharbo. Through our work with the SHIFT-IT program, she enabled me to identify what’s most important to me; see my future self, the way I want to be, in the life I want to have; plan steps to get what I want; and clear away negative thoughts that might otherwise become obstacles

I’ve put some of Christy’s visuals on my wall. By seeing them daily, I can now see them in my mind, wherever I am. My goals are clear to me, guiding my decisions, big and small, and helping me to dig in when Life gets tough.

Christy is kind, warm, patient, encouraging, and reassuring. On top of getting great results, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of working with Christy.

Linda M., Cary, NC

Working with Christy to put pen to paper and clarify my goals put big, lofty ideas into tangible, actionable steps that I am now on the road toward accomplishing. Christy helped me reflect, refine, and plan in a meaningful way that produced a blueprint which now guides my perspective and allows me to move forward in building a daily life that reflects my core values.

Having a clear vision has brought me confidence and a sense of security, eliminating the fear that comes with high achievement goals. I refer to our work often knowing my future success depends on focusing my daily life towards the meaningful direction Christy helped me define.

I highly recommend Christy and the SHIFT-IT process.

Rebecca D., Graham, NC

With Christy as my guide, I found myself studying nearly every variable in my personal and professional history leading up to the current day and discovering revelations about my skills, family influences, goals, and insecurities.

The life mapping process was immensely valuable in discovering a goal I had been struggling with. Christy helped me renew my self-confidence as a writer and increase my excitement for the future, which at my age is a daunting task. I was able to leap forward from a vague idea to an action plan.

I would recommend Christy as anyone’s guide through life experiences using detailed visualization. She was thorough without rushing me to a conclusion, and she helped me pull the information from all the maps into a cohesive objective.

Eileen M., Raleigh, NC