WY-Coaching is a life coaching practice based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and is run by Dave Beal, a Core Essentials Graduate of CoachU, the world's leading provider of approved coach training.

Since graduating with an honours degree in languages from the University of Nottingham and a postgraduate in business management at Bournemouth University, I spent the bulk of my working life in the financial services industry.

Working mainly in the retail support and sales functions, I experienced - and survived - a great deal of change as the industry became more and more heavily regulated. One of the most significant lessons I learned was that it's not the change itself that influences the course of your life, but how you respond to it. This is one of the key messages I try to carry through in my coaching, as just about everyone I deal with is trying to initiate or manage change in their lives in one way or another.

I put a lot of energy and enthusiasm into my coaching, and my approach combines integrity, professionalism and a good sense of humour. I seek to keep the coaching relationship results-focused, and to help clients work towards their goals by mixing a lot of support with a measure of challenge as required.

Why I became a coach

My journey to this point has been long and at times challenging, but I can truly say that for almost the first time in my working life I am doing exactly what I want to do and really enjoying it.

I had my first taste of coaching and mentoring as part of a Y2K compliance project when I worked for a major UK financial services company. The coaching bug bit, and WY-Coaching is the culmination of a long search for the best way to put these skills and desire into practice.

More recently, I've been involved in a variety of voluntary activities mostly working with and developing young people. As coach of a junior rugby team I have helped many youngsters not only to develop their sporting abilities, but to grow as people, forming amazing social and working relationships with other children from widely differing backgrounds.

Working as an instructor in the Army Cadet Force, I've been a mentor, coach and teacher to groups of teenagers some of whom came from truly chaotic home environments. To see them learn self-discipline, take on and overcome some tough challenges, develop their skills in many different aspects of their training, and foster a sense of pride in their achievements, was truly amazing. To realise that given opportunities and the right mix of encouragement and discipline, these young people could take such huge strides forward, was a constantly uplifting experience.

And in that, you have the reason that coaching is the thing for me. Put simply, I revel in helping people, especially the young, rise to new challenges, master new skills and develop the power to live their life to the best of their potential.

Let me do the same for you.