Treasure hunt.

All of us are looking for something.

Some of it is obvious...money, work we enjoy, good health.

Some of it is harder to name.

A sense of meaning.
Peace of mind.
A life that feels like your own.

The things money cannot buy.

Stop chasing.

Many people have been taught to believe that when they get what they want, then they’ll be happy.

And yet people often get what they want... and still feel restless, unsatisfied, or no closer to the happiness they expected.

My work is based on a different principle.

Start noticing

The question is not only where you are going.
It is also whether you are enjoying the process of getting there.

Process thinking is a way of bringing more attention, sincerity, and care to each step, instead of treating the present as something to rush through on the way to a result.

The quality of the journey matters. And with this approach, people still reach their goals.

They just begin to notice there is a more meaningful and more effective way to achieve them.

The Method

I work with three questions when helping someone create or invite something new into their life.

What’s realistic?
What is realistically possible to change in the near future?

What’s sustainable?
What is likely to become part of a sustainable way of living?

What matters most?
What would bring more happiness, meaning, or contentment?

A lot of my work lives in the tension between acceptance and change.

What do you need to accept?
What do you need to change?
And how do you learn the difference?

Some pain comes from trying to argue with reality.

Some comes from knowing something needs to change, but not knowing how to begin.

The work is in meeting both honestly.

Learning how to accept what cannot be changed.
Learning how to change what can be changed.
Learning how to remain true to yourself while doing both.

The first three months.

In the first three months, we usually focus on four foundational areas:

Personal landscape
Getting clear on where you are, what is happening, and where you want to go.

Mindfulness
Bringing the practice into daily life in a way that is steady, practical, and real. You can read more about mindfulness coaching here.

Process and outcome
Shifting from endless chasing toward a more grounded and enjoyable way of moving through life.

Values
Getting clear on what matters most to you, and the deeper motivations shaping your choices.

If you are looking for a Vancouver life coach, you can read more about working together here.

* Coaching includes access to my private secure online coaching portal with a tangible, interactive workspace that facilitates communication, supports performance and gives you productivity tools, inspiration and ideas to guide you holistically during the process.

It also gives you access to your coaching account anytime, from any device and at the end of our work together you receive a complete history of your coaching results and journey.

Benefits of long-term coaching from a client’s perspective.

Robert was running a start-up in California. We worked together for one year. He shares some of his insights below on the process.

What is the single most important benefit or breakthrough you received from working together?

Seeing things more clearly: seeing me as an equal player in the world rather than a diminished player. This was a result of practicing awareness, supplemented by reflection in your journaling process, on our calls, and through your questions. 

What stands out most about the experience as a whole?

You simultaneously held a non-judgmental space for me – accepting me as I was – and pushed me out into the world. You listened well, reflected well, and asked questions that helped get down to the core of issues, giving me a fundamental and clearer understanding of things. I never felt impatience and that was critical to building trust.
I also really appreciated that every call was productive, even if I didn’t have an agenda. You asked great questions that always led to some introspection. You are a master of creating space for exploration; pushing at the right time. Always supportive. 

Some other standouts

1. Weekly meetings: for me, very important. I’ve developed habits over the last 35 years, and I see that constant attention to changing them is what works for me. 

2. Focus on curiosity: a powerful tool for both opening and settling into myself. Tinkering around the edges. An ever-widening circle, and the further I go the more I realize that there is nothing to hold on to, that things are ever-changing, that the human experience is beautiful and diverse and that “I’m perfectly ok as I am, and there is room to grow”

3. Identifying blockers and working to remove them: uncertainty about what I “should” be doing… we explored those issues.

4.. Feeling cared for: I felt that you genuinely cared about me and my growth.

5. Values: identification and development of my values and using them as a framework in my daily decisions
Practicing what I want to become! That is the reality. 

6. Awareness of the preciousness of life: things could end at any moment, so live “fully” now (and I feel that defining “living fully” was what all of our work was about)