MY WORK IN 20 SECONDS 

Some people I work with have most things sorted out, but have one tricky area of life or a project where they’re looking for a breakthrough.

     Others are brilliant, but are stuck in many or all areas of life. Life isn’t fulfilling to them, and at this point they’re just going through the motions. 

     Whichever category you’re in, I will support you in getting clear on exactly what you want. Often the blocks to motivation are tied to being confused about what we really want, and in our conversations we will suss out exactly that, bringing it to the surface along with whatever insecurities and limiting beliefs of unworthiness you have that keep you from clarity.

     While we work on connecting you to what you want, we also gently bring awareness to how it feels to be you in your life and in the various activities you engage. Once you are clear on what you want, we’ll create an action plan that feels good for you to do that will move you to your goals. 

     Below you can read more about how I work with people, what people say about coaching with me, and the uncomfortable path that brought me to this work. If you’d like to try coaching, book an initial consultation. If you want to make the shift from looking outside yourself for validation, answers, and worth to finding that within, check out The Big Shift! 

COACHING

You either have what you want or you have excuses (or explanations) for why you don’t have it. 

     This isn’t being harsh or unkind, but I can understand it if you hear it this way. It’s direct. It’s confronting. But it’s also compassionate. I coach you to get what you want, be it income, happiness, a particular positive difference made in the world around you, or all three. In our work together we start by getting clear on what you want, what you REALLY want- your dreams. This often requires confronting some serious and fundamental insecurities, basically: not believing that you’re worthy, deserving, or capable.

     Once your vision is clear, we will work to help you see how this vision is possible for you. As a note, in all the years I’ve been coaching, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone describe deep authentic desires (not egotistic longings) that were not possible for them to create or achieve. The only thing that keeps a person from achieving their dreams (outside of staying confused about what they truly desire) is the inability to claim their dreams as their own and stay focused and connected to their vision.

     This connection with one’s vision is as much a connection with oneself. To create and grow this connection with yourself, I work with you around three key “intelligences” that combine to form the world that you experience, the world that gives you your actions. These intelligences are,

Mental Intelligence– your ability to put your attention on what you want and choose your perspective on a situation.

Emotional Intelligence– having access to a full spectrum of emotions and your ability to be aware of and not be shaken by emotions.

Action Intelligence– your capacity to choose, to say “yes” to what you want and say “no” to what you don’t want.

     As you allow yourself to want and you free yourself from confining beliefs, the creative force that sits within you ignites and you find a sense of being you right now that inspires you and launches you into making your vision a reality.

MEET ERIC

I had an epiphany of sorts in 2009 after losing a substantial amount of money in the stock market. 

     From the depths of confusion and numbed regret, in one monumental moment involving a gingerbread cookie and misty Seattle weather, I had an experience of complete joy. This joy both didn’t make sense (since I had just lost a lot of money) and had me start to question my obvious life path of finance and trading.

I quit trading three months later having lost the motivation I had to make money, which I had used as an emblem of my worth. I transitioned to understanding how people transform, but unwittingly changed the emblem of my worth from money to wisdom. For the next two years I studied the transformation process diligently, attending more than 20 multi-day retreats and seminars, reading hundreds of books and book summaries, giving a TEDx talk, and traveling to over 30 cities. Throughout, I did my best to appear wise.

In 2011, I wound up in Powell River, BC, Canada where I lived with and developed under an emotional intelligence and mindfulness teacher for six months. It was with this mentor that I started to realize the flaw in my motivation. I was still seeking to make up for a deeply rooted sense of lack. A sense that I wasn’t attractive, good, or worthy. I realized that these insecurities continued to drive my motivation, even though the subject matter of the work I was doing was quite different.

When I landed back in the States this old, insecurity-driven motivation crumbled and I did virtually nothing for many weeks. The motivation I had run on for the majority of my life had gone, and left a void in its place. I didn’t know how to engage life if I wasn’t trying to get somewhere or win someone’s affection or approval, so I did nothing.

Gradually and with much frustration (mostly from trying to force myself back into the old motivations), I found that there were little things that I enjoyed. I really did enjoy exploring the transformation process, and I really loved the connection and presence I felt when giving my full attention to understanding the reality experienced by another person in a coaching conversation. Eventually I learned to do things because I enjoyed them, rather than to manipulate my environment into giving me praise, and this changed everything. A sense of freedom set in, and the ongoing question of if I was good enough had been laid to rest. I was not good for what I had achieved, no, I got my feeling of good from how it felt to be with myself in my own skin, with the choices I make and the fears I acted in spite of. Finally, life started to feel like the blank canvas from which to create that I remembered as a child, the space where I did things because I was curious and wanted to without the fear of looking bad or being misunderstood.

I now live in Cleveland, OH, and mostly enjoy the constant and ongoing process of growth that has us feel ever more grounded and free. I embrace this process for myself and others through my coaching and courses, working to allow anyone who wants to find their own voice and their own blank canvas to do so.