Japanese Samurai warriors had a particular practice of “dying before going into battle” which allowed them to be some of the fiercest warriors there ever were.

As an Ontological Coach, I’m interested in your way of being and in uncovering how your way of being-in-the-world is limiting what is ultimately possible for you.

Imagine a Japanese Samurai warrior that couldn’t get out of his own head, kept thinking about all the ways he could screw up, or attempted to think through every move in order to make sure it was “right” before executing. He wouldn’t survive long in battle.

You can’t know what the world looks like on the other side of an achievement until you get there.

Where can you set a big(ger) challenge for yourself today that when it’s achieved will give you a vast new perspective on what else is available to you?

Be like Pygmalion. Create the most beautiful vision you possibly can and fall so much in love with that vision that it comes to life and becomes your reality.

Happiness is a choice. It doesn’t come from changing what’s going on around you or by changing your daily work. It comes only from fundamental change to your internal way of being, to your internal landscape, to how you perceive the world.

A real promise has power to generate and spur action and it has the power of accountability to another person or persons or even to yourself.

But what exactly is a promise and how can you make a promise that really means something, has staying power, and creates accountability?

Why would a bunch of coaches read a children's' book called "When Pigs Fly" as part of a high-level coaching intensive?

Effortless happens when we’ve achieved a level of skill and experience at something that allows us to be effective without the intense attention and focus required when we are still learning.

We accomplish so many amazing things over the course of a year and we never take time to acknowledge or much less celebrate those accomplishments. What would it look like to really reflect on that? I think most people would be truly amazed and inspired.

Highly-skilled individuals are often reluctant to express openly what they know they’re really good at. Even when they get that they’re talented at something, they hold back or downplay their knowledge. There are a lot of reasons people find this difficult and one way it gets expressed is worry about appearing arrogant or egotistical.

Relationships are a mirror to our souls and our most intimate relationships are the most revealing.

As Carl Jung said: “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves”

What are we saying when we use the word “should”?

A whole lot...and nothing at all.

That’s because “should” is a proxy for a whole lot of meaning, nuance, and assumptions while the word itself conveys scarcely any information.

When we are in uncertain times like these, how can we cope with the stresses of life in a powerful way?

What will it take to create inspiring and powerful goals for the new year?

One of the most frequent pieces of advice I have to give my clients is “Stop thinking and start doing.” Getting into action on any given task or project - moving it out of their head and into the world - seems to be one of the biggest hurdles for many people.