I love coaching because it’s an opportunity for me to function as a mirror for the truth inside of all of us. I have spent years developing my ability to listen. This may sound simple, but it’s taken years for me to hone my skill to really listen. This is part of what I feel makes me an excellent guide for my friends and clients who embark on life’s great adventures.
Stretching my comfort zone has become a habit, especially after close to eight straight months of travel in South America, beginning with ten days in the Amazon Rainforest. This adventure taught me how to strike a healthy balance between work, relationships, personal goals and ambitions while adapting to new cultures and uncertain, constantly-changing environments.
What is an Inventure?
One of the best books I’ve ever read is “The Way of Adventure” written by my good friend Jeff Salz. In it he describes an “Inventure,” referring to the courage to look within and discover our capabilities.
What I believe is so powerful about the Inventure Philosophy is that we don’t have to go searching outside of ourselves for that adventure. Though hiking is one of my favorite ways to spend my free time, I don’t need to climb a mountain anymore to get a thrill. Turning inward, I search for places I know I can still grow, bringing me face to face with my fears, challenging my comfort zone. It is the capacity to move through those fears that makes life so fulfilling. This is where I hope ultimately to guide you if we get to work together.
A few examples of stretching outside my comfort zone:
- Quitting my full-time insurance job which I held onto for years for security and because it was what I thought I was “supposed to” do
- Moving 3,000 miles away from family, friends, and almost everyone I knew on the east coast to realize my dream of living in San Diego
- Living with a Costa Rican family for three weeks at age 16
- Traveling through 18 countries
- Leaving a perfectly comfortable life (including a relationship) in order to realize my dream of working remotely and traveling through South America
- Navigating six years of entrepreneurship
- Climbing a 14,500 ft. mountain (Mt. Whitney in California) in in one day
- Giving a speech in front of 400+ people at Ignite! San Diego
In all of these experiences there has been only one constant: learning how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. Learning how to adapt to unpredictability and uncertainty.
The Nature Effect
I spend the majority of my free time away from my computer in nature. Human beings can feel a deep connection with the natural world if we’re willing to pursue it. Why is this important? I believe if we’re going to make any lasting change on how we relate to our planet, it must begin with a personal relationship with nature. Whether we gravitate toward forests, lakes, mountains, the ocean, or have a fascination for animals, nurturing these feelings of awe, wonder, and appreciation serves to remind us that, as human beings, we are not better than or separate from nature. I spend my free time as a volunteer for the Foundation for Climate Restoration because I believe our future generations deserve a healthy planet and the chance to thrive. I am dedicated to promoting more urgent attention on preservation of our earth.
