There may be aspects of our life we cannot change, but we can always change our thinking. Sometimes the greatest barriers we face are the stories we tell ourselves. They inform the way we act, the choices we make, and they powerfully shape our reality. There are the facts – and there is what we tell ourselves about the facts. Changing our stories changes our thinking, our life, and the world around us.
Over and over, professionally and personally, I have witnessed the transforming power of looking at and changing the stories we tell ourselves. I know that some stories are more life-giving, more creative, more hope-filled than others.
Together, we will look at how the stories you are telling get in your way. I will help you create stories that strengthen and improve your life and work.
“We don’t learn as much from our successes and accomplishments as we do from our failures and weaknesses. Broken people are often wiser than those who never lose….and sometimes the more broken we are, the deeper the transformation…the truer the enlightenment.”
You are not an island. Your story connects with other stories.
What do the films Pulp Fiction and Love Actually have in common?
Overlapping story lines. This sort of movie interests me for how it illustrates that no one’s story is told in isolation. When someone starts yelling — even if it’s not directed at me, I feel it in my body. Whatever is going on for that other person that led them to act that way influences me in that moment.
When I was in my early 20s, I auditioned to be a drummer in a jazz band. The band leader told me very clearly that I wasn’t good enough. I chose to tell myself the story that I wasn’t a good drummer, which wasn’t true. I just wasn’t good enough at that time to play with those musicians. My story about not being good enough was an already-familiar overlapping story line that I applied easily to a number of situations. It wasn’t actually about drumming at all.
The fact that our stories weave together with each other and with other people’s stories is both a challenge and a promise. The challenge is that stories are resilient — they support each other. The promise is that real change in one place will automatically produce change in other areas with minimal to no effort.
Your story takes a life time to tell.
I think the most important job of being human is becoming who we are meant to be. It is the job of a lifetime! When we adopt the world’s stories as our own, we lose part of our humanity.
What seems to separate us from other animals is our ability to reflect on our lives. Life improves when we release other peoples’ stories about us and tell our own instead. The good news is that, wherever you are in your life, there is still time! Time for greater authenticity, stronger identity, deeper purpose, clearer pathways. The wild and precious gift to the world that is your life is the story that only you can tell.
With one of my coaching packages you receive access to my private, on-line coaching portal. This powerful, interactive workspace facilitates communication between us, supports performance, includes journaling and other productivity tools and documents all your results and coaching history.
Results
Scott has been an integral part of my personal and professional development since we met in 2011. Listening carefully, beyond the words, Scott pulls critical words, phrases or perspectives into my awareness. This helps me overcome critical challenges, many related to past trauma where the stories continued into the present. As I move toward a future full of possibilities I have come to terms with those major obstacles affecting my relationships, my work and my own well-being. Our work together is still essential as I move into a new direction these days. Scott comes to his calling with a big heart, offering strength, empathy and focused guidance. We do not just chat. We work hard together for the chance to be all I can be! Forever grateful. I highly recommend you give Scott a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Tami L. – Corporate Trainer – Okotoks, AB.
Scott is a valued colleague. As a spiritual director, he provides a friendly, relaxed, safe environment in which to explore the deeper matters of life — his questions are skillful and his observations are astute. And he has a great sense of humour! I am confident he brings those same qualities to his coaching.
Shirley V. — Professional Certified Coach at Shirley Vollett Life and Relationship Coaching – North Vancouver, BC
Scott and I started out working on a practical exercise and it evolved into a months long, much appreciated, coaching arc that encompassed a critical challenge I was dealing with.
During the experience Scott did a great job of developing trust, demonstrated engaging listening skills and patience.
In addition he was particularly intuitive in the way he helped me acknowledge issues and break them down into smaller manageable steps that lead to reduced “fix it now” anxiety and thus more of a clear, incremental, path that has lead to a satisfying outcome.
Ian M. — President, Jealax Consulting — Vancouver, BC
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