The Offer

You are very accomplished

Think about what you have invested and accomplished in education and work, in relationships, friendships, and family life, in yourself. Amazing in many ways, and yet …

Strange and paradoxical isn't it? There is so much that's good in you, but that thing throws you so off-balance. It might be a person, or a circumstance, or one of your own traits or behaviors. All of us have several somethings that unbalance us – defy our intelligence, defeat our resolve, poke at our vulnerabilities, give us pain.

It might be something you can clearly identify, or vaguely identify, or not identify at all. It might seem huge or tiny on its face, but its impact is big, which is why it's on your mind. What it has done to you, and is doing to you now, matters.

Zen-ish Coaching Can Help

Zen is very interested in the present moment. Do you want to wait a little longer, or is the present moment, now, the right moment for you to begin being freer, more able? You want the problem gone, but taking it on is oddly scary, isn't it?

Nothing provides immunity from life's distress and disarray. You will have get plenty. Since you can't have immunity, you have to have resilience and resourcefulness, confidence and creativity. I can help you apply Zen-ish ideas and skills that reduce the pain, and enable you to respond in ways that are well-aligned with your values and objectives. If you are not even sure what those are right now, we'll clarify them.

Challenges will still come. But because you will be more skillful, they will arise less often, and distress you less intensely. You will navigate to better resolutions. You will operate with more self-confidence, and feel more calm and peace even when you are in the midst of life's muddy waters. Do you want to start moving in that direction right now? Does it make sense to not start now?

Whatever currently pains you, you are here now, looking at this website, wondering if this is a place where you can get the help you need.

Let's talk

Let's talk – no commitment, no pitch. Since I am retired, there will be no sales pressure on my side. You can contact me here.

Logistics and Cost

At the top level it's pretty simple. If we decide to work together, we meet weekly over Zoom.

Whatever issue you bring is one that has been difficult for you to solve until now. So, it's reasonable to assume it will take a commitment to more than a couple of sessions to make the degree of progress you are after. At the same time, neither one of us wants coaching to go on endlessly, nor should it. You and I both want to see improvement in weeks, not years, which is a good fit for coaching. Accordingly, I offer six-week, eight-week, and ten-week packages.

Many coaches charge upward of $3000 for six sessions. (And if it's business-oriented coaching it could be $15,000 or $20,000!) Do you want to pay $3000 for six sessions? I don't. Since I use Zoom instead of renting expensive office space, and am already retired, I can afford to charge significantly less.

To be more accessible, my package prices are $900 for six weeks, $1200 for eight, $1500 for ten. (In case math doesn't automatically happen in your head, that's a 70% comparative cost reduction!) If we are a great fit but my fee is too much for your circumstances, we can likely come to an agreement. I recommend most clients sign up for eight weeks. That gives you enough time to experiment and reflect, and not just rush through trying to implement things you have not really made your own. I offer six weeks, but that's a little tight for most concerns. Consider eight.

What actually happens across a series of coaching sessions?

The answer to this question varies from one coach to another, so this is an excellent question.

Frankly, most coaches don't have much to offer beyond pep talks and "accountability" – making you feel bad if you don't do something "on schedule". They don't have the training or experience to do anything else, and they are likely passionately convinced that their personal view of the world is the right view for everyone they work with.

I'm not here to babysit whether you hit some arbitrary schedule, and I'm not under the delusion that your problems would all go away if you just followed my one-size-fits-all template for life. I'm here for the very customized-to-you work of seeing how your beliefs and actions are helping or hindering the attainment of your goals, and to help you more fully live up to your values.

Here is the step-by-step outline:

1. We will clearly define what you want to be true in the near future that is not true today. Examples: "I want to be able to talk about <x> with my child, spouse, parent, partner, employer," or "I need to make powerful, persuasive presentations at work with more confidence," or "I don't want to be so anxious so much of the time," or "I need help grieving this loss," or …
2. We will identify the top three things that have to be different to significantly improve the chances of achieving what you defined in Step 1. Examples: gain clarity, confidence, and practice on what you want to communicate in a challenging conversation, identify key talking points and practice presenting them, meditate daily and learn one or more quick anxiety-stopping techniques, reduce the fear of being overwhelmed so you can fully feel and process your grief.
3. We will come up with specific actions you will actually take in the next two to three months to make those things happen. You only control yourself, and no one else, so we will only identify things you can do, not things you need other people to do. For example, you cannot take the action, "Get Tom to stop doing <x>," but you can take the action, "Speak with Tom about the impact of him doing <x>, and try to get his agreement to do <y> instead." We will identify specific things you can say and do to make your desired outcome likely.
4. We will put together all of the actions you identified in Step 3, assess if you can accomplish them all in the next two or three months. If not, we will further decompose things until each objective is realistically achievable and contributes to the larger goal. If it doesn't all fit into the next two or three months, we will identify what will so you can get that part done.
5. You will prepare and practice as needed.
6. You will try out new approaches in real life.
7. You will evaluate how that is going, adjust your plan as needed, and continue with as much independence or assistance as you want as you move along.