#31 The secret elevator

Have you ever consider seriously to live another life? To do a different job? 

My friend Patrick is a successful financial director in London who is totally passionate about self-development and performance.
Naturally, we met at a motivational seminar 3 years ago in California. In his mid 40s, with 3 children and a respectable career, Patrick was seriously considering a professional transition to become an executive coach and mentor. 

For a couple of years now,  he has been committed to his official job by day, and to switching to his passion for coaching by night (and at every spare moment he could find). 
Last time we reached out to catch up I asked him for some updates on his transition. 
His first answer was the same as the one he gave two years before:

- Well… I haven’t quit yet.
This year we have some really challenging goals and issues I must cope with. The pressure is very high… Bla Bla Bla.
And you know, I have a family to support financially. I must be sure of my success before I really move forward…

- Sure Patrick. But don’t you think it will always be like this? The company you work for will give you new goals, new deadlines, new reasons to postpone. Your family will still need you financially…

- I guess you‘re probably right… (sigh).

- (I bet I am!) Let me check something with you: Are you still desiring to become a professional leadership coach? That’s ok if you keep it as a hobby you know, as long as you practice it enough to fulfill you.

- Oh no! I know Jeanne, I really know that coaching is what I want to do. Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep inside me I know that I will succeed in this field because this is my path and I will thrive on it!
I’m actually finishing a very demanding (and super expensive)  coaching program to enable me to jump in the game and transition, eventually…one day.
Soon.
When it will be possible.
And this program is very well structured; we’ve done the Clarity section, the Goal section, the Performance section, the Resources section…

 - Hey, Patrick... I really hope for you that the very next section coming in the curriculum is the “Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep inside me!” section! 

We laughed.

I wasn’t kidding.

“Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep inside me I know that I will succeed in this field because this is my path and I will thrive on it.”

The real challenge when you coach someone is to not miss this unique, priceless, and furtive certainty that neither warns of its arrival, nor waits for the right moment/section to emerge.

Here’s where “dancing in the moment” is powerful beyond measure, a skill I learned in the Co-Active coaching method.
Here, you have to forget about agenda for your session (if there is one), you put him on the surfboard and you support him in riding the wave that is unfolding right here and now.
Plug him in to this genuine and fearless energy of deep knowledge to help him move into action—right now.

The beauty in my job is definitely this ongoing quest to bring my coachees to this sweet spot of reconnection to their inner wisdom and undeniable instinct.
There, in this momentum, there is the “secret elevator” that enables each of us to move forward with conviction, confidence, courage; without justification or minimization. Allowing yourself for a holy moment to trust: trust yourself, trust the universe, trust the meeting of both elements.

You can work through the different “sections” of your progress, take all  classes, entirely compliant, down to a T, and still never meet your instinct, your intuitive power—your secret elevator.

What is your deep deep deep deep deep knowing about yourself and where you are at now?

Look for it! Ask for some professional help if you need it too.
Allow yourself to find it (yes, it exists) and to listen to it. Especially if it is still a whisper.
Welcome to your secret elevator.