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The Beyond High Performance Podcast is brought to you by the coaches and friends of the executive coaching firm, Novus Global, and the Meta Performance Institute for Coaching. Join us for intentional, vulnerable, thought provoking conversations that illustrate the life-shifting power of coaching. In order to adequately share the breadth and depth of the firm’s insights, this podcast consists of three unique shows. The Meta Performance Show, will bring you unflinching interviews with top industry leaders on their paths to success. Next, we explore with the show called On Coaching, which pulls back the curtain on the intricacies of life as a Novus Global Coach. And finally, Your Finest Hour, which explores the unique dynamics between a coach and their client by bringing both on the show to unpack their coaching experience together. This podcast was crafted to help you grow as a coach, leader, employee, and human being, inspiring you to go beyond high performance and explore what you are capable of. Note that this podcast is not for those who are committed to mediocrity.
# Swell AI Transcript: Eric Anderson - Your Finest Hour (Final Edit).mp3
SPEAKER_02:
Welcome to the Beyond High Performance podcast featuring content and conversations from me, Jason Jaggard, along with our elite coaches at Novus Global, their high performing clients, and the faculty of the Metta Performance Institute for Coaching. On this podcast, you'll hear some of the world's best executive coaches and high performing leaders, artists and athletes discuss how they continue to go beyond high performance in their lives and businesses.
SPEAKER_04:
Welcome to your finest hour, a series of interviews going behind the scenes with world class leaders and their coaches on how to make the most out of coaching and life. Coaching is such a private experience, it can be difficult to know what it's like, who does it and how they might be creating results. So we're giving you a sneak peek into how the top leaders go beyond high performance. I'm Joseph King-Barkley. I get to serve as the president of the Metta Performance Institute, and today I'm joined by the founder and clinical director of Pathway Therapy Center in Walnut Creek, California, Eric Anderson, and his executive coach, Laura Groon. In this episode, we dig into the differences between therapy and coaching, where there can be some crossover, and why there's so much value in participating in both. Later on, we jump into his own experience utilizing Laura as his coach to open up his own private practice center. If you think that there's something more out there for you, that you're capable of unlocking more within yourself, consider this episode your starting point. Before we get started, we wanted to celebrate a huge milestone. The Beyond High Performance podcast has officially been downloaded 100,000 times. We couldn't have done it without you, our listeners. So thank you for continuing to tune in and even sharing some of these episodes so that we can help more and more people go beyond high performance. We hope you enjoy the show.
SPEAKER_01:
The wait is finally over. Our new book, Beyond High Performance, what great coaches know about how the best get better is available for purchase wherever books are sold. This USA Today bestseller is more than 250 pages of expertise, anecdotes, and insights from Novus Global coaches, as well as faculty from the Metta Performance Institute for Coaching. We are so excited to put our proprietary framework that has helped thousands of leaders achieve more into your hands. And we can't wait to see how you'll use the book to enhance your life and leadership. To learn more and obtain this essential resource for yourself, visit novus.global.com.
SPEAKER_04:
Eric, Laura, I'm so excited to be talking with you today on Your Finest Hour. Eric, I've actually known you for years, but we have never been in a coaching relationship. That's something that you and Laura have gotten to experience. But I want us to wind the clock back a little bit. First of all, tell us the work that you're in, generally speaking, and what is most meaningful about that work? Why were you drawn to it in the first place? What do you enjoy about what you do?
SPEAKER_06:
Thanks, Joseph. This is exciting. I'm excited to talk through all this with you guys. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified sex addiction therapist. I'm the founder and clinical director at Pathway Therapy Center. We're an outpatient therapy office out of Walnut Creek, California. And I've been licensed as a therapist since 2015, working as a therapist since I graduated in 2012. And yeah, I mean, it's been a journey. When I started grad school, I didn't really know that this was what I wanted to do. It was kind of like, okay, I'll kind of check this thing out i think i might have some skills in this direction and was actually had the backup in mind that i could get a church job i went to school at fuller seminary and the idea was if i decided i didn't like this i could do a youth ministry route with a marriage and family degree and that would be a good backup and then as i got into it i realized this fits my skill set way better and i'm way better at it and i like doing it more That kind of just sent me down that road and then, you know, kind of finding addiction specialties and meeting a bunch of really great clinicians and supervisors and people along the way who kind of pointed me in the right direction from things that they saw I was kind of passionate about.
SPEAKER_04:
This is not a podcast about my story at all, but as you know, Eric, I have been sober from sex addiction for nearly 20 years now. And it was as a result of work like you do that transformed my life and my marriage and my future. So, I am somebody who profoundly understands the significance of the work that you and your colleagues are doing in the world. So, thank you on behalf of somebody who's benefited from it. Thank you so much. That's cool. Thanks, Joseph. You are, broadly speaking, in the business of human development, human growth, transformation, as a licensed therapist. And so, to move into now a coaching relationship, why did you seek development, your own development through not only therapy but through a meta-performance coach? What kind of prompted that curiosity in the first place for you?
SPEAKER_06:
Well, I got a call from my good friend Joseph Barkley who pitched me the idea of working with him. working with a coach. Um, no, you, you had called me up and you're like, Hey, you know, like we've been talking and, and, you know, about how your practice is going in a certain direction. And you might consider working with a coach around that. Do you mind if I connect with Laura? And I was like, I know a little bit about this world. I know it costs a lot of money. I trust your judgment. I trust that you wouldn't bring this up if you didn't think it was an investment that was worth making. So, okay, I'll talk like I did, met Laura a couple of times and had known her and it was like, okay, we'll set up a meeting and see where this goes. And you call, you make the recommendation that I meet with Laura. And the timing just kind of clicked because it was like, all right, if I really want to like launch this and really be serious about this, like I've been kind of had in the back of my head and telling myself I want to do, this seems like the type of thing that would really push that process forward and you know i could justify it financially but like if i'm gonna do this this is me committing to myself like i'm gonna be making the leap to actually follow through on this not just like not just let it be like, all right, move up and kind of stay solo and keep expenses really low. So it was, I think if not for doing this, that probably would have been the path I'd take eventually getting to it. I think it probably would have happened, but you know, if we can, we can get into kind of how we're doing now. I don't, I don't think it would have been close to where, where we're at now.
SPEAKER_04:
Laura, I want to hear from you. What do you remember from the first conversation you had with Eric before you started coaching? And I think maybe to put a fine point on it too, what about his vision or where he was at when you interacted with him drew you to, I think I would like to partner with you towards this vision that you have.
SPEAKER_03:
It's a great question. And right away, I knew I was interested in partnering with Eric because I knew what he was up to in the world and the kind of impact that he wanted to have on people's lives. And I love being able to partner as a coach in all of these visions for life change that each of my clients have. And it's like a web, you know, that keeps going where I get to be a part of it and then it grows and then I get to be a part of something else over here in a different sector or circle and that's growing. So that was really interesting to me working with somebody who is in the mental health space and who is a therapist. was really interesting to me because I was like, okay, we're both people who understand and appreciate the value of bringing someone else in to listen and ask significant questions and point out patterns. So there's some similarities and overlap, but I knew that it was going to be different for Eric because we were really going to be just focused on that thing that he wants, that thing he wanted to create in the world and how we can go after that. So it had the foundations of a client relationship that I really look for and look forward to. Someone who's invested, values growth and challenge, and who's up to big things in the world.
SPEAKER_04:
So the vision, Eric, was what prompted you. I heard you say investment myself. There was a vision that you had for the future that still seemed exciting, but you were wondering if, gosh, could we accelerate that? Could we, could I do this in a way that is healthier maybe and more exciting than I would do on my own? And that vision, part of that vision was to move from, for the most part, serving as a single therapist in the world to launching a group practice. And early on in the coaching relationship, as you got started with Laura, what were some of the things that came up when you thought about that vision? Were there things that you were afraid of? Did it bring up insecurities? Did it bring up? Yeah, I'm curious, like what you discovered about yourself and how you might have been getting in your own way when you really started moving towards that vision.
SPEAKER_06:
I think I had a rough idea of how the process would go. One of the things about the coaching relationship I think is interesting is like Laura's not telling me like, oh, have you thought about this? We're not brains. There's not a business coach telling me like new ideas. It's stuff I already kind of had in mind. And I think in my mind at that point, it was like, yeah, okay, I'm going to extend this out. I'll move up. I'll start a solo practice. I'll move my solo practice up. And so much was still online that like, you know, there wasn't a ton of drop offs. So like, I'll make a point to like, just get established before really like scaling up and bring on new people. And it really, I think, challenged the idea, like, why not hit the ground running with it? Why not have like, get the groundwork in place to really get started. And I think for me, the shift was like, I didn't want to take the safe route, the safe, slow building where I feel secure. And actually, I think the reality is that route's not safe. It just feels more comfortable because I'm not doing a bunch of new stuff too quick. And so the challenge has been I'm wearing new hats. I'm building a team. I'm learning how to manage meetings. I've done a little bit of that. wanting to really kind of make it my own. And then I had all sorts of ideas I thought were fun, but rather than like, all right, let's implement that idea and then let it kind of simmer for six months and then another idea and then like slowly do it. It's like, well, let's just have this practice and see what works. So I think, I don't know that it's off track, but like a lot of it was really, I really felt like we were hitting the ground running by the time I actually made the move rather than easing into things and then letting things just happen at the slow pace they might've
SPEAKER_05:
Hi, my name is Mike Park, and I'm a proud graduate of the Metta Performance Institute for Coaching. The faculty of the Metta Performance Institute not only provided the training, tools, and experience to learn how to coach people toward powerful growth and thrilling results, but also advocated for that kind of growth and results in my own life. I had the unique opportunity to have world-class executive coaches invest in my development, both professionally and personally. It's a privilege to be part of a tribe of coaches fiercely committed to exploring what we are capable of together. If you're looking to become a coach or to set up your coaching practice to reach the next level, I highly recommend the certification from the Metta Performance Institute for Coaching. To fill out a free assessment of your abilities as a coach and to connect with someone to find out if the Metta Performance Institute is for you, check out www.mp.institute.
SPEAKER_04:
I want to tap a little bit into your desire, Eric, because, you know, as coaches, we sometimes we use this gym metaphor and Laura could lead you into a gym, turn on the treadmill and be like, you can get on and start running if you want, but she's not going to push you onto the treadmill. And there's something that motivated you initially to saying, I could incrementally get to this thing I want, but I really want to jump on this thing and just get after it and see what happens. Was there a complaint that you had or a, gosh, when I look at the future, the time is now. That's what motivates you to get on that, start running.
SPEAKER_06:
Like, was it satisfied with the idea of looking back and it just being like, yeah, things gradually kind of fell into place? Like, did I ever go for it? Did I ever take any jumps? Did I ever, like, try to actually make the thing happen or was I just kind of waiting for stuff to fall in my lap? I think it probably would have materialized over time at a slow pace and it would have been good, but the feeling like, This actually could be really good. This actually could be like way better than you ever would have thought. Like, do you want a sandbag? Do you want to kind of leave that on the table? That possibility on the table? I think that was kind of the thing because I like I felt like When I was committing to the coaching process, and you guys talk about the concept of like putting yourself on the hook, it was doing that. It was like, okay, I'm not, I'm going to kind of take the leap. I'm going to push myself to do, make more calls and make more requests and ask more therapists in the area and networking and meeting people. I consider myself lean a little bit more introverted, like, I'm going to step outside my comfort zone and do more of that if I really want to let some of that build up. But it was it was I don't want to just settle for like what felt comfortable and easy. Like, I think I would have looked back on that with like a lot of regret, feeling like I left some stuff on the table.
SPEAKER_03:
What I was hearing from Eric in those earlier sessions was the beginning of the realization that he knew he was capable of more, that there was a desire for comfort and safety that we all have to let things happen, you know, naturally and as they happen. But then there was also this other instinct inside that was saying like, yeah, I think I actually am maybe playing it safe. in a few areas and I think it would be interesting, exciting, scary, terrifying, amazing to find out what else could be available and in what timeline. So if you listen to this podcast you hear us say it a lot but as coaches we come in with the assumption that everyone we are coaching and ourselves that we are all capable of more. then we know that we're underestimating ourselves. And so then when you have somebody asking you questions like, why six months from now? What would it look like if that happened in two months? Would that be exciting? What would need to change? Who would you need to be? Then your brain gets to work trying to expand your capability and solve for the result that you want.
SPEAKER_04:
I have found a really beautiful relationship between the work that I get to do with my coach and the work that I get to do with my therapist. And I've been with both for years. And often as I'm looking at a clear vision of the future, part of what I realize might be getting in my way is a relationship that I have with my emotional life or with maybe past experiences that I've had or some undesirable pattern of behavior that I want. Eric, I want to punt it to you as the expert from the therapeutic space. As you've experienced coaching, how would you help somebody compare and contrast the benefits of therapy versus coaching? So maybe to ask it a different way, what is a successful therapeutic relationship look like? Or what are some of the things that are experienced when a therapeutic relationship is going well?
SPEAKER_06:
There's a lot of different modalities that I think a lot of different therapists would have different answers around that. One of the things as maybe answering a different question, but I think I've taken a lot from the coaching space is like, it's so valuable to be directed about where we're trying to go. Sometimes therapy can turn into this, like, we're just kind of wandering and meandering around, but something feels kind of off, but it's hard to really kind of put my finger on that. And I just kind of want to not feel quite as bad. I think even if it's that it's having a like, some sort of goal to measure it against, like, all right, if we're feeling 25% less depressed, what would that look like? How would that, like, what would you be doing differently? Like, how could that shift? It's a way, I think, in a therapy relationship to stay grounded. But what happens is, as you start doing that, like, what I noticed when Laura was talking about that, and I was being challenged, all my insecurities started coming up what if this didn't happen six months what if it happened in two months well then i'd have to start doing this that means i have to make that call today and i'm terrified of making that call and what's that about well that's dad stuff or that's family of origin or this thing that happened when i was sixth grade or that it it starts leading to that kind of stuff and i guess for me to answer your question like in a therapeutic relationship it's like the unresolved stuff coming up. Are we pushing on things? Are we working on something? Whatever the goal is, if someone's got an addiction issue or if they have they're dealing with a depression or anxiety or a relationship circumstance, you know, we're hovering over the target when like these deeper insecurity, they just kind of start coming to the surface or this obstacle kind of pops up that is getting in the way. And now, you know, in therapy, we have some specific modalities and interventions focused to like try to resolve those things or at least make them less or help someone cope with them in a better way. And then hopefully over time, like life is improving. Some types of therapy are very like directed in terms of like, we're looking for those tangible, like I feeling 25% better than I was before. And then it's more measurable. Sometimes in like a more psychoanalytic tradition, it is a little bit more nebulous, but having I mean, overall, you should be feeling better. You should be feeling whatever obstacles were coming up and getting in your way or starting to get removed.
SPEAKER_04:
That's really helpful. And I think that we might have some coaches that are listening to this. Many of our listeners are coaches or maybe they're just they're leaders within their organization and they're wanting to use some of the coaching best practices to help care for their people. And I can see where a well-meaning coach or a well-meaning manager starts to listen to and explore the emotional, maybe even the psychological life of the person that they're caring for and we may overextend ourselves and we start to move into territory that is maybe better served by a licensed therapist or counselor. So, if a coach or a leader is listening to us, Eric, right now and they're caring for somebody, they're maybe even coaching somebody and they start to hear certain things coming up, complaints coming up or desires coming up, Are there things that we can be on the lookout for to say that might be a good moment to recommend that they explore therapy or a counselor?
SPEAKER_06:
I'm sure there's certain topics that would come up that would feel like, all right, there's a little bit out of our scope and something that like all of a sudden their marriage is blowing up and I'm not really equipped to deal with that. So like topically, there might be something like that. But like, I think the biggest thing, I mean, this happened to me and part of our work, it's What would this look like to get this done in two months rather than six months? I'm starting to make some changes. I'm starting to feel something. I'm starting to feel scared. I'm starting to feel nervous. Lord, even note, you were always really observant about noticing that my shoulders start popping up or there's like, keep grabbing my face. It was still like, I'm consistently having things that's like, this is coming up as an obstacle. which whenever it's like, it's not, is there a fear? Is there a limiting belief? It's not exactly that. There's some like deeper insecurity or some like, I'm overwhelmed, or I don't know if I can do this, or I don't know if, and sometimes even like those limiting beliefs are like pretty intricately tied to like some deeper issue that may be unresolved. If there's all of a sudden like, there's a big swell of emotion that came up, like, all right, I thought we were just looking at, you know, this issue around like a work problem, and then all of a sudden like, the tension for it should be at a two all of a sudden I'm coming in hot it's at a ten like maybe I just struck a nerve there's there's something there we want to we want to get a sense of what that's about those might be signs that there's something but I would also say like as a coach like you work with relationships like tension emotions challenge like this stuff is gonna come up right it's just are the tools we have ultimately not designed to resolve past trauma resolve insecurities deal with like relationship conflicts that's where it's like hey let's bring in a different tool to manage that
SPEAKER_03:
When I've encountered like a pattern, it seems like a rooted pattern of thinking or I know at one point I said to a client, you know, I'm noticing that maybe we're struggling to focus on the future as I think the coaching space is really designed to do. What do you want and how do we create it? I'm noticing that we're kind of hitting a wall or a block there and I'm wondering if it's because there's something unresolved from the past. that is kind of hanging out and could use some attention and time. So an unresolved grief or an abusive relationship that's hanging on. And in that space, you know, by just asking about that and opening up to it, it's allowed, you know, me to say, hey, maybe that's something to really put some time and focus on in a therapy relationship. My tools aren't equipped to like go back and unpack that with you. That's kind of where my mind goes with the distinction.
SPEAKER_06:
Yeah. I mean, if you notice that someone is every time we get near this one subject, they just keep wanting to go around it or they keep avoiding it. It's like, all right, what is there something there that they're trying to protect? And like if there's something serious, like an abusive relationship, like if I acknowledge that now, I'm like I'm on the hook to deal with it. Now I have to face this stuff. And I think a good coaching process, if you're going to make progress in your professional life, It's going to bring these other areas in like you're, it's going to, I think that's, it's a sign you're, you're hovering over the target of actually some good work. If it's like, well, that, that barrier is coming up and now, now you're going to make a referral to go see that person. And then by no means an easy process, certainly easier said than done, but they start doing that. they start getting healthier. They start making some difficult changes in these other areas of life. And that gives them far more bandwidth to manage their professional life better. And then they can push forward to those goals in even more ways. And then that makes them realize even more is possible. So there's a cool synergy that can happen off of that. But you know, it's like, I think any real process of growth, it's gonna lead you the core of whatever fears, whatever uncomfortable stuff is there, you're gonna have to face that. If you have any unresolved securities, a good therapy process and I think a good coaching process is gonna uproot whatever those insecurities are. If you have the courage to face those, you're gonna be far better off professionally, a healthier person, healthier relationships. There's a lot of good that can come out of it. It's a scary journey at times though.
SPEAKER_04:
I think one of the things that we're celebrating and inviting people to consider is that you might need more than one partner to help you really uncover what's getting in your way and what you're really capable of. And to keep using the athletic metaphor, I could see where we're training for a marathon together, but you know what, you had an old injury in high school that was never truly addressed and you've got a joint that's calcifying right now. So, you might need to have something more invasive and specific targeted to that ankle. Meanwhile, we're also going to be as we're training towards this marathon, we're focusing on your diet, your routine and your form. So, both of those things working in tandem actually creates the athletic performance that you want. The same is true in our relationships in our professional life. In a coaching relationship, we're going to be working on the moves that you're making and experimenting with to move towards those results, the mindsets that you're deploying to get those results. But from time to time, There may be a recurring pain that is coming up from, it could be a past experience, it could be an unresolved something in a past relationship and that's one of many reasons that maybe therapy is also a great person to bring into your corner for your own success.
SPEAKER_00:
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SPEAKER_04:
I want to bring it back to your story professionally, Eric, and the coaching relationship you have with Laura. Laura, when Eric got started, he's mentioned a few of the things that you began to work on. I'm curious, as he was moving towards this vision, what do you remember from the first few months of coaching that kept coming up repeatedly as things that were maybe revelations for Eric, or maybe even just a recurring pattern of old limiting beliefs that he started to be able to overcome?
SPEAKER_03:
Eric, let us know if you want us to cut any of these, I'll just share.
SPEAKER_06:
No, go for it, just all the dirty secrets, throw it out, it's fine.
SPEAKER_03:
Yeah, so I think in the beginning, the question was, okay, Eric wants these things. He has a big vision. It's clear he wants to create impact and change in the world and expand his reach. And he's also feeling this sense of like, stuckness or fear sometimes we spent some time around the feeling of chaos like so many things happening at once so many to-do lists so many task lists things that would effectively you know end up slowing him down just because there wasn't this clear next step or the the joy that would come with a clear next step. And so it ended up looking a little bit more like freeze. And I think as we unpacked patterns around, ooh, it sounds like you're feeling that chaos again. I wonder what's going on that you're believing about this future. And are those beliefs true? And just sitting and unpacking some of the lingering beliefs and what evidence there was of those beliefs and what else could be true, opened up new space to kind of relax into the vision, at least enough to take the next step forward. And Eric, let me know if that sounds like a summary of what you were experiencing.
SPEAKER_06:
I remember we talked a lot about the chaotic nature I would go about doing things, I think. And it's still something to wrestle with. But I can tend to be very reactive in how I approach things. So, oh, there's a problem? OK, cool. I'm going to throw that on the to-do list and cram some space in to fix it. I got 10 minutes between sessions? All right, I'll answer some emails then. Or I will potential new clients calling? All right, I'll take that. I had to be the one to kind of do everything. I think there was this own fear of kind of letting go of control around that. There was kind of fear around like fragility. behind that like i'm one bad day or one bad month away from just like my whole case so drying up and everything falling apart and so as a result i'm going to be on every little detail around that but then what it was causing is just this like very chaotic pattern of wearing myself out late nights focusing a lot of attention on like how I send out my zoom invites. And when I send those out, like I got to manually do those. It's so just like a lot of kind of wasted energy around stuff like that, that I think I kind of felt like paralyzed around because like, all right, I did one thing once it's kind of working. So let me just keep pushing forward with what that thing is without looking like, well, what are the ways I could potentially upgrade that? Well, that's scary because now that's entering kind of something new. I think it was kind of getting over this feeling of, things are fragile. And then like, especially as now, like, I have a team and I'm trying to like, build their caseloads and refer clients out. And like, my tendency is like, I feel very confident, like I can bring on lots of clients myself and take those on and do a good job with them. But like, I'm trying to expand a larger thing beyond just myself, that means I'm training, it means I'm focusing on investing in other people doing work as a therapist beyond just me, that's a new hat to wear. And I, if I was going to move forward, I had to venture into that space, but being willing to move away from like, I have to do everything in the chaos that comes with that.
SPEAKER_04:
Well, let's go into that a little bit more because your vision, Eric, at least the impression I'm getting is that it was inviting you into what we might call reinvention. There was an Eric that was showing up for work up until a certain point and then Laura was repeatedly inviting you into a different way of being or a different – you get to be a different Eric if that's the Eric it takes to get to where you want to go. So, could you give us a little sense of Eric up until that work began and the kind of Eric that you get to be most of the time now to experience the vision you have? So, what's the difference in those two profiles?
SPEAKER_06:
It's interesting to look at it that way because I think a lot of times I had seen like over the course of a therapy career, some people will get into like a private practice and they build that up and they, it's what they want to do. I can just work for myself and then that's great, right? But there is kind of a feeling that like a natural progression is like launching a group practice, having kind of a larger thing beyond you. So like the idea of thinking about is like, how am I being different? I absolutely think it's true. It wasn't how I thought of it going in because it was like, well, this is just kind of the next step in like my career development. But if you're going to make that jump, it's a whole bunch of new hats and a whole bunch of new responsibilities that I'm taking on and trying to figure out and things I need to create space for. And so the idea of like, OK, like, you're not just like heading a practice like you're starting you're launching a business or you're scaling a business, you are managing payroll for people, you're, you're doing just a bunch of things like I hadn't done before would on a very small scale, kind of figured out what's a whole new animal. Um, you know, we're, we're a small practice, nothing, it's nothing huge, but it's, it's just a lot of new things I have to figure out. And then she also pushed me to kind of expand like influence beyond just like, How am I running my business? How are we bringing in revenue? How are we bringing in income within the sex addiction specialty? I had an interest in like, you know, going to conferences, speaking at conferences, tackling some difficult subjects. And we got into some of that where that was another thing where it's like, it's kind of something like I had in mind I want to do in my career at some point, but like, What would it look like to do that now? What would it look like to put that in? I never would have put all these things together within the first year of kind of launching Pathway Therapy Center, that I would also be adding like those new like kind of speaking roles. But I mean, I guess that would be another place like I would, I would say it was somewhat limited going in. But yeah, it was a whole new way of seeing myself and How am I as a clinician? How am I in the world of psychology? How am I as a expert in this field, as a boss, as a practice owner? It was, yeah, a lot of new hats.
SPEAKER_04:
I love the idea, and we so often invite our clients into this concept of skipping the line, because it sounds like what you're saying is, there was an Eric, and this isn't bad, by the way, there was an Eric who was counseling people, creating impact in people's lives, and by default, where he was gonna go is maybe five, 10 years down the line, when he has tenure, is when he can expand into you know, this other kind of work, launching a group practice or something like that, right? And it sounds like in the context of coaching with Laura, you got to explore the question like, why do we have to wait? I'm not even sure that that's, could those things be true now? Or could they be true earlier? And is that worth swinging towards or experimenting towards? And you have just now celebrated a pretty remarkable milestone. The thing that you thought was going to take you years and years and years, you have just celebrated. Let's correct me if I'm wrong. You've just celebrated a year of pathways being open. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_06:
Yeah. So we I mean, we I first brought on our first three associate staff last March. And so, yeah, it was a year in our office and as an open practice, seeing clients here in person and remote. We were reflecting back at our last coaching session just so last March we brought on three associate therapists. We had our our first team meeting here in the office all the furniture. I was still kind of putting it together and when we first started coaching I would have thought that like four person office here would have been like three years out like let's bring on one person and slowly build them up and then we'll bring it and then we'll add on another one and then we'll kind of see where that goes and then add on another one and it's like well what if right off the bat like we did like two or maybe even three right it's like Laura saw me doing a lot of like, oh, that sounds like a lot, Laura. I don't know if we can handle that one. Because then it's like, what's the belief that we often confronted that I was telling myself like, that's going to be a lot. That's going to be a heavy lift. And sometimes it would be, but sometimes it was like, that wasn't that bad. We kind of managed that as far as we needed to. And Yeah, I mean, we're a year in, we just brought on two other therapists and I might have a space issue because certain days of the week, I don't know if everyone's going to fit in here.
SPEAKER_04:
Because of the impact you're now equipped to make in the world, Eric, when you're not moving alone and you're making significant impact. one-on-one, I'm a therapist meeting with clients or maybe there's some group experiences as well, but now you've exponentially created opportunity for impact. In our work, we love the practice of acknowledgement. And if any of our listeners have heard prior podcasts, you've heard this come up before, but this idea of really relishing in a notice of something productive that you're seeing in your behavior, somebody else's behavior, And then also sitting in that moment with the practice of saying, I receive it. So if someone was to acknowledge you, Eric, for something, I receive it. And I wanna actually give Laura as your coach a chance right now. She has witnessed this journey and seen the results up to date. Laura, is there anything right now that you'd like to acknowledge Eric for in how he has participated in this journey towards where he's at now?
SPEAKER_03:
Eric's fierce commitment to his own growth is inspirational to me. More than any other client I think that I have, when Eric's in the gym, I like watch him lift the weight. Like he's like doing the work. He's under the bar going, oh, and I think that's going to be hard. You know, are some of the things he'll say out loud is I think it's going to be hard and it might fail. But because he's been continuously having this experience of it ends up not being that hard and he doesn't fail, he gets to keep telling himself, like, I was wrong about that. I wonder what else I'm wrong about. And I wonder where else I can celebrate something that I didn't think was possible. So for us to sit a year into the opening of Pathway and look back and think, wow, Eric a year ago didn't think any of this was possible or would have happened in this timeline. But Eric a year ago made that happen through specific choices and commitments that he had to growth and to bringing a vision for the future into the present.
SPEAKER_04:
And Eric, another thing that I like to ask people from time to time is to talk to their past self. And I want you to tell Eric at the beginning of the coaching journey something that you now know that maybe you didn't see at that point or he didn't see at that point.
SPEAKER_06:
What comes to mind for me there is just a, I think a perspective that's gained. It sounds trite, but it's like, it really is about the journey and about the growth that you have along the way. Because like, I look at where I'm at now, there's a different set of challenges. There's a different set of things that are stressing me out around that. But like, Cool. Those are things I get to grow in now. And to not be so focused on the like, well, when I get to this point, when I get this much income coming in, when I get this, this much free time under my belt, or when I can have that first speaking gig that I said I wanted, or like, those aren't going to be the things that make me feel at ease or bring the sense of like satisfaction. It's not the specific goals. It's the like striving to reach the potential. You'll figure out where that is and figure out what that path is going to look like as you take that journey. I think for me, it was just like And what I want to encourage myself with then, just trusting the process, trusting that you have good people around you, good guides that have your best interests in mind. And there's no best fear I had around fragility, one bad thing or one if I make. get coaching investment, it doesn't work out, then it's all going to fall apart. It's like, no, I'm trusting that this is going to be something that sends me on the journey of always said I wanted to go on. So trust that process and look forward to the good that's going to come out of it rather than hitting a specific like benchmark. It's part of the point, but it's not the point.
SPEAKER_04:
That's incredible. I want to give you, Eric, a chance to let our listeners know how they can find you and more specifically who would benefit from connecting with you and your colleagues. But before I do that, Laura, I want to give you space for any final words that you might have for people who are thinking about potentially partnering with a coach for their own professional future when we think about Eric's story. Anything that comes to mind for you as a last word?
SPEAKER_03:
I think if you resonate with Eric's story of having a suspicion that there is more available to you, but not being sure that you're ready to step into it or what it would look like to actually go for it, create that thing that you want in your life, Have a conversation with a coach, somebody who can ask you questions about what beliefs might be holding up that dream from coming into your reality. Invite somebody to be a partner with you. Like, I love that Eric is a business owner, a new business owner, who has reinvented himself not just as a practitioner, but really as a CEO, as a president. And he's not alone, like he has a team that he has created for himself. And it may not be the conventional, you know, boardroom, but he has a coach that is along with him for the journey, noticing where he might be getting in his own way toward having the things that he says that he wants. And if that sounds like something that would be really resourceful for you in whatever stage of your career that you're in, then I highly recommend at least having a conversation and seeing what happens from there.
SPEAKER_04:
Thank you, Laura. Eric, what might one of our listeners be experiencing that might prompt them to reach out to you and where could they find you?
SPEAKER_06:
I am, well, as an addiction specialist, that is a big part of the work we do, but we don't work exclusively with that. So if someone's feeling off, whether it's a depression, anxiety issue, we're fully equipped to manage that. We get a lot of just relationship dynamics. Oftentimes, like if a relationship's in crisis, something's not, something's falling apart. Maybe there's a discovery of something that really needs to get dealt with. I'd say that's kind of our sweet spot for really being able to help clients in that place. We're a team of therapists. We're licensed to work all throughout California. We're located in Wilma Creek in the East Bay Area of California. So if someone wants to see us in person, that's where we're located.
SPEAKER_04:
We are going to have links, Eric, for people to find you in our show notes, as well, of course, as links for people to find us if you're interested in exploring what it might mean to have a coach in your corner like Eric has in his. Laura, Eric, thank you so much for the conversation today. I know it's going to really enhance the opportunities for a lot of our listeners.
SPEAKER_01:
Thank you.
SPEAKER_06:
Well, thank you, Joseph. And then thank you both for your encouragement and nudging me to this process. It's it's been life changing. And I don't say that to be nice.
SPEAKER_02:
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