Ali’s story
For years, I had lived my life feeling dominated by anxiety, unworthiness, and fear. As I was approaching 40, it became clear that I needed a major overhaul and I desperately wanted to transform my existence to one characterized by peace, joy, and fulfillment. I wanted to live my life in a way that allowed me to feel balanced and whole, and in charge of setting both the direction and the path of my life experience. I was confident that somewhere deep inside of me I knew what was important to me, and that I had my own voice and a unique contribution to make in the world, but over the years, I had lost sight of all that. I felt lost, and without a clue as to how to get back on track.
For years I had tried to address my issues and the dissatisfaction with my life through discussion, analysis, and a lot of commiserating with family, friends, and colleagues. I read books, tried therapy, and just continued to work harder and harder, assuming that would be the route to happiness. But ultimately, to create the change I desired, I needed to just stop everything, quit my job, and re-group. I needed space to create new habits, shed old assumptions, and begin to remember who I was independent of the all the things I was trying to achieve.
I enrolled in a Masters program in Spiritual Psychology and I learned some important lessons that brought me the inner peace, balance, and wholeness that I had craved. While initially I had thought that I was just taking a temporary sabbatical from my business career in marketing and product management, the lessons I learned and the experiences I had during my two years off were so powerful it became clear to me that I could never go back to my old life. I discovered that what I had previously thought was all-important, in actuality provided very little meaning and fulfillment. More specifically, I learned that having a place to go, responsibility, and its accompanying list of things to do was not the same thing as living life with true purpose and meaning.
The insights I gained helped me to find my way, remember who I was and what was important to me, and feel balanced, whole, and empowered to live life on my own terms. I learned lessons, skills, and tools that changed the quality of my daily life from one of mere survival and suffering to one of presence, peacefulness, aliveness, and joy even during busy and challenging times. And because these insights were so transformative for me, I found my life purpose in sharing them with others and coaching them in their own journeys to get the most out of their lives.
Here is a list of the main tenets that guide my life and inspire my work as a coach:
Happiness is 100% within our control.
Our thoughts, words, and actions determine our reality.
Emotions are our power source.
Big goals are achieved through clarity, commitment, and lots and lots of teeny, tiny steps.
Sometimes life is just hard.