Published by:

The intention was:

On the surface everything looked great: a good job in a good company, a girlfriend, loving parents, family and a sufficient amount of friends. The picture as I’d imagined it so often in my mind. Maybe a little bit materialistic and superficial, but this is how my social surroundings had unintentionally formed me.
The only small problem was... I was unhappy with my life. My feeling of freedom was gone. It had disappeared, broken down without my knowledge. I was not able to get that feeling back. I wanted to leave the company, break with the past, to stop the runaway train that was my life. To become a writer, to go to Italy and to pick olives: anything would do!

The course of action was:

Luckily my HR advisor found the solution by having me talk to a coach. When I saw my coach I had reached the climax of my internal conflict.

The result was:

Getting to know myself from scratch and realising what my life was about: being free. For someone else this could easily have been a glorious career, becoming a father, or writing a book. For me this was being free. I had never expected this ten years ago. I would finally be following my heart!

The lesson was:

My coach’s strength is that he let me make the journey myself, which means I can still use what we learned in a particular lesson every day. My failure turned into a brilliant experience, with a lovely outcome.

He also taught me to truly follow my heart instead of just listening to what my social surroundings are directing me towards. My coaching journey has been one of the few events which has changed my life. Why? I am free again! I have regained my energy and am enjoying life.

Since then I have been back at work with a lot of energy and enjoyment in a job where I can benefit from my freedom and riches to the maximum. All of this still with the same company!

Further:

Later on when I am old and grey, I hope to have lived a rich life. Rich in all senses: emotionally, physically in good health, and with many loved ones around me. And yes, also with sufficient financial means to be able to fulfil part of my dreams in any case. Luckily for me, I don’t need much money for what is dearest to me: to be free in my thoughts. That is my “thing” - to be free with my thoughts, to be able to dream about faraway places, new inventions and a better world.