David F, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CA

What's the obstacle that would have prevented you from investing in coaching?

Price is obviously something logical that people have to overcome, but I think that there’s an emotional aspect to it, too. I got myself into a situation and it’s reasonably unlikely that I can quickly get myself out of this without some guidance. People need a North Star, generally, to look at. We often have our own answers, but we don’t always have them sorted out in our head properly. We need someone to help sort through the confusion and ask the right questions of what may or my not be real. I had to accept that there was a problem and I needed some help.

What did you find as a result of investing in coaching with me?

I discovered many things about myself. Some of the things I discovered, oddly enough, were things that no one had ever pointed out to me, and they became lenses through which I’ve started to view previous activities and how I interact with people in the future. I started to recognize when I was making assumptions or making things more dire or problematic than they actually are in reality. On top of that, I most likely suffer from ADD so it’s no wonder why I was having a confusing time. Those are valuable things that I probably wouldn’t have uncovered as quickly.

What specific feature did you like most about my coaching process?

I liked that fact that Jason used a Google doc. While it may not work for everybody depending on their circumstances, but it worked well for me because I can leverage that in my own timeframe. I didn’t just have to use the doc when you were available.

I also liked the face-to-face video. I know some people still use phones and I think that the interactions and accountability are different when someone is looking at you. It’s harder to hide particular emotions when you’re face to face. Although these are basic features, I found them valuable.

What were three other benefits from working with me?

There were things about being an adult that I didn’t understand. I used to ignore how other people’s brains worked. Before Jason, nobody had been able to help me see that the way that I operate and the speed with which I operate can probably cause the people around me discomfort and even pain. Jason gave me frameworks to help me in my marriage that have helped me in all parts of the world. I was able to see that if my wife feels a certain way, maybe other people feel that way, too.

I also used to assume so much shit and create pain and suffering for myself that wasn’t required. In my marriage and also in my work I now realize that there’s no need to take anything beyond the face value. I don’t have to create stories and assume people’s motivations.

The third thing Jason helped me with was taking the emotion out of things, specifically when we talked about time, urgency, and planning. I was happy to invest the time and money into coaching because I can extrapolate the ideas we worked on into time gains, financial gains, and also what I call happiness gains, based on how I can scale my life up from here.

Would you recommend someone else work with me? Why?

Yes I would, especially other entrepreneurs who have knee-jerk tendencies. We’re not very used to coming up against people that want to stop us. Your level demeanor was uncomfortable for me at first: I had to slow down, remember what you asked me, and remember what I was trying to talk about. Eventually I was able to get deeper into what the problem was and the natural progression of how that worked was very beneficial. Many people in the online entrepreneurial world are like me, probably struggling in similar ways whether they know it or not. They would drastically benefit from understanding that what they do and how they do things could be causing other people discomfort.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I have found that being entirely problem-focused and zeroing in on all the negativity actually made it worse. In talking with you, talking with my spouse, and doing a few things on my own, I’ve realized that I’ve done well in other things in life. I’m not a loser. I’m not a complete moron. It’s difficult to learn interpersonal skills and learn how to both respect and set boundaries. But I’ve learned that i’s not a crisis, and things will be okay for me. Sometimes it seems like people are looking at their life through a microscope and when they zoom out they might see that things are actually better than they thought. I was so zoomed in and panicked about these little things that when I zoomed out and took a look at my experiences, wins, and losses, I’ve been able to chill out and be the person I need to be in order to make the improvements I want.