Key outcomes
- Identified his Passion Core
- Enhanced his ability to excel by taking on projects that he knew he would have a passion for
- Received a promotion he attributes in part to the above enhanced ability to excel
- Re-created his current job to be more in alignment with his passions and strengths
- Streamlined his life for passion
- Gained awareness of opportunities to add things to his life, both professional and personal, that bring more energy and passion
- Gained awareness of opportunities to eliminate things from his life, both professional and personal, that don't give him energy
- Realized that a key characteristic that he had always considered a weakness was actually a huge strength that had never been given the right structure for it to shine
- Learned to let go of control and accomplish more by leveraging his resources and more fully utilizing his team
- Gained insights on long-term goals for a business with his wife
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In the beginning...
When Derek first contacted Curt, it wasn't because he was unhappy with his career. He just didn't know where to go next. After 4 1/2 years at a large software company in Redmond, WA, he was happy, but felt uncertain what his next move should be.
Derek looks back and says, "I didn't know. I was at a roadblock. And with the plethora of opportunities for jobs at the company I work for, I was just overwhelmed. I didn't feel like I knew what I wanted."
He needed a way to identify the right path.
And now…
Derek has identified what really lights his fire, gotten a promotion, and redefined his current job to be more in alignment with his passions and strengths. He is a big proponent of the power of "traveling consciously," which understanding his Passion Core allows him to do.
He is able to scan the horizon to identify new opportunities that fit with what energizes him, and evaluate opportunities as they come up. He has been able to streamline both his professional and personal life, adding elements that energize him, and eliminating elements that are dead weight.
The process
I liked the process we went through," says Derek. "Curt has a consistent format that he follows from start to finish, and he's very focused on the time he spends with you. We always had real actionable items at the end of each session. What am I going to be accountable for? It helped me identify what things were going to be actionable so that we were really moving forward."
As valuable as the process was for Derek, it wasn't always easy. "The beginning can be a very frustrating period. The beginning is the toughest, but the most enlightening too."
Where did the frustration come from? "It's instant gratification. You want to be at point z. And it takes time. It takes some introspective time. You have to really look inside yourself. My advice for anyone starting out is to know that right up front, and to be really patient about it."
The Occupational Adventure Guide model helped Derek see where he was in the process. "His model really articulated it well," Derek notes. "Curt has a really good methodology for how to go about it. Looking back, we really did follow it."
Working with Curt
"Curt's skill in asking the directed questions, and really uncovering the true core and the essential pieces, is a true art," says Derek. "He has a real talent there, and that's something that really stood out to me. He isn't afraid to go into areas and explore."
