 I recently had a coaching experience which lasted for about 10, maximum 15 minutes, where I was being the coached person and I have to say the results were mind-blowing and I was really inspired by it, so I decided I will share it with you as an interesting story. So the way this happened is, some days ago, like a week ago, I was in a coaching workshop, online workshop called Awaken Your Inner Coach, I think I'm pronouncing it right, by a legendary coaching expert, Ian McDermott, I made a in-depth review of the workshop so if you're interested there's gonna be a link below, but in this video I want to focus on how Ian and I had kind of a one-on-one exchange for, as I said, like around 10 minutes and how impressed I was by how he conducted it and also what results it had and what it brought up in me. Just to give you a bit more information about the background of the situation, the Awaken Your Inner Coach workshop was focusing on having a good and constructive clear dialogue with your own subconscious, or at least that's the way I understand it, so kind of listening to your intuition, understanding how it communicates through somatic experiences, kind of almost questioning sometimes that internal dialogue and seeing or kind of observing whether it's a negative one or a positive one, are you being too hard on yourself or are you being generous to yourself, there's been a lot of details and I was really impressed by the workshop itself, but during the workshop we had a bit of back and forths, sometimes we were, there were like breakouts to groups and we had questions to discuss and sometimes we were asked a question by Ian, the person who led the workshop and some people would raise their virtual hand and answer his question so everybody would have a feeling for what's going on through the participant's minds and since I thought, you know, why not, whenever a question was asked I didn't always jump into it, but if I had something I felt like, okay, this feels like valuable, I can share this, or if nobody was raising their hands I was like, you know, I can do this as well, especially if I had something to share, not just forcefully. And so that was one of those situations and I believe the exercise that we were about to do was, and again, this is my, you know, retelling of the story, this is my experience so I might not say exactly everything, you know, the way it was supposed to be, but this is how I understood it, how I perceived it. So the exercise was more or less to find a question which matters to you and kind of like where there's more or less like a dilemma where you're considering two options and just kind of how, just actually I think, well, let's not make this too long-winded, but basically there was a suggestion to not be judgmental about your inner process, but to wonder, to be open-minded and to explore whatever is happening in you with curiosity, which is a really, really great approach. I love that suggestion and I'm familiar with that process. That's kind of how I process my thoughts in general. And I really, most of the times, not always, but most of the times, and I really love that approach where you're leaving open space and you're kind of getting to know yourself better through that wondering. You're not like, this is good, this is bad. It's either one or the other, but the exploration, if you are curious about it, if you're wondering, as Ian used the term wondering, then so much more can open up and so you can discover so many more things, maybe an option C, option D, or something you just haven't thought about. So it's a brilliant process and we were given a task to ask ourselves whatever we're like, what find a situation in our lives, in ourselves, where we are kind of conflicted between two options and to wonder about it. And as we went to breakout groups, we were supposed to share what that is and how we feel about that, like what are the two options. And so I thought about, I had like a number of examples which were on my mind, which I could have used as examples. But I felt the most active one is one, if you're following this channel, if you're following the journey, you'll most likely be aware of it. It's reading versus exploration and I haven't spoken that much about it. I spoke about that a little bit in the review, so again, you might be in tune. But basically the idea is recently I realized that I have very clear limitations in regards to giving what I want to give. And my conclusion was that if I want to create the effect in the world that I want to create, my conclusion was that I need more knowledge, and I need more information, more wisdom as well, maybe. But mostly just focusing on the knowledge and the skill set aspect of it. But a few different people have suggested to me that just being completely focused on your books may not be the way to go. And I started to think that that may be true. My coaching therapist, who I am in constant contact with, who is coaching me regularly, she suggested as well that it's not all about reading books, it's important to explore yourself. And potentially the inner wisdom that comes from your own observations and your own explorations may be more valuable than just pure information that you gather from external books. And I saw some of the truth in it, but I was still conflicted because my ambitious mind was saying, no, you just need to learn everything that's possible. And I was kind of contemplating about that. And I probably will make actually a separate video on digging into the details of that dilemma more. But coming back to what happened in that coaching session, so nobody was raising their hands to give the example. So I just was like, okay, I have my example, I raise my hand. And Ian was like, okay, Rokas, what's your example? And we're in a Zoom conversation, there's like 70 people. So they're all listening, but it's a one-on-one between me and Ian. And I said, well, my dilemma, my wondering is about reading versus exploration. Like considering, so which one is more valuable? How much should I invest into which side? And I explained the conflict I had in me where I feel that yearning to read and learn and to know more in order to give more. And Ian asked me, so he said, so what's your driving force? Like, what is it that pushes you to do that? And I said, I had a clear answer. I said, well, I am very much focused about creating value for everyone else. But that's like a core essential primary goal for me to create as much value to others as I can. And I came to a conclusion that reading, gathering information may be the best way for me to go right now. But I also have a sense that exploration may be valuable too. And I don't know which one to choose. And I can't recall exactly what was said when, because it was such an active process. But I observed being myself an instructor, I was an Aikido instructor, yoga, and meditation. So I dabbled in philosophy. And many conversations I used to have with my students or clients were kind of inquiring as well. I would ask questions. And that whole process was familiar to me. And I had some coaching experience. I was coached a number of times. So I was observing it as kind of like, I was participating in the conversation. But I was also observing, so how does to do that? Like, what is happening? And, oh man, was I impressed? For the whole workshop, actually I was impressed by Ian very much, like how curious he was, how open he was, and how he would engage other people, and he wasn't the type of person who's telling you, oh, this is the right answer. This is the wrong answer. You should think like that. He wasn't like giving you answers, but he was so good at creating questions or bringing up questions, which made you think about it. But he was also, in my experience, my perception, he was also incredible at at giving some ideas, but not in a way where I know and I will tell you, but versus like he was kind of, you feel the authentic curiosity behind his consideration, like he was like, you know, that makes me think about this. And and I feel a little bit like this and this. What do you think about that? It was like such a such an authentic way of exploring, which I admire. I feel that's one of the best ways to go because these days I criticize a lot where I'm more and more focusing on criticizing the whole self called guru culture, where people find or even like find partially their truth and they tell everyone their truth as the truth, which I think is not the way to go. And again, Ian was not doing that. So so just observing him through the whole workshop, I was really impressed. And I know I'm spitting off a little bit to the side. I'll come back to my main point, but I really want to share this. So what happened is, especially after the coaching session, I went through him. I realized, damn, this is a person that I'm looking at and listening to, which I admire from the get go. And it inspires me. And and I have this. I had a sense, which I don't have often these days, you know, and that's so many people, great, incredible people traveling through the world and learning from the experts, like top notch people. And I have this feeling with some people, but it's it's quite a rare feeling. When I look at that person, I'm like, holy crap, that person has something which I want to have as well. It's like I love some quality or aspect he has. And I want, I want to kind of obtain that as well. So I feel like I have a feeling like I want to hang out with that person. So that's why I'm so happy, not only that I was in that workshop, but also that I will be participating in the eight month course. Designed from what I understand by by Ian of coaching, your linguistic programming, executive coaching and personal coaching. So and he's going to be one of one of the number of instructors. I'm really looking forward to spend more time with him and to get to know how he feels, how he thinks. I had that feeling from him, which is rare. And I really appreciate it. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. But coming back to the original story. So I'm having this back and forth conversation with him. This is kind of a mini coaching session. And he made such incredible points during it. And part of those points where again, I can't remember exactly how he got there. I remember just a couple of bits, which I will express more or less right now. But but he said he focused on the word yearning. I said that, you know, you're and I can't remember what I said I yearn for. It was probably I'm yearning to make a difference or yearning to know more. But there was the word yearning and he said, you know, it's such a powerful word. And and and he kind of made a point that me expressing that point already is making impact because other people are listening. And and you know that that same example applies. Having that sense of yearning, of exploring, of wanting, of being in hunger and searching and seeking for for answers, seeking for truth. That's already creating value for others. And that touched me really deeply because I felt like, wow, that's kind of something I felt in the back of my mind. That's kind of what I'm doing for this channel, the journey. I'm not getting you answers per se. I'm exploring, you know, my side of the truth or my explorations of the truth. And sometimes I question myself. It's it's it's a difficult process to run a YouTube channel, especially a new one. And sometimes I question myself, so should I really do this? You know, is this the way to go? Is this channel really valuable? Because I'm so focused on value. But deep inside, I felt like there is something here that's worthwhile that I shouldn't drop this channel. And I was in that in a very specific kind of mindset or consideration just like a couple of weeks ago, which I expressed in one of videos. I thought, since I decided to devote myself to learning so deeply, I thought about cutting this channel off, like just leaving it be. And for like a year, focusing just on learning and learning and learning without any content. But then, but already in the back of my mind, I had feeling maybe that's not the way to go. Maybe maybe there's some value in my explorations, my searching and hearing Ian say that kind of emphasizing that there is value in that honest, sincere search for truth and sharing that with others, the search rather than the find. And again, that touched me deeply hearing someone as high level as him to point that out. And again, he made a very good point too, which I didn't realize at the moment. There was a chat session, a chat section in Zoom where people are typing stuff. And since I was in the conversation with Ian, I didn't look at it, but for a moment he said, I'm checking the chat and he's like, people are already responding. And that was the case. I later looked through and so many people are saying, like, wow, thank you for sharing this, this exploration is so beautiful. You know, it's inspiring. And I was like, holy crap, that's the, you know, that's kind of a sign that it does create value and that type of inquiry, that type of exploration. And the final kind of a cherry on top that Ian did. And I was getting so impressed by it and touched by it. He, he said that he just recently watched again, Lord of the Rings, the first one, the Fellowship of the Ring. And he said that he's always touched by a single moment in that movie, which kind of reminded him of the situation. And that's the moment where the Fellowship of the Ring meets. There's the meeting and everyone's like, I will be the guy who will take the ring because I am capable of this and I'm the guy who, you know, and then he's there, but everyone's arguing who's the best guy to do it. And then Frodo steps in and says, you know, I don't care about power. You know, I, I have nothing to prove, basically. But, but, and I don't know how I will get to the final point. But I know I will, you know, I will commit to it. I will give my whole life in essence to it. And then everyone is touched by it, by his sincerity, by his humility and by his kind of confidence, by his belief and the process. And then people start to say, like, you know, I'm giving you my sword. I'm giving you my, my, my bows and people believe in him and start to follow him, not because he's the best of the best, not because he knows all the answers, not because he's the toughest guy in the scene. But because, you know, he had that sincere kind of faith, whatever, however you would describe that. And, and I think he said as well that it reminded him of the hero's journey. Like that's a great example of the hero's journey and hero's journey. I love the hero's journey. I keep thinking about the hero's journey. It's a big reference point in my life. I was like, damn, oh man, oh man, that's such a sweet spot. You know, that was such a good story for me to hear because I love movies. I do like Lord of the Rings. I love the hero's journey and it just like, it was the perfect story for me where it just like kind of created that final explosion in my mind. I was like, holy crap. And I was kind of a read for me, re-referring that it does make sense what I'm doing, that it is a good way to go. And, you know, I don't know how I will get to the final point either. I have big goals and I don't know yet how we'll get there. But there is the sincerity. There is the yearning, the desire, the commitment, the working, the work ethics. You know, all that is down. It's, I just need to, you know, trust the process and focus on it. And that was really encouraged the type of mentality by that short coaching session that we have. So, yeah, that really blew my mind. So, yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to share with you. I'll let you know what you think. I know I kind of went through circles, but this is again, an active exploration, so I hope it wasn't too long for you. But it was very touching and I hope you'll find value in it too. Again, let me know what it brought up in you and we'll continue the journey together in the next videos. So thanks for listening. Actually, one more thing very quick. I forgot to say, but it's a funny, interesting insight that I wanted to share with you is, so my girlfriend was actually, she was doing that coaching moment she was actually listening in and she heard the exchange between me and Ian and we later discussed about it. And she, what's funny is she picked up very different things from the talk. Like she picked up different insights and the way she understood the message of Ian was different to the way I understood it. But for me, it's not like a problem. It's actually a very funny, interesting phenomenon, which I think partly what shows what's great about coaching, because when you don't give very specific answers of, oh, this is the truth. This is exactly what I wanted to say. It's in general, we tend to interpret things differently and we tend to take and associate ourselves with the message. But also the way the message was designed, it was open-ended enough also to find the truth in it, which is valuable for you. And the people in the chat who were expressing gratitude for the exchange, a bunch of people even like private privately message, like, oh, thank you for, for opening up that this, this, this talk happened between you, you too. It was like very inspiring on the stuff like that. It was like part of that thing is because people took whatever they needed to take from it. And it's again, it's not an issue that what I took from it and what I understood the message to be and my girlfriend understood the message to be, they were, I see like what she took and I understand her point, but also I, but also it's like, it's fine that we took different, different, different parts. But again, that's like, I feel that's like a level of nastry where you present something where there's so much different things, wonderful things you can take from it. And whatever I presented, the way I understood that exchange, it doesn't mean like that was exactly like it. We're all different and, and, you know, we're, we're taking different things and that's natural and cool. So I guess that's what I wanted to share. Thank you for staying for this last moment. See you next time.