When people find out what I do – which admittedly isn’t as straightforward as when I was in training and development at Microsoft – they often want to find out how I got here. What was my journey like? Did I experience the same challenges they are running into?
When I was in college I started my spiritual journey and started to realize that I had a very powerful connection to my intuition and guidance. After college I worked at an NPR station, a few startups, and then Microsoft. Then, after six successful years at Microsoft, I received my spiritual calling to move on and do what I was born to do.
At first I didn’t recognize it as a spiritual calling – I just knew that day after day, my career at Microsoft was working less and less for me. I grew restless and dissatisfied. I felt like my soul was drying up in the corporate environment. I knew that something needed to change, and as I sat with that understanding, I realized that it wasn’t just a job change – it was a career change that would reflect my purpose. The problem was I had no idea what my bigger purpose was. I surrendered to the idea that there was something waiting for me, and I simply prayed, “Show me.”
Then I met a guy who used a business coach to start a very successful restaurant (not an easy feat in San Francisco), and I was fascinated by how he described their work. I kept talking to all of my friends about it, and one after the other said, “That sounds great Jeffrey – you should do that. You would be great at that!” After about a dozen of these conversations I realized they were right. I searched for a coach of my own and a coaching school, and chose to enroll in the Coaches Training Institute.
“You’re probably up against some old wound that’s lurking around, calling you to a deeper level of transformation than ever before. More to the point, you’re being called into becoming the leader that that can affect global change.
I still remember sitting in my car in the parking lot outside the training center in San Rafael with a queasy pit in my stomach. I knew that walking through those doors would mean my life was changing. The problem was, I didn’t know what it was changing to!
I had a nice life in San Francisco with a successful career at Microsoft, interacting with some of the world’s greatest business, media and political leaders on a regular basis. I had a great salary that I had no idea how to replace, and I didn’t know the first thing about the world I was stepping into.
But it was a like a switch got flipped and I had to move on. I just knew it! I didn’t know why. I didn’t know where the this journey would lead me. I didn’t know what I was saying yes to! I just knew that the longer I postponed taking the leap, the more suffering I would incur, and that it was time to step into my life’s calling.
It’s been a decade now since I took that initial leap from Microsoft. The path hasn’t always been clear, and it’s far from over. I’ve learned a lot and have had to take many leaps since then. I’ve struggled a lot with being a reluctant messenger.
“It’s been in accepting the risk of ostracization that I’ve really found my tribe and experienced the belonging I’ve always longed for.
Much of my angst around accepting my role in the world and stepping into my global calling has been a deep underlying fear being abandoned, ostracized, excommunicated and ultimately alone because of the message I’m here to deliver. I’ve had to lean deeply into those fears in order to bring my body of work out and do the work that only I can do, and along the way I’ve honed my heart and skill to guide others through that journey.
Funny enough, it’s been in accepting the risk of ostracization that I’ve really found my tribe and experienced the belonging I’ve always longed for. Of course, my tribe – my ‘band of brothers and sisters’ are other messengers and change agents here to shake things up and create society’s new form.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably at another big precipice of change – realizing you have to take another big leap. And unlike the beginning of your spiritual journey, you know that the call this time is for you to step into your life’s work and do the work you’re on earth to do.
You’re probably up against some old wound that’s lurking around, calling you to a deeper level of transformation than ever before. More to the point, you’re being called into becoming the leader that that can affect global change.
You’re part of a massive movement here to create Heaven on Earth, and you know that now is the time to take the biggest leap of your life.
Humanity needs guides, and you my friend, are here to help show the way, so let’s do this!