The Paradox of Achievement

My journey to Verterra Coaching began with two truths and a question. The truths: 1) By all accounts, I had built a successful and full life, and 2) My life didn't feel on the inside the way it looked on the outside. The question: Why does it still feel like something is missing?

To answer that question, I explored countless psychological and philosophical theories and approaches. What emerged was the recognition that I had turned adaptive patterns of thought and behavior, such as hyper-responsibility, perfectionism, and anticipatory thinking, into exceptional professional competencies. While they contributed to many of my professional strengths, they were also exacting diminishing returns elsewhere.

Counseling helped me recognize the origins of some of these patterns. But understanding where they came from didn't automatically change how they operated in my life. I wanted to know what to do with that understanding. This became the starting point for what would eventually become The Verterra Method.

The Birth of Verterra Coaching

Through self-study, coaching, and neuroregulatory practices, I learned to recognize the patterns hidden in familiar, and at times automatic, responses. What emerged wasn't a way to eliminate those patterns. Instead, it was an awareness that, to this day, allows me to consider whether a familiar response serves me, whether another response is possible, and what would contribute to greater contentment in that moment.

My patterns still show up, particularly under stress. Sometimes I recognize a pattern before reacting, and sometimes I see it afterward. Regardless, awareness offers an opportunity to understand its influence and recognize choices I might otherwise overlook.

While contentment isn't a permanent state I've achieved, it is now something I have more choices in creating. I know firsthand the value of awareness. I created Verterra Coaching to offer others a partnership in examining the patterns beneath their achievements and discovering more possibilities for how they want to live and work.

While personal insight is possible alone, it is rarely efficient!