Who Am I?

I am sitting here and finishing an episode from the television series Parenthood. I am trying to watch the final scene; trying to listen to the words of the song playing in the background; trying to hold my wife’s hand with as much tenderness as I can imagine; and just trying to take it all in. I am suddenly aware of my own life’s fulfillment. It is something that was recently lacking and I didn’t even know it. Yes, I’ve had the picturesque life: happily married, two kids, boy and a girl, and living near my childhood family. I have always been happy. However, this is all not complete without a sense of self. I was happily living without a sense of who I truly am. But I have rediscovered who I am recently. I’m not sure when I lost the essence of it, but it’s back. And it came to me through a little training, a little coaching, and a little insight that was provided to me through an Energy Leadership™ weekend workshop. I found myself again and have an even greater sense of fulfillment than I did a few short months ago.

I now find myself wondering how many of you out there are living picturesque lives without yourself. Living a life of “happiness”, or at least how you picture happiness to be. How much happier could you actually be? Right now I am beginning on a new endeavor that will help those rediscover themselves in order to lead fulfilling lives. I will be putting together workshops with the most pressing question on the agenda that participants will ask themselves: “Who am I?” If you can truly answer that question then you are on the path that leads you to a life of pure joy.  

So as I reflect back on what got this endeavor started just a short while ago, I am happy. I am happy and proud of myself for rediscovering a greater passion for life. I want to share this with others. I want others to feel what I felt holding my wife’s hand, embracing the emotion that a tv episode revealed in me, and being happy about it. A big part of life is embracing all emotions. Not judging them as good or bad, but just feeling and experiencing them. And sharing them with those you love. Happy birthday Sue.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

Ask the Right Questions

“My role and gift in life is not to teach, preach, or convince anyone of anything. I am here to empower others to get their own answers, access their true dreams, and overcome anything that gets in the way of making those dreams a reality.” – Dr. Bruce D. Schneider

This is the essence of coaching. This is also the essence of me. I was never one that felt like I had the answers to other people’s problems, but I always knew how to help. I always found myself asking more questions than providing what I thought were the right answers. What I think is right, may in fact not be right for the other person. And in the end, someone who is asked the right questions and comes up with the answers to their own questions is more likely to follow those answers towards success.

Have you ever had someone tell you what to do? And do you always listen to those people who tell you what to do? Hopefully the answer to the second question is no, not always. Sure, we listen to “experts” all the time, but even the “experts” can be wrong. People sometimes need to experience things for themselves to come to a full understanding or appreciation. So even if the person you are listening to is right, it may not be right for you to follow blindly. Even mistakes can be valuable. In fact, a foundation principle from the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching is one that many people have a hard time with: “There are no mistakes.” To this point, if I may pull a quote from The Dark Knight, “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up.” It is the experience that we gain from our mistakes that help us grow and become stronger. Our experiences help define who we are.

In failure, we learn. In success, we celebrate. And if success were so easy, everyone would have it. But here’s a little secret…success is, in fact, easy to obtain. Sometimes you just need to ask the right questions in order to find it. Or maybe you already have it, but are not asking the right questions that define what success is to you. In either case, self-discovery will lead you there. Whether you need a personal coach to get you there or you can get there in your own way, true success brings a sense of pure happiness and fulfillment. For those reading this, I wish you to ask the right questions of yourself and find the kind of success that only you can define. I wish you to find the kind of success that aligns you with your true goals and your true self. After that, everything else simply falls into place.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP  

My Story

This is my story of how I became a Certified Professional Coach. It begins back when I was a senior in high school trying to decide where to go to college, and what to study.

I was always very good at math and many of my classmates who enjoyed math as much as I did planned to study engineering. After some investigation, I decided that I could enjoy engineering if it meant continuing to apply my math skills. When I received my acceptance letter to the University of New Hampshire my parents were a bit surprised because they actually didn’t know I had applied to the engineering school. They assumed I had applied to the business school. We talked about it and simply agreed that I could do anything I wanted with an engineering degree after college.

So I started my college career as an undecided engineering student. After a year I decided that Mechanical Engineering would be my major because it seemed to be the most encompassing engineering field. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I realized that I didn’t really like engineering. However, since I really didn’t know what I wanted to do I thought the most important thing was to get a degree. I finished my college career and began looking for other career paths. I did, however, interview with a couple of engineering companies as a safety net.

I had two job offers out of college. One was as a mechanical engineer and the other in the finance industry. I decided that after all of my hard work I should at least give my engineering degree a chance. I think you know what happened next…I didn’t like it.

I spent less than two years at my first job as a mechanical engineer.  Next, I found a nice job working alongside chemical engineers.  This job lasted six years, until I wanted to start a family. I decided to leave for a job that did not require the travel I was doing. I moved into the environmental engineering industry, which is where I am currently making my living and supporting my family. The goal was to find a company where I could spend my career. While with my current employer, I have been contacted by several recruiters. Each time I would listen to the prospect, always keeping an open mind. After turning them all down, I realized that moving to another job in engineering wasn’t the answer. I am good at what I do; I enjoy what I do; and I work at a good company with some very good people. I didn’t need something different, I needed something more. Something I could put my passion into.

When my son turned five years old and started T-ball I decided to coach his team. I loved it. It was then that I started looking further into what kind of coaching opportunities may be out there. I had always thought of coaching a local high school football team, but I could never figure out how to make that work with a full-time job. My research led me to something I had never heard of before; it was Life Coaching.

I immediately loved the idea of life coaching but could not sell myself on it. After speaking with a graduate from the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) for a second time, I decided to take a leap of faith. I enrolled in an eight month training program to become certified as a life coach.

Wow, it was simply an amazing experience! The training consisted of over 350 hours of training, including four, three day weekends. It was the very first weekend when I decided who I wanted to coach. After getting certified I would coach students to help them discover what they want to do after graduation. It took me far too long to find something I could be passionate about. As a coach, I could help others figure out where they want their lives to lead and to coach them in discovering their passion. Why should people spend years of their lives looking for something they can be passionate about? The value of finding a way to increase fulfillment, happiness, and passion in my life was immeasurable. I wish I had someone to coach me when I was younger. Now, I can be that person for someone else.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com