CLIENT STORY:
Fun & Games

Meet John Ahlquist,
Co-Founder, video game development studio in LA:

Q: Why did you hire a coach? What did you want to see happen in your life?

A: I was at the point where I felt I needed to change my career. My job environment was lucrative but toxic, and I had become burnt out and depressed. I had decided to change jobs, but I wanted to make sure that I was moving to a better job, not just a different bad job. I also wanted to feel joyful and energized, rather than burnt out and depressed.

My main goals were to:

• Change to a more upbeat, joyful job.
• To feel energized and not "burnt out."

Q: How did you hear about Kristin and why did you hire her specifically?

A: One of my friends hired Kristin as his coach. Actually, Kristin was his second coach, and he thought she was much more effective than his first coach. Also, some of the things he was doing as part of the coaching had come up in conversation and they sounded like good ideas to me.

Q: What was memorable or meaningful about your coaching experience with Kristin? Would you change anything?

A: First was the connection -- I felt that Kristin listened and understood who I was and where I was, so her suggestions were relevant to me.

Second, I was getting to a point where I felt joy in my life. I started out depressed, just putting one foot ahead of the other. I'm actually pretty good at that, but it isn't any fun. It took a couple of weeks to get the change in behaviors to translate into a change in feelings, but it happened and that was wonderful.

I wouldn't change anything. The coaching worked very well for me.

Q: Why do you think coaching works? What about it worked for you?

A: Lots of pieces worked, and I think worked well together as a whole. The focus was initially very good. It helped me to stop and list specifically what I was doing, how I felt about it, and what I wanted. The structure was good too. Knowing that there was a review meeting (with Kristin) every week helped motivate me to get things done. The new ideas were key also. Once I identified my problems and my goals, Kristin provided techniques to use to fix the problems and achieve the goals. With the focus and structure I was able to apply the techniques. Some worked better than others, and we evaluated them and I kept using the techniques that worked well. When new problems showed up, or old ones continued, Kristin had other suggestions that I applied. Not everything worked, but overall I made good progress every week.

Q: What are Kristin's strengths as a coach?

A: Kristin's greatest strength is that she is a good listener and cares about her work and clients. She is smart, focused, knowledgeable, and does a good job of making appropriate suggestions. She focused on changing thought patterns as well as changing actions, and I think doing both is critical to getting a good change to stick.

Q: Do you feel your coaching dollars were worth it? Why or why not?

A: Yes, no question. I am happier, not depressed, and I was offered a great job. Actually, I was offered 5 good jobs, and took the first great offer. An interesting key note is that I attracted the jobs, rather than hunting them down. Employers called me, rather than me sending out resumes and scrambling to find a job.

Q: What are the tangible results of your coaching experience?

A: On July 1, 2005 I co-founded a new game studio in Los Angeles where I worked as the lead engineer. In addition, I now contract with other companies on cutting-edge video game development projects.

Q: What are the intangible results of your coaching experience?

A: Many changes. I think the intangibles are the biggest part, although the tangible results are pretty darn breathtaking as well.

I know and feel abundance, rather than scarcity. I am grateful for the many things around me. I am operating from a position of serenity and competence, rather than fear. I better value myself and my contributions. I know how much is enough (after many years of trying to do too much). I know what it means to be detached from the outcome, and I know that paradoxically it improves the outcome. I value taking care of myself. I can let things happen in their own time rather than trying to force them. And I can play and have fun while waiting for things to "ripen." Life is a blast.

Q: Any other comments for someone considering coaching?

A: Kristin said that a coach is like a personal trainer for your life, and I think that is an apt analogy. You have to be motivated to improve, and if you follow your coach's instruction and do the work, you can get your life into great shape. It is work, but the result is well worth it, and your life will look better, feel better, and be a better life.

Coach's Comments

As one of the top video game developers in his industry, John was an expert at creating "fun and games" for other people. He tirelessly worked long hours to perfect the product his company was developing. So here's the paradox: John himself wasn't having that much fun. Our coaching was focused on creating a life that was meaningful, energizing, and fun.

The first step was to identify John's ideal life. He actually had quite a few of his "ideal life elements" in place. All we needed was to pull them together in a more cohesive way. For example, John is married to a wonderful wife. However, he didn't get to spend as much time with her as he wished. John already had the foundation for his ideal life--all I had to do was help him tweak it a bit.

As John mentioned in his interview above, he was burned out and depressed due to a toxic work environment. Even though John had so many positives going for him (great wife, financial reserve, meaningful friendships, loving family...), his job overshadowed all of it. Sometimes all you need to do is remove the one bad apple that's spoiling the bunch--in this case, it was his job.

So we coached around career topics and in the end John decided it was time to leave his high-paying, time-consuming position and take a leap of faith. This is when the magic started.

John started to attract other job opportunities. After considering five job offers, he decided to partner with a team to create a new studio. In addition, he offers his services on a contract basis. Today, John still works hard but he found balance. He engineered his own life to be much more fun, playful, and rewarding. Hey, not bad for an engineer!

John is one of the most rewarding clients I've coached. My personal favorite line in his interview above is, "Life is a blast!" Now that's music to this coach's ears.

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