Today we’re talking about coaching and what it means to really move into ascension and elevation with support through an influential coaching process. I’m visiting with my friend and fellow coach, Chris Ho. Chris is a certified coach, leader, entrepreneur, father, husband, and community advocate.  Professionally he is the founder and coach of ConsciousStudio.ca, a 1:1 life coaching organization focused on helping people become leaders in their own lives, living life in the present, on purpose, and with passion. 

We explore how great coaches ask insightful questions while also meeting the client where they are, holding space, and leading them to heightened discovery, decision-making, and performance improvement.

We have found that the clients that have the biggest, most expansive transformations have come to the coaching experience with an openness to learn and a willingness to commit. If you've ever considered working with a coach to take you to the next level, you will love listening to this episode.

Connect with Chris at www.consciousstudio.ca

Be sure to hit Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss an episode.

Thanks for your ongoing commitment to keep knowing better and doing better.

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Podcast Intro/Outro Music composed by Troy Chapman

A Podcast Launch Bestie production

Well, hello everyone.

Welcome to this week's episode.

I am feeling really excited about this episode and this

conversation for a few reasons.

We're talking about coaching today.

We're talking about what it means to really move into ascension

and elevation and with support through an influential process.

The reason this came up, this is a little more unplanned, spontaneous episode

because one, I've been immersed in this coaching summit for the past four days.

I, as many of you know, I've been a certified coach for a few years now,

and to be immersed with some of the world's best coaches and reminding

ourselves as a community that this is.

Well kept secret.

Coaching is still such a well kept secret as far as how do you

quickly ascend performance, better living, discovery decision making.

So I've been nerding out about this all week and I have a fellow

coaching nerd with me today.

Chris Ho.

Chris Ho, and I have known each other for a little while

now, like, uh, not enough time.

So we're going to know each other more.

because when I first met him, he was so just invigorated and enliven.

I had, I had to get his energy on the show.

So let me tell you a little bit more about Chris, and then we'll spend some

time really digging into this idea of getting and reaching your highest and

best self, but also just better living and better, more intentional performance

improvement, all of the things.

So let me tell you about Chris first.

Chris Ho.

Is a certified coach, leader, entrepreneur, father, husband, and

community advocate professionally.

He's the founder and coach of Conscious studio.ca, a one-on-one life coaching

organization focused on helping people become better leaders in

their own lives, living life in the present on purpose and with passion.

See, you could see why I'm so excited.

within his community.

Chris proudly contributes as the co-chair of the BC Cancer Patient

Experience Council, whose main goal is to improve cancer experience between

patients, caregivers, and care workers.

Chris is also an ambassador for an organization called Next Gen Men, a

Canadian not-for-profit, focused on redefining what masculinity means for

boys and men where they experienced less pain and cause less harm.

Chris lives in the River District in Vancouver, BC Canada, and is fortunate

to live life with his acupuncturist wife, Maggie, their two boys, Caden and Liam.

Two fur babies, and four nameless fish.

I love that . Chris enjoys reading stoic philosophy, meditating,

cooking, and experienced life gifts each and every single day.

Chris, I am so happy that you're here.

Welcome to the Trailblazing and Color Podcast.

Oh, thank you Sarah.

I am, I'm super excited to, to join you and, and, and thanks

for the opportunity and, uh, yes, I love nerding about coaching.

So excited to chat about it.

Me too.

Well, let's start with what brought you to become a coach in the first place.

What was that connective tissue for you to move into this as a career?

Yeah.

so many things I think, you know, thinking back in my life, just growing up, I've

always had this kind of, feeling of always wanting to help people, right?

It was something simple like going through high school.

I always wanted to help people and I was kind of put into leadership roles kind

of organically and then into my career.

Professionally, I, I had been a sales leader three times in, in

different organizations, and it wasn't until like I came, you know,

crosswinds with some things in my life that weren't really aligned.

I was in the software industry.

Uh, I was a sales leader.

I was making great money.

You know, on paper it was amazing.

But things weren't super, super aligned and a few things

happened during that time.

Uh, one, my wife was pregnant with her first son, Caden, as you mentioned.

Um, two, my dad had just told me that he, um, was just diagnosed with

stage four lung cancer in, around this time, so around 20 16, 20 17.

a little backstory.

I am also a two-time testicular cancer survivor, uh, over the years.

So cancer's very dear to my heart.

So, kind of around that cusp of 2016 is when you know, you start

to really evaluate things like, you know, I'm really happy in my job,

what's really important in my life.

And it wasn't until I, uh, hired a coach in experienced

coaching, uh, for the first time.

that I really found out how powerful it was and, um, you know, quite

frankly, you know, changed my life, um, into what coaching is all about,

led me to become a certified coach.

And I still have coaches as a coach and , as you know, we both share

this, this passion for coaching.

So, uh, that's kinda how it all started.

and to you.

So you've, you've had coaches and that's usually how a lot of us start,

is working with someone who pulls us through these often intense breakthroughs.

How do you define the coaching process or your, coaching process?

Or the coaching process, however you kind of see it.

Yeah.

It's so interesting to ask that because, you know, for people that don't know about

coaching or then, and then, you know, become a coach and get schooled into what

a certified coach looks like, you know, there's a lot of kind of definitions

of coaching and a lot of people think of it as, Confuse it with mentorship,

for instance, consulting for instance.

A lot of people confuse it with, with mentorship or consulting,

but the way I define coaching is, is, is more of a partnership.

Partnership with the individual, the client, and a way to really intentionally

kind of do what I call inner.

, right?

It's kind of like, hey, looking at the things that you do, the paradigms

you live with, the stories that you tell yourself and, and just asking

yourself, you know, do these things really serve you in your life?

Do they actually help you or do they not serve you?

Do they kind of hurt you?

Right?

And I feel like coaching is really a way to draw that out so that a person can

say, , this isn't the way I wanna live.

I'd rather do this.

And a coaching really brings that out and in a way that I don't think

comes out in in other fashions.

Hmm.

And I love what you said about the paradigms piece and what is serving

you, what is no longer serving you.

How often do we really pause and ask that question?

We get so kind of programmed in our own ways that we, we get, we get in

the way of ourself and it's so hard sometimes to get out of your own.

Hmm

say, you know, I've been doing this this way for a long

time and I've never questioned it.

I've never questioned why I behave this way, why I respond this way, why I think

about and react to things this way.

And for me, same thing with hiring my first coach, I was like, oh my gosh,

I've never even asked that question to myself one of the things I, I've

worked a lot on is my people pleasing tendencies, my paradigm of people

pleasing and just sir, the martyrdom.

It's not even just people pleasing, it's the putting myself before

others at all costs and then never pausing to question that, pausing to

question where it came from and, and then having the time and space to do

that and someone just sitting with.

Not only in investigating that, interrogating that, but pushing me

and challenging me in those beliefs.

Oh yeah.

So I just really grabbed onto when you said that, what is serving you?

What about for you in terms of breakthroughs and kind of discoveries

in your own coaching journey?

Yeah.

Well before that, I love what you just said about, you know, and,

and I, I join you on that, people pleasing, whatever syndrome, right?

So I'm very much part of that as well, and I, I totally align with what you said

about how coach draws that out and, um, . I tell people all this time, I, I think

the human mind is, is our, our greatest gift, I feel like, but it's also sometimes

like our greatest liability in that we always have these voices in our head.

We have all these stories and they, they're left unchecked, right?

Imagine yourself in a room and you have all these stories and

verbiage that's going on, and it's not fact checked at all, right?

You just take it as is and you continue life and you base your

decisions and your behaviors.

and like you said, you know, things can serve you or they can't serve you.

Right.

And I feel like with a coach, you have that person inside that room

with you that's non-judgmental, right?

That's trying to be as objective as possible and just

throwing things back at you.

I'm like, Hey, you said this.

This is what you believe in.

Is this true?

Is it not?

I'm not sure.

It's up to you to decide, but that just that extra pause or

that recall, that kind of second level or third level questioning.

It's so valuable, I think for a mind that's left, you know, on

its own sometimes, and it can just spiral in a direction where

you're not, again, intentionally living the life that you wanted to.

Right?

You live so much of your lives on autopilot for so many things

that come onto our life that are subconscious, and again, the coach is

able to draw that out annually, kind of show that in a mirror and say,

Hey, is this, is this what you want?

So, yeah, I just had to align with that.

And I already forgot your other question.

I was so, I was so stoked about what you, what you said there,

I already forgot it too because I I was so locked

into what you were saying about, uh, our mind getting in the way.

Our mind is our greatest, how'd you say it?

Our greatest gift and our greatest liability sometimes

because it's, it's so true.

And so you said a few things already.

around what makes a great coach, uh, those deeper, deeper questions

going like next level, next level, what are some of the other ways

in which what makes a great coach?

Yeah.

Let me just ask that question, Chris.

Yeah.

it's a great question, uh, as a coach, but you know, I had to figure this out.

on my own as well.

Cuz I think for those that are coaches that go through, I guess coaching

school, you know, the certified coaching programs that line up with

whatever association, you know, there's, there's, there's a definition of a

coach and I think it's important to, to, to set as the foundation, right?

And they all say the same things, which I agree with right there.

You have to be objective, non-judgmental.

You're asking obviously very powerful questions, right?

It's all about the client and about their situation.

and, which is all very true.

I think from my experience with the great coaches I've worked with, they

mix a lot of that foundational pieces of coaching aligned with also meeting the

client with where they're at and sharing insights and wisdom, um, where it makes

sense and adds value to the client.

So, for example, some clients I work with, I asked this question.

, what are you looking for in a coach?

Do you want someone to be objective, ask great questions

and, and hold that space for you?

Or do you want that?

And then possibly have me share some of my insights, uh, my lived

experiences and, and see how that lands with you to see if it helps or not.

But also being not attached to being right, right.

Or attached to those, to those stories.

And I usually find that most people kind of want the latter

and they want a bit of both.

And.

. I guess for me, a great coach is, is really understanding the

client that you're working with and what serves and what helps them

and being flexible, uh, in that environment of asking great questions.

providing insight where you think it's valuable, not because you think you

want to teach 'em something, because as coaches we don't know anything

more than the other individual, right?

We don't, we're not an expert in anything.

We're not trying to say what is right or what is wrong.

Sometimes our insights and lived experiences can be helpful to a client.

So I think a mixture of those two, in my experience makes a great coach.

Yes.

I mean, how often do we have someone just sitting with us and

letting us kind of take up space one, but also guiding us through?

I, I like to, to think of it as one part of being a great coach

really has to do with being able to, to be down, down in the weeds.

But also up in the sky, I'm connecting dots that you're so down in the

weeds that you're not even seeing.

But because we've had six sessions together, eight sessions

together, 12 sessions together, oh, I've got patterns that I am

noticing that I, I would imagine.

You are not because you're so close to it.

And gosh, just like you said, we as coaches are not, we're not experts.

We don't know the right answer.

That's only you.

We are just listening for, for things that maybe getting in the

way of you finding that answer.

Yep.

I love that.

I love the, the down, the wheat in the sky, and I love.

, you kind of mentioned noticing the pattern because it takes time, when

working with, with clients and even myself when I've worked with a coach,

like, uh, I'm telling myself stories all the time, and sometimes it takes a

few calls to say, okay, you know, what's the real pattern that's going on here?

Right.

And again, it takes, it takes someone that's sitting beside you with

you to, to really figure that out.

Yes, and I pride myself on being a quick learner and I that

coming into a my first coaching session or having this thought like I just need one

session or I just need like, To talk this through and then it will be solved and I

will be fixed and I will be successful.

And

Yeah.

And yet

Yeah.

We give ourselves so much credit for, our capabilities and yet we don't.

ever really investigate or interrogate what are the things

that are getting in the way?

What are the things that have made me successful up until this point?

Let's do more of

that.

And what are the stories, the narratives, the

beliefs, our own mind, trash that's getting in the way of

more, whatever more is for you.

I think that's, that's so, so important too, because we often don't slow down

and just ask that question, like, I'm just going along and, and sometimes

to your experience, Chris, sometimes it's, it's a staggering event in your

life where you're faced with something with, with a fundamental, shift of

paradigm that you didn't ask for That says, well, life is short, and am I

really moving in the direction of my dreams, or am I just kind of getting by?

yeah.

and that's what gets me sometimes.

And, and, and for me it was, and I mentioned earlier, you know,

I've had testicular cancer twice.

I lost my dad to stage four.

You know, my partner Maggie's had some health things and, and for me, I

always say cancer was a, a blessing.

And most people will probably say the same thing because the events created

different perspective and you probably have heard a different opportunity.

But I think for me it's like, why do people have to have

something bad happen to.

Like cancer, like anything else for them to shift a perspective or for them to stop

and say, Hey, this is what I did before.

Is it good for me?

Is it serving me?

Is it taking me to where I want to go?

In order to make that shift, like you don't have to have something bad, you

don't have to have a near death situation to happen in order for you to live

the life that you really want to what?

Whatever that means.

. And again, back to coaching, I feel like it draws that out because you mentioned

it earlier, so many people, we, we live on autopilot and we just rush.

What are we rushing to?

Like, we're rushing to our death for some reason.

Right.

And we, and we don't take that time to pause.

We definitely don't spend enough time in silence and

reflection a, as people, right?

And, and again, a coach is, is just another tool that, that's helpful in

those situations to, to take a pause.

Redirect or you know, do a 180 even completely.

It's really up to you and the client to figure that out.

Yeah, the pause, the power of the pause and what you said

about not enough time in silence.

There's so, there's so much noise right

now.

There's so much noise and there's so much worry.

There's so much to be worried about

I know,

of the time, and yet, I mean, I'll.

A quick revelation I had today.

We were, we were journaling cuz I've been in this summit.

We were journaling about, what are you worried about?

Just write them all down.

What are you worried about?

And one thing that I wrote down is that I'm worried that I'm going to get sick and

I won't be able to provide for my family.

And that's not like a casual worry.

That's something that prevents me from moving into action.

Which is so counterintuitive because the moving into action to create that,

environment that allows for something bad to happen or even the mindset

that says bad things will happen and.

Staying still because bad things might happen is not an option.

I've been letting it be an option because I'm scared of something happening.

So I'm like, if I just stay small, Maybe then, then, no one can fault me.

I don't know.

I don't know.

And so that's something that I'm going to work

on with my coach and, and processing with you right now

and, and our audience right now.

yeah.

Thanks for sharing that.

It's, uh, very vulnerable, you know, moment that you shared and,

and it's true for many people.

Great that, that have that, right.

So, and again, a coach is a great way, a great avenue to explore.

I think also as, We're talking about kind of being faced with our

own mortality and, and why should that be the only thing that moves us into action?

It's, it's a process where an influence process in coaching where we do get, not

help with the decision making, but we get pulled through that worry into decision.

A good coach will is someone who will push you.

into making the decision.

Just, just do something because you've been sitting here for four weeks,

, you're not paying me to hold your hand.

Um, you're paying me to get you to the next level.

that's what friends are for.

They're gonna, they're gonna hold your hand and like rub

your back and say It's okay.

tell me a little bit more about your coaching practice focus.

So let's talk about conscious Studio and, and where that idea came from

and, and some of the things you're focused on working with your clients on.

So it, it started, a couple years and the whole

idea of, I guess, conscious.

Studio was, you know, it's in its name.

I feel like a lot of people walk through their lives living unconsciously, right?

We do the things that we're supposed to own a home, get a good job,

walk around, enjoy life, and then we kind of wake up and say, Hey,

that's not exactly a life I want to.

And when I think about these people and this idea, I said, well, we need

to move into more of a conscious role.

So that's kind of where the idea of Conscious Studio came from

is to help people move into more of a conscious way of thinking.

So it's evolved.

It, it is a one-on-one, I guess life coaching practice and.

you know, the people I work with is right now, it's really all word of mouth.

It's all people that, I, I've worked with them in the past or, or others that either

share my story of my, my journey or, have some type of alignment to our values.

But I always find that when people come to me, they, on the surface,

it's kind of like, Hmm, I'm looking to change careers, or I wanna be a

better leader, or, uh, I'm, I'm having trouble procrastination with something.

Right.

. But then after a few discussions, it's, it's actually a lot deeper than that.

And they, and they find out that it's more about discussions of like, I need

to know what's more important in my life.

I need to understand what my values are and what my priorities are.

and it always kind of shifts towards that.

And it's funny how I think about it.

So when people talk about like, who do you focus on?

I'm like, well, and as you know, it's coaching goes where

the client wants to take it.

And again, you hear things like leadership coaching, executive

coaching, life coaching, and.

, you know, you can't really put it in a bucket per se.

And I think in the end it's all about just trying to live as authentically as you can

with the most important values that are important to you, and in creating action

each and every day towards that life.

And, and that's what gets me excited.

That's kind of who I work with.

And, uh, yeah, I'm enjoying every.

Hmm.

Action each and every day.

And I, I like how you said they come in for one thing, . They

think it's one thing, but actually it's a whole lot bigger than that.

But the fact that it's bigger, it means that, . when you make that

breakthrough, it's expansive.

It doesn't just impact you at work, it doesn't just impact your relationship.

my best friend.

Skylar always says, how you do one thing is how you do everything.

So if you're procrastinating here, you're doing it there and you're doing it

there because you ha you've lost sight.

Or maybe you never even sat down to

Mm.

consider it.

What?

Yeah.

what is the val?

What are my values?

What are my priorities?

What?

What do I want my legacy to be?

So

So good

All of

all of it.

And I'm sitting in a room this week.

It's Brenda Burchard's Coaching Summit and some of the best

coaches in the world in this.

and Brendan asks, how many of you are procrastinating on something

or have in the past year?

Every hand goes up.

It's like, we

do this too.

No matter how long we've been immersed in the personal development world

and the performance improvement world and op life optimization, like it is

something that needs constant mainten.

And constant reinvigoration and how quickly do you want that to happen?

And that's what I've found in, in working with my clients is it feels a little

slow until it feels 10 times as fast.

I've had one of my clients, a VP for a software company and.

I felt like I was coaching myself at some points where he is like, I

just feel like I'm going really slow.

I'm going really slow.

And,

he was just used to kind of quick resolution but not depth.

And so when we got to depth by the end of.

Our first round of sessions, you could tell that the mindset shift was completely

different in terms of his relation to his relationship with his wife, his

relationship, his daughters with his boss, I'm saying that to say for people

who are like me, it's, and something that I tell myself all of the time.

Comes from my coaching certification is trust the process.

But I like to pivot it too.

Trust your process.

Because when, think back to the times where you've had big transformation,

transformation that stuck.

Did it happen overnight?

Um, no.

Sarah, it did not.

. you do a lot of community work too, and I, the fact that you bring this

skillset and this awareness into advocacy work and community service

Hmm

I wanna honor that and say thank you for that.

And I wanna hear if you're open to sharing a little bit more about the

work you're doing with Next Gen Men, the organization and, and just kind

of what you're focused on there.

I, that would be great.

I would, I would love to.

Yeah.

Next gen men is, um, I came to it in around when my dad,

told me he had stage four.

And then also when my wife told me that, uh, she was pregnant, actually, the day

that my dad told me that he had stage four, I came over to his house and he

stared blank into the living room wall.

He told me at stage four.

one.

It was the first time that I saw him cry, uh, in all my years.

So that is a note two, why I joined NEC gen men in a, in a second.

But when I came home that night to my wife Maggie, she told me she was pregnant

with Caden, uh, you know, two hours later.

So I had Elton John's like Circle of Life song blaring in the background on, on

just the emotions of that, of that day.

But, um, you know, in and around that time period, You know, I was looking

at my dad, thinking about my dad, a proud, Asian man that held a lot of

his emotions and feelings in, I looked at myself, who I've, I've always known

growing up that I was, you know, I guess quote unquote more sensitive.

Was really proud to show my emotions.

And then now I have, we have our son, Caden, our first, our first boy, it

kind of came into a cross section when he ran into Next Gen men and the

founder Jake, and, and his organization has kind of twofolds one, it's

helping boys in, in high schools, uh, really redefine what masculinity is.

You know, the whole sayings of like, boys don't cry and, you know, boys

should just be boys has really damaging effects, uh, for boys and men as they.

Case in point, you know, mention show emotions, they shouldn't cry.

You don't leave room for vulnerability and, you know, um, you don't really

have obviously a healthy person.

And that also affects, other genders in, in society as well.

So, so that was one piece.

And then the other pieces that they hold a lot of monthly, what they call circles

for men to get together, men and women to get together to talk about a variety of.

and I attended a few of those and I just felt like it was finally a

community that where men can join and, and have conversations aside from

sports and, and beer and bars, like real conversations that really matter.

And, I'm an active participant, and now we have two boys with

Liam, who's 11 months old and.

Um, I believe in it so much, not just so much of the two boys, but for myself.

But from what I believe in, I'm a feminist myself and you know, I

just, I, I look at this organization as really a way to reshape what

masculinity could be going to the future.

So, I'm, I'm proud to be part of it and I support its college.

Hmm.

That's amazing.

Thank you for sharing more of that.

I'm so glad organizations like that exist because it's, a system, right?

So we create the system, um, and if we have more people believing in a different

system, Non-toxic masculinity, , then we create real sustainable change.

So, I'm glad to know it exists and I want more , so thank you.

Yeah, me too.

Uh, well, we've been talking about a lot of things, but

especially in terms of transformation and.

Mindset shifts.

Paradigm shifts.

What are some of the things that, in, in your coaching practice

you've seen in, individuals in leading to that transformation?

What, what do they need to do for themselves?

Hmm.

It's a good question.

I think it obviously depends, um, on clients, but I feel like what I've

seen for those that have the biggest, I guess, transformation are the ones

that are really open to this process of coaching or other, other resources

therapy, whatever they may be, but.

Tools that really allow them to evaluate what they really, really want in their

lives and not what their parents told them, not what society has told them,

not what you know, the media's told them, but to be really open and vulnerable

to unpack who they are as a person and you know, what their purpose is.

It's a big word, but it's such an important word.

Purpose and passion and more importantly, of identifying where they want to go.

Right.

And the.

If they're willing to open themselves up to how they've been raised and the systems

and the stories that they've lived by, and then being able to challenge themselves to

say, Hey, that was great, but this is not really the way I wanna live going forward.

That's when you're gonna have, you know, the biggest transformations.

Right.

And I think those that are come to the space of coaching.

For the most part, halfway there, like if they're, if they're coming to a

coach, they, they realize that, hey, you know what they've been doing, it's

not really working for them, so that's

Mm-hmm.

The other piece is, you know, when they get into those conversations

is that to be super, super vulnerable and to, to open up and, you know it's for you.

You're not trying to please the coach, you're not trying to please the process.

This is for you, the transformation's for you.

So you get, you get out of it what you put in, right?

yes.

So, . Yeah, that's the, the, the biggest advice, uh, I'd have and,

and you would agree as well, but I think everyone could benefit from coaching.

It's, it's super important.

Coaching has made me, you know, we, you mentioned it earlier,

you said that you're, you felt like you were coaching yourself.

I, I feel like we get the benefit of getting the double benefit because

we coach people who we're actually in the moment experiencing their lived

experiences and we're getting the benefit of being coached at the same.

And I'm living many, many other people's lived experiences and you

know, it, I've become a better coach.

I've become a better father, a better husband, a better communicator, a

better friend, um, professional.

There's just so many benefits of, of, of coaching and, um, yeah, it's,

it's, it's, it's transformational.

Mm-hmm.

. I think that's truly what connects it to what you said.

That it's a partnership, this coaching relationship.

It's a partnership.

So there's, there's so much give and take from both sides.

I'm, as your coach, I'm not just giving my time, but I'm also kind of absorbing your

life experiences and learning from them.

And that power of, of, exposure to just every kind of different, uh,

different life experience can really.

Take down a lot of those or start to remove a lot of those blind spots.

I mean, we're always going to have blind spots, but the self-awareness piece, is

exponentially going up as, as you're coaching, as you're being coached, as

you're just willing to connect on a more vulnerable level with another human being.

Well, let me ask you a few more questions.

A lot going on the end of the year, but not even contextualizing it

that way right now in where you're at in life, what's challenging.

I think for me it's like, as you mentioned, I'm getting

coached all the time as well, and it's, it's also, uh, important I

think for coaches to get coached.

And like a theme for me that's coming up is that, I'm envisioning and

desiring the goals that I have in my life and, and, and kind of manifesting,

uh, the things that, you know, I want to do, which is super important.

But I think the challenge is balancing that with the present and being grateful

and appreciative of all that I've already done and for all that I already have.

And I find that the two kind of pull at each other sometimes, and.

in wanting more and to do more, but not doing that out of lack of, or, you know,

you're missing anything really, per se.

so yeah, that's, it's challenging for me in trying to marry the

two together and ebb and flow and some days a better than others.

But it's, it's kind of just that piece that, that I think you mentioned

earlier, like in realizing for myself, like you never really arrive, It's a

journey, as they say, and it's okay to want more, be more, do more, uh, and be

also grateful and appreciative of the present moment that, that you're in.

So,

Such an important reminder.

Thank you.

What are you most excited for right now, Chris?

I'm excited about the work that NextGen Men is doing.

A, as I mentioned, I'm excited about the work that I'm doing with BC cancer.

I'm excited about just people I feel like are, are having these conversations,

whether it's a coach or not a client.

It's, it's just I'm, I'm seeing a lot more conversations with people,

with men, uh, and women of like, Hey, you know, I want to be better.

I want to do better.

The things that I did before aren't working.

, the stories that I lived before aren't working.

They're not serving me.

Um, things like mental health, things like, you know, finding

what's most important in their lives as partners, as community members.

And I just feel like a lot of people are kind of just pausing and just like, you

know, that hasn't really worked before.

And, and then starting to envision what's, what's life like going forward.

And that, and that excites me that, that, uh, I guess awakeness that people are

seeing and feeling and, and even myself.

The stories that I lived before aren't working.

That's so good.

Envision move into a ness.

That's very exciting.

Now I'm excited.

Yeah.

Well, you are doing so much to pave the way for others.

Who role modeled that for you?

Who trailblazed the path for.

it sounds cheesy, but, it's my wife, who is my partner of 12 years now.

I've known she a lot longer, but she's been partner for 12 years.

And, um, and I mentioned her and she's an acupuncturist.

She got into that field really, uh, for her passion of helping people,

but also through my cancer story and, and my dad father-in-laws, but.

it's always important to have someone in your life that really believed in you,

believes in you, and she always has.

She's, you know, supported me in, in finding my place as a

coach and in my profession.

and she saw it when I never saw it and supported me with her

heart, even with her wallet.

And, and it really kept me going to this place.

So she's really, she's really been a trail trailblazer in my life and continues to.

It's a fuel for me to do more, uh, for her, our family, and, uh, in the world.

That's beautiful.

Thank you for sharing that.

Well, I, I sent this question and I know it's a hard one.

What's a book you've read that changed the way you think about other people?

And or the world.

Yeah, it's, it's not really a book, I guess it's,

it's called The Daily Stoic.

And, uh, I mentioned it kind of in the bio, but, uh, I really fell

into this love of stoicism, the philosophy, not so much the verb,

which a lot of people think like, oh, you're emotionless and, and all that.

The actual philosophy of stoicism from, from Seneca, um, it's interesting because

it's really focused on really just how to be a better person and how to detach your.

And your thoughts, in a way that, um, is, is positive.

Right.

So the Davis SOS is a daily journal, uh, has some information about a, a stoic

quote and uses yourself to reflect on it.

And I, I found myself, especially during Covid, to just gravitate towards this

because there's so much that we couldn't control and there was so much fear.

You mentioned earlier, during that year and.

And anxiety.

And it was like, andto was a place where it says essentially it's like, I'll

read you one of quote that says, what upsets people is not things themselves.

It's, but the judgment about these things and appetite has said this.

Right?

And um, another one's like, we, we suffer more in imagination than we do in reality.

right.

And.

From Seneca and it was just, it was Mind Bogg and the, and these, these

guys wrote about this years ago, and

hundreds of years ago, right?

Or

of years ago.

of years ago.

Some of

Thousands.

Thousands.

Yeah.

And I'm a big fan.

So Staley Stok is written by Ryan Holladay.

He wrote a bunch of other books.

Obstacle Is The Way, which I think, you know, really aligned to what you said

earlier about, challenges are kind of part of life and part of the journey, but.

Ryan writes in a way where he brings a lot of this old stoicism into modern

day life, and it's really just helped me get through, you know, that time period.

But also just you're reminding myself that, your thoughts create

your reality and you have more power than you think you do.

And where?

Where do people find that

Instagram account?

I follow the Instagram account and it is

excellent.

yeah.

You can order the book on, you know, where, where you buy

books on Amazon and so forth.

I think Daily sto, it's got a website,

Okay, so it is

uh,

the Daily Stoic

it's called a Daily

Stoic.

Yeah, yeah.

yeah.

I'm no affiliate links, but, uh, just a big fan.

I bought all of his books and um, yeah, he's got some

really good content I follow.

Excellent.

Thank you for sharing that.

Yeah.

Chris.

How can people follow and support your work, because it's really important.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

yeah, I guess it would be just my website, conscious studio.ca.

Um, I read a little blog there.

I'm starting to, you know, create a newsletter and, you know, share some

of my material that I feel that is kind of close to, to my heart and my values

and, um, yeah, more than happy for.

You know, drop me a note and see if we could have a conversation and, and see

how we could potentially partner together.

Perfect, and we will share that in the show

notes directly to your website.

Thank you so much for being here, for hopping on with

me and just getting into it.

Chris, I really appreciate it.

It's been so fun having you on.

me too.

Thank you so much, Sarah.

This was a lot of fun and, I appreciate the conversation.

It was amazing.

It was amazing.