In This Episode:

* What happened with coach Shirin Eskandani got the call for her dream job–singing in Carmen at the Met* How she discovered coaching and the process that would help her reexamine how she feels and what she wants* The role coaching plays in her life now that she is a coach herself* How she works to support her own clients in a coaching relationship today

I was not a girl scout. But I love merit badges.

As in, few things thrill me more than earning recognition for learning or doing something.

I’ve been chasing merit badges all my life—so much so that the pursuit of merit badges has often led me away from what I really want out of life… and toward what will earn me the next badge.

I’ve taken numerous jobs I didn’t want just to get the merit badge. I’ve agreed to plenty of collaborations I didn’t really want just to get the merit badge. And, I’ve chased a bunch of goals that didn’t really inspire me just to get the merit badge.

Every merit badge I earn is just another attempt to prove to myself that I’m good enough, that I’m worthy. And each merit badge I earn only convinces me that the next merit badge will be the one that finally makes me happy.

It’s only been in the last couple of years that I made this realization. And I did so with the support of my husband, my team, and coaching.

Now that I know about my merit badge pattern, I’m always on the lookout for it.

I’ve rearranged my goal-setting, planning, and decision-making so that I have a better opportunity to notice when I’m stretching toward something I really want… or gunning for another merit badge.

I know I’m not the only person who always has her eye on the next merit badge. There’s a good chance that, as a listener of this show, you’re also keen on collecting accomplishments and achievements. Maybe that’s been helpful for you… and maybe it’s gotten you off track.

Maybe it’s been a result of your own sense of self-worth… and maybe it’s been an attempt to prove it.

My guest today found herself in a similar situation to me—always trying to prove she was good enough by climbing the rungs of her chosen career ladder: opera singing.

But when she earned the merit badge she had most wanted her whole life, she realized that she still wasn’t happy.

I’ll let her tell that story—but, listener, I can relate. And that’s why I so wanted to bring Shirin Eskandani onto the show.

Shirin has done a lot of work on rewriting this pattern and she’s found support for that work through coaching.

Today, Shirin is not a full-time opera singer. She’s a full-time coach herself.

Shirin is a life coach, public speaker and writer who specializes in mindfulness and mindset work. She has been a featured wellness expert on the Today Show and Cosmopolitan Magazine. Shirin’s holistic approach to transformation is influenced by her background in meditation, spirituality and the arts.

We talk about achieving her childhood dream and realizing she still wasn’t happy, as well as how she started to choose the thoughts that would help her feel the way she wants to feel, made the leap to coaching, and found her why. We also talk about coaching as a support structure and how coaching can ...

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