NLP RP#01 (Finding ‘Me’)
The Power of Coaching and Writing
Who Should Read This:
- Mid-career professionals facing a sudden career shift and contemplating their life direction.
- Individuals seeking a second career through an MBA or coaching.
- Anyone wishing to organize a confused mind through writing.
1. The Stalled Compass: Where Was I, and What Was I Doing?
I lived for 28 years, faithfully fulfilling my social roles in school, the military, the workplace, and my family. Starting as a semiconductor and display process engineer and rising to a leadership position, I relentlessly performed the tasks assigned within a predefined system.
However, a sudden change—an organizational restructuring—brought my life’s direction to an abrupt halt. I realized that, until then, I had been wearing the mask required by society and family, constantly running forward without looking sideways.
While the past years were not meaningless, a sense of the transient nature of life (a “spring dream,” 一場春夢) suddenly washed over me.
“What do I truly want?”
I felt like a middle-aged man standing alone on a vast plain. Only when confronted with this question did I realize I had been drifting along with the current of time, without even knowing what I desired for myself.
2. A Choice in Chaos: Why Did I Come to the MBA?
After the sudden stop in my professional life, anxiety and emptiness overwhelmed me. Giving up my leadership role and navigating a vague life direction, I chose Ajou University’s MBA, feeling like I was being chased by something.
It wasn’t so much that I needed a new degree, but rather that I wanted to take “time to find my life direction.” I hoped to fill the void left by departing a well-structured system like a large corporation by entering a new space—the school. The justification of escaping reality and the desire to fill an inner void simply coincided.
While acquiring management knowledge was important, perhaps I chose the MBA primarily to find the “lost me.”
Coaching: A Stalled Heart Begins to Beat Again
The heart that had stopped beating after growing accustomed to job satisfaction as an organizational leader began to beat again upon encountering the field of Coaching. For me, someone who deeply values the human spirit, coaching quickly became a captivating area.
As a novice coach, I believe I began to rediscover my own inner self by engaging with the lives of the Explorers (Coachees) I met during the coaching process.
In particular, while coaching one Explorer who had endured significant inner pain over six months, I learned far more from their gradual journey toward hope. I acutely felt the “necessity of systematic study,” realizing that complex emotional states are difficult to understand through simple conversation alone.
To address this gap, I enrolled in the NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) course. I was confident that learning the principles behind human emotion and mental operation would surely aid my coaching.
3. A Voyage into the Unknown: Where Am I Going?
Until now, I had lived as if following a predetermined script, and when the script ended, I lost my way. By meeting various professors and fellow students in the MBA, I am gradually finding peace of mind. Although the destination is still vague, I intend to simply follow where my heart leads me.
1) The Power of Writing: A Time of Organization Leading from Chaos to Stability
To pull myself together from the confusion following my corporate life, I started writing, without a specific plan.
By putting the sudden voices of my heart onto paper, I experienced my thoughts becoming organized and my mind stabilizing. I may not be a skilled writer, but I plan to continue writing consistently as an aspiring author.
2) Life’s Purpose: Sharing and Growth
Ultimately, my aim, as I realized while learning coaching, is to live a life that contributes to the well-being and growth of both myself and others. Although the destination is still abstract, I want to steadily build future value even amidst this confusion.
4. Deep Reflection from the First NLP Class
When I chose the NLP course, I expected to gain technical knowledge. However, the first session of the course outline offered unexpected, profound empathy and self-reflection.
| Professor’s Remarks | My Reflection (Coaching/Writing Perspective) |
| “Dream about things you never wished for to happen!” | I gained the conviction that if I do my best, new, entirely unexpected things will await me. |
| “If you’re in a situation where you try and try but still don’t know, there’s a good chance you’re heading in the right direction.” | Instead of feeling anxious about the current uncertainty, I gained faith to step over the ambiguity and create future value. |
| “You cannot defeat the one who reads.” “You cannot defeat the one who writes.” | I was motivated, once again feeling the importance of writing and reading. |
| “My emotions can hardly surpass the limits of the language I know.” | I realized the importance of language, both spoken and written. In coaching, too, the clear understanding and use of terminology are essential for concretizing one’s thoughts. |
The feeling of the first NLP session was one of a “reversal charm.” My prediction that it would be focused on rigid knowledge transfer was completely wrong, and I gained the conviction that this would be a new way of learning. I pledge to actively participate in this NLP course to gain this invaluable experience.
Conclusion (A Question for the Reader)
Where are you in your life’s journey right now?
If you, like me, have stopped in the face of sudden change, why not start a new journey of writing and coaching to find “what you truly want?”
For Your Dream Life
by Dream Max
