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How Not to Read

I love books. No, this isn’t a new realization. Anyone who knows me knows that my home away from home is the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. I have shelves and shelves of books on topics from science to Snoopy. But I have a problem. I buy more books than I can read, and I feel I should read everything…and now!

Am I alone? How many books have you bought because they either:
1) look interesting,
2) are a classic and you feel you ‘should’ have it, or
3) it’s on the ‘must read’ list of some respected person.

expectations managed

Well, today I’ve come to the realization that I will never be able to read every book I want…because I want to read them all! My expectations were set high once I discovered the magic and power of books many years ago. I’ve often had the fantasy of being independently wealthy enough to do nothing but read. I wanted to read every book. Not only that, but I wanted to understand everything in those books! And finally, I wanted to write my own books. Now that I read that I’m thinking…how boring!

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What is Existential Coaching?

What is existential coaching? When I tell someone I approach coaching from an existential frame, they usually have one of two responses: Cool! or What? Both responses are usually followed by ‘so what exactly is existential coaching?’ It’s not about walking around thinking or talking about death all the time (an over generalization about existentialists). You may, however, find me sitting in a coffee shop discussing the meaning of life and the struggles of this human existence! I do some of my most productive work in coffee shops (like writing this post). Existentialism is an often misunderstood philosophy, probably because there are as many versions of existentialism as there are existentialists. Here is yet another interpretation of existentialism used in my approach life and coaching.

There are several concepts from existentialism that influence my approach. To help explain these concepts, I created a character: existential Tim (eTim)©.  I visualize eTim as this tall,  dark, and handsome Frenchman sitting in the coffee shop across from me writing in a very worn moleskin and enjoying a simple cup of coffee (not a latte or cappuccino).  Whenever I need to discuss existentialism, I see Tim [I.C. T.I.M.]

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