degree
Friends,
Recently a client named Liz completed a year of coaching.
In our last session, we held what I call a graduation ceremony.
This is a chance for clients to gather their learning and experience.
Take credit.
Savor.
Celebrate.
And then move on—taking everything they’ve gained with them.
***
We started the session with a visualization exercise.
Liz pictured the past year as a journey.
She recalled her triumphs, challenges, and other adventures.
Then, with pen and paper, Liz issued herself a degree.
One part was areas of distinction—topics she’d learned, subjects she’d mastered.
Another was specific experiences—real-world, hands-on practice.
The last was top takeaways—key learnings she never wanted to forget.
With Liz’s kind permission, I’m sharing excerpts from her degree.
***
Here were three of Liz’s areas of distinction, for example:
Mindful self-compassion
Articulating what I want and asking for it
Sitting with difficult feelings instead of inventing stories of regret and shame to avoid them
Some of her specific experiences:
Navigating a job market
Reminding my kids they are enough and don’t need to do anything else to make me happy
Tracking sleep, making yoga a regular routine, and eating healthier
Making space to feel the present moment
And one takeaway:
When I take actions toward my vision, it moves me in the direction I want to and I become smarter and stronger
***
I like to offer this opportunity whenever my clients complete something big.
That can be a work win, life milestone, or any other achievement or event—not just coaching together.
Leaving a job can be a time to graduate, but so can losing a job, or, of course, retiring.
Ditto ending a relationship, or even getting “dumped.”
You can graduate from writing a book, running a marathon, or completing a silent meditation retreat.
And from being seriously depressed, surviving an illness, or mourning a loved one.
The idea is, we can learn from anything, and take everything that happens in our life as an opportunity for growth.
Change doesn’t have to mean we’re starting anew with nothing.
We can recognize: I lived, I learned, and I’m taking those skills and knowledge with me wherever I go next.
***
Congratulations, Liz.
And congratulations to you, too, any time you choose to pause between transitions to articulate and assimilate all you’ve done and realized along the way.
We are each the ultimate issuing authority for our own life.
No degree is more valuable than that you give yourself.
Conferred—
Jeremy