I am witnessing the moment when 'someday' becomes 'now'
Right now, she is in Europe.
In the middle of a 32-day journey.
Every time I look up at the sky and think about this, my heart fills with warmth.
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A client who has been receiving long-term coaching has embarked on the trip she had always dreamed of.
With her permission, I would like to write about it today.
When we started coaching, her 'it would be nice if I could' was vague.
Quitting her job.
Continuing to write.
And a long-term trip to Europe, where she had always wanted to go.
But 'someday' was always accompanied by reasons.
Once COVID settles down. Once the yen recovers. Once I reach a milestone at work.
That is how 'someday' remained 'someday' as the days went by.
(This is something everyone can relate to.)
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In coaching, I never say things like 'I will teach you this' or 'You should do this.'
'What would you like to talk about today?'
'How would you like to feel when this session ends?'
In the dialogue that begins there, we explore the 'wishes' deep within that person together.
My sessions with her also accumulated in that way.
While using StrengthsFinder, she became aware of her own thought patterns. She steadily added checkmarks to her 'bucket list'.
'Someday' was gradually drawing closer to 'now'.
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Around the time her travel preparations became concrete, her anxiety about money surfaced.
Trump shock, falling stock prices, a fog over the future. The feeling that 'maybe this isn't the time to be obsessively planning' kept rising like waves, over and over.
At that moment, a face popped into my head.
A fellow coach who is a financial planner. Someone who once told me, 'I have the confidence to make even the most anxious person feel that everything will be okay.'
The nature of her anxiety and that financial planner's personality clicked perfectly in my mind.
I have a habit of being amazed by people's individuality and storing it away. In terms of StrengthsFinder, it's 'Input' and 'Individualization.' It's the sensation of the perfect person for someone being drawn out at the necessary moment.
Rather than a coaching 'technique,' it might just be a quirk of who I am. (I introduce not just people, but also books, AI, courses, and posts as needed. That's Input x Learner x Ideation for you, haha.)
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After her session with the financial planner, she experienced an unexpected change.
It wasn't just that her financial anxiety turned into something 'understandable.' The distance between her and her husband had closed.
Looking at the same spreadsheet, thinking about the same future. As they talked about 'let's go on this trip,' her dream had become their dream.
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Later, she gave me these words.
“You are like a flashlight that illuminates the way when I am lost.”
I couldn't move for a while after reading that.
As a coach, I think of myself as a 'companion connected by a red thread.' I don't pull them along so they don't fall. The person themselves decides the pace and chooses the goal. I am simply by their side. With complete trust that 'you can do it.'
But she described that relationship as a 'flashlight.'
A companion, and a flashlight.
The two of us were perceiving the same relationship in our own words. I was somehow very happy about that. It touched my heart...
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It was the client's own power that turned 'someday' into 'now'.
I was simply running alongside her.
But to be honest—
This time spent watching her soar from the ground, dazzled by her, is pure bliss for me as well.
I feel grateful to her for giving me such joy.
I believe this is what it truly means to be a pacer.
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Right now, she is writing on note while traveling under the skies of Europe.
Every time I read her writing, my heart warms.
It has gone from the travel planning phase to the preparation phase. And now, as the practical phase, she is posting live updates every two days during her trip. It's fun, so please take a look♬
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After I wrote the article, I received a message from Aya.
'We are talking about how it's a beautiful view. I think this moment is a treasure.'
On a small hill in Split, a married couple is looking at the same scenery.
It is the place where the 'someday' written in a notebook a year and a half ago has finally arrived.
From the ground, I am watching over her, dazzled.
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Do you have a 'someday' inside you, too?
Perhaps it has already begun preparing to turn into 'now'.
Yukiko Aragaki | Uncovering inner stories and bringing their charm to the palm of your hand
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