Hi {{ first_name | friend }}, 

It was Monday morning, and I was sitting outside right after breakfast, on FaceTime with my grandmother.

I was telling her about the people I've been working with lately, all of them approaching or deep in transition: the empty nester seeking fulfillment, the retiree redefining their identity, those moving through rites of passage like engagement and marriage, and the career switcher desiring to do things differently. 

Beaming with joy, I added, "I help them paint the picture of what that next chapter looks like and feels like."

My grandmother rolled her eyes at me, a full "here we go again" face. For a split second my throat closed up and my body went defensive, ready to pounce at the next opportunity to explain myself.

"I really don't think we need to overthink these things," she said. "You just have to do it."

To soften the conversation and help her understand, I came up with a metaphor.

"Grandma, the work I do is like putting a destination into your GPS. You have a clear sense of where you want to go, a town, a store. The day you head out, you either choose the high-speed route or the scenic one, the route that gets you there faster or the one that lets you notice the stops along the way."

It's funny how we don't think twice about entering the destination in our GPS, yet when it comes to our own lives, that same process can feel like a waste of time, unproductive, or unnecessary, and we’ve normalized constant motion instead.

Talking to my grandma brought back a quote I come back to often: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."

At that moment, two people came to mind. Both Ali and Coraline had worked with me before. One hadn't chosen a destination yet, so there was no route to plan around. The other already had hers, and she came back for the route to get there.

I met Ali at a happy hour. We were two MBA alumni who had never met before. Surrounded by navy suits, he stood out in a leather jacket covered in studs.

It wasn't long before we got to talking about it, and then about my work with HypnoBreathwork and how it helps unblock the creative process, among other things. I had just helped a documentary filmmaker move through her own creative block that same week.

He looked at me and said, "I think this is what I need." He booked his first session within the week.

Ali hadn't touched those jackets in a while. By the time his workday ended, he was drained, and reached for his phone, losing himself to the scrolling motion. A lot of his friends had moved further away, and he didn't have the energy to build new relationships. It was costing him the social interactions and entertaining activities outside of work that he longed for.

Six weeks later, in our final session together, we recapped everything that had transformed. He listed it with excitement, gratitude, even confidence: his citizenship application was submitted, his promotion in motion, and his social circle under reconstruction. His taste for life had been renewed.

As we closed the container, he only needed to keep going, consistently, with what he'd already started. Ali's energy was unrecognizable now that he had made space for what mattered to him, and he found the demands of work more manageable because of it.

Three years later, Ali has received his citizenship, found the relationship he wanted and invested in the home he had been dreaming about.

Last week, I got a text from my friend Coraline. She had just read my newsletter about the last session of my six-week program, Claiming What's Ahead. She reaches out often, but this was the first time it was about my work. She wanted a session to set intentions for the change ahead of her: turning 33, starting a new job, and getting married.

Her words warmed my heart, because she hasn't done much HypnoBreathwork with me, only recently. Reading it and then booking the session showed me how ready she was to go deeper.

After her latest session with me a couple months ago, her action was to buy herself a present to celebrate herself, a small ritual she returns to now and then.

When she committed to a job interview process over the summer, she knew it was the perfect excuse for another gift. She didn't know then she would get the job.

A couple of weeks ago, I was having lunch with one of my clients. She asked me: what are the business goals you're working toward for the rest of the year? The question stopped me in my tracks.

It dawned on me I've been intentional about pieces of this year, but I hadn't sat down to name the specific goals carrying me through the rest of it, so with her, I started.

Her question reminded me that setting a direction is a constant practice, one you return to in every area of life, bit by bit. I've done it this year for my health, my relationships, and my personal growth. Other areas are asking for that same attention now.

I did some research on the topic, and it backs up what I already feel.

PS — The GPS never says you took a wrong turn. It says recalculating. We get to do the same, as many times as we need, as long as we've chosen a direction to head toward.

Victoria Grandury
CEO & Founder, Limitless Rebel
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