I would highly recommend Michael to anyone that is looking to combine professional growth with their mindfulness practice. Our work together focused on establishing clarity around issues of self, community, and purpose. In my particular situation, these were important factors in understanding how I can shift my existing professional experience towards a more meaningful career path.
Here are a few things that have resulted from our work together:
- A clear and deep understanding of my strengths, values, beliefs, and how they relate to a meaningful career: When Michael and I started worked together, I was pretty apathetic towards any sense of purpose. I sincerely just wanted to find a job that didn't make me feel dead inside. Low bar, right? Turns out, repeatedly and angrily shouting "Why am I doing this?!" at 3am after a full weekend-worth of work really set me up for a closer look into the question. The reality was that I wanted to be passionate about my work and I think that's true, to some degree, for a lot of people. I say this perhaps for the following reason: Don't expect Michael to "solve" your "problems". Expect him to present you with opportunities to establish yourself as you move towards your goal so that you can understand what motivates you, what you're willing to sacrifice and why. Maybe you want to open a business, maybe you just want to understand what you want. In my case, it was clearing out the mental clutter and getting out of my own way so that I could actually see where it was that I wanted to go.
- A healthy approach to motivation and self-discipline. As a New Yorker, in my experience, the incredibly competitive environment and distorted idea of "productivity" made it difficult for me to grasp a reasonable understanding of success. Do Instagram "likes" count? What about brunches? How are you actually serving those around you and what are you getting back in return? This city is incredible but it's by no means normal so it was really important for me to develop a clearer sense of what goes into a feeling of fulfillment/accomplishment and the value of overcoming challenges in a much healthier way.
- An open and generous relationship with those around me. Again, perhaps a New York issue but I found that the shear density of people that seem detached and playing "the game" was steadily developing into an issue of real misanthropy in my daily life. I had already been practicing meditation consistently for a year by the time Michael and I started working together but his attention to fine-tuning my meditation practice really paid off. Slowly, the separation between myself and the world around me softened and I started to actually want to connect with people which resulted in not only deeper friendships but also an ease and confidence in situations that would previously rack me with nerves like networking, presenting my work to clients or just connecting with co-workers. This is the most subtle but probably most valuable benefit that I've gained through my work with Michael.
I hope this review was helpful for anyone that's considering hiring Michael. As I mentioned in the beginning, the 3 months that Michael and I worked together were perhaps challenging at times but imperative for establishing structure and momentum. I would really recommend Stern if you've got the opportunity to work together! read more
