Welcome
The best journey through life includes unconditional...
self-acceptance at every moment. This is a teachable and achievable skill.
Improving one's daily mood and attitude is teachable.
Happier people make better choices that lead to better lives.
- Wanting help to get on a different, a more satisfying path in life?
- Ready to consider taking on the help of a neutral, collaborative partner to help with the information and skills to help you succeed?
As Life Skills Collaborative Coachs, our job is to use our life experience to help you redesign your life trajectory more quickly and successfully. See our FULL REFUND guarantee.
Also, consider checking out our YouTube Podcast videos here.
How much better would your life feel if...
What is a Life Skills Collaborative Coach?
Our relationship starts with you telling your coach what it is you'd like to improve in your life. Then you and he/she collaboratively discuss how best to accomplish those objectives.
There are so many very important life skills that our culture makes no attempt to teach us growing up. So, if you haven't figured them out on your own yet, perhaps your coach can help.
Some common skills that your coach can help you to learn about, discuss, and implement into your own life are:
- Self-appreciation, self-respect, and self-love skills.
- How to actually succeed at new habits like healthier eating and more consistent exercise.
- Stress source evaluation and reduction.
- Time management skills.
- Basic money management skills like budgeting, simple loan and retirement savings calculations.
- Basic but non-obvious (for many) human relations skills.
Also, if you are currently experiencing that your current spiritual beliefs seem to be conflicting too much with your own experiences and interpretations of life as you've aged, perhaps an older and non-judgmental pair of ears can help you decide whether to "hold the course" or chart a new path. Classical religiosity, agnosticism, atheism, and nihilism are all paths we can leave... or dip our toes into. Life is, in fact, a journey. It is most magical when we engage with it rather than fearfully suppress our doubts.
A great collaborative coach minimizes trying to simply "tell you" critical information. Rather, we'll generally "seed" each conversation with information or questions relevant to succeeding at your objectives. It is through deep engagement with ourselves, other people and new, relevant information that we all best evolve ourselves towards alignment with how we want to see ourselves.
Fundamentally this process is the critical difference between simply memorizing information and actually thinking about its relevance to you specifically.
The learning gained from having your thoughts and opinions constructively challenged is what will maximize your ability to benefit from the information by integrating it into new "default behaviors" towards better choices.
Interested? You can self-book an appointment time that works for you on the "schedule time" page. Be sure to select the "FREE 1st Conversation" service.
To pay for and then schedule sessions AFTER the first free-one, select here.
Justifying having, and hanging onto, negative emotions is normal behavior, but it is not necessary behavior. Learn the wisdoms to let them go.
Chauncey
About Chauncey Wenner
My Attitude: Trying Your Best Always Leads to the Best Possible Outcomes
My superpowers in life have always been unconditional self-acceptance and non-judgementalism. With these skills (and they ARE skills) it is difficult for anyone or any situation to rob you of your awareness of what a magical possibility and privilege being born onto this planet is for most of us, most of the time.
The way I think of myself in this role as a collaborative coach is that I'm just a guy with the time and the desire to help others find their own version of equanimity, gratitude, and love despite the inevitable obstacles, disappointments and personal bad choices we all experience in this journey called life.
"Happiness" is recognized as one of the four core/innate emotions. So, despite the opinions of that word that are currently in vogue, a general feeling of happiness is exactly what one requires to feel generally content with the state of one's life (unless sadness, fear/surprise, or anger/disgust sound better to you?). ;-)
Life can, of course, be extraordinarily physically and/or emotionally difficult at times. And many people suffer a very "unfair start" in their early developmental years. But we need neither money, nor intellect, nor luck, nor the right connections, nor even the "right start" to get on our own best possible path. THAT is just a personal decision away for virtually anyone. I'd honor the opportunity to help you on your journey.
Through the self-discovery that comes from good collaborative coaching, you can figure out how to redesign your own behaviors, habits, and attitudes in way that WILL put your life on an ever-improving trajectory towards feeling better about yourself, your current life, and your future prospects.
Personal Battles Won
First
One of the huge benefits of equanimity and self-acceptance is that one rarely characterizes anything as a "battle". From an emotional standpoint, things are generally perceived as challenges in the ever-shifting puzzle of life. Either one decides to take them on, or one simply chooses to address other higher priorities in life.
Second
Wisdom dictates judicious use of the word "won". We all know many examples of people (and famous business leaders) that have "won" at something only to have it slip through their fingers again a few months or a few years later. So, let's say "managed". So, "Personal Challenges Managed" would be a more accurate section title.
Finally
My coaching business is about YOU, not me. I share the below stories only in the hopes of inspiring you about the very real wonders of embarking on a journey to better understand the workings of your own mind and body. Our educational system prepares us for economic life... but not for life itself. That is a journey each of us must choose for ourselves. Learning that it is possible to become a better and better master of your own thoughts... and then actually learning and practicing the skills to do so, is one of the most valuable decisions you can make for yourself.
Loneliness
In high school I was a nerdy, late-blooming introvert. I was effectively devoid of close friends the last three years of high school. However, I started on the path to learning how to minimize self-suffering starting around thirteen. Other wisdoms I'd come across also helped enormously. So, I did not enjoy being alone in high school; But I did not really suffer it much.
Physical Fitness
Being a late bloomer... and very tall and skinny, I decided I wanted to not look so skinny anymore. In 7th grade, weightlifting became my de-facto spiritual space where I'd go not for adrenaline and ego... but rather to enjoy the gift of having a body and to replace my "normal, random thoughts" with a singular focus on, and gratitude for, my heart, lungs, and muscles. In my early 30s I also began regular trail running which, until COVID was a routine that never stopped.
My commitment to robust physical fitness is only now shifting at 65 years old. More on that below.
Alcohol
Alcohol is the center of so many social events. And I have always really enjoyed the taste of all forms of it. But it did get to the point where I was probably averaging 2 drinks per day plus extra at social events.
A decreasing metabolism (think weight gain) and shifting priorities beckoned me to reduce my drinking. I now rarely drink more than 5-6 drinks per week. This feels like a good balance between reasonable self-discipline and continuing to let my taste buds smile once in a while.
Facing Death
One of the biggest freedoms in life may very well be when one no longer has any fear of death. I've had two experiences that have proven to me that the right wisdoms and the right skills really can get a person to that place. A place where you can simultaneously know you are likely to die, be deeply grateful for the life you have experienced so far AND emotionally experience the situation as a fascinating challenge to stay calm, make smart decisions, and see if you can actually figure out a way to cheat death.
Once, in college, I climbed myself into a position where I had neither the skill to climb further up, nor to climb back down. With something like a 60–80-foot fall awaiting me, I took only a few minutes to decide the only choice was to lean and fall around a blind corner and hope my hand found a hold. It did.
On December 23, 2014, I attempted to snowshoe up a peak near Denver in 40-below-zero temperatures. All went wonderfully until 3pm when a white-out and a failed GPS forced me to dig a hole in the snow with my snowshoe and hope a rescue team would ACTUALLY try to rescue me in such a blizzard and at night.
My mind focused on "a watched pot never boils" and "my job is to see if I can just stay unfrozen until morning if that's possible so I can walk out." Long-story-short is that I experienced very little emotional struggle, lots of gratefulness for my life so far, and... a rescue party shouting my name from above me six hours later (at 9 pm).
Aging Gracefully...and Wisely
Things really do change as we age. Does that surprise anyone?
A deepening appreciation for the obvious fact that death can visit us at any time has me realizing that the many wonderful priorities of youth no longer hold the thrill they once did. It begins to make far more sense to design life around what I need to do so that if I find myself at death's door, I can smile, shake his hand, and say "I consciously made it exactly the ride I needed it to be. Thanks for the opportunity."
I am redesigning my priorities around helping others redesign their lives in ways that work for them. This is probably my last redesign in life. BUT... growing and flourishing in life is partly about always keeping one's eyes, and mind, open to even better possibilities.