I’m looking forward to connecting on our call soon. In the meantime, here’s my responses to the questions I asked you via email. -Toku

Do you have a written life’s purpose?

To serve those walking the path of awakening in a deep and fundamental way.

What were you most excited about when you started your business?

Before I was a coach, I worked as a trainer. I loved the idea of helping people and watching them change. I loved the idea of working for myself as well, but mostly I loved getting to see the impact of my work and being able to have really deep and meaningful conversations with people everyday.

What’s the biggest challenge you’re currently facing?

Running two business at one time while staying focused and engaged has been tough. It’s called me forth as a leader in ways that I hadn’t expected. I continue to be challenged to be an excellent leader inside my own business and to the coaching industry as a whole.

What wakes you up at night?

Mostly when I wake up at night, it’s because I’m thinking of the moment of my death. There’s a saying in Zen that all life is merely practice for the moment of our death and I take that seriously. When I do wake up, I feel a mix of fear and exhilaration. That’s how I feel about life as well.

Anything else you want me to know about you?

The thing people most often want to hear about when I tell my life story was the time I spent at the monastery. I lived there for 2.5 years and studied under two well known zen masters. The monastery was located in Oregon and the schedule was extremely rigorous. We woke at 4am every day, meditated 4-6hrs of the day, and spent about 50% of our day in silence. Once a month, we would do a week of intensive practice where we meditated 8-12hrs a day, practiced in complete silence and made no eye contact. It’s hard to describe exactly what an experience like that creates, but suffice to say, it deeply transformed who I was and my understanding of the human mind and what it means to live a spiritual life.