It was also immediately clear from my results that what I was missing in my role in software world was individual interaction. I needed to work with and through people not my computer terminal. I also needed to be engaged in long term planning - something which is nearly impossible in fast paced environment of a software start-up. I needed to be in an environment that allowed fuller expression of my ideas as well as opportunity to develop an area of specific expertise. I was an extroverted-specialist working as a generalist! No wonder I was reaching burnout.

Armed with these new insights, it was easy to find my new path. Shortly after taking The Highlands I realized I wanted to become a personal coach. I went back to school, earned my professional coaching certification and opened a private practice, www.vip-coaching.com, focusing on career coaching. Now, clients with stories similar to mine have been finding their way to me. I am very happy to be able to share my career change experience and help them define their own.

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Deirdre McEachern’s passion for life is translated into helping her clients achieve their dreams. Deirdre walked away from high stress world of high-tech and undertook a complete career change. She now loves her work as an entreprenuer and personal coach. Deirdre’s coaching specialty is helping people attain satisfaction in their careers and lives just as she did. She believes strongly that everyone can find a career which they enjoy, expresses their passion and uses their natural talents. You can contact Deirdre at deirdre@vip-coaching.com Copyright 2001-2003 by Deirdre McEachern. May be distributed if full attribution is given and copyright notice is included.

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For example, if you are going to a party where you do not know anyone, and you are thinking, "What if no one talks with me? What if no one likes me? What if I end up alone? How can I get people to like me?", you will likely feel anxious. But if, instead, you think, "What can I give? I can give my smile, my acceptance, my caring, my understanding," you will likely feel empowered.

We each have a choice each moment to think about taking and avoiding, or about giving to ourselves and others. Which choice we make determines how we feel. The moment we choose to give, Spirit comes rushing into our heart and we then know God. Until loving is more important than whether or not we are rejected or controlled by others, we will not be truly devoted to loving.

The Inner Bonding process is based on concept that there are only two intentions possible in any given moment: intent to learn or intent to protect. The intent to learn means that we want to learn about what is loving to ourselves and how to take full responsibility for our own feelings of pain and joy. The intent to protect means that we want to avoid responsibility for our own feelings through some kind of controlling behavior – controlling others or ourselves through various addictive behaviors mentioned above.

In Step One of Inner Bonding, we choose willingness to feel our pain and take responsibility for it. In Step Two, we move into an intent to learn about how we may be causing our difficult feelings and what false beliefs we are operating from. In Step Three, we dialogue out loud or in writing, as a loving Adult, with our inner child to learn about our fears and false beliefs and about how we are treating ourselves that may be harmful to us. In Step Four, we open to learning with our personal spiritual guidance, asking for truth about false beliefs and loving action toward our inner child. With practice, you can learn to access guidance that is always available for all of us. In Step Five we take loving action we are being guided to take, and in Step Six we evaluate how we are feeling as a result of loving action.

Practicing these six steps will eventually transform your life through development a powerful loving Adult self.