SPARK Insights by Coach Reg - Issue #0008

"Stop the jeep!" Susanne called out, her voice calm but firm. The vehicle jolted to a halt, the warm Kenyan dust swirling around them. She turned to the guide, her gaze steady but kind.

They had spent hours scanning the horizon, zipping past zebra herds, ignoring the graceful movements of giraffes, dismissing the scatter of birds taking flight as mere background. The guide was determined to find the prize, the grand spectacle, the elephants.

My friend Susanne loves elephants, and she was excited for her first safari, eager to see these majestic creatures in person. However, the guide’s fixation on finding elephants was detracting from the experience.

In a tender moment, Susanne placed her hand on the guide's shoulder, smiled at him, and said, "I don't need to chase the elephants. Let’s just enjoy what’s around us."

She released the guide from his "chase." In an ironic turn, she became the guide for a moment and helped the driver release his grip on the outcome he desperately wanted.

She put the brakes on the frantic energy and set a new intention for the journey, one that would teach them all a valuable lesson.

The Question That Launched My Week

Have you ever felt like you should be further along than you are? I began this week with an unshakable question pressing on me:

Why am I not as far as I want to be in my coaching business?

For months, I have held a clear vision of what my coaching practice looks like fully formed in its final, mature state. I’ve been setting my sights on this and pushing myself to manifest that future.

Honestly, I have been frustrated that I’m not as far along as I want to be, and I began my week actually working through this question using a custom GPT my friend Scott developed.

I used the prompt to help me process the question and journal during my morning routine.

What happened in that chat conversation feels magical. At one point, the GPT started working with me on my messaging and actually found inconsistencies across my marketing assets that needed to be addressed. It even detected that my messaging was inadvertently drawing a type of client that isn’t in my wheelhouse.

That motivated me to start addressing those misalignments immediately.

A Week of Coaching, Conversations, and Awareness

I have committed to coaching with integrity, which means I seek coaching just as I offer it to others. Later on Monday after my journaling and GPT work, I met with my coaching alliance partner (Darrell), and on Friday, I had another coaching session with the leader of my mastermind group (Allen).

Each of these conversations, paired with my daily journaling and meditation, sharpened my awareness. Yet, it wasn’t until my call with Allen that I saw just how much ground I had covered.

In preparation, I took the time to list every milestone I had achieved since December 1—every “animal” I had spotted along my coaching safari. It took 90 minutes to verbalize it all. Two full pages of insights, victories, and transformative moments.

And yet, before writing it down, I had been measuring my progress by what was missing, not by what I had already built. But as I looked at those two pages, it hit me: I had been so busy searching for the next breakthrough that I had raced past the ones I had already achieved.

The Divine Dichotomy

You probably know how Susanne’s safari adventure ends, don’t you?

After she and the guide set a new intention for the trip to embrace the present, it happened.

They rounded a bend, and there, as if by design, stood an entire herd of elephants.

They had been just two turns ahead the entire time.

How often do we experience this?

We strive, race, fixate on something, and the more we do that, the more it eludes us. It’s never until we let go of it, release the outcome, and set a different intention that the very thing we sought shows up as if it was waiting for us to arrive.

The Wealth of Connection & Insight

As I reflected on my week, I felt a deep wave of gratitude. I am profoundly aware of how wealthy I am—not in material terms, but in the abundance of wise, generous, and insightful people in my life. This week, I was fueled by conversations with individuals who poured into me, shaping my awareness and illuminating my path.

I contributed to two of the three mastermind groups I’m a part of: Titans and Curiosity Island, engaging in rich discussions that expanded my thinking. And on February 5, I’ll be hosting a Swing and Savor experience in Florida with 18 fellow Titans, co-hosted alongside Mark Ingles and Brian Kurtz. This is the environment I choose to surround myself with—brilliant minds, deep discussions, and expansive conversations.

This week, I am in Ft. Lauderdale, privileged to be coaching the members of Perry Marshall’s mastermind (Roundtable). These conversations are pushing me further in understanding my purpose and refining my approach to coaching.

In writing this issue, I took stock of the incredible individuals who had a direct impact on me this week:

Arlene Regnerus (first, always)
Jonathon Barbato
Brandon Boyd
Caitlin Doemner
Jem Fuller
Brandon Fong
Mark Fujiwara
Susanne Goldstein
Noah Kronfly
Perry Marshall
Andrea Mai
Darrell Bilbrey
Allen Roberds
Scott Schang
Devin Sizemore

Each played a role in my evolution, but Susanne’s story in Kenya cemented it all.

My Coaching Safari

Susanne’s experience mirrors what happens in life and business.

Her guide was singularly focused on chasing elephants. In his tunnel vision, he raced past the wonder of the present in pursuit of the ultimate prize.

And isn’t that what we do? We become so fixated on the goal that we fail to appreciate the journey unfolding before us.

I’ve always prided myself on being an 80% process, 20% outcome person. But that 20%? It’s obsessive. I have such a clear vision of where I want my coaching practice to go that I sometimes create frustration when I’m not there yet. But the truth is, my elephants - the big breakthroughs, the success, the vision made real, are already waiting. They are just a few turns ahead.

And when I loosen my grip, trust the process, and appreciate each step, they appear effortlessly. I was reminded of this when I found myself overwhelmed Monday. A single deep question I posed sparked a waterfall of insight from people I am deeply connected to.

The sheer clarity and wisdom that poured in stunned me. Why shouldn’t I trust the process when something like this is possible? If I can manifest such profound insight simply by being open to it, then surely, the elephants (my breakthroughs) are already waiting for me just ahead.

The Exclamation Point

As if the universe wanted to underline this lesson, my conversation with Allen at the end of the week delivered the final, undeniable proof.

Allen shared something he had witnessed countless times on safari, and it immediately resonated with me because of an experience earlier in the week. I had been so focused on what I hadn't yet accomplished that I barely acknowledged the incredible progress I had made. Just like the safari-goers who stopped noticing zebras and birds, I had let my wins fade into the background in pursuit of the next big milestone. On the first day, people are in awe of every single animal. They stop for birds, admire zebras, pause for antelopes. By day three, they barely turn their heads for a lion. They only care about what they haven’t seen yet.

His words hit me like a revelation. How quickly do we take our progress for granted? The things that once seemed magical become mundane simply because they are now familiar.

I sat with that. I breathed it in. And I committed, right then and there, to deepening my daily gratitude practice. To celebrating every “animal, plant, tree, and body of water” I encounter on this journey.

The Power of Trusting the Journey

The elephants are already waiting, they're just a turn or two ahead.

If I chase them, I create stress. But when I trust my intention, embrace the journey, and remain open to wonder, everything unfolds effortlessly.

Once you make peace with the journey, the elephants will show up exactly when they’re meant to.

So I ask you:

• What animals have already appeared on your safari?

• Are you rushing past them, chasing elephants?

• How can you deepen your gratitude for what’s already unfolding?

I’d love to hear your reflections. Feel free to reply or share your thoughts.

Onward, with awe and appreciation,
Coach Reg