My friend Serena Lal has a diverse career: Wharton grad, technology executive, and now life coach, she herself found this passion and career when making a career pivot herself. She now coaches entrepreneurs and empty nesters alike to find “the work they were meant to do.” She helps high achievers find their life purpose, through weekly one-on-one coaching sessions.
Given this back-to-school era/fall season upon us, though an exclusive Q&A with Serena on “finding your life’s purpose” felt apropos.
You can contact Serena at:
serena@applesinaseed.co
AJR:
Why did you pivot your own career dramatically into life purpose coaching?
SL: I never set out to become a coach. I hit a low point in a job search several years ago and at the recommendation of a friend I read a how-to book on navigating towards your purpose. I had always been curious about these types of books but never indulged in them. Well, that one indulging moment took me down a path. Soon I was reading every self-help book I could get. Doing the exercises in the books helped me land a new job. But I was sneaking away from my kids and my work to read and take in more content. It was as if a lifetime of pent-up demand was finally let out. Eventually it became clear that my fascination with personal development far outweighed any love I had for tech and for the corporate world. So, in a moment of full acceptance, I quit my job and become a coach full-time. And how I found this true purpose of mine is something I help others do. So meta, right?
AJR: What is the most surprising element of the work for YOU? For your clients?
SL: I think the most surprising part of my work is how easy my life has become. It’s not without challenges and downright terrifying moments as I do things I’ve never done before. But there is an ease to all of it that I’ve never experienced before. I think it’s because the energy for my work comes from within me. It’s endless. Whereas when I was in my tech career, I would say I loved my work, but it also felt as though I was borrowing energy that I didn’t quite have.
What surprises my clients the most is generally what their life purpose is ‘saying’ to them. It often doesn’t make sense in the way our culture views our lives and careers. Or in the way we view ourselves. Yet every time they trust, and they heed it, they take a step closer to their purpose path. It feels liberating.
AJR: If you had one tip for my newsletter readers on how to live a life of purpose, what would it be?
SL: My tip is to find ways to be still, however that looks. Do the commute from the train station in silence. Take an extra five minutes in the shower. Get in the longer grocery line and push pause on the podcast.
The person that has veered from their purpose path is not the same person that will find it. And brief moments of nothingness is one way to start your transformation.
Oh, and another tip-get a coach.
To learn more about Serena, go to
www.applesinaseed.co.
