Action stations

With the help of my sister-in-law and in recognition of the stew I am in about my career, I have been goal mapping. It works on the principle that you visualise the kind of life that you want to have and make a plan for how you're going to get there. Then by looking each morning at a self-made chart of pictures and words describing goals you set for yourself you basically reprogramme your brain and you're off. I am suspicious but curious and willing to try.


With Jane's help I do surprisingly well. Paperwork, form filling and to do list-making usually make me feel like jumping out of a window or biting off my own arm. I decide that my main goal is to achieve clarity and direction. I also have four sub goals. These are:

1. to write more 
2. to have sex with more people (although 'broaden my social life' is how I describe it to Jane)
3. to be more connected to nature and 
4. to creatively explore new careers

I suspect that Jane can tell that I might prove to be a difficult case. She shrewdly suggests the first action I should take in achieving clarity and direction is to see a life coach. She recommends a friend of theirs who has coached both her and my brother Ben. I email him this:

Dear Stan, Jane gave me your email address (blah)... highly recommended your life-coaching skills. I think I'm at a point in my life when I could use some of those, so I'm wondering whether you'd consider taking another Harlot on to your books, and what your rates, terms and conditions are. Etc. Cheers, RH

Stan doesn't reply for a couple of days, during which I worry that this is because he doesn't like me. I was cool with Stan when we met many years ago. He told my sister he thought I was hot. At the time I was totally obsessed with women and was rather childish in the way I reacted to the news. Since then I have felt slightly on the back foot with Stan and wondered whether that was why I don't get invited to his parties when the rest of my siblings do. (To be fair there are probably other reasons for that.)

However, business is business, right?, and Stan did write back. He would be happy to see me, but the fees and time commitment he mention make me nervous. I could fall at the first hurdle but Virgil tells me to negotiate so I will write back with a counter-offer and wait to hear what he says.