Jeff Pena was adrift. April 2023 found him lost, weighed down by depression and uncertainty. He felt veiled, protected from something he couldn't grasp, disconnected from the lifeblood of genuine connection. With the power of the MindScan™ Assessment and the guidance of ProAdvisorCoach Jon Zieve, Jeff went through a powerful, rapid, transformative experience that would reveal his greatest obstacles and unlock his hidden potential.

MINDSCAN PROFILE INTERVIEW: JEFF PENA

How did you come to coaching?

I met with a friend of mine from high school that I would see once every few years. I met him at a bar, we sat down, and I could see something was different about my friend. He was a lot gentler, more balanced, and I felt like I could talk to him for hours. I didn’t want to leave from sitting at the bar with him.

The more he kept speaking, he just seemed so genuine—almost angelic in a way. He mentioned that he’d been talking to a success coach. When I heard the words “success coach,” not having any education on it, I just felt like life coaches… like they’re just people… that it’s like a trick; there’s something funny going on. But he started to tell me about the work he was doing.

He said that he took a MindScan. He had to put certain things in order, and he said that the MindScan tells you exactly who you are as a person. I love psychology, I love stuff like that, so my ears went up. He said that he took a test, and the coach told him exactly who he was and how he thinks. I was amazed, and he told me, "You should try it, you should give it a try."

I was interested, but I wasn’t asking for the guy’s number. My friend said, "The MindScan’s complimentary.” That sold me. So I reached out to Coach Jon.

When I first met with Coach Jon, I said, “I'm just gonna give it to you straight. I absolutely hate life. I hate working. I hate being alive. I'm not suicidal, but I can't wait for life to be over. I just feel like I have no meaning, no purpose. I'm depressed and sad all the time. I don't know who the hell I am. I don't know what I'm good at. I don't know what I'm supposed to do for a career. I'm lost. Life sucks." That was the most honest I've ever been in my entire life.

After that first session, I took the MindScan. I answered it from the perspective of that person who's miserable, who hated life, who didn't want to be here.

What were the results of doing the first MindScan?

After I took the MindScan, Coach Jon told me he saw something he’d never seen in a MindScan before. I couldn't wait because I thought, “I'm screwed up in my head… screwed up crazy.” I knew it was going to be something.

There are these separate scores in the MindScan, and there were these areas where I scored very poorly. I had no empathy, no values. Coach Jon told me this was the MindScan of someone who's just blind to life, and that's exactly how I felt. He made me feel like my feelings were valid, like I'm allowed to feel what I feel, allowed to be. That's something I've never felt before, never had the freedom to do. I had always been that blind person, made myself blind, thinking this is the box I have to live in, my fate, trapped.

In that first meeting, Coach Jon helped me open the door. You feel trapped, but if you just open the door—boom! Just after that first meeting, I was out of that blind trap, which was incredible.

Where did you go from there?

Coach Jon introduced the concept of value to me, which was completely life-changing. At the time, I didn’t value anything. But I quickly came to the realization that I didn’t value anything because I'd never felt valuable… ever. I was running through life blind. If you don't value yourself, if you have no value, why would you value anything? Life is just, “Who cares?” Very apathetic.

Now that I had this new concept of value, I used it as a measuring stick for everything in my life. It's like I would say, okay, this person or this situation, do I value this, do I not value this? I started to put everything in its place, in alignment with my values, and everything became crystal clear. It was like the last piece of a puzzle being put in, and you could see everything very clearly. Who I was, what I wanted, what I am, what's good, what's not.

Coach Jon helped me peel back the layers of myself, which is, you know, the Shadow. Basically, our Shadow is like the person you are protecting. The ego is protecting your Shadow. Your Shadow is very vulnerable. Your Shadow is who you are as a person, your essence. The Shadow is good.

I was able to tap into my shadow because I've known him for so long, and I've been protecting him for so long. I never felt like I was allowed to tap in. I completely cut him off from my life. I didn't think that I was allowed to interact with him. Now that I had access to him, now that I felt valid, my feelings were valid, now that I could interact with him—boom—I just felt so connected and so aligned with who I was and the person that I've always wanted to be.

Where did identifying with your shadow lead you?

I said, "I know what I want to do. I want to be an independent music artist. I want to do this. I want to do that. This is my plan. This is how I want to make it as a business."

I had everything in my head already. It was just something that I’d hidden inside of me for so long. I finally felt like I could bring it out into the open air, look at it, and validate it. That's just the most amazing feeling in the world. To be able to take something that's been so stuffed down inside of me and bring it out, begin to look at it as a possibility. I never thought that was possible. I always thought that life was meant to be painful. I'm supposed to be disconnected from that forever. Everybody gets to interact with their purpose above me. I'm cursed.

I went from being blind to having 20/20 vision, and it was so easy to maneuver my life and make decisions from that point forward because I could see. Coach Jon gave me the power to have power… to help me to help myself.

So I went and I did the things Coach Jon and I talked about. Every single door that I wanted to open just opened wide. It all happened in a matter of a days. Now I have a good paying job that's going to help me fund my dream, my passion.

And when you took the MindScan a second time?

When I did the Mind scan the second time, it was very clear how I felt. All the things I had to list were easy to do, and everything was just clear. The results the second time were clearly a lot better, more accurate, but most importantly, they were true to my true being, not that shell or shadow that I was answering as the first time. I was able to shed one of them and start living as the other, living my truth.

Now that I had this new concept of value, I used it as a measuring stick for everything in my life. I started to put everything in its place, in alignment with my values, and everything became crystal clear. It was like the last piece of a puzzle being put in, and could see everything very clearly—who I was, what I wanted, what I am, what's good, what's not.

I'd spent over 20 years living as the blind guy. I thought that's what life was; I thought that was my fate. I felt that I was trapped, and now that I wasn't trapped, I had a whole new world. It's like I went from a black and white life to now the world being in color, and I'm discovering all these new colors, and they're so vibrant.

Jeff's first MindScan (above left) shows how all of his dimensions of thinking were unclear—blind. He couldn't see with any dimension of thinking because he wasn't valuing himself at all. His father's Shadow was blocking his clarity.

Jeff's second MindScan (above right) shows plenty of clarity, with 3 of the 6 dimensions demonstrating Excellent clarity. As soon as his father's Shadow left and Jeff chose to value himself, his clarity was revealed.

How would you describe Coach Jon for someone considering coaching for themselves?

The word “coach” doesn’t do him justice. He just understands. He just gets it. If there's something that's building up inside of you, there's something you're lost about, this process helps you be redirected. Your vision is completely cleared, and you're able to break through and step into that goal you've always wanted, even though it feels impossible. It makes the impossible possible.

For somebody thinking about coaching, it's not some stereotypical surface level like life coaching. This is like you're digging deep, deep, deep into yourself, into your being, and life becomes so rich and so golden, and we begin to live our purpose.

Let’s Win Together

At ProAdvisorCoach, we’re here to help you break through to the next level by mastering the things right in front of you.  Sometimes, the tiniest of tweaks in our daily routine will offer an impact greater than currently imaginable.  Reach out today and let’s win together.