About Susan
Susan Peck, Ph.D.
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My Mission
My goal is to inspire and empower individuals to create extraordinary lives and to realize their full potential, by developing their unique gifts, talents, and strengths in pursuit of the goals, dreams, and passions that matter most to them.
My Philosophy
I believe that everyone is born with a unique set of talents and gifts, along with a complimentary set of dreams and passions. One of our purposes in this life is to fully explore these: to develop our skills, to pursue our goals, to become our most authentic self.
I also believe we are each born with a capacity for excellence. At its heart, excellence is consistently doing the best you can with what you have been given, making the most of your circumstances, constantly striving for improvement, and intentionally evolving into better and better versions of yourself. This is within the reach of everyone.
When we bring a spirit of excellence to the development of our strengths and talents as we pursue the goals and dreams planted in our hearts, the results can be nothing short of an extraordinary. Living an extraordinary life is the birthright of every single individual on earth – but it is up to each person to claim it and work for it.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
My Story
I’ve always been fascinated by the topic of personal growth and transformation. In high school, I was captivated by the word “arête”, the Greek word for excellence, specifically referring to the fulfillment of purpose and living up to one’s highest potential. In college, I discovered creative visualization and the idea that we can deliberately design our lives. After college, I was hooked on Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, and all of the other success gurus of the day. I even remember doing one particular goal-setting exercise in which I visualized my ideal career – and it was one in which I was helping other people connect with their dreams and create lives they loved.
That image stayed alive in my heart, but like so many people do with their own dreams, I put it on the backburner while I pursued more ‘realistic’ ways to earn a living. After getting a BA in political science from the University of Kentucky and deciding against law school, I ran a weight loss program for several years. When it closed, I went back to school to get a degree in biology at Northern Kentucky University, and then went on to earn a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University. Somewhere along the line, I discovered a passion for writing, and decided to pursue a career as a medical writer after getting my graduate degree. And while medical writing proved to be a successful and lucrative career, something was always missing. My bank account was full, but my soul was still hungry.
After working with my own life coach for several years to develop a better work-life balance and later to launch my freelance writing business, one day I realized that she was doing exactly what I had always wanted to do! In the years since I had done that original goal-setting exercise, the field of life coaching had developed and blossomed. All of a sudden I saw an opportunity to reignite my dream. The time had come to pursue the life I truly wanted. So I took the plunge, and trained to become a life coach through a program accredited by the International Coach Federation.
It’s been a long and winding road, as the Beatles would say. Along the way I’ve overcome burnout and battled overwhelm. I’ve reinvented myself several times. I’ve discovered the importance of honoring my core values and needs, and of listening to that still small voice within. I’ve identified the ‘North Star’ of my passions and purpose that give my life direction and meaning. And I’ve learned a variety of hacks to squash limiting beliefs and change unsupportive habits more quickly and easily.
Because of these experiences, my specialties include working with clients who are battling burnout or overwhelm in their own lives, to help them recognize these challenges as opportunities to gain clarity and realign their lives with the goals and priorities that will bring them the greatest joy and satisfaction. I also have a passion for working with clients who are in the midst of a life transition, who want to write their next chapter more intentionally and to proactively design the next phase so that it leads them to the fulfillment of their most cherished goals and dreams.
In a nutshell, my #1 goal is to help my clients discover the path to living their own most extraordinary life, hopefully in much less time than it took me!
Excellence Manifesto
- Pursuing excellence is a process for unlocking your full potential, for becoming your most authentic self, and for living your best life.
- Excellence is a state of being, a way of approaching life, not an isolated achievement.
- Excellence does NOT equal perfection, which is not attainable – instead, excellence is a result of ongoing improvement and continuous growth.
- A spirit of excellence embraces a learner’s mindset – remaining open to new information, alternative perspectives, and fresh ways of doing things.
- Living with a passion for excellence is about competing with yourself, challenging yourself to be better today than yesterday, and to be better tomorrow than today.
- The pursuit of excellence requires consistent focus – it’s not something you do once in a while when the mood strikes – it’s about giving 100% no matter what your mood is.
- Excellence rejects excuses and ditches the mediocre attitude of doing just enough to get by. It pays attention to details and goes the extra mile.
- Everyone is born with the capacity for excellence – it is about doing YOUR best, and tapping fully into YOUR talents, skills, and abilities, regardless of how abundant or inadequate they may seem to you.
