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Intro to The Write Life Diary
with author Kristiina Hiukka

“I just wanted you to know that I read your book this past week and I really enjoyed it.  As you may know, I have created a tool called My Life Story™ that fits nicely with your approach and why the title caught my eye.  My daily journaling led me to the idea of using writing as a means to help clients create positive momentum in their lives. I just wanted to let you know that I thought your work was good and I appreciated your perspective.  I have incorporated more of the future concept into some of my own personal writing and found it to be quite useful.”

 All the best. John Christianson, CFA | President & Founder of Highland Capital Management

www.wealthclarityblog.com

 

"Thank you for your "from the heart book"  The Write Life Diary. With it you may have brought clarity to many writers.  As a unity student I am steeped in the use of affirmations, but didn't give attention to re-writing my past until I read your prescription." 

-  Janet Wartinger, Gardener

About Kristiina Hiukka

Kristiina Hiukka is the Chief Executive and Team Coach of Seattle-based Big Agenda Coaching. This international leadership resource for senior executives aligns people and organizations for a healthier bottom line. Since 1999, her customized and rather audacious approach has resulted in extraordinary business and personal achievement for her many clients worldwide, including Nokia, Microsoft, Vulcan, Bank of America, Kodak, Symantec and Lumera.

Kristiina holds a Master’s Degree in Speech Communication from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and certification for the Certified Professional Co-Active Coach from the Coaches Training Institute. She is also one of the 1,600 out of some 16,000 Professional Certified Coaches certified by the International Coach Federation. She is a founding member of the Microsoft Alumni Foundation and Co-Chief Value Officer for The Executive Network of Seattle. In recognition of her international perspective and involvement in the Finnish community, Kristiina has been appointed Honorary Vice Consul of Finland for Washington State.

She co-authored Tiedon Kauppiaat (Merchants of Knowledge) about the value of coaching in 2007, and is a founding partner in Ambitio Group Oy based in Helsinki, Finland, a leading results-focused coaching service for leaders and teams.

Kristiina is a sought-after speaker and workshop leader. Her coaching has made her clients successful leaders all around the world.

To learn more about Big Agenda Coaching’s approach and alignment strategy, call 425.462.6613 or visit www.bigagendacoaching.com.

How It Started

A Note from Kristiina

A long, long time ago (before the dogs, a house, a kid and divorce) I found myself sitting at a kitchen table in Dublin wondering if I did the right thing. I had given up my job as a training manager for a management institute in Finland – work that I loved - and moved to Dublin, where my husband had taken a job a few months before. It was scary to give up a career that I thought was fun and full of opportunities.

The opportunity in Dublin was to work on my advanced degree in speech communication. While my husband was working long hours, I started to pour my heart out onto the pages of my diary… out came the suspicions, the fears, the uncertainty: “Maybe this was a wrong move. I don’t know this country, I don’t know anyone, I don’t have a work visa, and I cannot make a living. Who am I anyway – without a job, a title and business card?”  Even though I had moved to be with my husband trusting that it it’s a right thing to do as a wife, I was struggling with the fact that I didn’t really have a purpose there.  I had lived a busy and connected life back in Finland. I began experimenting with my diary writing and dabbled in writing about a future I wanted to create.  I was describing how I would be doing something I enjoyed in a very flexible ways.

A few weeks later, I attended a Junior Chamber luncheon in Dublin and sat by Barre, a consultant with Synectics Corporation. We had a great conversation and he mentioned I should meet the new leader of their company as he was paying a visit from London in a few days. Eventually, when Roger and I met he said to me: “We don’t have an open position, but I really like your energy and would love you to work for us, so let’s stay in touch. I think we can create something that could be a win-win for both of us.”  It didn’t take long when I didn’t have time to write my diary anymore as I was working on the corporate communication strategy and weekly Newsflash faxes to the whole corporation. I was commuting to London and having a ball!

When, after a couple of years, we moved to the USA I was again faced with a similar situation: not knowing anyone and also not being permitted to work. So, I turned to my trusted diary. This time, I was more adamant to write about what I wanted to create than complaining about what I didn’t have or couldn’t do. I started to pretend I had what I wanted: the dream house and a little apricot poodle puppy called Candy Kisses.

We not only found our house – which bore a remarkable resemblance to what I had written – but a cutest little puppy that we named Candy Kisses. We also got Frank, a miniature schnauzer. He wasn’t in my diary, but my husband really wanted him...

So, inspired by the success with my new kind of diary writing in which I had incorporated some ideas from the Synectics notetaking technique, I started teaching it to others. For example, I have had an opportunity to teach the technique at a women’s conference and later for some ESL students at a local literacy program for foreigners where I volunteered.

That methodology is now described in this little book and I hope it will serve as a source of inspiration to others to write their dreams as if they were already real; in other words, write their lives from good to great.

 

Kristiina Hiukka, Author
The Write Life Diary