COACHING AND COUNSELLING FOR YOUR MAJOR LIFE CHANGES

Clarity • Confidence • Purpose

Helping professionals become successful at what really matters

See the patterns that are holding you back

See the patterns that are holding you back

Find new ways to navigate life's challenges

Find new ways to navigate life's challenges

Experience joy and contentment in your life

Experience joy and contentment in your life

You've Achieved A Lot.

After a long career of working hard to achieve your goals, it can be difficult to separate your work from your identity.

Most of us aren't prepared for life beyond work.

Major life changes can be disorienting.

You deserve to feel a sense of purpose at every stage in your life.

As you’re transitioning into a new chapter of your life, you might be wondering:

  • What's next for me?
  • Who am I outside of my work?
  • What is there to look forward to?
  • How will my retirement affect my relationships?
  • How do I plan my retirement beyond finances?
  • Is it too late to do something new with my life?
  • Do I have what it takes?
  • Will the skill set that has brought me to this point continue to serve me in my next stage?
Rudy Dirks

Hi, I'm Rudy. I know that you want to feel prepared for this next stage of your life.

I have more than 30 years of experience listening to my clients’ stories and helping them navigate the process of self-discovery and growth. I specialize in bringing wisdom to my clients as they face major life changes.
My Story

I am a professional coach with Integrate Legacy Coaching. Most people find major life changes challenging and stressful. And that’s particularly true for transitioning from a life-time career to whatever follows that. My passion is to help people understand themselves and their current challenges; and to integrate these discoveries into life-giving choices and purposeful directions in life.

In my personal experiences of moving from one country to another; changing from one career to another; and transitioning from a full-time career to setting up my own business I have realized my need for support, insight, and wisdom beyond myself. I have seen the same need in others.

That realization inspired me to pursue training, education and vocations that have equipped me to grow personally, and to help others. For over thirty years I have counselled families, marriages, students, leaders, and professionals; and developed community and corporate leaders locally and globally in North America, Central and Southern Africa.

Seeing people grow into their highest potential gives me great satisfaction. From an early age, while growing up in Kinshasa, Congo I was fascinated by the richness of cultures around me. I was also profoundly-moved by the needs of people at all levels of society, and the common desire to live well no matter what circumstances people found themselves in.

In the ensuing years I have had numerous vocational opportunities to help people. My intention is to help people realize their full potential. Typically this involves discerning the wisdom for making good choices and an openness to new adventures and new perspectives. By helping integrate the strands of a person’s life (good, bad, or ugly) into a purposeful harmony, I help them focus on what really matters. At the heart of this is growing the core relationships of a person’s life.

I have a variety of interests. Outdoors, I love kayaking, canoeing, cycling, camping, hiking, gardening and travel. Indoors I enjoy reading, movies, woodworking, kayak and canoe-building. My wife, Sharon, and I are grateful stewards of an acre-and-a-half of land in Niagara, on which we raise chickens, keep bees, garden, and have built a geo-thermally-heated home with solar panels.
I have been married for 38 years, partnering with Sharon in international work as well as in co-pastoring and co-parenting. We have three married children, and seven grandchildren.

An experience a few years ago reveals a bit of me and what’s important to me: I was camping in northern Botswana with my father-in-law, uncle, a colleague and two Batswana guides. As we stood by an enormous fig tree, under which we had set up camp, a large bull elephant began approaching us across the grass plain. As he drew nearer, my colleague said, “I’m afraid of elephants”, and so he clambered up the fig tree. My uncle said, “If the guy who’s lived in Africa 15 years is climbing the tree - so am I”. And my father-in-law and uncle followed him up the tree. The elephant was quite close now. I looked at my three friends in the tree, and the Batswana guide beside me. I asked, “are you afraid?”. He shook his head. I pondered this a few seconds and then decided that I would sooner trust the judgment of this African, with generations of experience with wildlife, than the fears of my friends. So I stood by his side as the elephant came right under the tree and then stopped twenty feet from us. The elephant reached its trunk up into the tree - right into the area my friends had climbed to - and began picking figs. It had come in our direction - not because of us - but because it smelled the fresh figs. It didn’t even know we were there. But as it fed, it began moving towards the branch where the men were sitting. The guide decided to avoid any potential trouble and called out and waved his arms. The startled elephant whirled around and left in a hurry, while my sheepish friends climbed down from their “safe” spot. My take-aways? Don’t be guided by other’s fears; if you wait and observe, things often turn out to be different than you at first thought; Follow the guy who knows what’s happening; and never lose your sense of humour.

Tools I Use:

mbti logo
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator of personality uniqueness and preferences.
Birkman Logo
The Birkman Method reveals personality strengths, core needs, and stress responses.
The Enneagram
An integrated psychological and spiritual pathway to self-discovery and transformation.

Here's How It Works:

1

Meet

Book a consultation call so we can get to know each other and identify sources of anxiety in your life during this season of change.
2

Explore

I’ll ask you questions and offer direction, so you can thoughtfully explore where you’ve been and where you’re going.
3

Thrive

We’ll create a plan that uses skills and passions you already have to build a life of confidence and purpose during this next chapter.
"I am a management consultant that travels throughout the USA helping companies be more efficient. Rudy is a transitional coach for me who is able to help me take a step back from my intense schedule and look at things  more holistically for myself. He has immensely helped improve my self-awareness to the extent that I am even able to borrow and apply a few of his thoughts to my own clients. I am late in life with my career and yet enjoying my work more than ever thanks to Rudy.”

Management Consultant

"Rudy helped me navigate through a transition in my life that turned out to be far more difficult than anticipated. I was amazed at Rudy's capacity to really connect with me in my confusion and bring a calm presence into my chaos. His ability to listen and ask great questions helped me regain clarity and confidence during a major turning point in my life. I am extremely grateful for Rudy's wisdom, insight and care, and would highly recommend him to anyone in, or entering, a life transition of any kind."

Pastor

"Rudy has coached me for over 10 years, through many transitions, in both my professional and personal life.  His wide base of knowledge and experience helped me to see my situations from a different vantage point, ultimately guiding me to make healthy choices at pivotal points in my life.  His expertise guided me through the complex adjustments of married life from single hood, as well as thriving as a new father after the birth of my first child.  Rudy had a patient listening ear that helped me feel understood, but also asked great insightful questions that helped me come to terms with these transitional times and ultimately find my new normal.  It can be hard for me at times to admit I need coaching, but I'm so glad that I decided to open up!  Thanks again for all your help and guidance Rudy. "

Minister

"I first benefited from Rudy's caring expertise - and wisdom -  when my father died.  In the years after that I have sought out his guidance during some other difficult - and sometimes confusing - transitions in employment, marriage and other matters.  In each case I was so impressed by his ability to support me without simply cheerleading, and in the diligent and unfailing affirmation he offered even while intentionally challenging some of my own strongly held beliefs.  He is a gifted professional, and a gift to those who interact with him on the challenges of life."

College Professor

"I will forever be thankful for the insights gained in my sessions with Rudy, which have propelled me forward in personal growth and awareness that has been critical to my mental health in the midst of transition. To be seen so clearly by another, and offered compelling strategies that I can really sink into as I continue on this journey, has been transformative. I am now able to clearly see my skills and areas of interest in a way that will provide foundational support as I move forward. This, combined with new awareness gained in how I react to the stress and try to protect myself, is allowing me to move into a healthier space in all areas of my life."

NGO Administrator

"(My wife and I) were in the midst of a transition that involved our marriage, our religious affiliation, and our personal vision. What impacted us most was your ability to listen without judgment or quick advice. You enabled us to bring out into the open our feelings, thoughts, intentions and desires in a way that we could not do alone. We felt like we were understood and possibilities that were deep within us were brought out in the open where we could discuss them together. Your resources, and your suggested process to guide us into the future led to some unexpected and welcomed outcomes… pathways that have brought a deepened sense of joy to our lives together. We have placed ourselves into a new adventure… The principles and processes you have learned have uniquely impacted our lives."

Physiotherapist

"I am a 58 year old family physician in a small town.  Looking ahead to the end of my career has been a challenging transition. They don’t teach this in medical school and there aren’t many healthy role models. Rudy has been able to help me look at my true identity and live out of who I really am. He has also provided the conversation starters for my spouse and I as we prepare for the next phase of our lives. Rudy has the integrity, wisdom and honesty in counseling that comes out of the diversity of his own life journey."

Family Physician

"The coaching I received through Rudy help me to anticipate an upcoming major life transition as an opportunity rather than a loss. I know of very few persons who are better listeners than Rudy. He has a unique ability to take your past life experiences, its successes and failures and carefully reflect them back to you in a new light. He used the Birkman Method to enrich my marriage allow both partners to better understand themselves and each other. I would highly recommend coaching with Rudy for any who are facing significant life changes"

Medical Doctor

You have a purpose and place in life outside of your professional identity – and you deserve to find it.

What will your next chapter look like?

FOCUS ON DEEPENING RELATIONSHIPS

Focus on deepening relationships

LEARN HOW TO REST WITH PURPOSE AND INTENTION

Learn how to rest with purpose and intention

PURSUE NEW PASSIONS AND HOBBIES

Pursue new passions and hobbies

SET GOALS OUTSIDE OF YOUR CAREER

Set goals outside of your career

DISCOVER NEW TALENTS AND SKILLS

Discover new talents and skills

IMPROVE HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Improve health and wellbeing

LET'S CONNECT SO YOU CAN START LIVING THE LIFE YOU'VE WORKED SO HARD TO BUILD.

Book a Session

Call: 905-468-8809

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