Today we’re getting down and dirty with some not so great facts about my life a few years ago and how that experience led me to being a life coach.
For those unfamiliar with my work, my name’s Justin, and I’m a certified life coach and business mentor who teaches other creative, mission-driven coaches how to start and grow businesses that positively impact the lives of others and change the very course of the history we’re living.
And I always get asked, are you a doctor? Yes, I have the Ph.D. to prove it. 😉
So let’s get to how it all started.
Here's how it happened...
After seven years of telling myself there was no way in hell that someone like me could be a life coach and run a thriving business, I finally pulled the trigger and decided to give it a shot.
At the age of 27, my life was, in fact, a literal shit show. I was broke, no, seriously. I made $27,000 as a temporary employee with no benefits, drove a busted Toyota Avalon lovingly named “Tina the Toyota,” which had 230k miles on it, had zero savings, lived in a 350 sf tiny house, and now realize that I suffered from clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder but at the time didn’t know it.
This was my life.
I woke up every morning, and the first thing that ran through my head would be something like, “Another day of this shit?” “I can’t fucking take this.”
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And, after rolling around for 15-20 mins dreading what was ahead of me, I’d drag outta bed, force myself to shower and brush my teeth, stop at McDonald’s on the way to work for a sausage biscuit, hash brown, and large sweet tea, and then finally get to my office which btw was a converted study cubicle in the basement of a library.
To make things even better, it smelled like piss, and there were any windows because we were, in fact, underground.
Ahh, yes, this was the dream I was living.
Sounds fantastic, right?
Well, it wasn’t.
It was actually pretty terrible. I mean, it really, really sucked.
I lived paycheck to paycheck and stressed over stuff like how to pay for food or hoping that I didn’t get a flat tire because I had zero money in savings and wouldn’t have a way to pay for it.
And, even with all the shit going on, I’d sometimes get this little tinge or pull inside me; it’s difficult to explain. It was this instinctive knowing that I was meant for bigger, better things.
I knew this and believed it to my core, but I was too caught up in my current life (hello, dumpster fire!) to give it more than a few seconds of thought.
I operated in chaos, and fantasizing about all the other ways my life could’ve turned out wasn’t exactly something I wanted to do. It was actually pretty painful to think about. And I avoided it because thinking about something better left me feeling like a big fat loser.
This went on for two years. Obvs not a fast learner here.
And, call it my breaking point, pure desperation, or just giving up on everything that made sense, but one morning I woke up and decided I was gonna figure this shit out.
And I did the first thing that came to mind.
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I whipped out my phone, googled self-help books, and ordered the first one that stood out based on the descriptions. And that was Martha Beck’s Finding Your Way in a Wild New World.
For anyone who hasn’t read the book (I’d highly recommend it), it’s basically a guide on navigating all the challenges of the world we live in, and damn, ain’t there a lot, while finding your soul purpose.
And, for the first time in years, it gave me hope. That there was a possibility for something better.
And after reading her book, I started playing around with the idea that I could change my life.
That something better was possible.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
No divine intervention or near death experience, just a google search and some reading.
That was the starting point that led me to where I am today. A life coach who’s changing the very trajectory of human history one person at a time.
Coaching makes me feel alive. It nourishes my soul and connects me to something bigger. When I’m coaching, I’m in the zone, and an added benefit is that I’ve grown a business that pays me to do it.
Win-win.
This was the life I dreamed about 10 years ago, and I’m just getting started. Imagine how good it’s gonna get over the next 10 years?
This is why I became a coach
A single book written by a single person was the catalyst for the change I so desperately wanted and needed.
What if Martha never wrote that book? What if she was like, nah, nobody’s gonna read this and never started.
Or, what if I kept ignoring that instinctive feeling that something needed changed. That my life was outta whack and I needed to get off my ass and figure it out.
These are the tiny actions that compound and lead to much bigger changes down the road.
Both of those seemingly unrelated actions (Martha’s book and my Google search) led me to where I am right now, running a successful coaching business helping other people do the same.
Which is why I became a coach.
I wanted to help all the other Justin’s out there who are counting on me to show and offer them something that’s going to change their lives forever.
That’s the kind of work we do as coaches. We help our clients improve their lives, whether it’s losing 50 lbs, making six figures for the first time, or looking in the mirror and saying I love you.
And, it’s our job to let them know we’re open for business. That we can help them, even if they’ve never heard of us before.
Life coaches do some of the most important and sacred work possible, and I don’t take that lightly.
We teach people to believe in themselves, overcome their fears, and do big scary things. We believe in clients when they don’t believe in themselves. We are changing the trajectory of human history. And we do it one person at a time.
Your why connects you to your tribe. It draws people to you and it is one of the very best things you can talk about as you grow your coaching practice. It’s a glimpse into the very soul of your business, so share it with as many people as possible.
