I trained as a life coach back in 2005 with The Coaching Academy, which is arguably the most well-known Life Coaching organisation in the UK.
My Life Coaching Journey
As a student at the Metropolitan University in North London studying for a management degree, employed for an IT company in Hemel Hempstead as the head of sales and raising a young family in North London, I was introduced to pyramid selling, which seeks to generate income to those who participate, from the recruitment of others. Revenue is made by the sale or consumption of the product either by the salesperson or those that person’s downline. Pyramid schemes have been deemed in the UK to be unsustainable and illegal.
Amway seemed to be the perfect vehicle to make my riches, they are an American multi-level marketing company that retail health, beauty, and home care products.
Following the training and kitted out with an array of household products, I charmed relatives and neighbours to part with their tried and tested fairy liquid, flash and brillo scouring pads by persuading them to replace their products with mine.
A prerequisite of multi-level marketing was attending events which were hosted by debonair and flamboyant American entrepreneurs, dripping with bling and arriving in beautiful cars to underline and demonstrate their wealth. Juice Plus+ was the next multi-level marketing product I got involved with.
Transport for London took the initiative to train all senior managers to take a more collaborative approach in managerial, supervisor and leadership employee interventions. Fortunately for me, they contracted Anderson Consulting to teach everybody how to integrate life coaching techniques into the work environment.
Looking back at this stage of my career, I was encouraged to read books such as, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, by Susan Jeffers, Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield. Excerpts from Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor, Zig Ziglar and perhaps the most famous of all Anthony Robbins author, philanthropist, and life coach. Anthony Robbins is renown for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books including Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within.
I attended a 2-day life coaching training course in Chelsea amongst 100’s of curious teachers, therapists, psychologists, counsellors, consultants, and so forth. This was just the start, I was buzzing and wanted to learn more, I enrolled in classes which incorporated insights into NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
I annoyed friends, family and relatives to my guinea pigs for case studies, yes, those same souls who bought those dietary supplements and replacement oven scourers from me. Fortunately, they didn’t ask for their money back. I had an exciting mix of case studies; one is well-known in the media.
Well, all the hard worked paid off, and I was awarded a converted distinction in Life Coaching from the Coaching Academy. I joined the ‘YES Group’ known as the ‘happy clappies’ The YES Group was founded in London and had been holding events every month for almost 25 years.
I followed this up with regular monthly visits to an NLP group that met monthly to develop my learning and understanding of NLP. The group attracted some of the top people in the world, I remember sitting in the room and participating in numerous exercises, bamboozled and in awe of the wizardry and fantastic display of human feats. The sublime mix of NLP with magic, sleight of hand, and crystals, it was like hello…
My kids and ex-wife were my likely prey, testing out my Jedi mind tricks, move over Derren Brown, and Steven Frayne, otherwise known as Dynamo (magician).
Let’s not forget the 4-day personal development seminar hosted by Anthony Robbins, which includes walking across a 12ft hotbed of coals.
The basic concept of life coaching hasn’t changed, but the process and style have evolved now life coaches are specialising in a specific discipline such as financial coaching, health & wellbeing and divorce coaching the list is endless.
I employ a life coach and mentor, and I’ve hired a coach at various stages throughout my career. If you’re considering engaging in the services of a life coach or you’d like to learn more about how you could achieve your goals from the assistance of a coach, please feel free to get in touch.
Telephone 0114 327 2683 or email enquiries@mikelawrence.co.uk