I. The Feeling That Just Won’t Go Away
The world is screaming at you, like a monstrous wave, coming faster, a million miles per second. Your teeth are sweating. You’re in a place you’ve never been before in your life. Impossible decisions. Immovable objects. Unstoppable forces. Problems abound, financial, career, health, relationships, life.
How are you supposed to perform at the world-class caliber level you’ve worked your ass off to achieve, in spite of this seemingly never-ending stress?
That knot in your stomach isn’t in your stomach any longer. The cords have wrapped themselves around your bones, up your neck, into your head, down your arms and legs, and into your toes. Someone is on the other end of that rope, both feet propped up on your back, and they’re pulling as hard as they possibly can to tighten that invisible chain, attempting to collapse you into an immovable ball.
How did we get here?
The people in this world who achieve incredible things, and people who just want to live a happy carefree life, have to go through this wretched pain. A hero’s journey.
If any of this sounds familiar, you might just need to find yourself a life, wellness, or executive coach.
You could call it a teacher, a therapist, a mentor, or a coach, but in the end we all need a little help getting to the next level. That could be that hyper-competitive class with the bomb teacher who helps get you into the League of Ivy. Or maybe someone who teaches you how to be empathetic to your colleagues, removing the roadblock to the promotion you’ve been passed over a few times. Or, dealing with some deep-rooted pain that’s existed since childhood. Of course, it could be as simple as getting the confidence you need to go out and tackle something that seems just slightly out of reach.
If your arm is broken, you go to the hospital and get a “coach” to fix it. But in all other areas of life, there really isn’t much of that. Isn’t that sad?
We can do better.
So we put together a list of big name people who’ve gone an alternative route, and used it to great effect. Lets just all stop adulting and live like kids again. Life would be so much more fun.
Enter: The Coach.
II. Billionaires & Celebrities Get Coached
It’s not a coincidence that these people are where they are. Achieving incredible results isn’t just luck. It’s suffering. Suffering for years, for decades, until all that work compounds, adds up, and finally pays off. But they don’t rest on their laurels. They keep going. Keep pushing. They…get coached.
Running A Huge Tech Company. Chairman of Alphabet (formerly CEO of Google), Eric Schmidt, says the best advice he ever got was to hire an executive coach. A famous Venture Capitalist and Board member, John Doerr, was the one who suggested it. But Eric was a longtime executive that was already running a successful global business that was growing like a weed. He didn’t need a coach. And so he resisted. But eventually turned the corner, gave it a shot and in a later interview with Fortune Magazine, he said “everyone needs a coach.”
Building A Massive Media Brand. Oprah is such a household name that you don’t even need to include her last one. She built her brand from a local news station into one of the most trusted advisors of consciousness in America and maybe, the world. She’s attributed part of that success to her life coach, Martha Beck, and has been a major advocate of it. Oprah’s even gone so far as showcasing various life coaches to her audience over the years and recommending one for everybody.
Recovering From Childhood Stardom. Sometimes it’s not about achieving success that’s the problem. Sometimes it’s dealing with what happens afterwards that is. If you remember Danny Bonaduce from The Partridge Family days, you’ll remember a precocious red-headed kid bound for success. But after struggling with drug abuse, legal issues, and homelessness, it wasn’t until a life coach entered the picture that things got better. He’s now a life coach on air, helping others just like they helped him.
Achieving Super Bowl Champion Status. The Denver Broncos star linebacker, Von Miller, has had issues with the law in the past. And we all know where that will lead if left unchecked. There’s no Superbowl rings in jail. He got a coach to help turn his life around and since those low points, he’s now a Super Bowl champion and, wouldn’t you know it, MVP.
Becoming a Famous Actress. Nia Long has been a successful actress for two decades. She’s come out and said living a happy and fulfilling life is a result of working with her own coach.
Rock Star Status. Famous rock bands are no stranger to family fueds. When you spend that much time together, add in a mix of fame, fortune, and social power, the mix can be downright disastrous. In Metallica’s case, this rang all too true. In fact, there was even a documentary made about it. So they got themselves a life coach named Phil Towle who helped them work through the issues, resulting in their subsequent album reslease. Now that’s what I call success if I’ve ever heard it.
Oscar-Winning Actor. There’s famous, and then there’s really famous. Leonardo DiCaprio is the latter. And he spared no expense with his life coach, going all the way to the top to, you guessed it, Mr. Tony Robbins. Leo keeps tight-lipped about his experiences, but it’s hard to argue with the results. If the struggle found within the plotline of The Revenant is analogous to the struggle of becoming one of the greatest actors ever, then it stands to reason that the DiCaprio-Robbins dynamic duo is going to be one for the history books. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get your own?
Leader of the Free World. You know what’s a hard job? Being a leader. You know what’s even harder? Being responsible for 300 million people. Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States is also a proud customer of Tony Robbin’s coaching. And I’d say it paid off. That job is pretty darn hard to get. In the entire history of the country, he was only the 42nd person to have been promoted into the role.
Tennis Goddess Overcoming Injury. Let’s throw in one more Tony Robbins customer for good measure. In this case, we’re moving from acting to leadership to sports. Serena Williams to be exact. Her big struggle was one of a steady stream of injuries. When you play such a hard-hitting sport like tennis for your entire life, it’s bound to add up. Tony helped her work through the pain, get her mind right, and get back on top. Not just any top. Grand Slam top. Nice volley, you.
Tennis Star Overcoming Addiction. Let’s shift gears to another tennis star on the other side of the gender divide. He was so great at his sport that even decades later, he’s still a household name. But did you know that Andre Agassiwas once ranked 126th in the world? He eventually became #1 in the world, but that came with different issues, like drug abuse, which he’s been open about. We happen to be family friends with the coach who helped him through it. Both incredible people with incredible stories. Everyone struggles, but it’s the people who lend a helping hand that become your family, whether by blood or otherwise.
Musical Prodigy Grows Up. We’re all familiar with the musical prodigy, Justin Bieber. He’s had his ups and downs transitioning to adulthood. But when Hillsong’s Carl Lentz stepped in, things started moving in the right direction. He now appears happier, more motivated, and driven with a purpose he didn’t quite have before. Coaches can be called many names. In this case, Justin called him Pastor first, and friend, second.
Wolverine’s Personal Improvement Plan. Sometimes you’re not struggling as much as you are focused on getting a little bit better every day. And so you go out looking for novel ways to achieve that. For two decades, Hugh Jackman had been wanting to work with Tony Robbins (another one!) based on all the positive feedback from his peers. When he finally had the chance, Tony’s first words to him were, “I have a gift for you.” I don’t know about you, but I really want to know what that gift was. Of course, it’s so personalized that it wouldn’t much matter to you, but that’s the whole point of coaching, no? The personalized tactics?
MMA Mental Fights. By now most of us have heard of the MMA. It’s a brutal sport that requires both physical and mental stamina. And one of the best to ever do it was Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. He also spent time working with Tony Robbins (noticing a pattern?) to get his mind right. The body is a tool, and can only be driven by the mind. So if the mind’s off, your body will be too. Chuck gets it. You should too.
III. Secret Bonus: The Star Wars Hero’s Journey
Inall of the cases above, you’ll see a similar story. The mechanics are the same:
Struggle + Coach = Achievement
If you remove the struggle, there’s no need for a coach because it means you’re not working towards anything great. If you remove the coach it means you might just fail emotionally, intellectually, physically, or spiritually and never achieve what you want either. What’s required then is both, working together as one, to get to where you want to go.
You might be surprised to learn that Star Wars may never have happened if it weren’t for one man’s dedication during The Great Depression. It was his work that directly influenced George Lucas’s success. Special thanks to Sean Everett for his contribution. You can follow more of what him and his team are doing at everettadvisors.com