I grew up overweight. Got made fun of for it. Hated what I saw. Turned all of that inward and stopped eating altogether. Exercised twice a day on nothing. Drank tea to kill the hunger. Lost the weight fast but nearly lost myself in the process.
I became a professional footballer at 15. Physically capable of things most people couldn't do. Mentally I was falling apart. Anxious, malnourished, barely holding it together. The external result looked impressive. Inside I was a wreck.
I left, went home, rebuilt myself around good people and local football. Eventually signed professionally again at 18. At 22 I moved to America, found myself, and fixed my relationship with everything for the first time. Came back knowing exactly what I wanted to do.
"Every mistake I made became the foundation for everything that followed."
By 2014 I was coaching clients from my parents' garage while working factory shifts drilling holes in doors. Up at 5:30am. Coaching until 10pm five days a week. All day Saturday. For years.
I knew I had something more to give than drilling holes in doors. I kept going until I could prove it.