Guest post by James, Leverage Program moderator

One of the biggest influences during my childhood wasn’t a part of my family, schooling, or friends. It was my soccer coach, Brian Malloy. As a child, I was always willing to listen to what he said. He was a major part of my life. He pushed me to be a better teammate, a better player, and to achieve success in and out of the classroom. My life would be drastically different without his coaching in my adolescence.

During adulthood, I lost the understanding of how valuable a coach can be. Growing up I needed people who saw the world differently and pushed me to be my best, so why not as an adult?

During my mid-20s, life started to stagnate. I thought I knew it all. I thought my career was great, I was in decent shape, and I was a great friend and lover. I was lying to myself.

I was not as successful in my career, fitness, and social and dating as I thought. My classroom was a mess, I was overweight and out of shape, and getting ZERO dates. But through coaching, I got my life back on track and pushed myself to be the man I strive to be.

I had several years of teaching experience and a master’s degree. At all outside appearances I was successful, but the feeling in my classroom was different. I had behavior management issues it was causing major problems for my students’ learning.

Craig Sini and I started working together. He was in my classroom every day and making observations. It was pretty excruciating to think I would be judged on a daily basis. However, his attitude was inspiring. I decided to let go and do what he said. I’d implement his suggestions and my class would improve. Through working with him, I slowly but surely developed into the teacher I wanted to be. He provided positive reinforcement, celebrated my successes, and pushed me to improve my teaching strategies.

At this time, I was overweight and disappointed with my physical health. My good friend Danny was constantly asking me to join Crossfit. One day I just said yes. After inconsistently going to the gy for the previous two years, I had a lot of work to do. My coach Steve was there to push me. I couldn’t do a pull-up when I first started, so he would place supports for me which were gradually removed until I could do one independently. He talked to me about nutrition, taking care of myself, and living a healthy lifestyle. He constantly provided feedback and was a positive support to get my health back on track.

Even though I was finding more success in these areas of my life, I was still struggling socially and in my dating life. Though I had never really been sold on the concept of a dating coach or a confidence coach, I met Robbie Kramer through a good friend, and it changed my life.

Simply by talking about my dating life, he forced me to be honest with myself. I was not dating the women I wanted to be dating. I was pushed to think about friendships and how I provide value. I was pushed to day game. Many times I would see a woman on the street, and have too much fear and lack of knowledge of what to say or do. Robbie not only gave me strategies but also pushed me to go out and do it. With his support and others in our group, I started getting more dates with women I want and created better friendships and relationships that have improved my life drastically.

(That’s Cameron, Robbie, me and Hippie together on the Leverage Trip In Budapest, Hungary)

As a child, I always understood the need for a coach. We need someone to make substitutions, design tactics, and push us to play our best. Now as an adult, I have come to understand the huge value of coaches in all aspects of my life. Craig pushed me to be a better teacher, Steve pushed me to improve my physical health, and Robbie Kramer pushed me to improve my social and dating life. All of them helped me live a fulfilling live based on my values, and be the man I strive to be.

Who is pushing you to be the man you strive to be?