I was homeless once. Looking at me today, you probably wouldn’t know that.
People see me having a dream life. I have a 6 figure business helping speakers and coaches to dominate their industry, I have a lovely wife, I live in a beautiful house in central London and often travel to beautiful places.
I wasn’t homeless because I had nowhere else to go. I CHOSE to be homeless.
Why? You will find out in a short while. That might sound a bit strange to you.
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I don’t share my personal story a lot, so the story I’m about to tell you is really special to me. You’ve probably heard most of the stories of numerous speakers that had a tough time in their lives. What I want you to take from this story is how to apply the life lessons I learned from living as a homeless person to your own life so that you can become a better person, as I did. I hope that you’ll not only enjoy the story but also learn from it. Let me start by telling you a little bit about why I chose to be homeless.
It all started in October 2012. I was living in the UK by then. My life wasn’t what you’d call perfect, but it was comfortable. I had a roof over my head, I could eat whenever I wanted to, I had people to call on, and I even had a nice, cushy job as a caterer. But I wasn’t satisfied. I knew I wanted to do something more with my life. I wanted my life to matter, and I knew that one way to do that would be to quit my job and work towards what I wanted to be: a life coach. As I was thinking about how to go about it, I got a call. The call was to let me know that my maternal grandfather had just passed away.
That was the tipping point of my life. When I heard the news, only one thing stuck in my mind. I had to support my mother. That wouldn’t be easy because she was in Italy and I was in the UK. So, I figured out a way to get around doing all the things that I wanted to do.
First thing I did was quit my job as a caterer. After that, it was only a matter of signing up to get my coaching diploma and paying for it. Unfortunately, paying for the classes cut into most of my savings. Once I sat down and did the math, I realized that what I had left after paying my tuition would leave me with enough money for food and transport to and from Italy, but not for rent. I could go and see my mother every fortnight and just be there for her, but that would mean giving up the roof over my head. And that’s what I did.
Between October and March, I travelled back and forth, between London and Italy, to support my mother. When I was in Italy, I stayed over at my mother’s house, but when I got to London, I would live on the streets. Of course, my mother didn’t know that, because if she did, she would’ve told me not to, but I had to be there for her.
Life on the streets of London for me was… interesting. It was the first time in my life that I had to live on only the stuff that I could fit into my rucksack, which wasn’t much. Just a change of clothes and the books I was using for my classes. Everything else I’d given away. Sometimes I had money for a meal, sometimes two, and sometimes I would go a whole day without eating. I spent my days sleeping at the corner of King Cross and Pancreas train station. During the night, I’d go for my classes and study by myself.
Then I finally graduated with my diploma in coaching, which is a great feeling. There’s really nothing as powerful as setting a goal and achieving it. For me, that’s what being homeless was all about. It was a time when I grew and matured and learned a few lessons that have enabled me to come as far as I have. Looking back on it, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten where I am, running my own coaching company, if I hadn’t been homeless (sounds a bit counterintuitive, but bear with me). That’s because I came to learn and appreciate a few life lessons during that period of my life. If you’re reading this looking for inspiration, I hope you can get a thing or two from these experiences. I’m now going to take you through the five most important lessons I learned while I was homeless.
This is a sample of a chapter taken from The Book of Amazing People Phoenix Edition.
The Book of Amazing People is a groundbreaking project that honors and showcases individual success and achievement. In the chapters of this book you will read inspiring and motivating real-life stories of ordinary people making their lives truly extraordinary.
Some of our contributors have overcome loss, serious illness and heartache. Many have transformed their lives through physical and emotional change while others have established successful businesses against the odds.
By reading this book you will have an insight into what success means to you and how to achieve it.
