The Accidental Career of a Future Wellness Guru
(Or: How I Spent 20 Years Being Slightly Too Early to Everything)
If you look back over my 20-year career, a clear pattern emerges.
I have an extraordinary talent for discovering things about 10 years before society is ready for them.
Which means for most of my professional life, people have looked at me like I’m either:
A visionary
Completely insane
Or starting a cult
Sometimes all three at once.
Let me explain.
Phase 1: The Fitness Freak Era (2005–2015)
Twenty years ago when I told people I was into fitness, health, and training…
They didn’t say things like:
“That’s amazing. Longevity, metabolic health, VO₂ max!”
No.
They said things like:
“Mate… you’re obsessed.”
I was labelled a “fitness freak.”
Back then the average gym looked like a medieval torture chamber, protein shakes tasted like drywall mixed with sadness, and the only people who trained seriously were:
Bodybuilders
Athletes
And a few suspiciously energetic lunatics like me
Meanwhile everyone else thought jogging was something you only did if:
You were late for a bus
Or being chased by a dog.
Fast-forward ten years.
Now everyone owns:
A smartwatch
A foam roller
Three pairs of $200 running shoes
And a deep emotional relationship with their step count.
Suddenly fitness is mainstream wisdom.
Doctors recommend it.
CEOs brag about it.
Even your aunt does Pilates.
And the same people who once called me a fitness freak now say:
“You were ahead of your time.”
Yes.
Yes I was.
Phase 2: The “What The Hell Is Coaching?” Era (2015–2021)
Then I moved into life coaching.
Five years ago when I told people I was a life coach, they looked at me the way you look at someone who says they talk to dolphins professionally.
There was always the pause.
Then the questions began.
“So… what exactly do you do?”
Followed by the three classic reactions:
Reaction 1: Suspicion
“Isn’t that basically therapy?”
Reaction 2: Concern
“So… people come to you because something is wrong with them?”
Reaction 3: Fear
“Are you going to analyze me right now?”
At social events people slowly backed away like I might start asking about their childhood trauma near the buffet.
The phrase “life coach” had this strange mysterious energy.
Like:
Is it therapy?
Is it business advice?
Is it emotional CrossFit?
No one quite knew.
Now?
My phone rings with people wanting coaching from:
Teenagers trying to figure out life
Entrepreneurs trying not to burn out
People in their 50s reinventing themselves
Someone who just retired at 75 and suddenly realized they still have 20 years left to live
Coaching is finally becoming what it always was:
A tool for thinking clearly about your life.
Not because you’re broken.
But because you’re human.
Phase 3: The Yoga Conspiracy (2018–Present)
Yoga was another funny one.
Years ago when I invited someone to a session, they imagined:
incense
chanting
mysterious energy fields
and someone whispering “Namaste” in slow motion
So instead I started doing something slightly sneaky.
I would run a session that included:
breathing
movement
stillness
relaxation
Everyone would finish the session and say:
“Wow… that was incredible.”
Then I’d casually say:
“By the way… that was yoga.”
You could literally watch their brain glitch.
Like I had just revealed their salad was secretly a vegetable.
Now?
Those same people send me referrals every week.
Yoga, it turns out, was never the weird thing.
The label was.
Phase 4: Meditation — The Door Slam Era (Current)
Now we arrive at my current project.
Meditation.
This one is still early.
Very early.
When I bring it up, I still get some of the classic responses:
Door slammed.
Eyes glazed over.
Or the famous line:
“I can’t meditate. My mind is too busy.”
Which is a bit like saying:
“I can’t shower. I’m too dirty.”
Meditation is still sitting where fitness was in 2005.
People think it’s:
spiritual
mysterious
something monks do on mountains
But here’s my prediction.
Within the next decade meditation will become something far more practical.
Not spiritual.
Survival.
Because the modern world is becoming louder, faster, and more mentally chaotic every year.
Meditation will eventually be seen the same way we see brushing our teeth.
Not mystical.
Necessary.
The Pattern of My Career
Looking back, my career has followed a predictable pattern:
Step 1: I discover something powerful.
Step 2: Society thinks it’s weird.
Step 3: I spend years explaining it.
Step 4: Ten years later everyone says it’s obvious.
Which leads me to the final evolution.
The Final Mission
Everything I’ve learned from:
fitness
coaching
yoga
meditation
is now coming together in one place.
Sea Beyond.
Not just a retreat.
A crossing.
A moment where someone steps away from their life long enough to see it clearly.
Because sometimes the problem isn’t your life.
The problem is that you’re too close to it to see it properly.
The ocean does something remarkable.
It creates space.
Space to breathe.
Space to think.
Space to ask the question most people avoid for decades:
Who am I becoming?
Sea Beyond is where that question finally gets answered.
And if my career pattern holds true…
Everyone will think it’s a strange idea for about five years.
Then ten years later they’ll say:
“Of course.
Why wouldn’t transformation happen at sea?”
And I’ll just smile.
Because by then…
I’ll already be working on the next weird idea. 🌊
