James Davis is one of the coaches we found and we did a little interview with him. He impressed us with his wisdom and insight for the connection between body and mind. Here is what he said.

Meet Life Coach James Davis:

Name: James Davis
Pillar: The Body
Who is this coach for: Anyone who wants to get in better physical shape and boost their confidence.
How they can help: Physical training exercises, right nutrition and identity level change combined with emotional wellbeing.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these Pandemic times?

We’re doing great thank you.

I run our two businesses with my wife Claire, and our dog Lola… so the start of the pandemic was tough: our main business was luxury fitness holidays in Marbella and Ibiza, so we had the double whammy of losing our revenues pretty much overnight and having to refund a pretty well booked season.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?

There’s no doubt that a lot of people have struggled with the uncertainty of the situation, a feeling that their life choices were largely out of their hands.

A sense of isolation also has been a big thing for a lot of people. Of course we’re not immune to that either.

It’s a case of reaching out when you need support, of finding like minded virtual communities to be part of, and establishing a perception of control in your life to sooth those feelings of uncertainty.

What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?

That the human race is durable, and that necessity is the mother of invention.

The Origin:

Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?

From a young age I was fascinated by human behavior and what motivated it, so it was perhaps no surprise that I did my first degree in Social Psychology before completing a Masters in Applied Psychology, I guess this was my intro to coaching!

I actually worked for a short time with a boutique psychology consultancy but my other passion was writing and when an opportunity came up to join the legendary Ministry of Sound nightclub to be part of the launch team for a new magazine… It was a big leap of faith, but I believe in following your passions.

After various corporate roles I reminded myself of this, moving to Ibiza in 2011 to set up a new format of retreats: luxury hotel accommodation and food, addressing the mind as well as the body, and setting people up with the tools and knowledge for long term success.

Along that journey I’ve collected a whole load of experience and qualifications which make me uniquely placed to look at the holistic whole when working with clients.

Psychology, physical training, nutrition, hormones, emotional wellbeing and the interplay of all these elements.

What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?

I’ve had to overcome a lot of limiting beliefs to grow to the place where I am today.

You cannot be comfortable and grow, but often when I was younger I was both uncomfortable and unable to grow.

Realizing and accepting your limitations allows you to work on them.

I’ve been fortunate to have been put in situations where I’ve been outside my comfort zone and been forced to grow, for which I’m thankful.

Now it’s a positive choice for me and I’m always seeking to improve.

The Coaching Style:

How do you innovate with coaching your clients?

I’m a massive believer in healthy mind, healthy body and vice versa.

So often in the coaching world we see an emphasis on what I call the “external” factors: like workouts and diets..
or on the “internal”: mindset, emotions..
but rarely do approaches consider the individual as a whole with all these aspects.

This is what we do.

Here’s a really simple example, weight loss isn’t just about moving more and eating less. It’s about uncovering beliefs, self identity and aligning those with the client’s goals.

It’s about understanding their habits, their triggers, and working on those to build a model for a total lifestyle shift and sustainable success.

What’s unique about your coaching approach?

That we’re so much more than coaches!

People will have maybe a personal trainer or a gym membership, maybe follow a diet plan from a book, have a coach for confidence, see a hormone specialist for menopause… We blend all of this in one approach.

We have the knowledge of the body drawn from being personal trainers and working with thousands of clients, with a solid no fad nutritional approach, we’re hormone specialists, we understand the interplay of all these factors.

Then you add in the psychology, the coaching, the stress management tools, the NLP…

We have a huge tool box to draw on, and importantly it’s a tool box where we not only have vast experience but where we know how all the parts work together and impact each other.

I think that makes us pretty unique.

What benefits do your clients get after working with you?

Most clients come to us for physical transformation.

They’re looking to look or feel better, have more energy, lose some body fat, and we absolutely get amazing results for them.

However, what they all say is that biggest change for them is in their mindset and outlook.

They learn to overcome their own limiting beliefs, to foster a positive outlook on life, to become more confident, and confident too that they can sustain this for life, which is what we want.

We’ve had people change careers, get big promotions, do big things they’ve been waiting their whole life to do, because they now feel it’s possible, and that’s what we love.

Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?

We have our own app that schedules a full programme for our clients.

This means that they have accountability AND they don’t have to think too much… Every day they just need to check out what we’ve got set up for them, plus everything in there is on demand so they can do it when it suits them, which removes the “no time” excuse.

It’s a game changer, the feedback from clients is like they’re having us in their pockets.

The Impact:

If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?

Age is just a number, follow your dreams.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?

That you cannot out perform your self identity.

As Henry Ford said, “whether you think you can, or you can’t, you’re right.”

Your final thoughts?

Thank you for the opportunity of this interview, and if you’re reading this and it resonates with you, please get in touch.

Where You Can Find James Davis?

If you resonated with what James Davis shared in this interview you can find more about him and his work on his website themidlifementors.com. Or you can directly book a call here with him.

Make sure to check out his podcast where he goes in depth and shares his secrets on becoming a better self.

Feel free to go on their YouTube channel where you can listen to value nuggets and free lessons from their coaching, also you can find the testimonials from his clients. It was an honor to have this interview with this wonderful human being.