Russell Edwards is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with him. He impressed us with his skills and confidence.
He started his coaching journey in 2020 and till now he acquired a lot of tools and coaching skills.
However, as he says, learning is a life long process so he is always learning and improving with a mission to become the best life coach in the world.
His coaching is incorporating NLP and CBT as primary approaches to help his clients rewire their minds and reprogram to be a more positive and confident version of themselves. Here is what he said.
Meet Life Coach Russell Edwards:
Name: Russell Edwards
Pillar: The Spirit, The Mind
Who is this coach for: Anyone who wants to become their real self again, to reprogram into more positive, happy, and confident person.
How they can help: Through various tools and techniques like the empty chair technique, Shad Helmstetter’s positive self talk, CBT and NLP, just to name a few.
First of all, how are you and your family doing in these Pandemic times?
We’re all doing really well.
Times have been tough, but thankfully we’re all healthy and happy.
How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?
I was lucky because it didn’t really affect me.
I work exclusively online with my clients, so there were no obstacles.
What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?
To be more generous and kinder to people and to never again take for granted all the beauty in the world and all the freedoms that we have.
The pandemic was a wake up call.
Every time I am able to enter my gym now I am grateful, and being able to travel again is wonderful.
The Origin:
Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?
My life coaching career began in 2020.
That’s when I first began advertising and attracting clients.
For many years I was a special needs teacher, but in 2017 I decided on a change in career because I had always been very interested in psychology.
I became a mental health worker in a supported living scheme for adults with severe and enduring mental illness.
While there I gained great experience in the psychology of the human mind and received training to be a keyworker and conducted psychodynamic counselling sessions with key clients every week.
While working in this field I studied for qualifications in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Coaching and Mentoring, and Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP.
I also became a member of the Association for Coaching.
Once I had the qualifications and confidence to help people I decided to work for myself in private practice as a life coach.
What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?
My lack of self belief, self confidence, and anxiety.
Through discovering CBT I was able to overcome my own personal issues.
For years I lived in my (un) comfort zone simply because I didn’t believe that I had what it took to work for myself and to live the life that I wanted to live.
I was plagued by self doubt and terrible anxiety.
The Coaching Style:
How do you innovate with coaching your clients?
I use a combination of CBT and NLP.
I am also a great believer in teaching clients how to use self talk therapy and Gestalt.
I use a holistic approach that focuses on every aspect of a client’s life.
What’s unique about your coaching approach?
I focus only on specific issues.
These are: anxiety, low self esteem, confidence issues, career progression, and relationship difficulties.
My approach is unique because I have personally suffered for many years from anxiety, low self esteem, and confidence issues.
This means that I have experienced what my clients are experiencing and can totally relate to them.
I am also 100% confident that if I was able to heal myself, I am also able to heal my clients.
What benefits do your clients get after working with you?
They get to be the real them again.
Their mind will have been rewired with positivity and their self doubts and anxieties will have been replaced with more realistic, healthier and positive thoughts.
They will become happy and confident people who believe in themselves and are able to achieve their goals.
Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?
Yes, I use a combination of CBT and NLP.
For example, in CBT I use imagery and role plays.
In NLP I use anchoring, timelines and the Circle of Excellence.
The empty chair technique from Gestalt and Shad Helmstetter’s positive self talk are also tools that I use a lot.
The Impact:
If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?
Life coaching is a process that will never end for me.
I will never be the finished article because life to me is about constantly learning and being the best version of myself that I can be.
There is always more to learn and study.
This is what keeps me at the top of my game.
My aim is quite simple: to be one of the best life coaches in the world and to continue motivating people and helping them find happiness.
What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?
That you have to believe in yourself, and that the only person responsible for anything that happens in my life is me.
If you accept yourself, like yourself, and believe in yourself, you can achieve anything you want to achieve in life.
Being determined and never accepting defeat is also very important.
Your final thoughts?
Life coaching is the most fantastic job and I absolutely love it.
There is no better feeling than helping another person find the path to happiness.
I derive so much satisfaction from observing the transformation of my clients on their journey with me.
Where Can You Find Russell Edwards?
If you liked this interview and you would love to rewire your mind and reprogram to be the best version of your self, go to www.russellrkedwards.com and see how Russell can help you do that.
If you like to connect more personally with him, you can do that through LinkedIn and Facebook. It was an honor having this interview with him.