I love working, I’ve always loved working, but work began to take up all of my time. I decided that I was going to effectively restructure my career and to do that I felt like I had to work every hour of the day. I did that for a few years and it got to the point where I would work rather than see friends and family and life just became about work. I felt like I almost didn't want to socialise, and I’m Irish, socialising is what we do, but I just had no interest and I became a bit miserable. I knew something had to change.
I was having a magic week at work, everything was falling into place and I came home and I was like ‘this is so brilliant, everything is so good’ and then it just dawned on me that the ‘everything’ that I was talking about was actually just work. It was at that point I knew that I didn’t have as amazing life as I should have and I needed someone that was going to help me achieve a little bit more balance, so that evening I started looking up life coaches. I read Michael’s bio and immediately connected with it because it was so frank and to the point, I am quite direct so that is the kind of dialogue that I prefer. I’m also a little bit impatient so I wanted to see answers quite quickly so the no-bullshit approach is what I liked.
I emailed Michael to set up an initial consultation. With everything going so well at work, as good as I thought I felt walking in the door, it didn't even compare to the end of the meeting. I just felt lighter and automatically happier, but not from ego or adrenalin. As the sessions progressed, I found that more balance was coming into my life, I found that I wanted to spend more time with friends and family. I also began to be able to draw a line under work, so if I was having a bad day, I would still be able to enjoy my evening.
Now when my clients make requests, I’m considering it there in the moment rather than just saying ‘yes’. By doing that, I’m processing the implications quite quickly, they still get ‘yes’ but I know what’s involved in making that happen. My time frames are also more achievable and just that management with my clients alone has made my work life 100% better. I’m now more present when I’m with my friends and family because work is work and the time I spend with friends and family is just as important.
I immediately felt better after working with Michael and started to make better decisions, but after about 3-4 weeks the effects were really becoming apparent. I was actively changing my work life, I was making some very conscious decisions because I was in a different mind frame and nearly three and a half months later, my life is 100% changed. I was in a job where I thought I was happy, but the setup was something that just wasn't for me. Then within six weeks of working with him, I set about leaving the job I was in whilst maintaining important relationships from my previous company. I always wanted my own company and within those first few weeks with Michael, something just clicked and I was able to make that happen.
When I went to see him, I knew I needed to fix certain areas of my life and feel happier but I didn’t expect to feel almost constantly happy. I feel like I have more control in my life and like I'm back to me, but an even happier me.
I absolutely feel like I got a return from investment working with Michael. When I went to him, I couldn't afford him. I chose him because he told me he was the best and from the initial consultation I just had this feeling that it would work. It felt so worth it that the money was just a non-issue, and I realised that quite quickly because I don't think there is a price for feeling really amazing.
Michael as a coach really listens. If he asks you a question and you go off-topic, he’ll let you go off-topic but he’ll always bring it back to the reason you’re there so you’re always reaching your targets. He has an ability to maintain focus but in a very gentle and easy environment and that's what makes him really good. As a person he is a total softie, he’s so smiley and sweet and he really cares that you’re comfortable. I don't think he’s really as hard as he thinks he is.
Michael makes you remember that you are important and because of this, you approach your day-to-day life differently than you did before. I now feel like I’m making better decisions and I’m happier in doing what I’m doing day-to-day, whether that's working or being with family or friends, you do what's important to you. If you feel like your life could be more, or you could be more, that you need to be more ‘you’, then you need to go to him because he will see your potential and he will make sure that you achieve it.
If you feel that Michael is too straight or too harsh, curses too much or might be a bit too strong for you, then that's exactly why you should go and see him - you probably could use something different. He will definitely change your life.
Margaret McEnery
