Sam Williams Coaching
Mindset Coach
My Story
All my life I’ve felt some sort of restlesness. A feeling that this isn’t what my life should look like. A feeling that I was meant to be doing more, but I could never really put my finger on what it was. That feeling only grew stronger and stronger as I got older. And as I got older I became more restless and felt like time was now against me too.
The system we are brought up in tricks us into believing we are making our own choices, when in fact the very nature of what we are told to aspire to is getting us ready to become a useful working member of society. I was that person. From school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I went to university because that’s what all my friends were doing.
After my first year, I headed off to New Zealand for a month to visit friends who had taken a gap year. This is when I realised what I loved. I loved to travel. The sense of freedom and adventure was right up my street. This is what I needed to be doing more of. Not slaving away making someone else money.
Once I’d graduated, I put me dreams of becoming a traveller to one side and joined the workforce as any responsible person would do (although I had been working throughout my degree and since I was 14). The lack of fulfilment I was experiencing in that job, and in life was frightening. Literally going to work, to come home and rest to make sure I was ready and on top form for the next day of work. Surely there was more to life than this. I’d seen friends go off and start their ‘careers’ and seem happy with life. I, on the other hand would be procrastinating about what sort of job I’d like to do that would require the least amount of time doing so I could travel. Deep down I was under the illusion that I was going to win the lottery and the life I’d wanted would be handed to me. I was a foolish dreamer!
For years I worked in offices chasing the money, thinking that the more money I had, the more content I’d be. This was not the case. It was always travel. I really wanted to go, but deep down I was petrified to take the leap because it would involve not working and not earning an income.
In 2015 I took that leap and headed with my partner on a 3 month backpacking trip around the world. I was in my element. I felt light, happy, and without a care in the world. This sense of freedom and adventure was what life was about for me and finally I was living it and loving it. When we came back, I went back to my old job as I just needed to get back to earning money asap. It didn’t take long for the heavy, restlessness to return. The experience was like a drug, but my comedown this time was worse than the feeling I had before I’d been travelling. I needed to go again. Less than a year later we had booked a one way flight out to New Zealand with no expectations, just pure excitement. The experience was again truly amazing. There was no plan from one day to the next. Just look at the map, and rolling with it. Bliss.
6 months later we were back in the UK. I’d fallen back into old habits of chasing the money (as I'm sure you can tell by now, I was consumed by the need for money) and was thrilled to get a job in recruitment. The very nature of the job doesn’t align with me on the slightest. Targets, KPI’s and constant pressure became my life. I hated it. I hated it so much that I did something about it. I evaluated who I was and what aligned with me and it was back to the drawing board. I knew there would be an opportunity for me to rejoin the fire service (which I’d done for 8 years prior to going to New Zealand). Knowing that I enjoyed that, I rejoined and I’m still currently doing the role which I love.
I realised that helping others, adventure and money were three values that spoke to me. Now that I had my part time job as a firefighter, it was time to figure out what career would align with me and give me satisfaction. I reached the conclusion that teaching it was to be. It was a bold step for me to go back to university, but sometimes you need to go back a step to help elevate your life.
Now here I am, five years later as a primary school teacher and loving it. To ensure that I maintain a level of freedom in my life, I work as a supply teacher. This gives me the benefit of helping many children, as well as giving me the flexibility to live life on my own terms.
Given the type of person I am, I’m always looking to learn and grow. When I started dedicating time to self development (something I'd never bothered with in the past, regardless of how much I may have needed to), I came across life coaching. With no intention of signing up to any courses, I became hooked on the idea of coaching. The idea of enrolling on a course to help others, which will also helps myself was too great an opportunity. So now, I am also an internationally accredited life coach where I get to work with amazing people, who are looking to overcome mindset blocks that are holding them back, and to gain clarity on what the life they really want to lead looks like.
We all have the power in us to make the change so that we can live our dream life. The life you want IS out there and it CAN be achieved. You just need to peel back the layers and discover what it is you actually want and not what you think you should want. Life is too short to just work and feel disconnected from the real you. You owe it to yourself to live your best life. Don't let life pass you by!