Coaches Council Episode 39: Own Your Story with Ahmad Imam

What are you doing to level up? Is there more that you want out of life? Is there this inkling inside of you that you've just settled for average? You look at where you want to be, something that you wanted to accomplish, something that was driven from inside, but you've just settled to be where you are.

Well, we're here to tell you that you don't have to stay there, doesn't.

Have to be that way.

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Everybody has a story. Just try and uncover the key moments, even going back to some of those painful moments that we all like to keep hidden and just not think about.

There's the pain of fear and there's the pain of regret. And the pain of fear is much lighter to carry than the Pain of regret. This is the Coaches Council made up of six elite coaches dedicated to serving and ending personal struggle for high performers in business, health and relationships. As a collective, we have built and helped build six, seven and eight figure businesses, dominate in multiple industries, coached and played in professional sports leagues, and developed some of the strongest and most intimate relationships, both professional and personal. This isn't your average podcast. It's for the hungry, the dedicated, the doers, for those that have a dream and truly want that dream to become reality. People who want to take action, leave their ego at the door and own every level of their life. If that's you, then step into the coach of counsel as we rewrite the truths to living that high performance life. Welcome back to another week of the Coaches Council. And guys, I can't tell you, I am so excited to do this even though I am solo today. The rest of the coaches are taking a much needed vacation, holding down the fort, but I have a amazing guest that is going to provide nothing but value for you guys today in which you're going to be able to really take those tactics and tangible action steps and put into play. Because as we always talk about, if you're not taking action, you're simply a collector of information. And a collector of information has never done anything special, has never done anything great, and has never changed their life the way that they truly want to. So with that, today we have Ahmad, Imam and Ahmed. Ahmad's a sales extraordinaire, LinkedIn personality speaker, but more than anything has been in the rooms with some of the biggest names out there in the self development space from your Tony Robbins to your Gary Vaynerchuk. And I think what has been so impressive in learning about you is the way in which you focus on strong intentional relationships with an absolute knockout content, structure and presentation of yourself that's been able to relate with to the audience in a very unique way. And Ahmad, I would love to know where you started and where you truly learned that from and how you came to grow this audience of over 700,000 on LinkedIn and be this influencer in a space that has become so cestful, if you will, like a cesspool in a lot of ways that social media has become and kind of how you've gotten here.

First of all, that was a brilliant introduction. Thank you so much. I'm always so humbled when someone just nails parts of you and especially, especially things that you wanted to convey to the audience. So when you speak about words like intention and being intentional, that's Absolutely something I stand for, you know, and everything I do, especially in my content, is intentional. It's purposeful, there's a reason behind it and there's absolutely an intention behind it. So thank you very much for having me on. To answer your question, I am probably the most unconventional influencer, if you want to use that term, that there probably is. I didn't set out to become influential. I didn't set out to achieve what I've achieved to date. I didn't set out to build a following like I've built. But it's amazing how growth works and how you naturally evolve and end up on a path that is probably a lot more aligned than what you're on previously. So to make a long story short, I, for most of my career was in sales. And I wanted to climb that sales career ladder. And so I did everything from start off being in a call center doing cold calling to door to door knocking and disturbing people while they were having dinner at night, through to sales management, sales leadership, and just wanted to climb that ladder because for me back in the day, it was all about status and ego.

And you know, the higher I would.

Climb, surely the more happier I would be. And it's simply not the case. It's a whole bunch of bs. You know, once I switched from being ego driven to more values driven and purpose driven is really where everything shifted and changed for me, you know, and I think that's, that's a big lesson there because switching from ego to values is switching to be more aligned with who you truly are. You know, you're dropping that mask, you're removing that facade and you're just allowing people to see you for who you are and you're sharing your story for what it is. So for me, it was just understanding exactly who I was and building up the confidence and courage that I needed to actually then share that with the world. And that's me making a long story.

Short, Ahmad, what was the catalyst that started that you use words like aligned and ego and status and value driven? What was the catalyst that changed your mindset or changed the way that you were showing up from that ego status driven individual to being able to be awoken to what this values driven system really truly meant?

I actually had an incredible conversation with a business coach probably about 18 months ago. And up until that point, and you can even see the switch in content, up until that point, I was really just posting for the sake of posting. There was nothing intentional behind it, There was nothing purposeful behind it. I was just really posting for the sake of posting.

And I had an incredible conversation with.

This business coach who had me think a lot deeper. More around values, more around intention, more around uncovering my story and using my story to empower myself and be able to tell it in such a way that it empowers others. That, for me, was the absolute catalyst. And that's also the moment where my message started to spread far and wide. My following started to increase exponentially. I really started to embrace who I was instead of trying to live according to how other people wanted me to live.

And the thing is, it not only.

Switched me and changed me in terms of my content, just life in general and my philosophy about life.

Now you talk about this story that you're owning, now that you're stepping up and truly saying, this is my story, I'm proud of it. It's gotten me to where I am. It is what my message is. How did you. I'm sure there's a lot of listeners out there that are like, yes, I know I have a story too, but I don't know what it is. Why does anybody care about my story? What makes me different than anybody else? What is it that allows you to create the clarity on your story? How did you get so clear on what your story and messaging truly was?

You actually start off by having to.

Relive a lot of your life and.

Especially some of the painful moments, some of the good moments, and uncovering a bit of a theme, you know. So to your listeners and to your point, a story doesn't have to be a sob story or a sad story.

Or you have to have a pain.

Point or a hurt point.

It doesn't have to be.

But if you just look back on the key moments of your life from childhood to present, I guarantee you that the person that you are now is shaped by your experience throughout life, both good and bad.

You know, and for me, I relived.

Some earlier moments of my life throughout my childhood that I've been hiding for a very, very long time and almost ashamed to speak about it. Well, I was ashamed to speak about it. It's the reason that I.

In my.

Late teens, was super low in terms of my confidence, had very low self esteem, very, very low self worth. I had a very unhealthy opinion of myself. And that is, I was bullied for a long part of my childhood from pretty much age 5 to 15. And that's a long story again. But essentially I was an immigrant. My family immigrated here. And when I say here, I mean Australia From Egypt to Australia. I look different, I sounded different. And as a result, I was bullied quite heavily. And that lasted a long time. And when you're at that age, it's an age where you're starting to form an opinion of yourself and the world around you. And, you know, I formed a very negative opinion as a result of the experiences that I had, and it led me down a very dark and deep hole that I had to climb out of. So for me, it was taking it back to that and understanding why potentially I went through that, what I actually learned from that. Because I truly believe every single thing.

That we go through, we have the.

Opportunity to grow through.

You know, if we really just uncover.

The meaning behind that, there's a reason that we went through the things that.

We did, good or bad, you know, and it's not something that we understand.

At the time, but it's something that you can certainly look back in hindsight and say, you know what? I get it now.

You know, that's why I experienced that. So to that point, my journey for the last 15 years or so, I'd say 15, 20 years, has been building myself up. It's been about self improvement, self development, literally starting from scratch. And that is why today I'm so passionate about self improvement. I'm so blessed to be, you know, an ambassador for a business that, you know, really does focus on self improvement and educating others and empowering others. But for me, it was a very real journey. It was a very real journey of building up my confidence, building up my courage, building up my ability to speak, building up my ability to communicate. I mean, I was literally just a very shy, awkward kid that over the course of 15, 20 years, just consistently put himself out of his comfort zone and faced his fears. And in order to grow and to develop into the person that I am, it was a long journey. But everybody has a story. Just try and uncover the key moments, even going back to some of those painful moments that we all like to keep hidden and just not think about and jot that story down, you know, actually write it down, actually document some of those key moments. And you'll find over the course of the 15, 20, 30, 35 years, however old you are, that there is going to be a common theme there. And that common theme is who you are and what you stand for, how you've lived your life to date, and what's important to you. What's important to you, and what you stand for is essentially your story. You know, so once you know that, you can Then dive deeper and try to understand your values. Because of what I experienced, I learned through that process of working with a business coach that my core value was actually kindness. You know, I truly believe in kindness. I've got a mission to make the world a kinder place, as ambitious and audacious as that sounds. And I wouldn't be on that mission if I was treated kindly, you know, so that's the reason I went through that, because I am now actually helping serve people by making the world a kinder place and instilling kindness by being kind to yourself and kind to others, because I certainly wasn't kind to myself. And I'm also in the opportunity now where I'm able to help people with their confidence and help boost confidence in others and give them an understanding as to how they can do that. And again, I wouldn't be on that mission had I not experienced the things that I did. So the things that we go through, signs from the universe that let us know how we can actually best serve others. And that's something to think about, you know, because if you're doing something right now that you know you're not aligned with, you know, if you're doing something right now that just seems that you're just. You're doing for the sake of doing or you're doing to pay the bills, just give it some thought, you know, because I guarantee you that you're on this planet for a reason. Every single person is. And your life to date is a catalyst for that, if I can borrow that word that you used earlier. So, I mean, that's the importance of a story. And I truly believe everyone has one, and there is value in everybody's story.

You bring up a lot of things. I mean, it's so apparent that you. You've been around Gary Vee and the Dean Graziosis and the Tony Robbins, because turning. Turning your mess into a message and really understand and really, truly owning your story, owning who you are, being comfortable in your own skin, stepping up to what it is that you've been put on this earth for. And I know Gary talks about kindness all the time. Kindness, empathy, gratitude, they all come from a very unique place. And there's something I heard the other day that really opened up my eyes. Oprah was giving a speech, and she said, think about it for a moment. And I know that Tony Robbins speaks about this as well all the time, but think about it for a moment, that whatever job you're in, whatever space you're in, wherever you are in life, Right now. And if you don't like it, if you're growing tired of it, if you're feeling burnt out, instead of thinking about what job you have to do or what you're there for, thinking how you can improve your service, thinking how you can serve somebody else, doing the same job you're doing right now, whether you're a clerk, whether you're a janitor, whether you're a CEO, whether you're an executive, whether you're an entrepreneur, no matter what you're doing, think about how you can serve at a higher level. And all of a sudden, your viewpoint, your vantage point, your thought, opinion, what you think is going to change your state of mind and your state of being for how you show up in that thing that you did not like doing. Because all of a sudden it does not come about yourself, it becomes about serving others. And that is why we were put here, was to serve. And the moment that we surround people with that servant, that, that grateful servant, that we have a saying here, it's the heart of a. The mind of a warrior, but the heart of a servant, because we will do whatever it takes to win, but in doing so, serving everybody else, Wow.

I love that. I love that. And look, you absolutely nailed it. It's in a service to others that we truly find ourselves. And a lot of the time we get caught up with the distractions, with the ego, with the status, with the title, and we kind of lose sight of that. But once you do take it back to just that very, very simple approach in service to others, it's not only an incredibly rewarding feeling, but you truly do find what it is that you're supposed to be doing, you know, and I love that you mentioned. Can you repeat that? Is it the minds of a warrior and the heart of a servant?

The mind of a warrior, heart of a servant.

I just.

I just love that.

And that's, and that's my approach.

So, I mean, right now, I mean, I'm going to take this to the next level, you know, like, whatever it is that I'm doing, I'm going to absolutely take it to the next level. And you know, right now I just feel unstoppable just because of the mindset that I've put myself in, but at the same time, I'm just approaching this with complete humility and kindness, you know, and. And I just feel it's, it's the perfect combination, you know, because we've. We've almost be conditioned, we've almost been conditioned, almost like, like the Wall street days where in order to climb to the top, you have to step on people, you have to stab people in the back. You know, in order for us to rise, someone else has to be, you know, lowered, and it's just not the case. You know, there's, there's, there's an absolute way to climb the ladder. If you want to use those words and serve others at the same time, you know, even help lift your competitors up. There's an absolute way to do that. And yet, look to the point earlier about kindness. It's very, very important that whatever values that you want to drive and spread in terms of your message, that it's a real value, you know, because I know there are some people that speak about kindness, for example, and that's not congruent with who they really are, you know, and, and that'll show, and that'll be transparent. Make sure that if you're going to speak about your values, there's a very real reason and story and direction behind that, you know, and, and for me, there absolutely, absolutely is. Because if there is, then you can speak about it with conviction. If there isn't, it can actually sound a little bit fluffy on social media and, and there's no substance behind it. But if you're aligned with your values, you can absolutely speak with conviction. But to your point, I just love that phrase. I'm actually going to write that down and I might steal it, but credit to you.

I mean, I'm sure I didn't create happened with someone before me. So everything, like you said, everything in this world is cyclical. And I mean, we're, we're all knowledge brokers to a certain extent. We all extend ourselves, everything in what we do. The moment we're put on this earth to the moment we leave. We're all collecting data, we're all collecting knowledge, we're all collecting intel. And it's up to us to depend on how we use it. We all have so much knowledge to do whatever it is that we want with. I mean, Warren Buffett says knowledge is power. Before he invests in a compass company, before he knows a company, buys a company, he knows more about that company than their CEO. Imagine that. Imagine that for a second. He knows more about the company than the CEO, because if he's going to invest in it, that means that he wants to have the knowledge because he now has the power. I think a lot of times in our lives we become so conditioned to relying on everybody else to have the answers and everybody else to show up for us that we forget that if we want to change our scenario, if we want to change our situation, if we want to level ourselves up, there's only one person. There's only one person that matters and it's us.

Yeah, you have to get to a stage where you just put all the BS aside, you know? You know, and all that BS that we feed ourselves and we do it daily, multiple times daily. We feed ourselves excuses, we justify things. You know, there's reasons that we haven't accomplished something or reason that we're not trying to go for a certain goal and achieve our dreams, and we feed ourselves that bs. And that moment that you just stop and you say, you know what? Enough. You know, I'm not. I'm not believing there's a BS anymore. There's only. There's only one way I'm going to be able to shift and change, and that's if I do something drastically different and I put myself in a position that's very, very uncomfortable so I can grow through it. And that's really all it is. You know, I like to say that there's just two steps to success, you know, number one, you surround yourself with a lot of people that inspire you, that you admire, people that you can seriously learn from. And then step two is just to spend a lot of time with those people, you know, and. And that's going to put you in a position that is often uncomfortable. But the idea is that you grow through it. You grow through mistakes, you go. You grow through failures, you grow through discomfort. That's just the reality of life. And the more we can put ourselves in a position, the faster we can actually expedite that journey.

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This is where the warrior side comes out, right? And this is where you almost don't take no for an answer or you at least try to create the opportunities if it is a no. And that's something that I've created as a habit. You know, if, if I've set my mind on something, I'm just going to go for it. And a lot of the time we, we don't go for things because we assume that the answer is just going to be no. Reach out to these mentors, you know, get in contact with them by any means. And there's usually ways to get in contact with anybody if you're persistent and you persevere enough, you know, and I don't mean stalking and I don't mean just showing up at their house. Please don't do, please don't do that. What I'm suggesting is just think of clever ways that you can add value to a potential mentor as opposed to just thinking about yourself and go about adding value when serving that person in the hope that you can then learn from them. And that's how it works. Look, I've just, I've approached personally approached every single mentor in my life and I don't have one. I've got plenty. I've got a mentor nearly for every single situation. You know, whether it's a financial mentor or a mentor that helps me with growth and self improvement, or a mentor that's just been married for a long time and teaches me about relationships. I've approached all these people personally and believe me, throughout the process I've received a lot of no's, I've received a lot of rejection, but I was persistent and I wasn't afraid to hear a no throughout the process. And so just go for it. I mean, and I know that sounds cliche, but identify people that you truly admire, people that you would absolutely love to be around and spend time with, people that you know can learn, that they can learn something from that will actually take you to that next level and think of a clever way that you can add value to that person's life or business, you know, and that's how you approach it. And once you've built that trust is what is when you can then ask for them to be your mentor. And you do literally just ask. You know, you say, you say, look, I truly admire what you've done and I would love to learn from you. If we can maybe spare just 15 minutes once a month, I would love to be able to learn your story and learn from what you've done. When you approach it with absolute humility, and again, you're adding value to them in some way and think about what that might look like. It can be small, it can be big. Often when you ask that question, it's a yes. You know, unless the person, unless the person is incredibly rude, disingenuous, or they might generally not have time. But when you approach it from that perspective in terms of trying to serve them, you'll be surprised with the answer. And that's been my approach. And every single mentor I've had has taken me that step further, has literally allowed me to climb a step on the staircase. And every single time you climb a step, you have a different perspective and you have a different goal and you have a different value set. So I mean, I've just been going through that process meticulously for especially the last few years, learning as much as I can and just listening, absorbing and approaching it with humility. So I Mean, just approach it like a warrior. You know that regardless of what you hear back, whether it's a no, whether it's a never, that you don't care that you're going to keep going, that you're going to make sure that you surround yourself with some incredible people. And that's just the only answer, guys.

I don't want you to miss out on something key that he said there and one was clarity. Was. There is clarity of who you're reaching out to. There is clarity of why you're reaching out to them. There is a vision and a mission and a purpose and another story here, because I love telling stories. Everybody knows that by now. But there was the pilot for.

A.

Big investment Baker, Mr. Buffett came up to him during a flight and he said, Mr. Buffett, kind of like exactly like Ahmad said, would you mentor me to be as successful as you? He's been flying them around for about eight years, and he just kind of had the courage to come up and say it. He goes, absolutely. He goes, I want you to come to me with, with the 20 things, 20 goals that you would like to accomplish. He goes, okay, sounds great, Mr. Buffett. I will do that. So he flew him to where he was needing to go. He kind of stayed there, he hung out. He came back on the flight, return flight, and he showed him his 20 list, and he goes, this is what I'd love to accomplish. He goes, fantastic. Those are amazing. Circle your top five. So he goes, okay, Mr. Buffett, sounds great. He went around, he started circling them and came back with his top five. He goes, fantastic. Now, I want you to promise me, promise me that you will never, ever, ever think of those other 15 ever again. And those five become what you put all your time, your energy and focus into. And just like Ahmad said, you end up knowing where you want to go. You end up having this clear vision of who you want to surround yourself. Know to a T. When you see somebody on stage, when you see somebody on social media, when you see somebody write articles, when you see somebody put content out books, whatever it may be, you should know to a T that this is somebody I want to surround myself with. And it doesn't need to be any type of sage other than you having absolute clarity on what that person looks like, smells like, tastes like, sounds like the message they're giving off. Because that is going to be what allows you to do what Ahmad said is surround yourself with those people and spend time with them.

And I'll give you some examples and very well said. I've got people that I'm mentoring now that I started to mentor now that have been following my journey for the last two years, as in literally nearly every single speaking arrangement, every single podcast, every single webinar live event, they've either attended, listened to, or been part of every single thing, and slowly built a relationship with me over the course of that two years, to the point where it was almost organic that I was then mentoring them. Right. That is having a clear vision. I'll give you another story, my story. I told you I was a very shy, awkward kid. I told you I was in the pits. The turning point for me was actually when I was working at a pizza place. I was about. I was about 18 years old. It was one of my first jobs. I was working at a pizza place, just literally making pizzas and washing dishes. And, you know, I was still that shy, awkward kid. And my boss at the time was a serial entrepreneur that really saw something in me that I certainly didn't see in myself. And I was there for a couple of years and he became a bit of a mentor to me. And I, I really looked up to him for a lot of the things that he was doing for me and teaching me. But at the time that I was leaving that pizza place because it was time to move on, he gifted me this 24 disc CD set and I had no idea what it was. And he gave me this little book that came with it was this little yellow book. And at the top of the book it said Anthony Robbins. And I had no idea who this guy was. You know, he looks like a kind of, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger feels an accountant, you know, and back in the day he had the suspenders and he had that button up white shirt and a tie and everything else, but I had not touched Self Improvement. I didn't even know what that was. But I went home, I put on that very first cd, and as soon as I heard his voice, and we all know Tony's voice, it changed me. And I knew from that moment that this is something that I had to be a part of. Fast forward almost 20 years now, and I'm now in a position where I'm working with a business as the ambassador for that business and representing people like Tony Robbins. It's just, it's incredible. So I almost feel like I've gone full circle. Sometimes it takes time, you know, but if you do have that vision and you've got the mindset that it's, it's non negotiable, it's going to happen, you know, I've just got to put in the work and be clever enough to make sure to execute it. It's absolutely possible, you know, and I truly believe that we're only limited if we don't have that belief in ourselves. And so have that belief in yourself and know that it's not going to happen quickly, especially if it's someone that is almost impossible to reach. But it's absolutely possible, you know. So I hope that that message conveys to your audience.

No, I mean that's. It's so important to have that clarity and have that vision, as you mentioned, because I mean, that story, it gave me goosebumps where 20 years ago you've got this CD series that you're listening to and now you're the one dictating who goes where and where he goes and who comes in. And you're working hand in hand, theoretically with him in one way, shape or form or another. And it goes to show, guys, that when you have this vision, this mission, you put the work in and it goes back to what we talked about before. You're taking action on the information that you are receiving. You're taking action on the advice you're getting from your mentors. You're taking action on the content that you're taking in. You're not just collecting it, because otherwise you just simply become a collector of information. And you're in the same place over and over and over again, year after year after year, saying, if only I could get there. When in actuality you have every single thing that you need to be successful in you right now, no matter where you are, you could be homeless, you could be in a mansion in the most expensive city in the world. I do not care. But you, where you are as you are, have everything you need in order to succeed.

I love the way you think and of course I couldn't agree more. And to your point about being a collector of information, I love that you're reinforcing that because it's so easy to get into that habit. And especially when you get involved in the self improvement world and self development world and everyone tells you to read and absorb information and listen to podcasts. It's great. You know, if you read one book and one book a week, it's brilliant. You'll learn a lot. But if you're not executing or implementing anything that you've learned in that book.

So what.

What difference, what difference is it going to make? You're going to forget that information in A couple of weeks time, as you, as you start reading a new book, and then you just start being, as you say, a collector of information, you know, but if you can. If you can pick up even just one book a month, implement just one thing in that book into your real life, the impact that that's going to make and the way that's going to compound over time is just incredible, you know? So I do love that you're reinforcing that point because it's an important one. It's all in the execution.

Fear not the man that practices 100 kicks one time, but fear the man that practices one kick a hundred times.

Yeah, exactly right. Love that.

And so you're exactly right. The more that you can focus on an item and getting clear on what that is and taking action on it, that is what becomes so important. I wanted to go, I know we've kind of gone off here and it's been awesome, but you talked about courage and you talked about confidence, and everything we've just talked about really falls on that being courageous enough to get outside of your comfort zone. And you know what? Accept that somebody might say no to you. Accept that you're going to fail. It's not if. Because if you take action, it's when, guys, it's when you're going to fail. But what are you going to do with that? And it takes courage and confidence to do that. So I'm curious, what are some things that you've done that have helped to continue bolster that courage and that confidence within you to continue to take those strides, knowing that the road is not easy, but it's simple.

Yeah. And look, courage is the foundation. You know, it's the absolute foundation. I talk a lot about courage, I talk a lot about confidence, but you actually can't have confidence without first having courage. And courage is one of those things that. It's almost a skill set. You have to work on it. And there are practical things that you can do to actually build your courage and sustain your courage over time. You know, so. So, for example, the process that I went through was learning that every time I was fearful of something or terrified of something, like public speaking, that was a message from the universe letting me know that that's something that I can actually grow through. Right. Like if I go on that path and actually try to overcome that, I'll absolutely grow through it. And if you think about all the things that we're fearful of, excluding maybe spiders, which is. Which is a fear of mine that I'll probably Never get over. But all those things that we're fearful of are messages from us that letting us know which path that we should be taking. And it's really the process of. And I know this sounds cliche, but the reason it's cliche is because so many people have reinforced it, because it's important is really jumping out of your comfort zone, gravitating towards those things that really do terrify you, and just trying to do one small thing with that in a process to overcome that over time. Public speaking for me, was a big one. I was terrified of public speaking because, like I said, I had a very low opinion of myself. I was terrified of being judged and what people would think. And over the course of 15 years, I refined that craft, right? And I'm talking about everything from, you know, looking in the mirror and rehearsing speeches.

I.

Over and over and over again, to listening to. Listening to myself over and over again on recordings, trying to understand the way to express myself, you know, what messages I should really be delivering better, and then also taking any opportunity I could to speak. You know, when I started off and when I was learning and going through this process of building my courage to be able to approach public speaking, I. I would volunteer to emcee your friend's wedding. I would volunteer to do sales presentations. I would volunteer to speak at any opportunity, despite being terrified of it, despite knowing that the odds are I'm going to fail at this and I'm going to embarrass myself. And believe me, that's happened many times. Despite that, going through it, knowing I can grow through it, and that's what I did. I literally, over the course of the last 15 to 20 years, just put myself in those positions where I challenged myself and terrified myself. And. And believe me, there were moments where I was crapping my pants. That's how scared I was of it. But looking back now, I could not be more proud of taking that journey and putting myself through that crap, because they were very, very uncomfortable moments for years. And I am now more truly confident than I ever have been, purely because it started with courage, you know, so courage is the foundation. You build your courage, you put yourself in positions that challenge you, you will build that confidence. And confidence again is a skill set. It's a skill set that you receive by accomplishing things and doing that consistently and earning that credibility with yourself. But it starts with courage.

Ahmad. You hit the nail on the head where you're building credibility with yourself, guys. And do not miss the fact that he attached A positive emotion to the fear that he had. He attached a positive emotion to what he was going to get as a result of addressing it. With his fear of stepping on stage in public speaking. Well, now he's able to do it and he's able to make a career and a living doing certain aspects in that nature. Being able to step on stage and talk to somebody to give his message that is going to help and empower other people. Something that is not just a part of what he does now, but it's his duty because he has an amazing message for everybody and he's now able to bless us all with that because he led with courage. He led aspiring for something greater. So whatever that fear is, whatever that thing that's itching at you on the inside, that's holding you back, attach a positive emotion to what the outcome is going to be. Because there's only two types of pain. There's the pain of fear and there's the pain of regret. And the pain of fear is much lighter to carry than the pain of regret.

That's so very true. And that's unfortunately something you can only figure out in hindsight and you don't want to figure that out. But yeah, take our word for it, the pain of fear is much lighter. And the other thing I will say is that we all have a bad habit as human beings of overthinking things and making things out to be far worse than they truly are. You know, and when you actually go through something that you were terrified of or something that you've been putting up for a long time, and we've all been through it, once we accomplish it, you know, we're always like, you know what? It actually wasn't that bad. God, I wish I'd done it sooner. And that's that really applies to a lot of things within growth and within self improvement. So the sooner you start, the better. The sooner you fail, the better, because you're going to grow through that.

Ahmad, this has been amazing. I mean, so many takeaways for the listeners, so many things to take action on immediately, to change the space in which you're at now. And I know that this is the type of content you put out all the time. This is really what your message is, what your mission is, especially spreading kindness, spreading optimism. Where can listeners find you? Where can people engage with you? What's the best place for them to do that?

Yeah, I appreciate that. So you can find me at the Ahmad Imam. That's the Ahmad imam. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm on Instagram, I'm on Facebook, I'm very active on social. So reach out to me. I'd love to chat to you. I'm on a very clear mission. My mission is to help a million people destroy their doubt and build the confidence and courage they need to build to live their best lives. And everything revolves around that mission. My audacious mission to add to that is to help make the world a kinder place. So if you resonate with any of those two things, send me a message. I'd love to chat to you.

Amazing. Absolutely awesome, guys. Own your story. Know your values. Know where you come from. Know that what you've gone through is. Is the universe's way of telling you what that mission is. Every single thing we go through is life giving you signs so that you can take action. We were meant not to struggle, but to live vibrant lives. And every single thing we go through is a sign. Every single thing we experience is a sign. But oftentimes we just need to take a step back. We need to allow ourselves the white space. And we need to be able to look at that and say, this is what I'm supposed to do. Know your story. Own that. Lead with courage, lead with confidence. Surround yourself with those who inspire you, those you can learn from and spend time with them. Invest the time, because at the end of the day, it's going to pay off in a massive way. So with that, guys, stay hungry, stay humble and we'll see you next week. Thank you so much for joining us for another week of the coaches council. If it wasn't for you viewers and listeners, we wouldn't have a platform. So again, it's all about you guys and we want to give you a reward just for listening. We want to give you access to each one of our coaches for a little bit deeper, intimate experience. So if you go to coaches-counsel.com coach coaches-counsel.com subscribe and like to whatever platform you're viewing on. You're going to be entered to have that one on one experience. So be sure to go coaches-counsel.com and really interact with us because we would love to interact with you. Until then, stay safe, stay hungry, stay humble and thanks for listening. Interact with us because we would love to interact with you. Until then, stay safe, stay hungry, stay humble and thanks for listening.