Written by: Marc Singer, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In my previous article for Brainz Magazine, I spoke about how I was incarcerated for a crime I had not committed and how during that time, I tragically lost my entire family. Given what is called an IPP sentence, I was told that I would never be free again. However, thankfully I proved that to be incorrect and won my freedom after six years in prison.
Upon being released, however, I discovered an entirely new set of challenges ahead of me. I was faced with a landscape that had completely altered in the six years that had passed. I had no family, no home, no job, and no direction. I felt completely drained both emotionally and mentally and lost. Physically the traumatic events I had experienced had also taken a huge toll.
I needed to heal. Prior to going to prison, I had worked in sales for thirty-odd years; it was all I knew. But I also knew that I did not want to go back to the cut and thrust world of sales either. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to do something positive, something where I could give back and help people through my own personal experiences. But I had no idea where to start. I considered training as a counselor but soon discovered that wasn’t really for me.
It was when I decided to have grief counseling and then reiki and coaching that things really started to click. I went to reiki to try and help with the pain I had been left in following so much emotional stress and trauma. My energy was completely blocked. Emotionally I was numb. I had blocked out all the traumatic emotions and feelings to get through my ordeal and remain focused. The reiki helped me to shift those blocks.
It was at this point I shared with my grief counselor and reiki healer that I was looking into coaching as a career myself. I had been researching courses online and was considering enrolling in one of these coaching diplomas you see online for a couple of thousand pounds. I had no idea about any of it really and didn’t really know that these courses aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.
It was my counselor who said to me, ‘Marc, if you are serious about this, and want to make a career of it, then I recommend you find the best school out there. The cost will be high, but it will be worth it. She wasn’t wrong about the financial cost being high either! I decided to look on the ICF (International Coaching Federation) website for their recommendations and came across the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).
I read up on them, and what I read sounded amazing in comparison to all the other courses and schools I had researched. So, one day, on a cold, wet January morning, feeling utterly empty and lost, I took a leap of faith and went for it… And it turned out to be the best decision I have ever made in my life!
Upon enrolling, I started to learn about an entirely new and transformative philosophy and way of being. Set out over the course of a year, I would take part in three live modules, each three months apart, and held at a hotel in London. Each one is, held over an intensive weekend, Friday to Sunday, 8 am to 8 pm. In between these modules, we would learn and complete numerous assignments, practical assessments, as well as coaching peers. We were all assigned mentors and success coaches based in the US who would help steer us in the right direction. In short, the stuff I learned was utterly mind-blowing!
We learned about ten core disciplines, which, when practiced and subsequently lived and become, literally transform your life. And when you practice these disciplines daily, you cannot fail to be successful in whatever it is that you want to do. We learned about the six core influencing areas in life, which directly dictate how you show up at any given moment. And, more importantly, how you can optimize these.
It took me a while to learn, practice, and become a coach. After all, you don’t work as a coach. You become a coach! I specifically found it hard to master the second core discipline, and one of the key ones too; acceptance. Learning to not only fully accept others and everything around you, but accepting yourself too. This was not easy as I still had a lot of deep-set emotional and mental baggage I had yet to unpack. Lots of personal guilt around my losses and mental blocks around who I was and who I was becoming.
It wasn't easy to accept who I was and accept the parts of my character which were still aligned with my old self. I still had a way to go before I could fully master these disciplines. It was around the time of the 7th anniversary of my mother’s passing in December 2019 that something happened which opened those locked doors. I felt like I would never break free of these emotional and mental blocks when I had what I can only describe as a mini breakdown.
And everything just came flooding out! I cried nonstop for days. I revaluated everything and everyone in my life, and after about two weeks, over the Christmas period, I found myself at total and full acceptance of myself and everything I had been through. It's difficult to explain what happened, but it was an amazing release of pent of emotional and mental stress and trauma. And for the first time in my life, I felt complete.
That January, I started my live show and went full out to start building my business. I had reached the turning point I had been searching for. If the first one had come following my overdose and subsequent heart attack in prison, this was the second one. But then, we have many turning points throughout our lives. Yet on this occasion, things seemed very different.
I had been coaching, using the very specific process I had learned during my training but had up until that point struggled with imposter syndrome due to my own personal issues. I now felt free of those and able to really commit to practicing all ten core disciplines, fully, each day. And by God, what a change it has been since!! Life has completely transformed for me…
I now work with clients one to one, coaching them using the Core Energy Coaching process over a period of several months each, as they also learn how to become the very best versions of themselves also. I help them remove energy blocks such as fear, limiting beliefs, assumptions, and interpretations. And then partner with them as we work to optimize the six core influencing areas in their lives: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, physically, and environmentally.
And teach them how when one area of your life is not optimal, it depletes all areas. We use a specific structure and process which makes the general thoughts, feelings, and attitudes we all experience as humans tangible. Therefore, enabling you to literally choose how you show up at any given moment in your life. I help them to live life in the NOW!
Using an unbelievably amazing and accurate attitudinal assessment called the ELI Assessment, we can pinpoint exactly which areas of your life are not working for you and then work to optimize those areas with strategies and step-by-step plans. And although I work a process, which includes in my basic package nine one-to-one coaching sessions, the core body of work we do is essentially completed in between the sessions, as I assist and partner with them every step of the way.
The results are life-changing. I use a workbook with clients to help them imbed this new knowledge and way of being, and when they fully commit to the process and change, you simply cannot fail to make huge progress. Naturally, however, change doesn’t happen overnight. My story and journey are evidence of that. But when you have the tools in your armory to achieve complete and total fulfillment in your life, and you are determined to use them and get to that point, then without question, you will be successful.
And my passion and purpose now in life are to help as many people as I possibly can achieve that goal as quickly as possible. After all, if I can create that after all, I have been through using this amazing philosophy and way of being I now use, then anyone does the same! So, if you are ready to commit to the work needed to bring about permanent and consistent change and really learn how to become the very best version of yourself… then get in touch with me, and I will help you achieve that.
Marc Singer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Marc is a highly trained professional coach, a graduate of (IPEC) the institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching. After being badly bullied at school, Marc became involved in a gang full of violence and drugs. Although having enjoyed a great upbringing and from a loving family, he went off the rails. Having moved on from that life, he found himself in a situation one night that would change his life forever. Imprisoned for life for a crime he didn’t commit, he embarked upon an incredible journey of change. Tragically having lost all of his family whilst in prison, Marc found the strength to rebuild his life, secure his freedom, and build an amazing career. He now helps others create the life they desire and become the very best versions of themselves. Currently authoring his first book, his life story, he also coaches one-to-one in groups and does inspiring speaking arrangements motivating others to overcome their own barriers to success. In fact, he was recently invited back to the prison he was in, but this time not as an inmate but as a speaker. His story is unique, tragic, and shocking, but ultimately evidence that with the right mindset and approach to life, you really can achieve absolutely anything!
