Coaching What We Believe

Motivational speaker, Gary Johnson (Kosa Akaraiwe), is at the top of his game. He has loyal fans who are being transformed by his words, a thriving business with staff that care about him in a greater capacity than whether he is able to sign their paycheque, he's even got a little ~anonymous~ online romance going with a nice young lady (Linda Osifo); and, a la Tyler, the Creator (from an interview I know I saw but now can't find), his mum is good, his house is good, he's blessed. But in secret, Gary battles deep scars from his past that stop him from fully living out what he teaches.

The Life Coach poster © "The Life Coach" (2025) Diamond Plus Media.

Isn't is strange just how much our experiences shape us? It's crazy to me that I can know that something is good to do, but have to actively will my body into doing it; or that I can know something is not true, but continue to move like I believe it is, all because at some point in my life my subconscious created a system of beliefs based on what it was exposed to (has anyone seen Inside Out 2?! Perfection).

Gary Johnson is a man who knows what the 'correct' belief system is - he spends his entire life telling it to other people. Yet, it's going to take some breaking of patterns for him to get there himself. And that's hard. And uncomfortable. And scary. So it's easy not to.

But I believe that sometimes, the harder it is to get out of a rut, the more important it is that we do. You know how there's this thing where people who are therapists, or motivational speakers, even comedians seem to have some darkness they've gone through (or sadly, 'are going through') that allow them to do their jobs well? How they have tools because of their experiences to help others going through the same thing, or how they've had really bad experiences and so work hard to make sure no one else goes through that? I think all our lives work like that, whether we go into those professions or not. In the interconnectedness of the world, making it to the other side is a 'good' we are able to make out of awful situations - a good that multiplies.

I know I've circled patterns in my mind that make me want to disqualify myself from everything. Who cares what I think? Who's going to take time out of their day to read this? You're not loud enough. You don't take up enough space. You're not good enough. I often tell myself to push through in spite of those thoughts, and then I do, but just like Gary, sometimes doing that can make you feel like a fraud. It was supposed to be 'fake it till you make it' not 'fake it, and do that forever'.

But I'm learning that I need to replace those beliefs, not just take them with me. And to get rid of these thoughts that lurk in the dark, we need to bring them to light. That takes trusting other people with them, having other people truly see us. Surprisingly, negative beliefs lose their power when that happens. And then pushing through in spite of those thoughts does more than make people think we have it all together. It even does more than inspiring them to keep going, which helps them inspire others to keep going. When we show up despite the voices that tell us we don't deserve to, we give ourselves the opportunity to physically see that they're not true.

And now look! A new experience to build into our subconscious.

**The Life Coach was written and directed by Patricia Bebia, and is now showing in select cinemas. Click here for details.