LANRE OLUSHOLA @50!

Passionate about people and their welfare, Lanre Olushola was unaware of his God-given gift because it did not come to fruition until 14 years ago. As an avid Christian, he left his businesses behind and followed his calling and is today recognized as one of Africa’s leading Life Coaches. He is the founder and Chief Catalyst of the Olusola Lanre Coaching Academy. Lanre is renowned for his extensive array of works in coaching, publishing and keynote speaking. An alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Boston Massachusetts USA; Lanre’s advanced studies in Psychology, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Quantum Physics has led him to become an AAMET U.K. Certified Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Therapist. Confusing to the ear, what this simply means is that Lanre has created a path for a brighter and better future for those who seek an avenue to be the best they can be. FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI recently caught up with the catalyst who recently turned 50 What is a Life Coach?

A life coach is a partner that helps a client take a holistic view of their lives in the 12 critical areas of the human life: Health & wellbeing; purposeful living, achievement & success; contentment, peace & harmony; work, career or business; spirituality & security; energy & passion; self-worth, esteem, confidence & belief; fun, recreation & rest; friendships & networks; home & family, relationship or marriage and finally finances. A life coach empowers a client to unlock their potential, unlearn, learn, perform at their optimum and grow. So as a life coach, I am very passionate about and involved in my client’s life, progress and success.

You were a Civil Engineer and Entrepreneur who turned Life Coach, who or what made you decide to take this path?

yes, I studied Structural Engineering and ran a successful construction company along with seven other businesses (telecoms, fashion, sound systems, cable TV, interior decorating) for almost two decades.

I never imagined doing anything outside the eight successful businesses I was running, even though I had always been the guy that my friends (male and female) came to talk to about their personal challenges, I remember I would sit down listening to people for hours and helping them find solutions. So it wasn’t really a surprise one morning about 14 years ago when I was praying and God told me in these clear words “Go change for me one life, one mind at a time”. For months I kept on praying and seeking for clarity and God’s direction and then God revealed exactly what I needed to do, when, where and how to do it.

One of the directives I got was to shut down all my businesses and pursue professional degrees, diplomas and certifications in Coaching, Neuro Science, Psychology and Therapy. So over several years, I have done all these and more. I have studied at various institutions like the Coaching Academy UK, Stanford University USA, Harvard University, and Henley Business School Reading University UK, where I am currently pursuing a doctorate in Coaching and Behavioral Change Psychology.

Most people do not really believe talking to a ‘stanger’ will solve their issues. So who would you say needs a Life Coach?

I guess the question is really who doesn’t need a Life Coach? Because if you have a life and want to live an enriched, fulfilled, successful and extraordinary life, then you need a Life Coach. However to be specific, you need a Life Coach if; • You spend much of your time and energy doing things to please other people, and not really doing what you truly desire. • Your life feels small and stifling. • You want to get on at work but are not sure how

to progress. • You feel you have no choices in life but

you just turn up each day. • You feel you are at crossroads and don’t know

which road to take. • You want a new purpose and direction in life. • You want to manage your time really well and get more organized and focused to achieve excellence. • You want to get back on track after being derailed, distracted or feel back in control of your life • You want to build more fulfilling relationships at

home or at work. • You want to increase your confidence to be the

best that you can possibly be. • You know you want something different, but you

find it hard to say what the “different” is. • You spend more time focusing on what you don’t want, can’t have and if onlys, than you do on what you do want like when you are…confused, lost, unsure, unclear, perplexed, disoriented, and overwhelmed. In summary, you need a Life Coach when you want to become a better version of yourself, find harmony, peace, satisfaction and fulfilment in every aspect of your life. When you look back at your coaching history

with clients, what are the common issues or goals that they raise?

The most common issues are in the following categories; • Relationship/marriage/family; • Finance/money; • Work/career/business; • Health & Wellbeing; • Self-worth, Self-esteem and Confidence. Why are these issues are so prevalent in society?

Relationship/marriage/family issues are most prevalent because many people marry for the wrong reasons, many people are married to the wrong people, most people are ignorant about the fundamental principles of building and maintaining strong and happy relationships and marriages. A lot don’t know how important background differences, friendship, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, maturity and good communication are in relationships and marriages.

Finance/money issues are also centered on many people not understanding the purpose and principles of creating, maintaining and transferring wealth. For example, anyone can be rich but not everyone can be wealthy because not everyone understands that wealth is four-dimensional as follows; • Health, wellbeing and emotional intelligence. • Money i.e. cash flow; investments; assets; savings;

income; etc.) • Social influence; political and spiritual power. • Time and chance.

Everyone has the opportunity to become rich but not everyone has a wealthy mindset and knows how to become rich. Rich men and poor men have the same resources but only rich men translate the resources into money.

1. Some people will argue that a Life Coach is a Counselor/ Therapist can you tell us the difference?

A Life Coach is different from either a Counselor or Therapist. A counselor provides advise, assistance and guidance in resolving personal problems while a Life Coach helps you find your own answers and therefore helps you take responsibility to move from functional to optimal i.e supporting and empowering you to focus on and create a new life path in order to achieve your goals, whereas a therapist helps you move from dysfunctional to functional i.e by looking into your past to help you identify and resolve emotional issues and problems in order for you to move forward. In a country like Nigeria where most people don’t take such things as seeing a Therapist or Life Coach as important, what will you say to change the mind set OF such people and what will you say are the benefits of seeing one?

The truth of the matter is that, I don’t know anyone who does not want to progress and succeed in life.

So if we look at industries like sports, music, and the creative arts; the reason they excel and succeed in what they do is because they engage the services of Coaches.

I feel most fulfilled when someone comes in with a challenge that they think is insurmountable and by the end of the coaching session together we find a practical solution and create an execution plan that they actually believe will work, and then they go away and come back after execution rejoicing and ready to tackle the next challenge.

Bill Gates the richest man in the world said his greatest advice for anyone is to get a Life Coach. If Bill Gates with all his wealth has a Coach and recommends that everyone should get one, then this must have been a critical success factor for him. Now in developed countries, people in various industries are engaging the services of Coaches and if we as a nation want to be able to compete with the rest of the world, then we need to wake up and do the needful. One of which is to engage the services of trained, certified, professional and experienced Coaches. If one needs a Lawyer to defend one in a serious case, one would engage the services of a top Lawyer to increase one’s chances of winning the case right? In the same way, your life is the most important thing, if it fails, everything else fails; so get an excellent Life Coach to help you become all that you desire, deserve and are designed to be in life. Your business has really grown over the past few years. Was there ever a time when you worried about failure?

I’m grateful for resilience, doggedness and persistence, because these are qualities that every business person must have in order to succeed in Nigeria. Several times I have failed; several times I have faced challenges but that’s the essence of success. I believe that failure is simply feedback, failure is the gateway to success, and success is simply a numbers game. Success out-waits and out-performs failure. In my life and business I don’t see failure, I just see one less way to do something and I believe that if I learn from the feedback I’m getting, change my strategy and keep on pressing on, I will eventually achieve what I set out to achieve. What part of your work brings you the most joy?

I feel most fulfilled when someone comes in with a challenge that they think is insurmountable and by the end of the coaching session together we find a practical solution and create an execution plan that they actually believe will work, and then they go away and come back after execution rejoicing and ready to tackle the next challenge. You recently celebrated your 50th birthday; looking back will you have done anything different?

In all honesty I’m simply grateful for my life, family, friends, clients, work, staff, achievements and even all my challenges and failures because everything and everyone has contributed to who I am today. I have no regrets at all. So if I had an opportunity to do it again, I would do it the exact same way. For someone who is 50 you don’t look a day older than 40 what is the secret to looking this young and your wellbeing?

Find purpose, know and be thyself, live your own life, love God, love life, live life, forgive. Learn from, release and let go of the past, be emotionally and spiritually intelligent and most importantly, help others live their lives to the fullest. What inspires you? People’s life problems and challenges. If people were to describe yourself in three words what will they be? I AM THE CATALyST! When you are not being a Life Coach and hosting your own radio show, what else do you enjoy doing? I love spending time with my family, I love watching soccer, I’m an Arsenal and Real Madrid fan. I also love watching movies and TV series, I love reading and finally, I love working out. How will you describe your style? I will describe my personal style as classic comfy. Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to tow the same path as you? Get trained and certified with an experienced Life Coach and a certified local Life Coaching Academy. I strongly recommend the only Life Coaching Certification Academy that I know in West Africa, the Olusola Lanre Coaching Academy (OLCA). Over the last 10 years, we have trained and certified over 300 Life Coaches across Africa who are doing great things and incidentally, we have a Life Coaching certification class running from the 23rd to 29th of October. To register, call 08077077000 or email info@olcang.com Why should you travel abroad to get certified when you can get certified right here in Nigeria with us with same standard or even better? We have real Nigerian case studies and this is a very critical part of the practice of a Life Coach, understanding the culture, religion, tradition and environment of his/her clients.