Andrzej Cichocki – Over coming yourself

 What kind of metamorphosis did you have to go through before you could start helping others?

To tell you the truth, what happened in my life turned my entire life upside down. One of the stages was to take helping others to a whole new level. The change that occurred in my life touched the key elements of my life: both business and my personal life. As it turned out, I cannot be happy by just being a simple family man or a businessman. Happiness comes with complete harmony in life between what you do and what you feel, so you must be consistent. Only when things are not going your way and you feel as if the whole world wants to give you a beat down, do you finally see the other aspects of life, not just work. Only then do you start to understand others, and this allows you to help them more effectively. It is my belief that rising and falling in life brings about change, and so it is in my case.

At what moment did you realize that being a life coach was your mission in life?

The longer I work with people, the more I can see that what I do is not just coaching. My work goes beyond this definition – it touches upon both mentoring and mental training. All this is truly a passion of mine. I discovered this back in 2002, but at that time, I still was not sure what to call it. Of course, back then I also did not have all the experience that I have now, which enables me to effectively help people. It is an incredible thing to witness people changing their lives and you having a tiny part to play in these changes

What is it that you do in your eyes?

What I do from my point of view is  a passion, a mission; and it is based on putting all my total concentration into helping others. If this is the order  in which one can describe it, it is also  a way for making money, but this is  the last thing on my mind.
Who is all this intended for?

What I do is meant for anyone who is looking to make changes. For anyone who does not feel comfortable with their current situation. For a few dozen years, I worked not only for large corporations, but also small and medium sized businesses. My life consists of  a culmination of experiences, both business related and personal. My life  is one of faith in the belief that change is always possible. For this reason,  I work with managers, top-managers, company owners, athletes, and entire teams, such as sales teams. But I also work with drug addicts and alcoholics. I work with prisoners who are going through their first conviction and with repeat offenders. I know all of us wish to be happy.
In what way do the things that  you do (being a life coach) affect your life as a teacher? What philosophy comes into play?

I have only one philosophy and one teacher. Jesus Christ is my teacher and his teachings do far more than philosophies. It is a way of life. In all honesty, I have many individuals present in my life who impart wisdom upon me, and this is truly a blessing. There are also many people to whom  I am the teacher, but no matter what, the things that I impart on others must be in accordance with my values.

Where do you get your strength and energy to help all these people?

My life gives me my energy. My life consists of God, family and life experience. Each of these elements reminds me that I am not alone, which means others should not be alone either.
What advice or “golden rule” would you like to pass on to others?

The advice I would like to give to other people would be to listen to your heart and follow its voice. Only then will your mind find the right path and solutions. Only using your mind is not enough and greatly limits your options.

Do you have a mentor from  whom you learn?

Yes, currently it is two of them. One is my leader, mentor or even spiritual coach; the other is my coach in my business life. I believe it is important to learn from the experiences of others. Contact with other people is the most enriching and life altering of experiences. For this reason, I recommend that people don’t only use this as a cure, but also a way to develop personally.
What in your eyes is the key to success?

In my eyes, the greatest key to success is failure. It is failure that gives us the most incentive to develop as an individual.  It is most important to have the strength to get up and dust yourself off instead  of just lying there and complaining. While lying down, it will still hurt. Pain passes only when you get back up

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