Alison Thompson

My Story and Why I Became A Life Coach, Writer and Speaker

Have you ever had a time in your life when nothing seems to go right? Lissa Rankin M.D. (author of "Mind Over Medicine") refers to it as the "perfect storm" - the time when anything that could go wrong does go wrong - and for me my perfect storm began around 2001. It was a series of events, which included gestational diabetes, an emergency caesarean, a back injury when my son was only 8 months old (which meant I was in excruciating pain for almost six months because I refused to undergo the surgery recommended to me), post-natal depression (which saw me blow out to 85kgs) and ultimately a relationship breakdown which left me a single mother when my son was not yet three. At that time I was working from home and spent many days crying from sun up to sun down. Although I had lost most of the weight, I was still lonely and miserable.

One day I came home and on my door step was a CD with a note from a friend saying "I think you might need this." It was an Anthony Robbins CD and whilst on a road trip to country Victoria, visiting work clients, I listened intently and something clicked inside of me. Everything started to make sense and I realised that life didn't have to be this way. It was the first of many "aha" moments. I rang my friend to borrow the rest of the CD collection and continued to listen and watch everything I could get my hands on. It took me about 18 months before I attended my first live event - Unleash The Power Within but it opened a whole new world for me, one where it didn't matter if I was a little out there and crazy. I could let myself go and no one would judge me.

I walked on hot coals and planted the metaphor of my life - "If I can walk on fire, I can do anything." I went on to attend Anthony Robbins Mastery University and my fascination for the way we can sculpt the mind to make change was sparked again. (In my twenties, as a young music teacher, I decided that I wanted to study psychology but my father died and the end seemed so far away that I gave up just seven units shy of completing the undergraduate degree.) Inspired to share my new found knowledge I decided to study to be a Life Coach but again I did not finish the course. I also designed the "My Virtual Life Coach" website but due to a set back with someone I was working with I gave up on that too. Can you see a pattern emerging here? Although I had a lot of knowledge I wasn't always applying it on myself. I didn't realise it at the time but I had a deep seeded fear of failure and high need for love. I believed that if I failed then nobody would love me but guess what I was failing anyway as each project went by the wayside. By mid 2008, I had decided that my destiny was to go back teaching and make a difference by teaching the magic of music in schools. I got a position teaching junior school music, commencing in January of 2009 but by mid 2012, I was overweight and miserable again. I realised that I really needed to make some major changes or I would die young just like my father before me. I took drastic action and decided to take a year off work without pay. I labelled it my "Eat, Pray, Love" year. Eat - representing my "Sugar Free Year" project. Pray - representing a more holistic approach to life through meditation, breathing, time for self and life balance. Love - representing my journey to truly love myself to ensure that I wouldn't give up on my dreams again. I decided to finish the "My Virtual Life Coach" website and return to study. It has been a truly amazing journey. The result? A happiness I just didn't know existed until I got here!

So why do I teach, coach and write? It is my destiny, my passion and definitely my calling. I want to share my story with those who are experiencing their "perfect storm" or are feeling lost and show them the tools and techniques which have led me to finding my own "Utopia".