What would it be like to live a brave life?

Would you love to make changes in your life or career that you believe would lead to more happiness? Do you have a dream that you would love to make a reality? Would you like to make choices that are aligned with what matters most to you?

At Empower World, through our leadership training and professional coaching, we work with so many courageous men and women who find their own courage and say “enough is enough” and choose to stand up, step out of their comfort zone and take action that leads towards living lives that they have previously only dreamed about.

Maher Khani CPCC and ICF accredited coach is one of those people who chose to say YES to living courageously and experiencing a purposeful, powerful life. Maher shares his journey as he fulfilled his dream by moving from the heights of being a successful – but unhappy – corporate banker and shifted into the world of coaching and personal development. This supported him to live his values and make a difference in his own life and those of the people he loved and worked with.

Maher shares, “I was a banker before I started my coaching journey. I’d been a banker for 14 years. I’d reached the height of the corporate ladder as they say. I was the head of a department in the bank. I was a COO of a hedge fund in Dubai. I was in New York working in Wall Street. And after 14 years of living this life, and this living this lifestyle – I came to a realization that I just wasn’t happy. I’d known it for a long time. I’d never given myself an opportunity to pursue anything that I was truly passionate about. I kind of went with the flow of what society, people, community, family and friends expected.”

Maher became curious about the world of a coaching and attended a certified training program and at the same time hired his own professional certified coach to help him navigate his way forward that opened up huge awareness. This is when he recognised that he was always at choice and he was the master of his own life.

He also recognised who he was from the inside and through his own courage and self leadership, he was capable of creating a life that truly mattered: a life of growth and contribution to others. As he says, “When I first discovered coaching, it was life-changing.”

He continues, “I reached a point somewhere around June 2011 when I knew really wanted to make a change for myself. And when that decision was made – about 3 months after that, in September – I found out that my wife was pregnant. I guess it’s true what they say, you need that real big consequence or thing in your life that really triggers action. There’s always something that just triggers the next stage and for me it was knowing that I was going to be a father and I was going to be an example that this child was going to look up to.”

Maher experienced one of life’s many gifts and he chose consciously to make significant changes he believed would have a positive impact on his and his family’s life. His decisions took courage and a leap of faith and he wasn’t sure how it would going to land, but what he did know was that if he stayed in the comfort zone of his old unhappy life – the consequences were simply too great.

“I asked myself what are the lessons I will be teaching this child? I will be telling him that you should live your dreams and passion, do what you love in life, the material things aren’t as important, the money is not always as important. The things that are important are being fulfilled, being passionate, being happy.

“But actions speak much louder than words, so I realized that no matter how much fear I was feeling if I’m too afraid to take those steps for myself, I will be setting a pretty poor example.”

Many of us spend years pondering, wondering what it would be like to make the changes to live a fulfilling life, some of us spend decades keeping our dreams locked in boxes, listening to the fearful voices in our heads that keep us small and constantly remind us that we are not good enough, clever enough, we don’t have enough money, enough time, we are too old, not experienced enough etc. – The list is never ending.

Maher realized making choices to move towards fulfillment could be made in the click of a finger: “It literally was like a switch. It was like something had been switched off on me and all of a sudden there was a switch that really could be turned on. As soon as it switched on I knew that it was a call for action. And that’s what I did, I took action.”

Living brave does not always mean that life will be easy. Even when we trust that we are on the right road to fulfillment it does not mean the road will always be smooth. Everyone faces challenges in their life and at Empower World we believe it is our challenges that become our greatest teachers.

When we take action to change our life it can be a process of moving towards what we want and at times falling down and learning something knew that supports us to become the best version of ourselves. So if you are prepared to be courageous, ask yourself:
What is it you truly want?
What does a fulfilling future look like, sound like, and feel like?
Who are you when you are living a brave life?
What actions are you taking every day when you are being courageous
And when you are doing this, what does it give you?
We only have one life and at Empower World we believe in living it to the fullest, aligned with our values, our purpose and our passion.

If you want to learn more about specific ways to step up and live a courageous life or join our professional and personal development coach training program or talk to us about getting personal one on one coaching, contact us at [email protected]

Be empowered.