What's your why?
It's a tough one.
At the end, I think I want to make people happy.
I think that's still my why.
I know it sounds very cliche, but I did a lot of exercise about that
and talked with people about that.
But in the end, I just want to make people happy, and that makes me happy.
So it's as simple as that, actually.
Absolutely, and I tell people the transfer of energy is real, right?
So you come in and are happy and elated, and someone else has a different emotion or attitude,
one can take over the other, and majority of the time, happiness wins.
So I love that, definitely.
As you continue in the business of coaching, do you ever speak about your experiences
as it relates to someone in their leadership?
What do you mean exactly by that question?
So when you go into a coaching session, is it often that your previous commitment as a clown
come up and assist with you teaching or coaching them and how it played an impact in your life
and reasons why you're actually focusing on leaders as of today?
I do that in the intake when I talk to someone.
I explain to them this comes from this, but in a conversation, I never do.
In a conversation, I always, and that's where I revert to what I just said,
I always come to them, I talk very little during sessions, maybe at the end a little bit,
like figuring out what the next steps for the person are together.
But during the conversation, no, I ask questions and I observe a lot.
As a clown, you are trained, you learn that through all the years,
to watch every movement a person does, and it becomes a second nature.
At this point, it's unconscious with me.
Unconsciously, I'm looking at people's, how they sit, how they breathe,
the expression on their face and all that actually leads me to a question or a remark
or together with what they say.
But I must say sometimes what they say is totally different of their body language.
And then I go into the body language, so my questions then relate to what I see and not what I hear.
So it's, and that's also the hospital work, right?
You see a child and it says something like, hey, who are you? But sometimes it says, hey, who are you?
You know what I mean? Now I exaggerate, of course, but there's something else going on then, right?
So you have to look through that. And as a coach, you constantly have to do that.
Look through the, you know, everybody shows his good side, right?
Let's compare with social media. Everybody posts pictures of them laying in the sun or going on holiday
or drinking a cocktail, eating nice food. Nobody, nobody posts a picture where he sits in the corner crying, right?
Nobody does that. And yet we do that once upon a time, which is totally normal.
And that's the same in coaching. Everybody has this filter. I call it a filter.
And once you have the ability to lift that filter, then you have a real connection.
And that's the same when I visited children in hospitals, you know, they all have a filter.
Children, not as much as adults. Yes, they have it. They have it.
And but once you break through it, then and the longer you do the work in the beginning, it took a long time.
But at the end, it's like within seconds, you can break through it because you just go right to the point where you need to be.
And that's also what I do in coaching. I go and not a lot of people like it.
I can I can tell you. So people are children are still honest, open.
The more we grow, the more these shields come up all the time.
And it's very hard to be ourselves. Should be the easiest thing there is being ourselves.
But it turns out it's a very hard thing to do.
And the first work that I need to do as a coach is breaking all these shields.
Yeah. So that I can talk to the real course of who they are.
And and and that sometimes it takes a long time.
And and that's, of course, my way of working.
I do it in a very direct way. And some people can't stand it, but they are not my clients.
You know, if I already noticed that in the intake conversations, if they don't want to hear the truth, they're not my clients.
But I can't do anything with them. If any coach, you know, if your client doesn't speak the truth, it's like a doctor.
When you go into the doctor and you have a headache and you say, oh, my hand hurts, he can't help you. Right.
No, that's the same with coaches. If you're not honest and open, the coach cannot help you.
So it's the same there. Yes.
Eddie, how long have you been doing coaching since 2018 now?
How did it go for you during the pandemic? That was my best time because everyone was online.
Everybody seemed to have suddenly had problems.
Now, I must say, after Covid, it took a dive.
That's also why I started to give lectures and to go back amongst people and giving motivational keynotes.
So the coaching has has been less and the speaking is going up.
So there's a little bit of that going on at the moment.
And is that do you believe that that's due to the world changing back to, you know, being able to be comfortable with standing with one another and engaging?
Maybe, but it's mostly my thing.
I missed the stage because I was on stage performing for people.
And I'm not saying that giving keynotes is performing, but it's close.
It's the connection that I don't feel when you do something online, which is all great.
And everything works online.
Maybe let me be one hundred percent clear.
Everything works exactly the same online.
Coaching goes perfectly online.
But for me, it's not the same feeling I need.
I also need the vibes of a room or or a theater or something like that.
And that's how shall I say it boosts me up to a level where I can outperform myself.
Let me call it that. It gives me some something extra.
And that is something I cannot do online.
So that's really something you get from the audience.
It's like kind of energy vibe.
You can't explain it. It's there or it's not.
Exactly. And I sort of get what you're saying.
It's especially if everyone is engaged and you see all the eyes on you and they're really what you're saying is resonating with them.
It's not engaged or not engaged.
That's even for me, it's even more challenging.
That was also of course, that was also in hospital work.
And I came in and I had a real hard time connecting with the child and had to look for what is what is the angle.
So I love I really love an audience when I come in and they are like, OK, show me what you got.
OK, I love that because then you need then you need to really figure out, OK, how do I get them?
You know, I also love it when the audience opens it all.
They already clap when you come on stage, right?
You have that. That's also nice.
But I love the challenge also.
And because then, you know, then at some point they feel, oh, you are real.
And that sometimes you've got them and that moment, that moment is really magical.
The moment that you feel, oh, OK, now I've got them now.
Now we are in the same looking in the same direction.
And that's that's yeah, I can't explain it else.
And I really get a kick out of that.
Yeah, you're more now that you're speaking more and you're standing in front of people
and you feel like you're you're living now in your environment and what boosts you up so much more.
Yeah. Tell me about your vision when you are speaking.
Well, the thing is, I love to speak and most of the time it's really a success.
The thing that bothers me is and that is my vision for the next thing I'm going to do.
I'm going to work on that. You know, you got to begin with, let's say that 80 percent of the people are really engaged.
Right. The other 20 maybe engage 80 percent really engaged from this 80 percent.
They come out of the room and they go for coffee.
And when the day is over, it's only like even 30 percent that is still engaged.
Right. And three days later, it's maybe one percent or five percent.
You know what I mean? So it's it's it declines.
It's sometimes very rapidly, you know, when somebody has some trouble financial or whatever,
they are inspired and they come out of the room and they get a phone call and it's gone.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's really gone. And that's a pity.
So what I'm working on now is how can I how can I be a real change?
You know, even during the hour or half an hour or two hours, whatever,
how can I be the real change for that person in the room that gets my message,
that gets the insight. Right.
But then goes out and back home to his wife or husband or whatever and.
Walks against that wall again.
It happens that fast. So the inspiration that person had, the motivation, it's it's gone.
And and that's that that's the key with a lot of speakers.
Right. You have a lot of good speakers who are really motivated to say, oh, wow, this is great.
I'm going home. I'm going to do this. But three days later, it is really gone.
And for me, that's a challenge. So I'm looking at ways to to see how I can really keep them engaged.
Yes. But for themselves, because I mean, they spend their time and sometimes money to come and listen to speak.
And it should should have more than just an inspiration for the moment.
So that's my my next challenge. And that's also my vision that it has to be possible.
Yes. And so it's interesting a little bit about me.
I'm a real estate agent and I host open houses and you have people you they're coming in and they're excited about the house.
They're ready. And when they leave again, they're at another house. Right.
So in in my thought process of how do I keep them engaged on this home, which I've seen their excitement and their joy and, you know, they're picking out areas and rooms and decorating it in their vision.
Right. And so one of the things that we had often did was we don't let the next hour go by without having that communication with them.
Then that next morning, hey, you know, and so I get exactly what you were saying, because it probably took me a little while to figure out how to keep them engaged.
And if that isn't the house right or if that wasn't the goal as to why they came to the home or if they even came to see you, Eddie, what what is it that you need from me?
What is it that kept you so intrigued while you were there?
And then, you know, that wall came up and now you're back in that mode. What is it that you need?
And then being a resource. Right. Because I believe when I'm sure even when you speak, you're a resource, you're a coach.
Absolutely. It's a challenge. It's a challenge. And if you speak for, let's let's say, 500 people, you can't call them all up.
You know what I mean? It's not possible. But again, I really, really believe there has to be that thing that trigger that that puts them in action, that puts them that they can this feeling that they have that they can hold it longer than an hour that they can.
Even if they can hold it for one week, that would all that would already be great.
Now it's one hour sometimes or even less. And that's for me. That's how I cannot put that. It's it's it's a pity.
It's not the real world. It's it's it's just a shame that that that it stops there.
And I know that people when they can hold have a hold on that feeling, it would be so good for them.
They will be so prosperous. And so that's that's the next challenge. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I like that.
And I can completely understand as I can relate to it, although in a whole different field, I can definitely relate to that.
And with all that said, what was your most significant learning experience to get you to where you are today?
The biggest maybe not the biggest thing, but one of the things that maybe it's also because I'm getting older.
Don't tell anybody is there is nothing new. We think we are inventing the water again or the hot water.
It's not two thousand years ago, even before Christ, the Greeks were talking about happiness, talking about all these things.
And they had the same problems and the same solutions as we have now, maybe in different words or different things.
Times were different. But the basic is the same again, the same with leadership, again, the same with all these things where people talk.
People talk so much about leadership. I'm a lot of linked in.
Oh, my God. Most of the conversations are about leadership. And I keep on and everything.
At some point, it's very funny. At some point I was fed up with social media. Right. I had it.
And I stayed off for it like three to four months. I just didn't go on social media.
And when I came back, it was just as if I didn't leave. The conversations were still the same.
The same people were still talking about the same things. So that's something that people should realize.
You know, people are always looking for the next new thing. There is no next new thing.
Let's let's look at the old things and put them in use for us now. That's what we should do.
Because there is really, really, really nothing new under the sun.
It is all I mean, in personal development wise, then it's all been done before.
And it's not like technology that constantly is changing and changing fast.
But here this thing, this isn't evolved into three thousand years.
And it can't because it took us a million years to be where we are now.
So how stupid must we be literally? And I'm really saying it.
How stupid must we be that we think that in a thousand years something has changed when we are evolving for one million millions of years?
So and once you get that, then then you start to, you know, get put do connections and try starting to connect things.
And that's really nice. And I also try that with in my lectures, in my coaching, try to connect things because the solution is there and it's it's right in front of you.
Yeah. And but and it's been done before so often.
Definitely. Yeah. The moment you realize that it's it's a game changer.
It's a real game changer. Yeah. Yes. And as you mention these things in coaching your previous experience and where you're going with your vision currently today,
I do want to ask this question because I think it makes and helps us to understand what's your goal for being on the show today.
Well, it's like it's my it's not only my vision. It's it's my wife.
I want to make people happy. Right. And if I can inspire them a little bit.
Hey, that's what Eddie says there. That's interesting. Let me let me let me see what Eddie is saying more or maybe he can help me or whatever.
If there's one just one that I have inspired by doing this, it's OK for me.
That's really that's really all that I'm I expect nothing.
So everything is a plus. I mean, being that says, that's that's great.
That's that's already enough. And we start maybe maybe who starts reading a book because he spoke about three thousand years.
That's the Greek that are the Greek. Oh, what are you talking about?
You know, only that and that was with me when I was younger, too. I heard something speak and he spoke about a book or he spoke about an insight.
And I would go to in that days it was a library. Right. Yes. Yes.
Remember early 90s? No Internet. So we went into the I went into the library.
I took a book and I read the book or sometimes only two pages.
Oh, it's too hard. Oh, it's to this. But sometimes I really read it.
And and and and I love that. I love to inspire people.
I love to work with people and their happiness really literally is my happiness.
And I think it's clown thing. You know, if you make people laugh, that means you did a good job.
And that means you feel good about yourself. Right. Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. It's going to get more and more fun.
We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
And I hope you have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a vision for yourself.