For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in what makes people perform at their best consistently. I grew up watching Steven Gerrard single-handedly driving Liverpool Football Club through almost impossible games. Roger Federer, cruising through major after major, demonstrating an almost perfect performance while maintaining an emotional control that was seemingly unbreakable.
It was this interest that motivated me to complete a degree in Sports Science and a Masters in Exercise and Nutrition. At University, I quickly became the captain of the Football team and responsible to not only lead the team but to coach it too. My first taste of coaching and attempting to optimise performance. An impossible task, given the setting! Similarly, I enjoyed my time in the Army Reserves (Officer Training Core), especially the outdoor adventure training, which included a 14-day trek in the Himalayas and skiing in Austria and Poland.
After, University, I joined the most significant sports nutrition provider in Europe, Lucozade Sport, as a Sports Scientist and later as a Lead Sports Scientist. I developed my capability to support elite performance with partners such as Liverpool Football Club, UK Athletics and the Lawn Tennis Association. Working with the best athletes and practitioners in the world was a great insight into high-performance practices, many of which I refer to in my workshops and speaking engagements.
Since arriving in Australia, I moved into the corporate & private sector providing health & wellbeing services including workshops, facilitations and consultations. During which, I made several trips to the UK and the US to attend specialist health courses gaining valuable knowledge and insights. After years of successfully working with clients, I became more intrigued by the psychology and emotional intelligence aspect of behaviour change and clients being content with life. Why do some clients have a transformational experience both in their mindset and physiology while others push back and seemingly resist personal change?
A turning point in my career occurred when I was a guest speaker at the THRIVE conference (the largest free youth conference in Australia) in Perth. Scared of public speaking?… Try speaking in front of 2,500 high school students! It was a great experience, so much so, I joined the team. I was part of a small group who provided workshops and facilitation for schools, educators and the not for profit sector in emotional intelligence and positive psychology. I saw the impact we were having both on adults and students, stress relief, emotional regulation, more resilient and resourceful mindsets and importantly higher amounts of happiness. As my knowledge grew, I was making changes in my own life, so much so, I wanted to test myself.
After a month of debating, I settled on the ‘world’s toughest footrace’, The Marathon Des Sables. A 250km multi-stage, self-supported run through the Sahara Desert in Morocco. An impossible goal. I enjoyed running… but I wasn’t a runner.
So I began running! The furthest I could manage was 5k, and that was a bit of a struggle. Given I needed to run an average of a marathon a day for six days, with a 10kg pack, 40-degree heat on soft sand, I was somewhat short of where I needed to be!
Fast forward 18 months, during the Christmas of 2017, I ran five half-marathons back to back and finished on Christmas day with a full marathon in the sandy, hot trails of Yanchep National Park, just north of Perth. It was a great challenge and a stressful week…but only half the distance of the Marathon Des Sables just three months later!
In 2018, I completed the Marathon Des Sable. It was a life-changing experience, one of pain, struggle, realisations, blood blisters, hallucinations, peeing blood, loss of toenails, loneliness, regret, camaraderie, bad decisions, right decisions and accomplishment. All of which I speak about in my speaking engagements!
In 2019 I married my very talented and beautiful wife Nimra, and after seven years in Perth, we moved to Melbourne. It was the perfect opportunity to bring my wealth of knowledge and first-hand experience together and start my coaching and consultancy. Ambition Performance Coaching was born!
I have a passion for building trusting relationships through my open and warm personality to improve the quality of life of the people. I look forward to working with you soon.
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