Hey I’m Jon Covey, a multi-award winning success coach, but what does that really mean?
I took a month out to find this out for myself, but first let me tell you a little about me.
I dropped out of school when I was 14 for a summer job that was impressed with my work ethic and asked me to stay on full time, I then got great at getting sacked for the next few years and ended up working for a door to door sales company.
But this company had a difference, they wanted you to do well, and I mean to do really well. Within a short space of time I had built a sizeable team and as generating millions of pounds in revenue for my clients, and earning footballers wages too. If you have seen Wolf of Wall Street, this was pretty close, minus the dodgy dealings (Although I’m certain this went on somewhere).
Thinking about it, I remember once telling my team they had to come back from the sales field with random objects, never did I imagine they would return with a customers razor, tv remote and a gate… To whoever those items belonged, I offer you my sincere apologies!!
Anyway, for the past few years, probably 10, maybe even 15 years I have been on a journey, a journey building businesses, some successful, most unsuccessful. But they all made money, I love money… or so I thought.
Look, money is massively important, especially when you’re in business, and anyone who tells you otherwise, doesn’t have any money, that’s why it’s not important. But for a long time I thought money was the ultimate, the true formula to happiness.
And for the past few years I’ve have had a printing press of money, it came so easily, it allowed me to buy several buy to let properties, buy a newly built home and extend it, new kitchens, orangeries, flash cars and 5 exotic holidays a year.
On paper my life was looking good, cash in the bank, passive income, and lots of amazing coaching clients who pay me thousands of pounds every year. New work was flowing to my Digital agency, my coaching business was growing at a wonderful rate, as was my mastermind and personal development group. I had fingers in so many pies, I often forget about them, I just saw the money drop in to my account each week or month.
But do you know what, it didn’t satisfy me. I thought money would give me a deep feeling of satisfaction and happiness, but constantly returned to being sat staring at my mac screen wondering what the fu*#k is this all about.
The feeling of sadness, maybe even depression constantly returning, getting teary eyed for no reason, and having mixed emotions, the highs and the lows.
I was posting at a mass scale on social media, and was everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram, Google +, Periscope, Meerkat, daily videos on YouTube, pinterest, Instagram stories, snapchat stories, whatsapp… It was exhausting, and most of the content I consumed was either people talking about their awesome lifestyle, or the complete opposite, and sharing how bad life is!
I was crushing a book a week, listing to audiobooks every day, and scraping to absorb as much content from blogs, podcast, and anywhere else I could find it. The landscape got so messy I didn’t know who’s advice to follow, should I keep crushing it, and lift my hustle, should I apply 10X levels of activity, or work just a 4 hour week, maybe if I get in the right vibratory rate I could attract happiness.
Am I telling stories, am I selling training, what is it I actually do… My message got so lost, I didn’t even know what I set out to achieve. I was constantly fighting my own demons of happiness and sadness and didn’t know which way to turn.
So I decided to take a month out, no social media, no self help, no books or podcasts, no networking, I was just going to coast for a whole month, and that scared the life out of me. I would still service my clients, and service them so much better than before because I no longer had any distractions.
So at the start of March I went on a full social, content detox… And boy was it hard to start, but after a week to ten days I soon adapted, and what happened next was remarkable.
My attention span got better, my focus became much clear, my purpose started to shine again. I was re-discovering Jon, and I liked it.
I began talking time out, going for a nap mid-day if I felt like it, just going on random drives in the peak district and staring into the openness that laid before me. Admiring the beauty of what was around me, things that I hadn’t even noticed due to my hustle and grind crushing it activity.
Liberating was the only word I could use to describe how I felt, I had more time, more awareness and discovered myself once again. The fun, the laughs, the music, the films.. All the things that gave me happiness was instantly available again, and for the most part, they cost very little, if anything at all.
Jon was back, and there was no way he was going back. I had some amazing people help me on my journey, on my detox, my outstanding wife, who never questioned what I was doing, never asked why, just supported me regardless.
Family and friends, who guess what, are always there for you when you really need them. You just need to reach out to them from time to time, the swing works both ways, so if you haven’t spoken to them in a while, reach out to them!
My own coach and business partner, who’s words inspired me to stand still long enough to gain complete clarity, you are amazing, I am amazing, we are all amazing. We just sometimes need stand still long enough to rediscover ourselves.
Its no longer about sharing social updates for anyone else, the things I share going forward are things that I enjoy, not me sharing pictures of me in my hot tub with £200 bottles of Cristal, if I do share, its pictures of me in the hot tub with a £7 bottle of Rioja because I like it.
Its not to impress you, its because I enjoy it. And if I share any social content, its because I think it has value, or can help you in someway, maybe even make you laugh.
So what have I realised on this month long detox, life is incredibly simple, but somewhere along the way we make it stupidly difficult, we strive for things to impress people we don’t really like, buy temporary things then wonder why happiness doesn’t last, and get that lost in the sea of social acceptance that we forget to do the things we genuinely enjoy and love.
The only person you have to impress is yourself, people will have opinions, but thats their opinion, its none of your business. And actually you will be surprised to know people don’t think about you as much as you think they do.
I’m putting something together right now to further share this story, these findings and to help others like me who lost the way. To help you and others find happiness, because that’s the formula to success.
Thanks for listening, I think I’m going to go and watch Pitch Perfect now.