I have always loved to work hard. Ever since I was a little boy working on my father’s friends farm all summer. While other kids roamed the streets and played games, I was milking cows,driving tractors and delivering calves. Once I graduated, I joined the army for a while and then worked for my father’s taxi company to make ends meet. I did this for a few years, but I always had the feeling that I was searching to find my place in the world. I was always looking for something else. In May 1999 I was offered a position at Norway’s largest telecomms company. At first I worked in the customer service area, but soon my work ethic and drive opened up doors for me that lead to my now passion for coaching. I spent the next few years learning about effective coaching, leadership skills, tool for personal and professional development. It was a time of immense personal growth for me. It was years of laughter – and some tears now and then. Years of reflection and learning. I still hadn’t learnt the most valuable lesson I now know, which is the importance of BALANCE. As I excelled in my career I was offered more and more opportunities. I developed elearning courses and classroom courses. I travelled endlessly between 11 customer centers to train instructors, and instruct the key leaders of the organisation in a “coaching leadership style” we called Lead as a Coach. For 5 years I lived out of a suitcase. Staying in hotel after hotel as I delivered seminars to some of the great leaders of Norway business. I barely knew my partner and two young sons. I worked nights and weekends to keep up with my workload. I thought I had made it, that my life was a success. I thrived on the challenge and excitement of doing something I was great at – coaching and training others. Remember, I came from very humble beginnings, so when opportunities presented themselves to me, I never said no, I never took stock of the bigger picture – I just grabbed them and went for it, hungry to know more, grow more and be more. My life was so UNBALANCED. My professional success was at the suffering of other parts of my life. In August 2007 I reached breaking point. I was due to catch a flight to a leadership seminar that evening, but was not feeling well. Something just wasn’t right. A few hours before my plane left, I went to see the doctor. He told me that I had to stay home for a while. Starting with a whole week! I asked the doctor what I should tell my boss, how long did he think I had to stay home – he told me that I should be prepared to stay home for a YEAR! He said I was burnt out, and he was right. So, on doctors orders I reluctantly went home to bed. I slept for over 3 months. I got up in the morning, feed my sons, slept on the couch until dinner time, after dinner i would sleep on the couch until I crawled into bed…every day for over 3 months. Tired and embarrassed. In December I got out of bed – called my boss and told him I had to quit. Although I wasn’t sure what I needed to do. I knew I needed BALANCE back in my life. When I came across an advertisement for the Norwegian Gestalt Institute, it was a moment of clarity for me. Gestalt training provided me with tools and techniques that I can use to help people achieve what I was missing for so many years – BALANCE in their life. It offers practical and relevant strategies for living smarter not harder, and provide the balance you need to LiveIT how you want to! This is the core message of LiveIT. We only have one life: Live it! The goal is not to quit working, or work less – it is simply to be able to work with strategies and tools that mean you can create space in your life to take the day off if the weather is fine, and have time to play with your little ones. And here I am.. Living it.. Doing what I love, and taking it to the next level. If you want to take your life to the next level in a balanced and strategic way- LiveIT Communication Foundation introduces the power of effective communication strategies in achieving the life you want to live.
