The Birth of I Am My Best

Hello Beautiful Soul!

I‘d like to explain a little bit about the inspiration and thinking behind my company brand: “I Am My Best”. It’s been quite a process, and I am excited to finally be officially launching my new brand, along with a roll-out of a lot of conversations, information and services about the “stuff” I am most passionate about. My passion is rooted in the Human Potential; and my research and work I’ve been doing for the last 25 years is grounded in Adult Education, Wellness, Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual Health, and an overall exploration of Human Condition. 

My “working journey” in this arena started in 1995 when I began working partly as a Personal Fitness Trainer, Instructor and Wellness Coach, while also partly working in Adult Education, hiring instructors to teach their “craft”. I managed a program portfolio that included everything from Fashion, Culinary Arts, Fine Arts, Music, Children’s Programs, Fitness, Business, World Languages, Outdoor Recreation, and more. But the program area that I oversaw that most interested me was Alternative Holistic Health, because I LOVE learning about things I know little or nothing about, and it was an area that explored the lesser known, lesser understood, and in some cases, the less tangible but deeper aspects of health and humanity. This particular program area included professionals doing Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Naturopathy, Chiropractic, Aromatherapy, Hypnotherapy, Reflexology, Acupressure, Sports Nutrition, Plant, Flower & Herbal Remedies, Energy Work, Mediation, Breath Work, TCM, Homeopathy, Feldenkrais, Crystals, Reiki, Sound Bowl Therapy, different Spiritual Practices, (yes, these modalities of treatment were actually considered alternative (or “out-there”) health modalities to many back then, and perhaps still are by some, despite the fact that they are well-established Complementary and Alternative Medical modalities, and a growing in acceptance amongst practitioners of Western medicine), and much more. 

It was a dream to be spending half of my waking time, exercising with clients and the other half hiring 100’s of amazing professionals and curating Adult Education Programs for people to learn and expand their horizons.

Along this timeline of my career journey, I got into a niche with my fitness practice. I spent about 70% of my working time with clients who were 70+, and from these incredibly wise, worldly and experienced individuals, I learned more about life and the world, than I did doing anything else up to that point. One near-octogenarian client in particular who was extremely well-versed in Post-modernism and the Human Potential was amongst the most interesting, educated and fascinating story-tellers I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He shared his knowledge with me every Tuesday and Friday through our fitness sessions while he did squats, planks, and strength training; and as interesting as it all was, me being in my 20’s (and at that time, I was much more interested in the fitness side of our interactions), some of it went flying over my head. I thought it was interesting, but I honestly had no idea what the value of it was, until a few years years later. 

And then, I got the call. His wife said I needed to come to the hospital right away, as he was in a coma. I arrived quickly and the family was all there. They knew our bond was special, and so told me they would give me a few moments alone with him. 

At that time, I had never been in a room with someone in a coma before. And the doctors indicated he had hours, or possibly minutes remaining in his life. I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes. I held his hand. I started to tear up and I just let my tears flow and my thoughts go. I let go of the fear of losing a friend, and the awkwardness of not knowing how to “be” in this situation, and the words just came. I told him: 

“I am so grateful for you. You have taught me more than I could have ever hoped to learn in a lifetime about humanity. You have taught me that I MUST think for myself, see through and past the stories we tell ourselves, and question the narratives that get drilled into us by the many institutions in the world. I have learned so much from you and now I know it’s time for me to pay it forward and continue your legacy of advancing the conversations about the Human Potential. I will continue seeking to understand humanity more deeply.”

He responded, to my surprise, by sitting up and squeezing my hand. His facial expressions looked as though he was desperately trying to tell me something. His body was waving around, he kept squeezing my hand, and he was trying to tell me something (while he was still in his coma with his eyes closed). It became clear to me that he was making an earnest appeal for me to promise what I spoke of. And without realizing it until later, I truly did speak it into existence right there. 

I knew I was on this path, but I had no idea what it was going to look like. But then again, I also realized that it was the path I was already on. Through teaching and Fitness, I was exploring the human potential – running marathons with clients, building physical strength with 60, 70, 80 and 90-year-old “human-doings”, coaching clients in wheelchairs, clients with cancer, Parkinson’s, dementia, strokes, organ transplants, depression, pregnancy, fibromyalgia, obesity, injuries, sporting competitions, and many more clinical issues. The journey of working on the Human Potential and seeing what was possible was already underway.

Fast forward to 2015. I was in Maui on a vacation. I was feeling more connected to myself, my family, my path. And then I decided to get really out of my comfort zone and see a hypnotherapist. Through that session, I was totally IN. I was entirely in my subconscious and I couldn’t stop whatever was coming out of my mouth. And I spoke it – I want to start my new company, and it’s going to be called: I Am My Best. 

I’ve always believed that most (if not all people), no matter what they are going though, good or bad, are just “doing their best” – even if their best looks pretty bad to themselves or others (and I know this is likely a highly disputed statement, so I plan to post a blog to unpack this idea, in the coming months). 

I also believe that we are all on a healing journey (again, this will be the topic of a blog post to come), and part of the healing journey is to learn from our mistakes; and even in those moments, I believe we are doing our best. 

And another fundamental belief I have always upheld is that “hurt people hurt people” (a quote ascribed to have originated from several different possible people; Rick Warren, Will Bowen, Yehuda Berg, Charles Eads, Oprah Winfrey? Who knows?). It took me a long while to really understand this. I experienced a world of hurt in relationships, and some terrible abuse in my past. Yet through my trauma and pain, it never stopped me from eventually aiming to find the blessings, the silver linings, and the learnings. 

And in this light, I believe that although people are NOT always behaving their best (such as when they are doing something that harms another person, whether it’s conscious or unconscious), nor do we necessarily believe in such moments that we are being or doing our best, I still believe that any acts of harm caused are a cry for love, and stem from a lack of self-love. And in this line of thinking, (and in no way do I expect you to agree with me), if we look through the lens of compassion, and as far-fetched or even as outrageous as it may sound, we might see that a person may be acting or speaking out in unkind ways as a way or an outcry to do and be better.

Anyhow, despite the trauma and adversity I’ve endured at different stages in my life, and because of my fundamental beliefs about the human potential, coupled with my clarity of my “soul mission”, I continued the healing journey and carried on with my life, teaching, parenting, volunteering, and finally getting the training and experience to pivot into Emotional Intelligence teaching and coaching in 2017, along with providing Reiki sessions, workshops and guidance to many who’ve reached out through the shutdowns of Covid. And through it all, through my ups and downs, through my mistakes and triumphs, I have been doing my best, and I truly believe we all do the best we can in each moment. And this acceptance of “what is”, from one moment to the next”, solidified my decision to keep this name: I Am My Best, and use it in my new brand launch.

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do this work. I’ve been doing newsletters, podcasts, tweets, some Instagram & Facebook posting, teaching workshops on various subjects including Emotional Intelligence, coaching, supporting, providing Reiki sessions, and developing new workshops which I will be launching online in 2022. 

I truly hope you join me on this beautiful journey of “being our best”. I plan to continue having conversations, sharing, inspiring, coaching, teaching, supporting, mentoring and thriving in humanity with you all.

Please connect with me on email, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or through my booking platform if you wish to learn more or share. I look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, have a beautiful day!

Nyle x