Terry Sidhu, owner of Life Coach | Photo by Madeline Adams
Leaving a comfortable life in marketing behind in his native UK, Terry Sidhu decided he wanted to live his life with his own model: applying psychology and marketing in understanding people and their actions.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always been obsessed about why people do the things they do. Why do we behave that way? Why do we say those things? Why do we act certain ways towards certain people?” says Terry Sidhu, the face and owner behind Life Coach and CEO VanCity Life Coach Inc.
Because he liked to observe how people worked, Sidhu completed a psychology diploma. However he decided to move onto marketing, thinking it would be both a faster degree and would make for a great career. After graduating with a degree in Marketing Management and getting a great marketing job, Sidhu says the turning point was when he was given an opportunity to move up the corporate ladder.
“When I got that promotion, I got a flash forward of the next 10 years of my life…that’s not what I want. I want to help people, to drive them forward,” he says, adding the marketing life felt very disconnected with the teachings and ideals he grew up with in a Sikh household, where the focus was on equality and humanity.
The birth of the life coach
When he first moved to Vancouver, Sidhu says he was unsure of what to do next. He decided to write a blog, trying to apply both the psychology and marketing philosophies he had learned – putting together a new model.
“I am going to live life by my own integrity and [writing] was very therapeutic,” says Sidhu about the blog, which he says also build his skills and confidence as a writer.
The name of the blog, Lion’s Life, was inspired by the lion’s confidence in its identity.
“A lion affirms his identity to survive and triumph. I stand by the philosophy that we must stand by who we are and be true to ourselves if we have any hope of finding fulfillment in this life,” says Sidhu.
His middle name, Singh, also means lion; a convenient happenstance says Sidhu, who adds that it aligns with the philosophy he espouses.
Positive feedback and messages from all over the world with people seeking Sidhu’s advice followed. About a year later, a friend suggested Sidhu could make money from his blog, and he started to work on a book.
After looking at his notes for his book, as well as being turned down from a marketing job where the interviewer told Sidhu he should be a life coach instead, the idea of the VanCity Life Coach came to fruition.
“I was lucky, I had a whole following beforehand – I had a lot of international clients before I even started. I was coaching in my first month, which is amazing,” says Sidhu.
Sidhu says it takes more than simply waking up one day and deciding you might be a life coach.
“You need a passion to drive people and understand how people work. Don’t close yourself off to other philosophies either. You also need to be confident and have integrity in your life first. If someone can harness that vulnerability and put that out in the world, it’s a very significant quality a life coach should have,” says Sidhu.
Love in the city
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Sidhu offers some assurance to the singles in the city.
“It’s just another day. There’s nothing to be worried about if you’re single on Valentine’s Day.”
Sidhu works with both single clients and couples and says every relationship serves a purpose; to be accepted, to feel safe and secure and to feel completely vulnerable.
The main focus, he says, starts from completely being yourself.
“The only relationship you need to be concerned about is the relationship with yourself. You need to work on that first. Until you have a positive, healthy relationship with yourself, only then can you start building a relationship with another person – hopefully that person also has a positive relationship with themselves,” says Sidhu.
For more information: www.vancitylifecoach.com.
