The first time I remember hearing Steve Hardison’s name was towards the end of 2021, when my coach Ankush Jain mentioned him. Ankush had recently had his first coaching session with Steve. It was a one-off at that time. A ‘be with’ session, as Steve called them.
Early in 2022, Ankush started talking to me about an event in London in April. It was going to be called The Ultimate Experience London, and Steve Hardison was one of the main speakers. Ankush wanted me to attend. I was curious- but not that curious!
He asked me to watch a recording called TBOLITNFL-The Best Offensive Linesman In The NFL. It turned out to be a two-hour video of Steve talking about his experience coaching an NFL player called Deuce Lutui.
It was a slow burn for me. Apart from the part at the end. Steve did what looked like a reverse psychology exercise where, pretending to be Deuce, he grabbed Deuce (pretending to be Steve) by the lapels and shook him pretty hard, trying to wake him up to how he would show up if he truly saw himself as ‘the best offensive linesman in the NFL’.
It clearly had a big impact on Deuce. It didn’t land the same way for me.
That kind of high-flame coaching- if that’s even what it was-wasn’t for me. And it certainly didn’t make me want to get on a plane and sit in a room with Steve.
I went back to Ankush and told him exactly what I thought. He didn’t flinch. He asked me to watch it again.
I agreed. Reluctantly.
Nothing much changed the second time. Though, looking back, I’d already decided I wasn’t that keen on Steve before I even pressed play and I finished exactly where I started. My listening wasn’t open. I wasn’t giving him a chance.
Despite that, Ankush didn’t back off. He took a strong stance for the event. He had me read a book called The Ultimate Coach. While it’s Steve’s story, written by his wife Amy, Ankush told me it wasn’t really a book about Steve, it was a book about me, and what was possible for me.
I liked the book. And as I read it, I softened a little towards Steve, though I still didn’t really see how a book about him was about me.
Ankush really believed the event would make an impact on me. By then he was part of the team organising it. I could see his commitment. I could see his enthusiasm.
So, I decided to go.
But I didn’t just go on my own. If it was going to be that good, I wanted other people in the room. I started enrolling others. By the time I arrived on Saturday 30th April, I had ten people there with me… my son, his best friend, both my brothers, Ali… one of my closest friends… and five clients.
It was a great day.
The main speakers were Steve, his wife Amy, and Karan Rai, who had worked with Steve for three years. Karan was the standout for me. He spoke about his life-changing experience working with Steve… and told a story about ‘radical commitment’ that involved gifting himself a place at an event where he ran seven marathons in seven days on seven continents… most of it with a badly injured knee.
Steve’s talk was engaging. He’s a big personality. But what really stayed with me in the days after wasn’t the content… it was the way he spoke about, and to, his wife.
I’d never heard anyone speak with that level of love and appreciation and level of acknowledgment for their partner in public and probably not in private either.
Something in that landed.
I found myself getting curious about this man from Phoenix, Arizonn; the one Ankush had been so certain about.
I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the beginning of a journey that would go on to transform my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined.