Excerpt from Alan D. Thompson’s Best: A Practical Guide to Living Your Best Life Pg. 109-111

When I transitioned to being a coach a few years ago, I brought the same outlook with me. The best of the best. I sought them out, had a conversation with them, and my life changed.

One of the biggest surprises for me was a single conversation I had with “The Ultimate Coach,” Steve Hardison. Steve had been referred to me by Michael Neill, another of the world’s greatest coaches.

Steve is not a traditional guy. He doesn’t do Twitter or Facebook. He doesn’t even send newsletters. He has never written a book. He doesn’t lease or own a suite or office building. He doesn’t have brochures. He doesn’t do public speaking. He doesn’t do phone or Skype coaching. He only coaches in person, from his home in the United States.

I had Steve’s website buried in my bookmarks (another outlier: his daughter-in-law created the website for him — it has no signup form, no badges, no blog). I knew that I had to meet him.

Quite by chance, I was going to be in Phoenix, Arizona for coaching certification with Otto Siegel, yet another of the world’s most holistic coaches (including physical and somatic coaching for families). Somewhere in my memory, the state of Arizona felt very familiar, like there was something I needed to remember. A few weeks before my trip, I revisited Steve’s website. He lives in Mesa, Arizona. I shot him an email with a bit of background and a request to meet. He gave me a date and a time, and agreed to meet me at his home.

My Google-fu has had a lot of practice. I’ve been a web user since the early ’90s, when home internet was maxed out at 14.4 kbit/s, and the browser of choice was Netscape Navigator. So when I say that I did all the research I could on Steve, I really did do all the research I could on Steve. There’s not a huge amount online from him. Again, no YouTube, no Amazon, no feature articles. His testimonials (or “tributes”) describe him as life-changing and intense.

I looked up his address on Google Maps, clicking through to Street View to get a better look at his home. A large, white house, with a very American flagpole out front. And on that flagpole, the flag of the USA, as well as the flag of Japan.

Why the flag of Japan? Did he have a Japanese wife? I launched into a further search to find out. His wife was not Japanese at all. In fact, she was very white.

A few days later, my Lincoln pulled into Steve’s driveway. This time, the flagpole had the American flag, and just below it, a blue flag which looked very similar to… our Australian flag. From that first moment, right there in Arizona, I felt like I was in the presence of something amazing. I found out later that Steve hoists individual, personalised flags for each client. What a welcome!

Steve greeted me at the door with a hug, and invited me in. His office is a different zone from the rest of the world. I took off my shoes before entering. Gifts from different people of different religions and countries are in the room, as well as a feeling of complete magic. Among these items are the Qur’an, the Bible, over 30 books written by one of his “lifetime” clients, paintings and photos created by passionate people for a coach who helps create miracles.

Steve began talking. The intensity I’d read about had been understated. Honestly, his intensity borders on anger, and he is deeply passionate about life and living life.

In those few hours of conversation, everything opened up. There was a divine explanation, there was a sense of complete understanding by another, there was a feeling of bursting lightness. And there was a physical response, a visceral realisation of potential. There was life.

Steve’s words and presence prove the existence of something much greater in each of us. In just that brief moment, I knew that this was where I needed to be.

Generally, in personal development, we speak of change on a personal level. Steve works with individuals on a personal level and has effects on a global scale. It would be enough to mention the names of some of the people he coaches, for you to know that your own life has been affected by his work through them. Their work is visible through entire companies, communities and countries, as well as the continuing evolution of our planet.