In this episode of the Transform U Live Show, Paul interviews an old University friend and reconnects after 20 years – Rob Ellis.

Listen to how Rob’s life has transformed over the past 20 years with a story most of us can relate to with being in a job that became a little boring and wanting to challenge yourself. Rob found that the monotonous 9-5 needed to be replaced with something that excited him and therefore moved into coaching Soccer, something he has always loved. Then, when his brother persuaded him that his experience and expertise in coaching needed to be channeled and documented, Rob realized he had a book inside him waiting to be written.

In the episode Rob explains how sport, at an early age, can teach us lessons that last a lifetime, how grit and determination can be fashioned when training on a cold and wet evening around the parks of London and how using these lessons learnt on the field of play can help in all facets of life. An example Rob gives, is when playing a sport and being able to identify and focus on the important pieces of information and how to filter out the less important bits – lessons that can easily be taken into the boardroom, office or even into your personal life. An advocate of education and the realization of sport as a pure way to enjoy life and escape from the everyday stress, Rob explains the reasons he wrote his book – The Soccer Coach’s Toolkit: More Than 250 Activities to Inspire and Challenge Players, and how being proactive and making things happen helped him secure a book deal.

Play the podcast and listen to this episode now!

Rob highlights two important moments in his life where simply writing letters and sending them to professional football clubs and later on to publishers helped him secure employment and a book deal. The emphasis here is on the confidence to put yourself out there, to show a complete stranger that you have something that will be of a benefit to their organisation, taking rejection as part of the journey and ultimately transforming your own life.

Rob’s story is one that will give you the energy, advice and positivity to take control of areas in your life that need to be reenergised and to focus on things that give you real joy. As Rob describes, the enjoyment you had as a kid simply running around, kicking or throwing a ball can easily be replicated in adulthood and the lessons learnt then are still as important now – focusing on what is important, taking time out to have real fun and ultimately never giving up, and as Rob explained from one of his favourite movies about how to make changes in your life, The Shawshank Redemption – ‘That’s all it really takes, pressure and time’.

Rob Ellis is a professional football coach, currently coaching at Chelsea FC and their foundation academy players. He has played football professionally, possesses a first class honours degree in Sports Sciences as well as being a fully certified teacher of Physical Education. He has great experience in teaching and coaching and through this knowledge has written his first book The Soccer Coach’s Toolkit: More Than 250 Activities to Inspire and Challenge Players, where over 20 years of experience in working with youth players has been condensed into a fantastic toolkit that can be used for any soccer coach who is new to the game up to those who are experienced coaches looking to increase and improve their own repertoire. 

The Soccer Coach’s Toolkit: More Than 250 Activities to Inspire and Challenge Players can be found in all good book shops or online at Amazon.

Connect with Rob on Twitter to find out what is going on in the soccer coaching world and he is always open to giving advice on coaching - https://twitter.com/rob_coach82