This week I’m delighted to speak with Rick Cooper, speaker and men’s retreat facilitator.

If you were to Rick now you’d think he had the ideal life and had it all together but as the saying goes ‘Don’t judge my story based on the chapter you walked in on.’ To do so would be to undermine the immense journey he has been through and the challenges he faced.

Growing up he was witness to a lot of domestic violence, which thankfully did not transfer into his adult relationships. Although there were some unconscious insecurities that he had taken on.

At a young age he took up rugby and showed promise early on. An opportunity to channel and release some inner aggression. He dedicated himself to the craft, receiving praise and attention from his father he pursued a professional career. At 16 he signed for local pro team Saracens as the youngest member of their U21 academy.

His career was cut short by a broken spine and multiple slipped discs. He was deemed too great an insurance risk and was sent home with partial mobility. He had to wait 16 months for surgery and doctors only gave him 67% chance of walking again but Rick chose to focus on the 33%. At 20 years of age he wasn’t about to accept this fate he had been given.

As soon as he could walk again he would walk 3 miles to the pool and not leave until he had completed 30 laps. Everyday increasing the number of lengths. He was mentally forcing his body to go to places he had been told it would never be able to.

The next few years were a dark time for Rick, losing his dad, being evicted with his family and struggling to make ends meet. Coupled with his own low self-esteem and not knowing what he wanted to do with his life.

At 25 Rick decided to apply to be a London Firefighter and found a new lease on life. He wanted to be the fittest recruit they’d ever had and he succeeded. He was selected first time and out ran the beep test.

He spent 10 years in the fire service and witnessed things he wouldn’t wish on anyone. Over the next few years he was always searching for the next thing, the next goal, the next achievement all of which only gave a short reprieve from his feelings until he would need to find the next pursuit. It wasn’t until the birth of his son that is all got put into perspective.

Eventually after many years of serving the ego he started to look within for meaning. For the first time in his life what anyone else thought or how he looked no longer mattered. The only approval he was looking for was his own.

Rick then took himself on a self-mastery and self-development journey. This has had a profound effect on him. He now knows that life is to be enjoyed for what it is now, in this moment, chasing doesn’t bring happiness. He has stripped back all the layers. He now enjoys a simple life based around cold immersion, movement, coffee and breakfasts with loved ones and careful choice of who he gives his energy and time to.

Rick regularly speaks publicly on the topics of self mastery, discipline over motivation, triumph over adversity and using it as a catalyst to extreme growth. He works with small businesses in relation to health & wellness and adopting a holistic approach to staff welfare, he coaches teenagers through depression & anxiety and leads men’s retreats to help them heal the wounded child within to become the fully actualised men that they were born to be.

Here's a quick preview of what's coming up on this week's episode.

You can find Rick on instagram and his website will be live in the near future.

The full episode will be available on Thursday. Make sure to follow me on instagram @thepursuitofenhancement for all the updates and make sure to subscribe to your favourite podcast source so you get notified when it goes live.

Thanks for listening. Speak to you soon.