Life Coaching – Perspective of an Outlander
Filip Trajkovic (USA)
This text is written with sincerity and respect for the real coaches — the ones who paved the way with genuine intention and integrity, building this industry the right way. As for the rest? Well, they can kindly excuse themselves.
I came into this world like a bad joke—war outside, chaos inside, a family barely keeping it together. But life, in one of its rare acts of kindness, handed me my grandparents. They were warmth in a cold world, the kind of people who made you believe in goodness, even when everything else screamed otherwise.
My grandfather was old-school tough, the kind of man who didn’t need to raise his voice to command a room. He taught me that real strength isn’t about throwing punches—it’s about taking them and still showing up the next day. My grandmother, with all her soft hands and iron will, taught me love without ever saying a word. It was in the little things, the meals made from nothing, the quiet reassurances, the way she could turn any broken thing into something whole again. Without them, I wouldn’t have known what it meant to be cared for, to be seen, to have a fighting chance at becoming something more than the chaos I was born into.
I learned empathy young, mostly from trying—and failing—to cheer up my depressed mother. She spent entire days at the kitchen table, drowning in misery, and I, the annoying little optimist, kept trying to pull her out. “You don’t understand,” she’d say. And she was right, I didn’t. But kids feel things, even if they don’t have the words for it. And when you feel too much, you start looking for ways to unload it. Some people find Jesus, some find whiskey. I found speed and lost souls—other kids wandering through life like they took a wrong turn somewhere and never found their way back.
For some reason, I enjoyed fixing lost, broken souls. The ones who, in my opinion, didn’t belong there. The ones with a flicker of something more. I’d get in their heads, make them see what they were wasting, and push them toward something better. It was a paradox—helping people while handing them another line. But it felt good, like purpose, or at least the closest thing to it at the time. And somehow, pulling other people out of the hole, I started climbing myself.
The first time I heard the term “life coach” was in New York, late 2018, right before COVID-19 turned the world inside out. It came from my regular massage client, Theo—a guy who moved through life with the kind of confidence that made you wonder if he knew something the rest of us didn’t. Smooth, charming, a little unreadable.
That night, we were on the subway, heading in the same direction after he introduced me to one of his clients who needed a massage therapist. I asked about their relationship—it felt… unconventional. He shrugged.
Source: iCN Issue 50 (The Power of Life Coaching in Achieving Personal & Professional Success); pages 54-56
About Filip Trajkovic
Filip Trajkovic believes in constant growth, the evolution of our values and beliefs beyond what we inherit early in life, and the importance of living with purpose and intention. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, in the ’90s, he developed an early interest in writing but set it aside after facing discouragement. Life led him down different paths, but through personal challenges and self-discovery, he found his way back to writing as a tool for self-reflection, personal growth, and joy.
Now living in the U.S., he is dedicated to helping others cultivate the right values, build genuine confidence, and elevate their energy vibration to attract deeper, more meaningful connections.
He is currently working on a book aimed at helping men build confidence, improve their self-worth, and navigate the challenges of modern dating.
