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In a recent TEDx talk, motivational speaker and self-help writer Terrance McMahon opened up about his difficult past, the struggles and challenges he learned to overcome, and the story behind how he developed his ‘algorithm for happiness’.
McMahon is a former CEO of a highly successful insurance firm, who turned his attention and dedicated his time to providing self-help advice through his book, a YouTube channel he co-hosts, podcasts, and plenty of public appearances.
In the TEDx talk, McMahon talked about what got him to the point where he could develop self-help insights worth sharing with the public – and it wasn’t a wish to make a profit.
Mr. Mahon was born in Western Massachusetts into a long line of pro- and semi-pro baseball players. It was therefore no surprise when he got accepted into university on a sports scholarship. What should have been cause for celebration – starting college and making his way towards a career – almost immediately turned into trouble.
On the very day McMahon arrived at college, he suffered a panic attack. To calm his nerves and make it easier for him to transition into this new environment, he turned to alcohol. Again, this is hardly unusual – we all know how stressful the college experience can be, just as we all know that most people turn to short-term ‘band-aid’ solutions like alcohol and illegal substances to ease the pressure.
But, as he openly admits in his TEDx talk, McMahon’s drinking got out of hand – to the point where he lost his place at the college. Not only did he have to leave with no education and no job, but he and his partner had a baby on the way.
It’s tough to imagine higher pressure than that experienced in a situation such as this. McMahon managed to get a job as a door-to-door insurance salesman – figuring this was better than nothing, at a time when he had a growing family to support. When his child was born, however, he had an idea for improving the way insurance selling was done by traditional companies.
This idea eventually turned into his company, which began making six figures after only a couple of decades of operation. His drinking, however, hadn’t stopped – ultimately contributing to liver failure. Just when he thought there was no chance of survival, McMahon received a transplant and, quite literally, began his life anew.
This experience taught him how to ‘reinvent’ himself – he believed making improvements to his life wasn’t enough and that he needed a fresh start. He later used this experience to develop a self-help method, with the aim of helping other people overcome their demons in the same way.
Sharing his story on a public forum like this must’ve taken an unbelievable amount of courage, and the TEDx talk certainly goes a long way to put even more weight behind the wisdom and authenticity of McMahon’s book, SuperHero Self. After all, most of us would much rather take the advice of someone who’s ‘been there’, rather than buying into vague theories and programmes based more on marketing and less on experience.
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This content is sponsored by Shahina Parvin.
Photos provided by the author.