Pete Cohen, ITV Life Coach: How to Build a £2M Business and Survive Trauma

What if the thing you've been outrunning in your life is the same thing driving your business, and it's finally time to stop and look at it? In this episode, Paul Avins sits down with Pete Cohen, one of the UK's top performance coaches, author of 21 books, former resident life coach on ITV's GMTV, and creator of the Stop to Think philosophy. Pete left school with one O-level, became one of the UK's first personal trainers, then built and sold a weight loss and fitness business to Bupa. He has worked with Arsenal, Pfizer, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Roger Black and Sally Gunnell. Paul and Pete go deep on self-awareness, addiction and identity: why knowing your own weaknesses means avoiding the things that could hijack you, why many entrepreneurs are built on proving someone wrong, and why the bigger the stage lights, the bigger the shadow. They explore why celebrating other people's wins builds community, why every founder needs a coach, and how Paul's mastermind and retreat model grew from building something he wanted to attend himself. Both share the hardest moments of their lives. Pete talks about burning out with chronic fatigue at the height of his TV fame, losing his parents, and supporting his wife Hannah through a brain tumour diagnosis, treatment in America and Germany, and her passing in 2023. He explains how his coach helped him find a way to celebrate his suffering, leading to the award-winning documentary Team Hannah, which won at the Cannes World Film Festival. Paul tells the story of his 2014 cardiac arrest, his wife Sue's brain injury and 21-day coma, and how he trained trauma out of his body after years of living in fight or flight. They close on resilience (not bouncing back, but moving through), why ideas are perishable and need action within 72 hours, the difference between procrastination and creative procrastination, and why stopping is where growth happens. What you'll learn: Why self-awareness and self-audit matter more than hustle. Why addiction, including dopamine addiction, is something many entrepreneurs fight without realising. Why identity shifts drive growth, and why refusing a label others put on you can change your life. How to build a community and mastermind where people feel accepted whatever their results. Why celebrating everyone's success beats a winners-and-losers model. How the Napoleon Hill principles still apply to modern business. Why ideas are perishable and need action within 72 hours. The difference between avoidance procrastination and creative procrastination. How trauma stored in the body can quietly shape your performance, and why working with a professional matters. Why resilience means moving through adversity, not bouncing back. The Chinese saying that life is lived forwards and understood backwards. Apply this: Audit where you are right now: sleep, mood, energy, health, relationships, wealth, work. Know your triggers and avoid the ones that could hijack you. Get a coach or mentor. Nobody climbs a mountain alone. Act on ideas within 72 hours, or let them go. Learn to regulate your nervous system daily through journaling, meditation, walking or cold plunges. When life gets hard, just win today. Define what winning looks like and get on with it. Take time to stop and reflect. You can't make sense of it while you're running. About Pete Cohen Pete Cohen is one of the UK's leading performance coaches and the author of 21 books. He was the resident life coach on GMTV, built and sold a successful weight loss and fitness business, and has coached elite athletes and major corporates. He created Stop to Think, a philosophy focused on pausing to think differently, and produced the award-winning documentary Team Hannah. Watch Team Hannah: https://teamhannah.com Stop to Think: Https://www.stop2think.co.uk/ More from Pete: https://petecohen.com Scale with Paul Avins Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulavins/ Book a call: https://www.paulavins.com/book-a-call Newsletter: https://www.paulavins.com/newsletter-opt-in Level Up. Team Up. Scale Up. Fire Up.