Harry
In 2020 I found myself sitting across from a coach named Harry. Not my first coach. But the first one who actually saw me.
He named something I'd never had words for. And when he did, something in me shifted.
I had spent years being available for everyone. Calm, agreeable, never a burden. While underneath, there was anger. Sadness. Frustration. Kept carefully out of sight.
Harry helped me see where it started. And something in me caught fire.
Before Harry, I knew exactly what my life was supposed to look like. And for a long time, it did — successful on paper, admired from a distance. But something quieter underneath never fully settled. I couldn't always name what it was. I just knew there was more distance between who I was and who I appeared to be than I wanted to admit.
Harry didn't hand me answers. He handed me clarity. That was enough to start.
From thereI read everything I could find. Neuroscience. Psychology. The mechanics of how people actually change. And the hunger never stopped. It still hasn't.
Because what I had discovered wasn't just about me. It was something I could hand to anyone else who wanted to see their own life more clearly.
A life lived in fullI have never taken the obvious path. I graduated in economics, served on the AIESEC board, won the Varsity for Nereus, and then promptly ignored everything that was expected of me.
I traded new cars in bulk internationally, was already walking around the BYD production facility when these letters still stood for 'Bring You Dollars' (literally : ), designed and built a working mobile phone in China without being an engineer, supplied Dutch infant formula to China when local brands contained melamine.
And somewhere along the way, I pulled espresso shots, sharing what I was discovering with whoever came for a coffee. Watching what landed. Watching what didn't. It was the best research I never planned.
Each chapter taught me something different. About people who had been handed the wrong story about themselves and finally got to rewrite it. About being robbed of everything in China and discovering that complete freedom was hiding underneath.
About keeping your word when no one would blame you for not. About a knowing nod being worth more than any title. About the value of genuine connection. About realising that I too had been handed the wrong story about myself. And that rewriting it changed everything.
None of it prepared me for this work. All of it prepared me for this work.
SleepSleep was where I first noticed the difference clarity makes. The nights I used to lie awake without knowing why, I now understand completely — and once you can see clearly what's actually going on, it stops running the show.
That's the mentor I want to be for my clients, too. Not someone who shows up after everything's cracked. Someone who helps you see clearly long before you'd ever need to.
My wish? To be someone's Harry.
Frank Baan
The Unlimited Me