Welcome to Ask Coach Tony!
This is your opportunity to get a taste of my Operation Melt coaching by asking me your most pressing questions about achieving your goals and personal growth.
Ask Coach Tony is where you’ll find answers, insights, and strategies to help you take actionable steps toward success – whether you’re just starting or looking to level up.
Ready for a dad joke?
Consider this a lighthearted amuse-bouche for your brain before we get serious. Sure, it might be groan-worthy—but hey, at least you’re getting your money’s worth, right? 😆
People are usually shocked when they find out I am not a good electrician.
The Dark Side of Your Strengths: Meet Your Evil Twin
Have you ever watched a TV drama where the beloved hero discovers they have an identical sibling – only to realize this twin is manipulative, deceitful, and bent on destruction?
That’s right… it’s the evil twin!
The “evil twin” storyline is a trope as old as television itself. It is a staple of soap operas and even made an appearance in Friends – Doctor Drake Ramoray’s evil twin Hans. As with any trope, the evil twin is overplayed, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
But what if I told you the evil twin isn’t just a soap opera cliché? It’s something we all have inside us.
Every strength we possess has a dark side. The very qualities that help us succeed can turn against us if we don’t keep them in check. Confidence can become arrogance. Determination can become stubbornness. Kindness can become people-pleasing.
My evil twin…
Here’s a glimpse into one of my evil twins.
Like most of you reading this, I am a high-achiever. My Enneagram type is 3: the achiever. My top two StrengthsFinder strengths are competition and achiever. Hell, I write a blog about goal success, and I am a life coach who helps people achieve their goals. I have high achievement and goals in my blood.
The evil twin of a high-achiever is their inability to turn it off and live in the moment.
On a lazy Sunday morning, we were at our house at Indian Lake. The crisp autumn air carried the scent of falling leaves as I sipped my coffee, soaking in the stillness of the lake. We had no timelines for the day and only the loosest of plans: eat brunch, enjoy the lake, pack up, drive back to the city, unpack and go to dinner. None of those steps had a deadline for completion.
Once brunch was finished, my thoughts turned toward packing and leaving. There was no rush to leave, but that didn’t matter to my achiever brain. Packing and leaving was the next step on the checklist, and that’s all my brain focused on. My mind raced ahead—packing, driving, unpacking, dinner plans. Instead of enjoying the moment, I was already mentally halfway home.
My evil twin was alive and well.
Conquering your evil twin…
There is no magic solution to shutting down your evil twin. Fortunately, you can manage how much power you give it.
Don’t miss the next blog… please subscribe today.
Now… back to this post…
The key is self-awareness. Recognizing when your best qualities are slipping into their darker forms allows you to take back control before your “evil twin” wreaks havoc.
What’s a strength of yours that sometimes turns into its own worst enemy?
What does it look like when your evil twin starts surfacing?
Once you know what to look out for, you can be on the lookout for signs that your evil twin is making an appearance. This will help you redirect your attention to focus on healthier thoughts.
With practice, catching and redirecting your brain will help you keep your evil twin at bay and let your heroic strengths have their closeup.
Do you need a little help identifying your strengths’ evil twins? Would it be helpful to have a partner to help you develop your catch and redirect muscles? As a certified master life coach, I would be honored to help you manage your evil twin so your strengths can shine. If you’re ready to take control of your evil twin and turn your strengths into unstoppable superpowers, let’s talk. I’d love to help you on your journey – learn more about Operation Melt coaching here.
I believe in you; let me help YOU believe in you!
Meet Coach Tony
I’m Coach Tony – coach, author, and project manager on a mission to build a world where no goal dies of loneliness.
For 40 years, I nearly let one of my biggest dreams slip away—not because I failed, but because I never even tried. Then, I took a leap, applied a simple, structured process, and not only achieved my goal but surpassed it.
That experience transformed my life, and I believe you can do the same.
Through Operation Melt, I provide engaging content and hands-on coaching designed to inspire, motivate, and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
Let’s make sure your goals don’t die of loneliness. Let me help you start your transformation today!
Breathe new life into your goals
Download my free ebook to learn how to create goals that actually work and get the jump-start you need in life!
