Mindset Coach Erwin Wils is also the Business Strategist at Millionaire Life Strategy, where he “empowers tech experts to boost their business and themselves.”
With Erwin Wils, tech experts can also “transform into the person that achieves their ambitions, goals, and beyond.” He holds an MS in Electrical Engineering.
Likewise, Erwin Wils is a “certified professional hypnotherapist” and “master Soulkey therapist.”
Erwin Wils is also a trained EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and IEMT (Integral Eye Movement Therapy) practitioner.
After over 25 years, Erwin Wils has gained the necessary experience to “show the tech-geeks, nerds, and other left-brained technical experts how they can use their expertise to make a positive impact in the world and make a good living doing it.”
Erwin Wils began his career as an entrepreneur by working as a hypnotherapist, “helping people overcome all kinds of mental challenges.”
After 18 months, Erwin Wils decided to focus on coaching, because he “saw a lot of unused potential with my clients, and I wanted to put my clients into their full potential.”
Erwin Wils also loves to “inspire people and share my knowledge and wisdom, because what good is knowledge if you don’t share it?” Helping people out energizes him.
Check out more interviews with business strategists here. You can also watch Erwin Wils in conversation here:
Some turn that dream into a vision and create a new reality, and others don’t. Erwin Wils, Millionaire Life Strategy
Jerome Knyszewski: None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
Can you share a story about that?
Erwin Wils: Without a doubt, that is my wife.
I met her in my first year of university at a dance party.
Somehow, we ended up dancing together on the dance floor, had some drinks, and at the end of the evening, we said goodbye with 3 kisses on the cheeks (typical Dutch good-bye).
And somehow, it felt like we knew each other for years.
I went home with my friend and all I knew was her first name, the city she lived in, and the car she drove.
The following days I visited that city on a quest to find her, and actually I did!, 10 days later. I found the house she lived in.
I gathered my nerves, rang the doorbell, and asked her mother if she lived there. In fact, she did.
We went out for a drink that night, exchanged our contact information, and I wrote her a letter telling her that I wanted to see her again.
A week later she invited me to the movies.
I happily agreed, and that day was the beginning of the rest of our lives.
I consider her to be my soulmate. I feel blessed that she supports me in everything I do, gives me the space to do what I want, and to become the person I am today.
I definitely improved myself because of her. We went through a lot together and still have each other’s back. It’s been 30 years already and we’re just starting.
Jerome Knyszewski: Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Erwin Wils: I have a lot of books that impacted my life in a positive way, this time I would like to mention Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich.
Even though it was published in 1937, its content remains relevant today. I think it should be a must-read at school.
Especially the quote “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Definitely resonates with me, and has become one of my core beliefs and drivers.
Everybody has a certain dream.
Some turn that dream into a vision and create a new reality, and others don’t. The difference is in truly believing in it, then taking the necessary steps to achieve it.
That can be a real challenge. That’s where I come in as a mindset coach.
Jerome Knyszewski: How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Erwin Wils: Well, I’m transforming lives, so I think that counts, right?
Ha ha, now seriously, when I started out as an entrepreneur, I worked as a hypnotherapist, helping people overcome all kinds of mental challenges.
After 18 months, I changed my focus towards coaching, because I saw a lot of unused potential with my clients, and I wanted to put my clients into their full potential.
We are habitual people, formed, and thus limited, by the frames put on us by our parents, teachers, society, cultural rules, regulations, thoughts, you name it. Before we know it, we get disconnected from our talents.
It is my belief that every single person is here with a reason―to make a positive impact―and when I can help a person to reach his or her full potential, becoming the person they were destined to be, it truly gives me a rush.
Besides that, I love to inspire people and share my knowledge and wisdom, because what good is knowledge if you don’t share it?
And it always amazes me how certain things I have done or said, impact other people. That’s what’s energizing me.
Jerome Knyszewski: Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders.
This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies.
In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
Erwin Wils: Throughout history, women had to fight much harder for the same positions.
As far back as history goes, men were meant to take care of the food (by means of hunting, fishing, etcetera) and women were meant to raise children and take care of the home base.
Later on, many jobs were physically challenging, and since most men are better equipped for physical roles, they would get those jobs.
We didn’t have management studies back then, you just got promoted and since most men fulfilled those jobs, they got promoted to the higher ranks.
Nowadays that is nonsense, but we still carry the same mentality from our ancestors.
In order to overcome that mentality, women spent years proving to themselves and others that they are equally, if not more than capable for the same positions held by men.
Because of this perceived gender equality, women practically needed to be overqualified to even be considered for the job.
The women who succeeded, like my earlier mentioned managers who had climbed to the top in a man’s world, had to be tenacious.
This tenacity also applies to founding a company.
I think a lot of women hold back from founding companies because, in their minds, it needs to be perfect in order to become successful, and that perfectionism is what’s keeping them from getting started.
Every possible issue that might go wrong is placed under a magnifying glass and prevents them from starting. They become their own worst enemies.
Another thing I have noticed, is the absence of an absolute belief in their own capabilities.
Women are tougher on themselves than any other person in the world, which can hurt them in business.
When I was young, I used to watch an animation series about Calimero, a little black bird with a white egg-shell hat.
One of his famous quotes was “They are big, and I am little, and that is injustice!”
I think a lot of women have a little Calimero inside of them preventing them from achieving their dreams because they focus on what they don’t have instead of what they do have.
Men have this issue too, but women, in my anecdotal research, tend to be harder themselves than men.
I love to inspire people and share my knowledge and wisdom, because what good is knowledge if you don’t share it?
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you share with our readers what you are doing to help empower women to become founders?
Erwin Wils: Well, you could say that I help that little Calimero grow up and takes its place in the world.
I help my clients overcome the limiting beliefs that they grew up with― which have nothing to do with their capabilities!
I reconnect them with their inner talents and regain their confidence, so that they, too, will achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
Whatever journey that lies ahead for them, it all starts with the first step, no matter how small.
The hardest thing to do, is to make something out of nothing, but as soon as there is something, no matter how small, it is much easier to make that grow.
Getting started is the hard part.
That first step. I help them get started. Then I become their accountability partner to keep them on track and guide them as they navigate the obstacles along the way.
Start by answering this question: “The world would be a better place if only…” Erwin Wils
Jerome Knyszewski: This might be intuitive to you but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Erwin Wils: We need you! Women have greatness men don’t have, and vice versa. When I look at my personal life, my wife and I complement each other perfectly.
I would not have become this great coach if it wasn’t for the support and inspiration of my wife.
I firmly believe it is the great synergy between men and women that help each other reach their full potential.
So why should that be different in business?
I believe that keeping things in balance is key for success and, the scale is still heavily unbalanced — although improving year over year, decade over decade.
Another reason is, as being a certified professional hypnotherapist, I know that the subconscious mind is much more powerful than our conscious mind.
Most men make decisions based on their conscious mind (they think), while most women tend to listen to their intuition, which comes from the subconscious mind.
And even though they cannot explain it, most decisions women make are right, because they rely on intuition.
On average, women are more emotionally connected to the universal resources we carry around with us, while men tend to listen only to things they can explain (logic / left brain vs. emotions / right brain).
Of course, this is a generalization and many women are logical thinkers and many men are emotional decision makers, but for the sake of the argument, let’s take this statement at face value.
A third reason is my belief that everybody is here to make a positive impact on the world.
In my opinion, the best way to do that is to become an entrepreneur, because as an entrepreneur, you are in the driver’s seat.
So please take the step and become the founder of your own destiny! Start by answering this question: “The world would be a better place if only…”
Jerome Knyszewski: You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Erwin Wils: That’s a tough question to be honest. Although, considering the context, I would love to inspire all mothers that are reading this interview.
Because we are talking about why we need more women to become company founders, they need to take action.
If I can inspire mothers to take action, not only do we achieve the intention of this series, they will also inspire their children, which will be the next generation of entrepreneurs.
By leading by example, they show their children that whatever their mind can achieve and believe, they can achieve.
Can you even imagine the snowball effect that could have on the future generations?
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow your work online?
Erwin Wils: They can connect with me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erwin-wils/) or follow my website.
My company is also present on Facebook and Instagram, enough ways to follow my work and be inspired.
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.