About Me

I was a professional football (soccer) player for 12 months between 2010/2011. My whole life had been geared toward becoming a footballer, and I had succeeded by 18. Within 12 months, it had gone, and although I had a couple of injury issues, it was ultimately my responsibility. I didn’t have the mental strength to handle the various pressures.

I’m naturally quite introverted. I struggled with the bullshit surrounding professional sports and the mountains of people-pleasing that come with the lifestyle.

At 19, I was released at the end of my contract. I expected it, but it was also a big tear to my ego. The pain, suffering and loss of identity drove me to start my health and fitness business and devour as many personal development books as I could get my hands on. My identity had been completely shattered, and my life lacked any sense of meaning. Everything I was, I wasn’t anymore.

Consuming information temporarily filled a void. Football wasn’t the focal point or avoidance mechanism but knowledge and business. Constantly working, reading, and consuming information gave me a superficial sense of meaning, but it worked at the time and gave me a tremendous foundation to build on.

 

Self-Transformation 

The most noticeable transformation was the change in my inner landscape that comes with psychological and spiritual development. 

Naturally, the suffering that came along with the destruction of my identity led me to seek to elevate that suffering somehow. It’s a fairly common path, very well-trodden with plenty of pitfalls.

This seeking drive led me to study many psycho-spiritual development models by people such as Ken Wilber (Integral Theory), Christopher Cowan and Don Beck (Spiral Dynamics), Susan Cook-Greuter (Ego Development Theory), Dr David Hawkins (Map Of Consciousness), and ‘Thusness’ (7 Stages Of Enlightenment).

I was determined to discover the truths behind the spiritual traditions, which led me to consciousness research, history, esotericism/occultism, psychology, holistic well-being and healing modalities, philosophy, and shamanism.

I’ve also participated in numerous plant medicine ceremonies, particularly Ayahuasca. In terms of consciousness expansion, I don’t think anything comes close to psychedelics as a technology, providing they are done sacredly. However, these things are not the answer to grasping the Nature of Reality; they are simply tools for the potential embodiment of wisdom.

There is also a strong resonance with the Zen, Vedantic, mystical Christian / Islam and Western esoteric traditions. I enjoy absorbing much of this wisdom whilst recognising the answers do not lie there.

I write about raw spirituality here. It helps clarify my thinking as a sort of ‘Spiritual Autolysis’. 

I also host a podcast on the same topic called Dancing Paradox. (I had a break from this because attention has been focused on my property companies over the last 12 months. I’ve left it up because of the good feedback)

Entrepreneurship / Property Investing

I’ve been investing and trading property since 2013. I now spend most of my time doing what I’m best at: deal-making; real estate fits this bill perfectly. The numbers are big, and the people I surround myself with are seriously big thinkers. It’s a joy to be humbled so regularly by people who know how to play the game better than I do. 

I’ve also started a few companies in different areas, which have been failures and huge learning experiences.

I believe that entrepreneurship is the canvas of the modern renaissance man. I encourage everyone to start their own enterprise, whether a small ‘side hustle’ or a focused and relentless company aiming to change how humanity functions. The evolution of mind and spirit that comes with the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship cannot be put into words.

You can read about my entrepreneurial ventures here.

I’m always happy to talk to entrepreneurs about their ventures time-permitting. Drop me an email – alex@alexhickman.co.uk

 

Thank you for reading. 

Alex Hickman

 

 


“And the greatest sin is that of a man who, finding himself in a world where the sacred light of His Majesty is obscured, nevertheless determines to go on living without doing anything about it.”

Yukio MishimaRunaway Horses