The secret to my success: How three friends prioritised wellness to thrive as entrepreneurs

Three successful businessmen found that prioritising wellness and work-life balance enhanced both their professional lives and friendships.

Having supportive friends that you can rely on during challenging times, and who understand the importance of fostering wellness and balance in life and business, is essential for thriving entrepreneurs. 

In Sydney, three successful businessmen – Michael Coombs, a luxury property specialist; Nicho Plowman, a Vedic Meditation teacher and Nick Tobias, an accomplished architect and interior designer – share a bond rooted in collaboration and an appreciation for wellness practices.  

They also attribute prioritising their wellness to enhancing their professional lives and friendships. Coomb’s journey into meditation was guided by Plowman, which provided them both with valuable tools to prosper in business and beyond. Tobias, too, finds camaraderie with these two men and the unique understanding of wellness and business they offer. Together, the trio are advocates for how investing in health and wellness can lead to greater success and fulfilment in entrepreneurial endeavours.  

They are re so invested in their health these days that they’ve collectively invested their time and energy in leading Australian Ayurvedic health brand One Eleven Health.   

Having focused on the benefits of health and wellness, this tonic for the nervous system is like a meditation in a cup, providing more energy, better sleep and a blissful state of being in mind, body and spirit.   

Collectively, the team shares a clear vision and approach to business: to transform the consciousness and well-being of humanity through education, empowerment and premium well-being products designed  to elevate and enhance people’s everyday lives.   

Here’s how they started on a path that led them to mateship, wellness and health that they want others to find:   

Priority pivot

After years of living in the fast lane, working long hours in the most dynamic real estate market in Australia, the director of Atlas Real Estate, Michael Coombs, recalls staring down his 40th birthday, which prompted him to look for a wellness practice to help him prioritise his long-term well-being.  

A friend initially suggested meditation, but he admits he dismissed it as something usually reserved for monks sitting on top of a mountain rather than successful people. But he quickly discovered that some of the most successful businesspeople are daily meditators, so he decided to give it a go.  

“Meditation became a simple yet transformative daily practice that allows me to de-stress, find balance and be more present as a husband, father and business leader. It was a commitment to being the best version of myself, not just for my business, but for everyone I interact with,” Coombs says.  

These days, he is up at 5 am to stretch and breathe, followed by meditation, and then either hits the beach for a surf or has a sauna session. This hour to himself sets a positive tone for the day before he joins his wife and kids for breakfast. “Meditation keeps me grounded, energised and ready to take on the day with clarity.”  

The shift to meditation has driven significant growth and brought a profound sense of well-being and enjoyment to his life. “I truly believe that when you prioritise your health and mental clarity, it reflects positively in every aspect of your business and personal life,” he says.  

Coombs says he’s mentally, physically and emotionally operating at peak performance. Meditation has also enhanced the quality of his work and strengthened the relationships he builds with clients and colleagues.  

“Meditation has enabled me to serve my clients and team with greater efficiencies. In a fast-paced world where stress can easily undermine performance, my wellness practices have empowered me to make better, faster decisions and approach each day with a sense of gratitude and fulfilment.  

“It’s been an incredible journey, and the impact of meditation and wellness on my life has been nothing short of transformative,” he says.

A new path

Fellow Sydney businessman Nicho Plowman has also embarked on a new path into wellness through meditation after years in a demanding corporate career.   

He knew meditation was used as a performance tool by people like Oprah Winfrey, Hugh Jackman and Jerry Seinfeld, and he wondered if it could help him reduce stress in his life.  

“Being healthy and meditating regularly means our nervous system and physiology can function optimally. If we are better rested and less stressed, we’re more productive and creative. As such, we perform better at work and align with our purpose so that work takes on new meaning,” Plowman says.  

Meditation agreed with him so much that he began teaching Vedic Meditation, co-founding an app, Insight Timer, the largest online meditation community, with almost 30 million users globally.   

Plowman is adamant that people change once they adopt meditation and stick with it. “To use an analogy: if life is a movie, then we experience it in our conscious cinema. If we’re stressed, tired and anxious, we’ll watch the movie from the front row of the cinema, or our face will even be up against the screen. This is uncomfortable, and we’re mostly in survival mode. People who meditate slowly but surely come back a few rows in their cinema to experience life with more perspective and in a less stressed manner. They are better rested, more creative and more productive,” he says.  

These days, he prefers to surround himself with others in business who also mediate. “All the projects I’m involved in are led by people who mediate. It’s a prerequisite for me because it ensures that conversations can be had that encompass much broader conscious themes, as opposed to being limited to a commercial perspective only,” he says.  

Taking a creative approach

Sydney architect and interior designer Nick Tobias is also a meditation convert after discovering the virtues of meditation in his teens. Now in his forties, he still keeps up the practice twice a day.  

The founding partner of Tobias Partners works in top gear during the working week, but juggling a range of projects and client demands can take its toll. The award-winning firm works for clients seeking a bespoke approach to super luxury homes, predominantly in the Eastern Suburbs and Northern Beaches.  

Tobias admits to having an inner drive to be as close to perfection as possible. “The culture here is that we all want to work hard, push hard and get the best results to do the best we can do, which can be exhausting sometimes,” he says.  

After meditation, he feels euphoric, similar to taking a small holiday so he can return to work much calmer, clearer and ready to execute the project in front of him. The mantra-based meditation takes him into a transcendent-like state so he can see the forest for the trees.  

“When things get a bit wobbly and out of sync on the meditation front, I feel it and can see the effect. Often, when things are intense in life, just pushing harder and working harder won’t take you to the desired outcome, but leaning into your spiritual wellness practice creates the space that you need in those times to do better quality work and make better quality decisions,” Tobias says.  

“When you’re stressed, what happens is that we go into fight or flight mode, meaning we’re full of adrenaline and our decision-making capacity is limited. We’re more manic, blinkered and more binary in our thinking. Meditation doesn’t necessarily give you what you want; it gives you what you need,” he says.   

More information:  www.oneelevenhealth.com/