From Northern Ireland’s Conflicts to a Life of Purpose - The Seamus Fox Story #117

In this episode of The Inner Entrepreneur, Paul Ryan sits down with Seamus Fox — speaker, coach, and mentor to CEOs, entrepreneurs, and high achievers. This is a  story of transformation: from growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, to hitting rock bottom after a near-fatal car crash, to rebuilding his life through fitness, values-based living, and coaching.

Through his journey, Seamus has discovered that the key to lasting change isn’t motivation or willpower — it’s aligning your life with your highest values. He shares how crisis can become a blessing, why burnout is really a sign of misalignment, and how entrepreneurs can find renewed purpose and energy by living authentically.

 

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The Power of Environment: How growing up in conflict and scarcity shaped Seamus
• Rock Bottom as a Turning Point: The car crash that became the wake-up call for change.
• Fitness as a Path to Purpose: How bodybuilding and training gave Seamus focus, discipline, and direction.
• Values Over Motivation: Why most people fail to stick with habits and how linking goals to core values creates lasting change.
• Burnout & Misalignment: How doing low-value work drains us, and how to shift towards what energizes us.
• The Wisdom in Crisis: Seeing challenges as blessings that redirect us to our true path.
• Energy as a Compass: How to tell if you’re living in alignment with your values by how you feel.
• Practical Tools: How to uncover your values, re-frame your perspective, and start living more authentically.

 

Memorable Quotes

• “Wisdom is the instantaneous recognition that a crisis is a blessing.”
• “Not everybody values health and fitness — we all have a unique fingerprint of values.”
• “Burnout doesn’t come from doing too much. It comes from doing what’s low in your values.”
• “When you’re aligned with your highest values, your energy goes up. When you’re not, it drops.”
• “Stop forcing habits. Start linking them to what you truly care about.”

 

Links & Resources

• Connect with Seamus Fox: seamusfox.com
• Recommended Book: The Breakthrough Experience by Dr. John DeMartini
• Learn more about Paul Ryan and The Inner Entrepreneur: The Onehourceo.com

 

Episode Takeaways

1. Your environment shapes you — but you can re-frame even difficult beginnings into sources of strength.
2. Rock bottom moments often carry the seeds of transformation — if you’re willing to ask the right questions.
3. Motivation fades; values last — align your goals with what truly matters to you.
4. Burnout is misalignment — not doing too much, but doing what drains your energy.
5. Energy never lies — use it as your compass to know when you’re living authentically.

 

About the host:

Paul Ryan is an entrepreneur, 8 figure business owner, mentor, podcaster and creator of the 1-Hour CEO and Life Code Program. As a CEO, Paul has a depth of 'real life' experience of what it takes to be successful in business and life.

 

Connect with the host:

https://www.theonehourceo.com/

 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-ryan-9a98774/