Rags to riches stories are those that tell of someone who went from having nothing to having everything. The moral of these stories is hard work pays off. Mike Diamond, from his childhood, grew up with precious little but him achieving financial success in adulthood focuses on only part of the story. Within his journey, he took multiple paths, twisting and turning to arrive at the emotionally and financially stable place he is at today.
His upbringing was a difficult one – abused as a child, taking drugs at 12, expelled from school at 16. The healthy father figure he was supposed to have never materialized, with his father taking out his frustrations on young Mike. Unfortunately, he had no one else to turn to – his mother was unsupportive. Outside of this, he was born dyslexic, and without a nurturing family environment, this become even more problematic. Whilst he was an exceptional athlete from a very early age, this counted for naught for his mother and father.
A stroke of luck resulted in him winning a Green Card Lottery Ticket which led him to move to Miami. There he found financial success. However, the coping mechanisms he had developed in Australia to deal with his pain only grew. Drugs and alcohol poured into his life, and his co-ownership of a club with Scott Weiland, lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, only quickened this descent. Here despite the money Mike made, he found himself feeling empty. With his substance abuse, Mike realized that it was time to take control of his life.
Intervention came unexpectedly, however. Rather than it coming from his own family, Mike’s friend Scott Weiland got the call. Scott’s wife was leaving him and taking the kids. Though this should have been a wake-up call for Scott, it ended up impacting Mike Diamond much more. From that moment on Mike began to revisit the athleticism of his youth, started work on getting sober, and attended 12-step meetings.
Today Mike Diamond runs marathons, is a loving and devoted father, and is a voracious reader, with a book appetite of about one a week. With all the struggles he’s undergone he’s been able to reach a moment of clarity. Everything about his life feels inspirational. How he had a start in life that would be envied by no one to financial and emotional success is remarkable. Nor does he hold any grudge towards his father despite the harsh treatment Mike endured under his yoke. Rather, there is a parable about forgiveness to be found. In his characteristic wit, Mike describes his acceptance of his father’s actions as “Post Traumatic Growth” not enduring stress from it but using those situations as a point of growth.
Mike Diamond is a person who has been to the brink and came back, and in A Dose of Positivity, life coach and television personality Mike Diamond explains his tried-and-true methods for empowerment and offers tools and stories that serve as a roadmap for all of those who think they have lost their way.
