Daily Inspiration: Meet Matthew Nichols

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Nichols.

Matthew, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Fitness, health and wellness have always been important in my life, but the idea of coaching was something I grew in to. I started coaching CrossFit group classes in 2013. It was an active, physical labor of love that provided a much-needed antidote to my work as an attorney. In 2017, I left the law and devoted my all energy to becoming a full-time professional coach. For several years, I worked as a coach and the general manager of CrossFit Los Angeles. Here I broadened my skillset and began to understand that my gift as a coach lies in the ways I help my athletes and clients unlock a deeper story about who they are and what they are capable of as humans.

Lifting weights, building aerobic capacity, eating healthy foods, and managing stress all serve physical health goals. But for me, physical training, nutrition, and mental skills coaching are tools for a person’s growth as a human, not just as an athlete. And this is why I started my own coaching business in 2024, to work with driven people who want to take their performance – inside and outside of the gym – to the next level. I work with my clients to create clarity, structure and accountability that unlocks that next level of human performance. My clients consistently show up for themselves and, through the work we do together, they build tremendous capacity to show up for the other people in their lives. They transform themselves and through their actions and their example they transform the world around them.

Today I work with individuals, small groups, leadership teams, and Olympic athletes. They vary in age, gender, and background, but what they have in common is a hunger for growth – and they know that the consistency and effort needed for their next level of growth will require the guidance, structure, and accountability that comes from working with a caring and committed coach.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This has not been a smooth road, but if the path is smooth I think it’s probably not taking you anywhere particularly interesting. I am a solo entrepreneur, but I have not done this alone. I have had the support of wonderful mentors, colleagues and clients along the way and that has made me feel that I can handle any challenges that come my way.

I changed careers in my forties and moved from Lake Tahoe to Los Angeles. Changing careers at any age can feel daunting, but to do so at an age when most people are well-settled into life felt like a huge risk. Giving up the mountains, trees and mountain lifestyle of Lake Tahoe for the traffic and concrete and pace of life in Los Angeles was massively disruptive. Starting over is hard! Starting over in a place as chaotic as Los Angeles has been its own particular challenge. But it also felt absolutely necessary to follow what my heart and intuition told me was the right path.

Honestly, I don’t think my struggles otherwise have been unique. I have been challenged to continue believing in my vision even when others don’t understand it. I have had to trust in myself that I don’t have to have it all figured out, I just need to take one step at a time. Each step on the path illuminates the next step. I have had to constantly renew my beginner’s mindset – seeing mistakes as opportunities to learn, not as failures. Keeping my enthusiasm for learning and not losing faith when success isn’t instant.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
People who are driven and motivated to get the most out of sport, business or life can often feel stuck when they’re reaching for the next level of performance. My job as a high performance coach is to help them get clarity on what they want and on what obstacles need to be removed so that they reach that next level of performance.

My athletes and clients don’t want to do less, slow down, or take it easy. Consequently, much of the work I do with my people is about creating space by saying no to the wrong things so that they have the time and energy to do more of what matters most. It starts with consistently showing up for yourself with integrity: do the things you need to do to create a strong, healthy and resilient body and mind. Whether high performance is measured by medals, business metrics, or satisfaction in relationships no one’s goals are served by being distracted, inconsistent, out of shape, slow, weak, or sick. As a coach, what I really do is help people develop their capacity to lead themselves so that they can have the greatest possible impact in their leadership of others.

Some highlights I am known for:

Since 2021, I have been the strength & conditioning coach for Team USA Artistic Swimming. We won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, the first team medal for the USA in artistic swimming in almost 20 years. We are building on that performance and looking to achieve great things at the LA 2028 Summer Olympics.

I am a master coach for Extreme Performance Training (XPT), the high-performance lifestyle brand created by Gabby Reece and Laird Hamilton. I have worked with hundreds of clients applying the knowledge I gained through XPT to integrate performance breathwork, movement, and recovery practices to live life without limits.

I facilitate the Catalyst Men’s Group, which brings together men who are hungry for personal development and want to do the hard work of growth with the support and accountability of group of like-minded men. I am very proud of the ways in which the men who join this group show up for themselves and one another. The successes of the men are too numerous to mention but this work is transformative and some of the most satisfying work I have ever done. Catalyst includes on-going, weekly cohorts, a monthly supper club, and periodic destination retreats.

What sets me apart is the level of care I bring to the relationships with my athletes and clients. I am deeply invested in my people and our relationships are built on trust and safety. The more they invest in themselves, the more I invest in them. I care and I want the best for them, but I am not there to take their challenges away from them. We work hard, we do difficult things, and we have fun with the challenges.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If someone is interested in working with me or collaborating, they can connect with me through my website. Every relationship starts with a conversation. I want to know where someone is at, what they want, and what they’re willing to do to get it. I think clarity and alignment are essential to successful relationships. If we have similar values and a clear sense that working together could be valuable in a win-win way, then let’s give it a go and reassess as it makes sense. What I do won’t be the right fit for everyone. But when it is the right fit, the work is transformative.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mattnichols.coach
• Instagram: @coachmattnichols
• Facebook: @coachmattnichols
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachmattnichols/
• Youtube: @the_catalyst_podcast
• Other: https://coachmattnichols.substack.com/