Meet the Founder of Whole Life Goals, Anthony Cotter

Anthony Cotter’s health-conscious mother and party-friendly father raised him and his older brother in Queens, New York. She taught her boy yoga, meditation and raised Anthony a vegetarian from birth. His mother and father divorced when Anthony was five, and he and his brother lived with an abusive stepfather for the next few years. After his mother’s passing on Christmas Eve, Anthony and his brother moved in with their drug-addicted father. His brother would wind up in Rikers Island, later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Anthony left home and lived on the streets for years, bouncing around from couch, to park bench, to rooftops, and living in a wooden shed during winter months. At seventeen, he moved into his first apartment in South Ozone Park, and found himself in the world alone, battling addictions and poverty. Anthony was around twenty when he was given a book called “A Diet for A New America,” by John Robins. He decided to remove all animal products from his life and started to become mindful of what he consumed. He acquired a high school equivalency diploma and went on to study nutrition in Brooklyn College. He left college and went to the Culinary Arts Institute to learn more about raw food techniques and vegan cooking.

With his partner, he moved from Brooklyn to San Francisco and opened InBloom Foods; a raw food catering company. He taught meditation and yoga throughout the juvenile hall systems with the nonprofit group Mind Body Awareness Project. Eventually, Anthony and his partner moved back east to work in finance, opened a yoga studio, had their first child. Today he lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont with his two children. He is most fulfilled when speaking about health and wellness, sharing stories, products, books, music, documentaries, and connecting great people together. Throughout his life, he always sought guidance from elders, gurus, and mentors who taught him how to create a better life and to always follow a worthy ideal. Anthony’s health and wellness success simply come from focusing on his Movement, Meals, Mind & Money philosophy.

Out of this philosophy, Whole Life Goals was created.

For more details, visit their website here.

Here we sit down with Anthony, to know a bit more about his journey as a health and wellness coach.

Q. What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?

Anthony: Inspiration for becoming an entrepreneur was simply trying to answer this question, “How can I help more people achieve their goals?”

So the next question I had to ask was, “What is your goal?” I took a look at all of those answers and realized that every goal could be made into four key categories.

Movement — Meals — Mind — Money.

Each goal depended on the way we care for our mind and body. We can move, keep still, feed, fast, cleanse, release trauma, quiet the mind, and create financial abundance.

So you simply pick a goal from four areas and Whole Life Goals matches you with a certified professional who can help you achieve your goals.

Whole Life Goals is the answer to the question, “How can I help more people achieve their goals?”

Q. How did you get started?

Anthony: I was watching a video and Mark Cuban said something like… you can start a business for $1,000.00. He said because of the internet a person doesn’t need a ton of money to get a business going. It was really that simple. Thank you, Mark Cuban.

Q. What was your biggest startup challenge? What steps did you take to overcome it? What did you learn?

Anthony: I’ve built a couple of sites over the years and my biggest challenges were explaining my vision clearly to the right developing team. It seemed that months would go by and nothing would get done. Hiring the right team changed my life. I had a goal, hired the right people, and achieved my goal. Whole Life Goals slogan is,

“Surrounding yourself with the right people changes everything”.

Q. What is the Most Memorable Thing You’ve Done Since you Started your Business?

Anthony: Bringing a concept to life has been the most memorable moment so far. Having the first person read about the site, understand the vision and create a profile is a very memorable moment. I am humbled to think that something that was once just a thought is now being used to help people become happier, healthier, and wealthier.

Q. What is one book you recommend, and why?

Anthony: I recommend any book that helps quiet the mind. Any book that points the reader to become still and silent are a good one. The Bible is a great book that helps point the reader inwardly. In more modern times The Power of Now or The Untethered Soul might help point the reader inwardly as well.

Q. What are your top 3 favourite online apps, tools, or resources and what do you love about them?

• Trello app for keeping projects in order.
• Wim Hof app for a few rounds of deep breathing.
• Happy Brain podcast with Heather Parady.

Q. In terms of legacy, what is the mark you’d like to leave on the world?

Anthony: I helped point people inwardly.

Q. In one sentence, what’s the best advice you’d give to someone just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey?

Anthony: Just know that there will come a time on the journey when you are moving the needle forward, lost in the little things, and realize there is nothing else in the world you would rather be doing.

To keep up to date with Anthony, connect with him on his Linkedin and Instagram.