A life-changing diagnosis can make the future feel as though it has disappeared overnight.
For Jose Segurado, that moment came in 2014 when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after experiencing symptoms for several months. He recalls being told that he had more than 30 lesions on his brain and spinal cord and that, within six months to a year, he might not be able to walk properly.
For three days, fear took over.
Then something shifted.
Instead of allowing the diagnosis to completely define his future, Jose began asking a different question: What can I change about my life?
That question became the beginning of a profound personal transformation involving his career, lifestyle, relationships, priorities, and sense of purpose. His journey eventually led him to become a health and life coach and write I Choose Life, a book documenting his personal experience.
Jose's story is not presented as a medical formula or a promise of recovery. It is a personal story about uncertainty, hope, self-reflection, and taking action when life doesn't go according to plan.
And at the heart of his message is a powerful idea:
You may not have every answer, but you can still take the reins of your life and begin moving in a new direction.
The Diagnosis That Changed Everything
Before his diagnosis, Jose had spent eight years working in banking.
From the outside, his career appeared successful. He had a good job, good teams, and a stable professional life.
But internally, something wasn't right.
He says he didn't actually like the work, despite having what appeared to be an excellent position.
Then came the symptoms.
After several months of not feeling well, Jose went through medical testing and received the diagnosis that would force him to reconsider virtually every assumption he had made about his future.
The doctor's prediction about his ability to walk was terrifying.
Jose describes returning home and spending three days crying, afraid to go to sleep because he didn't know what the next morning might bring.
Those three days became an important part of his story.
Because while one voice in his head was telling him that everything he had imagined for his life was over, another, quieter voice was asking whether there might be another path.
The Three Days That Changed His Perspective
Jose doesn't pretend that he immediately responded with optimism.
He was scared.
He was grieving the future he thought he had.
But eventually, he decided that he couldn't remain in that place indefinitely.
He began searching for information.
At first, his online searches reinforced his fears. Much of what he found focused on disease, disability, and loss of physical ability.
Then he changed the questions he was asking.
Instead of searching only for information about the disease, he began looking for stories of people who had experienced significant improvement.
He describes going much deeper into search results and finding personal stories that gave him a different perspective. He began noticing common themes in the lives of some of the people he was reading about, including changes in diet, exercise, work, relationships, and other areas of their lives.
That distinction is important.
He wasn't simply looking for someone to tell him everything would be fine.
He was looking for evidence that there were still choices he could make.
Taking Life One Step at a Time
Once Jose began identifying changes he wanted to make, he realized he couldn't change everything simultaneously.
He started taking notes.
He considered his diet, exercise, relationships, work, and other aspects of his lifestyle.
Then he began making changes one step at a time.
For him, changing his diet was one of the first places he started. He describes gradually changing what he ate and making other lifestyle adjustments. He says that after a period of making changes, he noticed improvements in how he felt.
It became a reinforcing cycle.
Make one change.
Observe what happens.
Make another change.
Keep moving.
The broader lesson isn't that everyone should follow Jose's particular choices. In fact, Jose explicitly says that his approach is not a universal solution and that different people may need different approaches.
The lesson is about agency.
When the future feels overwhelming, sometimes the most productive question isn't, “How do I solve everything?”
It is:
“What is one thing I can change today?”
Why Jose Says It's Important to Allow Yourself to Feel the Pain
One of the most interesting parts of Jose's story is that he doesn't recommend pretending everything is fine.
When asked what someone should do after receiving a life-changing diagnosis, his first recommendation isn't to “fight.”
In fact, he says he doesn't particularly like the language of fighting an illness.
Instead, he believes people should allow themselves to experience the emotions that naturally come with a difficult situation.
That can mean crying.
It can mean being afraid.
It can mean admitting that something hurts.
But he also emphasizes the importance of not remaining permanently in that emotional state.
For Jose, acceptance of the emotional reality became a starting point rather than a destination.
Feel what you need to feel. Then begin looking for your next step.
When Your Career Doesn't Match the Life You Want
Jose's transformation wasn't limited to his health journey.
It also forced him to examine his career.
He had spent eight years in banking and acknowledged that, although his job was objectively good, he didn't enjoy doing it.
That realization became increasingly important as he reconsidered what he wanted his life to look like.
Leaving a stable career wasn't an overnight decision.
Jose says it took approximately a year.
That is an important distinction for anyone feeling trapped in a career.
Sometimes the right change doesn't happen through one dramatic leap.
It happens through a series of decisions.
You recognize what isn't working.
You become honest with yourself.
You explore alternatives.
You create a plan.
Then eventually, you move.
Learning to Listen to Your Intuition
A recurring theme throughout Jose's story is intuition.
He describes having a quiet internal sense that something needed to change long before he actually acted on it.
But recognizing the voice wasn't the same as following it.
For Jose, making space to listen became increasingly important.
He believes modern life contains enormous amounts of noise—from social media, television, entertainment, and constant external stimulation. Creating quiet time can make it easier to reflect on what you're actually thinking and feeling.
People may describe that inner guidance differently.
Some call it intuition.
Some describe it as faith.
Others might call it reflection, instinct, or simply knowing themselves better.
Jose describes his own experience through his personal beliefs and spirituality.
The broader lesson is accessible regardless of terminology:
If your life is constantly filled with external noise, it can become difficult to hear your own thoughts.
Creating space for reflection can help you recognize what you already know but haven't yet acted upon.
Rebuilding a Life Instead of Simply Returning to the Old One
After leaving work, Jose requested an extended period away from his banking career.
He arranged a three-year period in which he could step away from his previous employment while retaining the possibility of returning. During that time, a friend offered him an opportunity to participate in a theater production.
The theater work provided something he hadn't had before:
Time.
Time to think.
Time to explore.
Time to research.
Time to reconsider what he wanted.
And time to imagine a future that looked different from the one he had previously planned.
That period eventually contributed to another major decision.
Jose wanted to write his story.
From Personal Experience to I Choose Life
Jose began writing about his experience because he believed other people facing difficult circumstances might benefit from hearing that another path was possible.
He describes the book I Choose Life as something like a personal diary documenting his experience, including his fears, lifestyle changes, exercise, diet, supplementation, and other steps he took during his journey.
The motivation behind the book wasn't that Jose believed he possessed every answer.
Quite the opposite.
He openly acknowledges that he doesn't have a universal solution for illness or recovery.
What he does have is his experience.
And sometimes a personal story can provide something that statistics and clinical terminology cannot:
hope.
Why Hope Became Central to His Mission
For Jose, hope became one of the most important elements of his journey.
He remembers searching for answers during a time when he felt overwhelmed by what the diagnosis might mean.
He wanted other people to have access to stories that might help them see possibilities during difficult periods.
That eventually became part of his motivation for helping others.
His work now involves supporting people through health challenges, uncertainty, and major life transitions. His approach is described as an individualized process rather than a universal prescription.
This distinction matters.
Hope doesn't necessarily mean believing that everything will turn out exactly as you want.
It can mean believing that there are still choices available to you.
The Importance of Taking Care of Yourself
One of the most universal ideas in Jose's conversation involves self-care.
He says that many people facing major health challenges spend enormous amounts of energy taking care of everyone else while neglecting their own emotional needs.
His analogy is the familiar airplane oxygen-mask principle:
You have to put your own oxygen mask on before you can help someone else.
For Jose, this isn't simply about physical health.
It includes emotional needs, relationships, priorities, and the ability to acknowledge what you personally require.
That idea applies well beyond illness.
Entrepreneurs can fall into the same pattern.
Parents can.
Caregivers can.
Leaders can.
Professionals can.
People can become so focused on serving everyone else that they gradually lose touch with themselves.
Self-care, in this context, isn't selfishness.
It can be the foundation that makes sustained contribution possible.
Personal Transformation Doesn't Happen All at Once
Jose's story could easily be reduced to a dramatic before-and-after narrative.
But his own description is more nuanced.
He changed things gradually.
He explored different areas of his life.
He observed what happened.
He adjusted.
He continued learning.
And he made decisions over time.
His current coaching process reflects that same philosophy.
He describes a six-month program involving regular sessions, action steps between sessions, and ongoing communication as clients work through different areas of their lives. Those areas can include lifestyle, relationships, emotions, exercise, work, and spirituality, depending on the individual.
The process isn't presented as a fixed formula.
It's an exploration.
And that may be one of the most important lessons from Jose's experience:
Transformation is often a process of discovering what works rather than following a predetermined script.
A Story of Hope—Not a Medical Prescription
Because Jose's story involves multiple sclerosis and health changes, it's important to distinguish his personal experience from medical guidance.
Jose himself emphasizes that his approach isn't one-size-fits-all. He says different people need different solutions and that he does not have all the answers.
His story should therefore be understood as a personal account of how he responded to a life-changing diagnosis—not as evidence that a particular diet, supplement, exercise routine, mindset, or lifestyle change can treat or cure a medical condition.
Medical decisions should be made with qualified healthcare professionals who understand the individual's circumstances.
What can be drawn from Jose's story without turning it into medical advice is the human lesson:
When circumstances change, you still have choices about how you respond.
The Message: There Is Hope
Near the end of the conversation, Jose was asked to identify the one message he wanted listeners to remember.
His answer was simple:
Hope.
He doesn't claim to have every solution.
Instead, he believes people can begin taking the reins of their lives, make changes, and create shifts that move them in a new direction.
That message extends beyond health.
Life can change because of a diagnosis.
It can change because of a job loss.
A business failure.
A divorce.
Burnout.
A financial setback.
A move.
A relationship.
Or simply the realization that the life you're living no longer feels like the life you want.
In those moments, the temptation is to believe that the change has already decided your future.
Jose's story offers another perspective:
The future may be uncertain, but uncertainty doesn't mean you have no agency.
Rebuilding Your Life Starts With the Next Step
Jose Segurado's journey from a frightening diagnosis to a completely different career and life isn't a story about having all the answers.
It's a story about asking better questions.
What isn't working?
What can I change?
What do I need?
Who can help me?
What do I want my life to look like?
What am I afraid to admit?
What happens if I take one small step?
Those questions can create movement when everything feels frozen.
And sometimes the next step doesn't need to solve the entire problem.
It simply needs to point you in a new direction.
Jose's message is ultimately one of hope, personal responsibility, reflection, and change: you may not control every circumstance, but you can still participate in shaping what comes next.
For entrepreneurs, professionals, and anyone navigating a major transition, that principle is worth remembering. Personal development begins with recognizing where you are—and then deciding what you can do next.
Explore more conversations about personal development, communication, business growth, and navigating life's challenges through Glovisor.
About the GLOVISOR Podcast
The GLOVISOR Podcast explores business growth, communication, personal development, leadership, entrepreneurship, and the experiences that shape the people behind the success.
Each conversation is designed to uncover practical lessons, personal stories, and perspectives that can help listeners think differently about their businesses and their lives.