I was about twenty five when that happened I think; full of passion. I had a dream of how I wanted to live and it wasn’t happening, at all. Actually my life was going backwards and at pace. I had no money, no clients, my friendship circle was getting smaller and any strategy I had to remedy the situation was failing.
Somehow, each year I start off with the best intention but as the year continues my life and diary seems to get more and more complicated.
There are the things that I want to do/create/experience, yet at the end of each day or even month I rarely feel closer to those things. Not as much as I would like anyway.
So during the end of the year Christmas break I mentally log where my time went to understand what the hell has been slowing down my progress? Read More
Reading a resume can be just like reading an internet dating profile. Everyone says the same stuff, completely unaware they are BORING! The profile typically gives the reader nothing they could fall in love with. We could delete the name at the top and it could be anyone.
“I am a fun, happy and love to travel. Family is really important to me and on the weekends I enjoy hanging out with friends going for breakfast and maybe a cheeky glass of wine (red) in the evening.”
No kidding?! Wow!!! Who would have thought you love family, friends, wine and you think you are fun?! Who would have thought!
Unfortunately for them, that is probably 97% of the population. Seriously!! It is a competitive market out there! Everyone ‘thinks’ they are an awesome catch but how can someone fall in love with you without knowing what makes you unique?
Increase Your Goal Capacity
When we set a goal, inherent in its character, it will be beyond our present capacity.
Even a goal to paint the fence on the weekend will require adjustment to our present weekend habit.
We have the capacity to paint the fence, but the looming threat to success is the decisions those around us may make, which could derail us.
That is why, mid week, we announce to all parties “I’m painting the fence on Saturday!”
Painting may not be a glamorous as Olympic or commercial success, but the process is the identical; once the goal is set we must anticipate what could go wrong and increase our capacity to handle calamity.
For instance, an athlete may have trained meticulously for twelve years to be at the Olympics, then before the opening ceremony they learn they are required to walk 5km to the opening ceremony, stand waiting for three hours, then parade for several hours before walking home again. Read More
Recognising when to be brave
My favourite scene in a movie is the moment when a key character realises they can be the hero.
When Adrian finally tells Rocky to ‘win!’. When Frances finally commits to the bloody lift in Dirty Dancing. When Dumbo finally realises he doesn’t need the feather! And in The Blindside when Michael finally uses his strength.
These stir emotions in all of us because deep in side we all hope we are made from similar stuff, that when our moment comes, we will be able to step up to the plate. And in doing so we might inspire and serve those we love. We want the exhilaration of doing something brave and hard.
If you are riding a bicycle at full speed and I ask you to go ‘just a little bit faster’, naturally you’d have a crack and peddle harder, right? For a while you would anyway, until you burned out.
Mind you, you could have achieved going ‘just a little bit faster’ with much more ease by getting on a motorbike, in a car or using any powered transport for that matter. That’s always the seduction – we get sucked in to thinking that the bicycle is not a variable.
We think the challenge of going a bit faster fundamentally revolves around the bicycle. We hear “the goal is to go faster; the method is a bicycle.”
Now apply that to the dream house you want to have. Or the medal you want to win. Or any goal you have.
How do I Prove Myself In My Industry?
Recently, after the formalities and speeches at a friends wedding, I was asked by a guy in his late 20’s, how I had established myself in my industry? It’s not uncommon for me to be asked questions like this however on most occasions people don’t listen to how I did it, they listen for things that verify their ideas.
On this occasion I could see in his eyes, he was hoping I wouldn’t brush his question aside with a polite answer. He was looking for me to answer honestly. He had hunger in his eyes. Not blind motivation, hunger. So I told him as straight as I could. I took a deep breath.
In 2010, the now famous entrepreneur and Superlight rider Brad Smith, hired me to coach him. If you haven’t heard of Brad, he is the founder and CEO of braaap motorcycles, which in it’s first year turned over a million dollars when Brad was just 18. He was now 23 and had built braaap into a national enterprise and Australia’s only motorbike manufacturer. To further create the picture of what Brad is like, on two occasions he had won Young Australian Entrepreneur of the year, and on three occasions braaap had won Telstra Retail Business of the year. Brad is Australia’s Richard Branson. Read More