The Legend of Bagger Vance and Finding Your Perfect Authentic Shot to Lead the Field

The Legend of Bagger Vance - Seeing the Field


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Yesterday, I watched "The Legend of Bagger Vance" starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron and directed by Robert Redford. I'd forgotten how much I liked this movie and what a great metaphor for life it is. After seeing this movie for the first time I immediately bought the book from which this movie is derived - "The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life" by Stephen Pressfield.

In this movie Rannulph Junah plays a troubled war-hero who has lost his golf swing. Then a golf tournament like no other is set on Krewe Island golf course off Savannah attracts two golfing legends - Bobby Jones and Walter Hagan for an epic thirty-six hole showdown. Rannulph Junah who showed great promise as a golfer before going to war is representing the home-side.

However, it is the mysterious caddie, Bagger Vance, played by Will Smith, which is pivotal in this golf tournament. To play at his best, Junah has to overcome his inner demons and find not just his golf swing but his authentic golf swing.

Bagger Vance is more than a caddie. He becomes Junah's coach and mentor. He guides Junah and allows him to make and learn from his mistakes. However, he is also there to provide guidance when Junah is ready and willing to listen.

It's hard allowing those we care about to make what we clearly see as mistakes but what we often fail to see that it's not about the mistake. It's about the lesson embedded in the mistake and, sometimes, the only way to learn the lesson is to make the mistake.

To achieve great success in life you also need to have great vision - an unobstructed view of what is you want to accomplish. You have to be able to see the field. When you can achieve this, the obstacles that you thought existed disappear and remaining "obstacles" become relatively easy to deal with because you will find that these obstacles exist mainly in your mind.

There is a beautiful moment in the movie where Bagger Vance teaches Junah how to see the field. He tells Junah that:

"There's a perfect shot in each and every one of us and all we got to do is get ourselves out of its way and let it choose us."

In other words, we are the ones who put up the greatest resistance to achieving our greatness. We each have a path - call it our destiny. It's a path that has been carved out for us but we wander this way and that, and allow ourselves to be distracted and conflicted by our very thoughts.

Our inner voice, the voice of truth then gets lost in all the noise. On those rare occasions it does break through we may be distrustful of this inner voice which has been with us all along but yet has become unfamiliar because of the lack of attention we have been paying it.

"You have to trust your inner knowing. If you have a clear mind...you won't have to search for direction. Direction will come to you."
Phil Jackson

It's our inability to quieten the mind and listen to our authentic self who is trying to guide us that perhaps gives us the greatest challenge. When we are able to do this, when we get clear about our intention, when we believe in ourselves is when magic starts to happen in our lives. We start to consciously manifest the things we want as opposed to the things we don't want.

"The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom."
James Allen

So you have to quieten the mind, quell the useless chatter to allow yourself to see things as undistorted. When you receive an inspired thought you have to learn to trust it and take INSPIRED ACTION. You have to learn that life is a game and that you just need to play it to the best of your ability.

To do so often means getting out of your own way so that your perfect 'shot' or your perfect path will be revealed to you. Your 'shot' may seem uncharacteristic look at Michael Johnson and his upright running style but as he said if he ran like everyone else he would have been back there with the pack instead of leading the field.

It may not be a well-trodden path. You may have to establish a path so that others can follow but it will be authentic and, like Rannulph Junah, you too may overcome your self-imposed limitations, even come from behind and lead the field.




The Legend of Bagger Vance Will Smith Matt Damon metaphor for life game of life lead the field

Indiana Jones - the Ultimate Goal Achiever

Indiana Jones' "Leap of Faith"

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The Indiana Jones films are great adventure films and I couldn't resist watching "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" last night. However, while the films are fun to watch there are many lessons to be learnt about goal achievement as well.

1. Indiana follows his passion

Indiana is passionate about archaeology and this is what drives him. Those who have achieved great success all believe vehemently in the importance of following your passion and doing what you love. It is only by doing this that you will continue to have the motivation to persevere in spite of enormous odds.

It is only by following your passion that you will have the energy and drive to keep going even though the journey towards your goal may be an arduous one and at times you may become weak.

"The key that unlocks energy is desire. It's also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited."
Earl Nightingale

2. Indiana has very clear values

Indiana's values made it easy for him for him to make decisions and take action. Great goal achievers are great decision-makers and they take action. Too often people do not achieve the level of success they desire because they spend too much time deciding what to do and too little time actually doing anything.

True some things require careful deliberation but in many cases, especially when it comes to the day-to-day activities that will help you to make progress towards your goal you have to learn how to quickly weigh up a situation and make the best decision there and then on how to move forwards.

Having clear values and clearly defined goals will go a long way in helping you to make those timely decisions.

"Your only purpose in life is to make choices. Once the choice is made, the whole universe moves to bring into fruition that which you chose."

3. Indiana confronts his fears

One of the endearing qualities about Indiana is that he is very human. He too has his fears, for instance, he hates snakes. Yet he does not let his fears stand in the way of achieving his goal.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
Ambrose Redmoon

When you set yourself challenging goals, at some point you will come up against something that you fear. The trouble is what you fear may not be tangible. It may be a limiting or negative belief such as the fear of failure or the fear of success.

However, limiting or negative beliefs can stop you dead in your tracks if you do not develop techniques and strategies to clear yourself of these limiting and negative beliefs. The good thing is that the more you practice these clearing techniques the easier it will become to overcome your fears.

"When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams."
Les Brown

But back to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - my favourite bit in the movie is Indiana Jones' "leap of faith". There's just something about that scene. It is such a great visual representation of what we all must go through to achieve anything of significance.

Indiana has to cross a huge chasm in order to reach his goal - the Holy Grail and yet there is seemingly no way across the chasm. He murmurs to himself,

"It's impossible. Nobody can jump this."

And then the realisation dawns on him that he needs to take a "leap of faith". Earlier in the film his father thought he that his son had died as he fell over a cliff and he bemoaned that the fact that he had not told him anything. Now as he lay grievously injured it was almost as if there was a telepathic connection between father and son. He murmurs,

"You must believe, boy. You must believe."

Indiana takes a deep breath and steps into the void. Instead of falling he finds his feet firmly planted on a bridge - narrow - but a solid bridge nonetheless that spans the width of the seemingly bottomless chasm.

You have to trust and believe in the unknown and the unseen. When you set a goal it first exists only exists in your mind's eye but this is perhaps the most important step in your goal achievement process.

"Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe."
St Augustine

The philosopher, William James also said that there is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be and hold that picture there long enough, you will achieve what you are thinking. The challenge is to hold onto your vision, to keep your faith.

One of my mentors, Dr Topher Morrison, favourite sayings is to make life a magnificent adventure. I'm sure Indiana Jones would agree. So as you go about your tasks today be bold, be adventurous and remember:

"Take a chance! All life is a chance. The person who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare."
Dale Carnegie

Indiana Jones Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade goal goal achiever goal achievement faith passion fear decision

Dr Joe Vitale's AAA Plan to Wealth - The Key to Attracting the Money You Want

Recently, one of my mentors, Dr Joe Vitale held an "Attract Wealth Seminar" where he revealed his "AAA Plan for Attracting Wealth". Dr Joe Vitale created the seminar in recognition that many people are currently experiencing tough times financially.

He covers a lot of ground in this 48 minute presentation including how to:

~ Conquer limiting beliefs that stand in the way of what you desire,

~ Attract wealth or anything else you want or need regardless of the situation you're currently in, and

~ Unlock the 'missing secret' to getting what you want in life.

The truth is wealth is a mindset and so without the right mindset you will never become wealthy or if you do you'll find that your new-found wealth quickly slips away.

As Brian Tracy says:

"The starting point of all riches is the development of a prosperity consciousness. You must become a financial success in your thinking long before you achieve it in your reality. Both poverty and riches are the result of a state of mind, and the most important single step you ever take on the road to wealth and financial independence is the decision to change your thinking, to impress into your mind an unshakable belief that youcan and will achieve your financial goals. This must happen before anything else happens."

Dr Joe Vitale who was once homeless and destitute has asked me to share his presentation. If he can turn his life around it is proof that anyone can.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the presentation and or share any challenges that you might be facing at this time.

Click the link below to view the movie.

Joe Vitale's AAA Plan to Wealth

I hope that you will find this video inspiring and insightful and that it contains your key to attracting the money you want and or need.

To Achieve Success be Prepared to Take Risks

To achieve success you cannot afford to be risk adverse.

On Friday morning I received an email with a request for an interviewer to conduct a high-profile interview later that day for an online magazine. There was no other information but since I conduct professional interviews I said I would be willing to do the interview.

However, I didn't receive confirmation until nearly 3:00pm GMT and the interview was scheduled for 11:00am EST. In other words I would have about an hour to prepare for the interview.

My interviewee was someone who operated a multi-million dollar business, had appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, had a long line of A-list celebrity clients, had been featured in Oprah, People, USA Today and InStyle magazines and, as I later discovered, had been interviewed by Barbara Walters.

Yet somehow she had escaped my radar. I had not heard of my client before and so I had nothing to go on. Fortunately, her passion was in two areas which I identified with and had a keen interest in and that certainly helped.

Thank goodness for the Internet. I was able to do some quick research on my guest. Also, thank goodness for InstantTeleseminars because, this gave me a quick, easy and professional platform from which I could conduct the interview and have it immediately recorded and available online.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about asking my guest to phone a bridge line. She might have considered it an imposition but she was absolutely fine about it and we had a few minutes to chat before the interview officially started.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed conducting the interview. My guest was fascinating. I felt inspired listening to her tell her story of how she created her business starting with nothing and grew it into a multi-million dollar business using the power of referrals and sheer guts.

My guest shared with me some of her dreams and aspirations and when she mentioned that she had been interviewed by Barbara Walters I didn't feel intimidated. Instead, I raised my own aspirations and thought to myself that one day I want people to say with pride:

"I was interviewed by Nickolove Lovemore."

I can't share the actual interview just yet but my point in sharing this story with you is that sometimes you have to take risks to get ahead in life.

You may think that interviewing someone is easy and in many ways it is but there is an art to conducting an intimate interview. This could have backfired which would have been embarrassing not just for myself but my client.

There are several things within the interview that I know I could have done better and I am grateful for that level of awareness. Still, I felt a deep connection with my guest. I felt jazzed just by talking to her.

So, all in all, I'm glad that on Friday I listened to my intuition and went for it. And, I was honest with my guest too, saying that I had only about an hour to prepare for the interview. It wasn't that I was trying to make excuses. It was more of an apology because the interview certainly warranted more thorough preparation.

This brings me to another point - to achieve success you also have to be prepared. I had certain structures/systems in place that enabled me to take advantage of this opportunity. I also undertake training.

Whatever your field, you will know the structures and systems that you need to have in order to be effectively prepared for your day-to-day business as well as unexpected situations that can help to advance your position. You also need to know what ongoing training you need in order to keep your blade sharp.

So when presented with a potentially exciting opportunity that could also be risky have the courage to say "yes" and figure out how you're going to make it work afterwards. Have faith in your abilities that you will find a way to turn the opportunity into a success.

"Do not fear risk. All exploration, all growth is calculated. Without challenge people cannot reach their higher selves. Only if we are willing to walk over the edge can we become winners."

The picture accompanying this post is a clue to my interviewee's identity so stay tuned and see if you can guess the name of the person I interviewed.


achieve success risk Oprah interview

Bill Bartmann: The Power of a Promise and Achieving Your Goals

Bill Bartmann - The Power of A Promise

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This weekend I shared with you a story about Bill Bartmann – the man whose life and fortunes have been like a roller coaster. He recently uploaded the video displayed above where he talks very movingly and very candidly about the true meaning of a promise and how he used that promise overcome tremendous odds and achieve a particular goal that undoubtedly changed his life.

However, this video is more than just promises. It's about perseverance, commitment and making an irrevocable decision.

You may never have to face challenges as severe that Bill Bartmann has faced in his life or you may face or even currently be facing challenges that are more severe. Yet, one thing is certain. You will face challenges in life and how you face up to those challenges will determine the quality of your life and what you achieve during your life.

Some people think that setting and achieving goals is all about the acquisition of the thing you are going after. They're wrong. Goal achievement is all about the person you become as you strive to achieve your goals.

Many people set goals and then give up on them with barely a fight. They lack persistence. Bob Proctor says that in such cases the goal was too "puny".

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized."
Daniel H Burnham

If your goals are puny then you surely will quit when you are faced with the first obstacle.

"A goal that is casually set and lightly taken is freely abandoned at the first obstacle."
Zig Ziglar

In Bill Bartmann's case, he could either believe what the doctor had told him and remain a paraplegic for the rest of his life or he could defy what the doctor had said and create his own prognosis.

What was incredible in Bill Bartmann's case was that even although there was evidence that contradicted the doctor's original diagnosis, the doctor brutally tried to stamp out any hope of recovery in Bill's mind.

There are people in your life who will try to do the same when you tell them about your goals. They will ridicule you and belittle your dreams - if you let them.

Matt Bacak said that he decided that he would make a million dollars within six months he made one of the toughest decisions of his life. He temporarily decided to cut off all forms of communication with his mother. It was a drastic decision but he did what he had to do.

His mother was always the one who was saying that things were not possible. She was the naysayer. He knew that he had to believe in himself 100% if he was to achieve his goal within the time limit he set himself. There was no room for doubt. It was hard on both parent and child but he gave his mother one of her best Christmas presents ever when he announced that h had achieved his goal.

Do you have the strength, courage and conviction to eliminate toxic relationships from your life? Or will you let those individuals drag you down, keeping you within their comfort zone?

What kind of goals have you set yourself? Are you truly committed to them? Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve them? Teamwork and support are important when achieving your goals but do have the fortitude it takes to soldier on alone if needed? Bill had to wait until late at night to do his exercises to remain undetected.

Bill made a decision that he was going to walk out of his hospital at a time when he could move a muscle in his lower body. The word decision is derived from a Latin word meaning "to cut away". When Bill made his decision there was no turning back. It was more than a decision. He made a promise that he was going to walk out of that hospital.

And, it was through exercising his will power, that he was able to achieve his goal. Through his will he was able to command his body. Now there are scientific explanations to support what Bill Bartmann accomplished but the fact remains that:

~ He used his mind to think about what he wanted rather than what he didn't want,

~ His thoughts became fervent beliefs,

~ He used his thought to direct his will power, and

~ His used his will power to achieve the thing he dreamt about.

He fulfilled his promise and achieved his goal.

The question is what promise will you make for yourself? What goals are you ready to commit to?








goal achieving Bill Bartmann promise goal achievement will power

Inspired by The Secret - Self-Healing from Chronic Pain Using the Law of Attraction

The movie "The Secret" is based on the Law of Attraction. Millions of people have seen this movie. Some love it; others hate it.

It was deliberately produced in a manner that would make its message accessible to the masses and this is the reason why it has been so successful. However, the movie's disguised simplicity is a key reason why many people do not "get" the essence of this movie or fully appreciate or understand the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction works and is working all the time. The question is - "are you consciously using the Law of Attraction or are you just a hapless victim?"

Today I interviewed Jennifer Mannion author of "How I used the Law of Attraction to Heal Myself from Chronic Pain". Jennifer is definitely using the Law of Attraction in a conscious and very positive way.

You see for nearly eight years Jennifer experienced chronic pain and was diagnosed and misdiagnosed on numerous occasions.

She was in so much pain that at times she could barely walk. She went through a period when she was fainting almost weekly - sometimes in the shower.

She suffered insomnia because of the excruciating pain and because she wasn't getting sufficient sleep it impaired her body's ability to heal itself. It was a vicious cycle.

In her book she says that:

"I was so sad and so aware of my pain every step I took. I was 36 and imagined I felt as a 96 year old would feel on a bad day."

She endured scan after scan, blood test, after blood test. When the doctors finally figured out what was wrong the prognosis was not good - a lifetime of medication plus she might end up in a wheel chair. She was relieved to finally have a label to apply to what she had been experiencing and devastated at the same time.

She was told that basically she would never regain her health and counseled to hold a small funeral to formally bid goodbye to her old self. She was at the end of her rope.

Then something miraculous happened. A friend had suggested that Jennifer watch the movie "The Secret" and her husband bought the DVD for them to watch in Christmas 2006.

She was so exhausted from her illness that she couldn't even watch the movie the whole way through the first time. The second viewing was more successful and by the end of the movie Jennifer made a decision. She decided that:

"I WILL heal myself of pain."

And she did but what is so miraculous about Jennifer's recovery is that having been ill for nearly 10 years she was able to almost completely heal herself in a few short weeks.

Jennifer's story is truly inspirational and I highly recommend that you listen to Jennifer discuss her own eight-step process for self-healing.

In addition, if you know of a loved one, relative, friend or anyone who is suffering from a chronic illness please share this story with them. You could transform their life and, you never know, you could even save a life.

Listening Options

Click the player below to listen to interview:



Click HERE to download an MP3 file of the interview, or

Click HERE for an AudioPostcard of this interview that you can send to a friend.

What Jennifer has achieved is extraordinary. Yet, with no disrespect to Jennifer, she is an ordinary woman. So, if Jennifer can use the Law of Attraction to heal her life, what could you use the Law of Attraction to achieve?



the secret law of attraction self healing heal chronic pain chronic illness

A Powerful Video Message that Unequivocally Demonstrates What it Takes to be a WINNER!

The key to successful goal achievement and what it takes to be a winner is powerfully displayed in a movie clip that I watched recently.

Someone who I consider to be a mentor, colleague and friend, Dr Noah St John, of The Success Clinic recently sent me the URL to the movie clip.

He said that one of the speakers at a business conference he was attending showed in during his presentation and that it brought tears to his eyes.

I thought to myself "softie" but I too was crying before the six minute clip was over.

So many lessons can be learnt from this clip.

1. The power of belief,
2. The importance of leadership, and
3. The importance of having a mentor or coach who believes in you.

It also re-defined the meaning to give of your best and brought home the fact that many of us simply do not give of our best even when we say we do. As another of my mentors, Dr Topher Morrison, says if you strive for excellence you will at least end up being good but if you aim to just be good then you'll only end up being average. What's more if you're content with just being average the chances are that in reality your results will be poor.

This movie clip made me realise just how much more we can achieve when we truly commit ourselves. All too often we start on an endeavour and give up when we encounter the first obstacle. Or worse we often don't even start because we don't have the self-belief that we can succeed.

Yet, as Dr Maxwell Maltz said,

"Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."

So I hope that this movie clip inspires you to greatness and helps to:

1. Boost your faith regarding what you believe you can achieve in life, and
2. Demonstrates to you just what it takes to be a WINNER!



For a series of expert tips and advice on how to develop your Winner's Image simply send an email to Winner's Image.

How You Can Use NLP to Overcome Limiting and Negative Beliefs and the Power of Negative Thinking

Yesterday, I interviewed Anietie Eka, the Principal Consultant for Uncommon (UK) Ltd. This was a re-scheduled event because on the previous day we experienced major technical difficulties when we tried to host the teleseminar. Anietie was dialling and connecting to the bridgeline but his voice couldn't be heard and by that I don't mean that his voice was faint. His voice simply wasn't coming through.

It was a problem I hadn't encountered before doing teleseminars and, despite his trying three different phone lines including his mobile phone, we were unable to resolve the problem. Just before our re-scheduled call yesterday Anietie made a confession to me.

Anietie is a motivational speaker, coach, Master NLP Practitioner and Trainer of NLP. He has years of experience doing business consulting and personal coaching. However, he is used to speaking to live audiences and working with individuals face-to-face. Speaking on a teleseminar was new to him.

He said that when he woke up on the morning our teleseminar was originally scheduled that he didn't quite feel ready for the event and he was thinking of how he might postpone the event. How I wish I had known this beforehand!

Now did his negative thinking have anything to do with the problems we experienced that day? You decide?

"If our thoughts and hopes are elsewhere, it is impossible to set our faces steadily toward the work required of us."
Anonymous

Anyway yesterday, he said he felt ready and energised for the call and that he had done his visualisations, etc. as part of his preparation.

You see even as professional coaches we still have to constantly work on ourselves and there will be times, when we push our own boundaries or limits, that there will initial resistance. Having the tools of NLP is an effective way of handling limiting and negative beliefs.

We experienced a couple of hitches during the call yesterday. There was some static partway through the call and I dialled back in to see if I could clear it and Anietie got bumped off the bridgeline. Maybe there was some residue of that negative energy from the previous day.

After that it was fine. Our 60 minute teleseminar ended up lasting nearly 90 minutes. I take responsibility for that. I could have been more controlling but my intuition said "just go with the flow".

I still haven't had time to replay the entire call myself as yesterday was a hectic day for me as will be today but you can listen to the call by clicking the Audioplayer below.



Alternatively, you can visit the following link to be taken to the replay page where you can download the interview and listen at your convenience.

"How You Can Use NLP to Overcome Limiting Beliefs and Transform Your Personal and Professional Life"

Anietie talks candidly about his upbringing and beliefs. How he turned his life around at school and started coming first instead of last. What motivates and drives him and of course multiple ways that you can use NLP to overcome limiting and negative beliefs.

I hope you find the teleseminar educational and motivational and if you have any specific questions on this topic please leave me a comment.

How to Gain Control Over Your Life and the Level of Success You Achieve in Life

One of the principles of NLP is that of cause and effect. Basically, when you are at "cause" you accept 100% responsibility for everything in your life. When you are at "effect" you essentially believe that life happens to you and that you have limited control.

I personally prefer to be at cause rather than effect. I may not like everything that I am manifesting in my life at any point in time but if I accept that I am responsible for everything in my life it gives me the ability to respond in such a way so as to create a new reality - one more to my liking. Let me give an example.

I was a attending a seminar when one of the participants said something like:

"I am a slow learner because I was bullied as a child."

When I heard this statement I groaned inwardly, especially since the individual prefaced her statement by saying she was an NLP Practitioner. I thought to myself, "You're disregarding the fundamental principles of NLP."

This was an individual was who definitely at effect rather than cause. You see the fact that she was bullied at school cannot be changed. However, saying that this is the cause of her being a slow learner closes the door of opportunity for her to do something about her learning ability. This is because she cannot change the fact that she was bullied as a child. It happened.

Similarly, my guest, Shirley Cheng, for my teleseminar later today "How to Awaken Your Spirit to Live a Life Without Limits" could have said to herself:

"I am a slow learner because I lost years of elementary education."

Shirley suffered crippling rheumatoid arthritis as an infant. However, instead of letting this hold her back, she was determined to catch up as quickly as possible. She went from barely knowing the alphabet to devouring the equivalent of five years of elementary education in 180 days. That's amazing and it was all down to her positive attitude.

Your ATTITUDE in life plays a critical role in what you achieve in life.

"You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude towards what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."
Brian Tracy

Isn't that awesome?

I challenge you that there is nothing in your life that you cannot improve right now if you simply change your attitude and take responsibility for your life.

Consider this for a moment. Think of someone who has bought a very posh car. Do you think that person will readily hand the keys of that car to just anyone. No. Yet we so readily relinquish the keys to our life. What is more precious? You can always buy a new car but a new life?

So hold on tight to the keys of your life if you want control over your life and the level of success that you achieve. And remember that being responsible simply means that you are ABLE to REPSOND.

Isn't that empowering?

"We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails."


NLP life success achieve attitude

An Uncommon Occurrence, The Day the Machines Took Over and The Teleseminar that Didn't Happen

Sounds quite melodramatic doesn't it? Let me tell you my woeful tale!

Today I was supposed to interview Anietie Eka, the Principal Consultant of Uncommon (UK) Ltd. Anietie is motivational speaker, Executive Coach, Business Strategist, Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP who was trained by one of the co-founders of NLP - Dr John Grinder so I was really looking forward to interviewing him.

I dialled in at 15 minutes to the hour. All seemed well. No one was on the call as yet but I didn't expect anyone to be. Some interesting questions had been submitted - good. I poised myself to wait for my guest.

Then I got a call on my mobile. It was on silent but close enough for me to pick up the vibrations. It was Anietie. He was having difficulty connecting to the bridgeline. He could hear me but I obviously couldn't hear him. We double-checked numbers and he said he would try again.

It was now seconds to the top of the hour. I decided to go ahead and start the call and hoped that Anietie would be able to connect in time.

On the top of the hour I began my introduction. Anietie said he thought to himself "Wow, who is this guy she going to be interviewing?"

Then I heard dial tone. I had been disconnected. I remained calm, stopped the recording and patiently dialled back in. I decided to take the call again from the top.

I completed my introduction and waited for Anietie to respond. There was no answer. He was on the call but to all intents and purposes he could have been in a parallel universe because I just could not hear him.

We were both using standard phones. Anietie actually tried three different phones including his mobile but to no avail. Meanwhile I got disconnected a second time.

It was clear that the machines were in control and that this call was going to take place. It was time for Plan B. I dialled back in and once again apologised to listeners and explained that I would interview Anietie privately and that we would post the interview online. We later decided to try the live call again and so we've re-scheduled it.

But why am I sharing all this. I have used this system successfully several times before so today was both embarrassing and frustrating.

There were a number of things I could have done differently but the end result, on this occasion, might have been the same. I am thankful that my guest was very gracious but then again he is a professional and an NLP expert. He is solution-seeker. I do hope that those who tried to tune in today understood.

Obviously, I'm not going to give up doing teleseminars and interviews because one event went so horribly wrong - now that would be melodramatic! But this situation did remind me of why many people do not achieve their goals – persistence or perseverance.

"The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail."
Napoleon Hill

This "uncommon occurrence" also reminded me of my very first online article which I'll share in my next post.

The funny thing is that when I wrote that article I had no online presence. I was simply so blown away by something that I had witnessed that I felt compelled to write about it and share it with a larger audience.

So please read my next post - "The Key to Successful Goal Achievement - Perseverance" and do check out the re-scheduled teleseminar "How to Use NLP to Overcome Limiting and Negative Beliefs and Transform Your Personal and Professional Life" which takes place tomorrow, Wednesday 20 February at 3:30pm GMT, 10:30am EST.

FREE Guided Visualisation for Overcoming Fear

As a follow-up to my post yesterday on "The Key to Overcoming Fear" I'd like to offer you the gift of a Guided Visualisation to Overcome Fear.

You can listen to this guided visualisation by clicking the play button of the audio player below.



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The Key to Overcoming Fear

Today when everyone is focusing on love I've decided to write about its opposite. No, not hate but FEAR for when we are out of love we live in fear and as George Addair said

"Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear."

This means that in order to achieve what you want in life you have to learn how to overcome fear time and time again. Stephen Pierce, in a recent post on DTAlpha Talkback, described a situation where army men were placed in a position where they had to give a talk on a topic they knew nothing about to an audience that was also unfamiliar.

These were tough army guys who faced the prospect of violent death, maybe their own even, on a regular basis. Yet, these guys reacted just like multitudes of other people when faced with the dreaded prospect of public speaking.

Their heart rate shot up, blood pressure increased, their mouth went dry, etc. Sounds familiar? You see this was a cleverly disguised test to see how these guys would react under pressure. It's one thing to experience fear but how would they react to it. Would they let their fear overcome them or would they overcome it?

Some were completely debilitated by their irrational fear. After all, the only thing that was likely to get hurt in this particular exercise was their pride. Others seized the adrenalin rush that accompanied their fear and used it as a source of motivation. Who do you think would make the most useful soldiers?

"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again."
Abraham Maslow

You too can use this experiment to help you overcome your fears. You don't have to use the example of public speaking. Think back to a time when you were fearful of something and you found a way to deal with your fear and rapidly overcome it. Relive the experience in your mind. Sharpen the intensity of the details - not the fear itself but that moment when you found the courage to step outside of your fear.

What did you see, hear and feel at that time? Amplify those sensations and then apply them to a current experience that you are procrastinating over because of fear and feel a surge in your self-confidence.

1. How many times have you been afraid of something that you later discovered really wasn't that fearful after all?

2. How many times have you lamented over not taking action because of your fear?

3. How much is your fear costing you today?

4. How much has your fear cost you over the past five years?

5. If you continue to let fear overcome you, how much will it cost you over the next five years?

In answering these questions consider the physical, mental, emotional and financial impact.

I'm sure that you will rapidly come to the conclusion that fear is simply too costly. Fear is one thing you definitely cannot afford.

So how do you overcome fear and that ensuing procrastination? Easy. When you place more importance on your destination rather than the place where you currently reside you will embark upon your journey. You will discover the courage to step outside of your comfort zone.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

You may fear surgery but if surgery is the only option presented to you as a chance to save your life, chances are you'll undergo surgery. You may be fearful of losing your life to save another but if your value judgment is such that saving a life is worth sacrificing your own you would risk your life to save theirs.

Let's lighten up. It doesn't have to a life and death situation. You may be fearful of taking dancing lessons because you perceive yourself as having no rhythm or co-ordination. But, if it creates the opportunity for you to meet and make some great new friendships, so what if you look clumsy on the dance floor?

You have to discover what fires you up, what drives you, what inspires you. When you identify these things you can use them as fuel to blast through fear and propel you around, over or through any obstacles that might stand in the way of your achieving your goals and your dreams.

"When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams."
Les Brown

And the key to unlocking what fires you up, what drives you and what inspires you is to discover what you truly love. See I couldn't resist talking about love after all. For, on the other side of fear, when you distil everything down to its purest essence, everything you've ever wanted is LOVE.


fear overcoming fear love goals dreams

Can Limiting and Negative Beliefs be Completely Eradicated?

Click the play button to listen to this post.

I recently asked individuals to submit their questions regarding limiting and negative beliefs. I received some intriguing questions to which I have been somewhat tardy in responding to.

A shortened version of one of the questions is as follows:

"How can I truly, fully get beyond and/or break down old limiting beliefs? Do they need to be "totally eradicated"?"

It's a great question and when I read it I was immediately reminded of an episode of Iron Chef America. For the uninitiated, Iron Chef is a Food Network TV show where celebrity chefs compete against their choice of Iron Chef to create five dishes in one hour using a secret ingredient. The chefs only discover what the secret ingredient is just prior to the cook-off and I have seen it range from sugar to venison.

Anyway the episode of Iron Chef that my mind flashed back to was one in which British Chef, Jamie Oliver battled it out against Iron Chef Mario Batali.

Jamie opted to use Ostrich eggs to prepare some noodles for one of his dishes. Jamie's Sous Chef cracked open an egg into a pan but discarded it because the yolk was already broken. In fact, it looked as if the egg was off.

So he tipped it down the sink but he didn't wash out the pan. Now as with all competitions time is of the essence. Like I said the chefs have five dishes to prepare and only one hour. Still, somehow this bothered me and it stuck in my memory. Personally, I would have rinsed the pan out before cracking open another egg into it.

You're wondering how this reminded me of negative beliefs. Bear with me.

There are many techniques that one can use to overcome limiting or negative beliefs such as NLP, Time Line Therapy, Hypnosis, etc. but I would not claim that any one technique can completely eradicate all of your negative beliefs. I actually believe this to be impossible and, although it pains me somewhat to say this for there are times that I too wish things were a little easier, I don't believe that this is a bad thing.

According to the Law of Polarity you cannot have a positive without also having a negative. Therefore, if you have positive beliefs; you also have negative beliefs.

Now before you start to despair hear me out. What the various techniques we can use to overcome negative beliefs allow us to do is to effectively shrink your negative beliefs down to size so that your new, empowering positive beliefs are much stronger than any lingering traces of your negative beliefs. They allow you to manage you negative beliefs so that they are no longer debilitating.

Can you see how the Ostrich egg fits in with this? There may have been traces of spoilt Ostrich egg in the pan (negative) but the new egg (positive) was able to, in effect, overcome it.

Do you know that by age 10, a child growing up in the Western world will generally be exposed to in excess of 400,000 commercials? As we grow up we are constantly being negatively programmed. In fact, the negative programming starts the moment we are conceived because of what we inherit genetically. As children we are generally not conscious of the negative programming we are exposed to. Don't get me wrong. I know that all the unconscious programming we receive is not all bad but much of it is.

My point is that it is generally only after many years of continuous negative programming that we develop the awareness to do something about it and then we expect or want instant results. While we can achieve dramatic results I believe that that to eradicate our limiting and negative beliefs altogether is a tall order.

"The programming that you accept from others, and the conscious and unconscious directives, pictures, feelings and thoughts that you transmit to yourself, will find a place in your own internal control centre. Together, those thoughts and images will continue to create in advance or influence on the spot, every response, attitude and action that will be a part of you and your future."
Dr Shad Helmsletter

And the thing is negative programming continues through out our lives unless we take conscious steps to mitigate it. The various techniques that exist to help us overcome limiting and negative beliefs are great but as Marlon Sanders says,

"Please, do NOT buy one product thinking that you'll solve all your problems and issues and be on easy street. It doesn't work that way. Success is the result of an accumulation of know how and effort."

He is referring of course to Internet Marketing but I'm sure you can see how it applies here too. One technique is unlikely to resolve all your issues and if, like many people, you simply 'shelf' what you have bought then you will not benefit from the tools that you have at your disposal to overcome limiting and negative beliefs.

I think we can get too hung up on trying to erase our limiting beliefs completely. Just giving our limiting beliefs this level of attention is what makes them grow out of proportion in the first place.

"What you resist persists."

To want to completely erase negative beliefs is like saying you want a life with no problems or challenges. Yet we know that it is the problems and challenges that we face in life that help to mould us and shape our character. They can help to improve us or they can also destroy us. One way or another they help to make us what we are.

I was touched by another program I saw recently - Law and Order. In this program a young man had fallen through the cracks of the system. He was dyslexic but no one had diagnosed him as such. His dyslexia resulted in him seeing things in three dimensions and so he grew up unable to read.

He was teased and ridiculed by his peers. They thought he was dumb and stupid. The reality was that he had the potential to be brilliant. When he finally found someone who accepted him as he was she used him so that he not only became a drop-out of society he became a cold-blooded killer as well. It was a poignant story and although this was fictional there are real life stories just like this.

Yet, some of the world's most famous people and greatest achievers are or were dyslexic. Famous people with dyslexia include Tom Cruise (actor), Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple Computers, Cher (actress and singer), Walt Disney (film producer and director), Thomas Edison (inventor), Pablo Picasso (painter), Leonardo da Vinci (sculptor and inventor), Sir Richard Branson (entrepreneur), Sir Winston Churchill (former British Prime Minister), Alexander Graham Bell (inventor), Henry Ford (founder of the Ford Motor Co.), Whoopi Goldberg (actress and comedian), Steven Spielberg (film producer) and Mohammad Ali (former Boxer).

In mentioning the talents of these individuals I have been selective for they are all multi-talented. However, I wanted to draw attention to the broad spectrum of talents that these individuals represent - arts and entertainment, sports, science, business, politics...

I think it would be fair to say that the world would be a very different place if it were not for these individuals. You may be saying that dyslexia is a condition and not a belief but this condition often leads to negative and limiting beliefs which is why I've included it in this discussion.

These individuals didn't allow dyslexia to define them or inhibit them. Instead, they learnt how to manage the condition. I would go so far as to say that to what others perceive as a weakness in some ways became their strength because it forced them to see the world with new eyes, to have a different perspective on things. And by focusing on their other strengths they all became great achievers. Many, thankfully, are still alive today and continuing to both bless and astonish the world with their greatness.

Even the most accomplished person has negative thoughts from time to time. Upon awakening one morning, Bob Proctor told his wife how a particular goal he had set himself scared him. He knew it would be difficult to pull off. He had that tiniest bit of doubt that he could pull it off.

However, his positive belief system, honed over the years to a finely tuned machine kicked in. He was grateful for that fear, for those negative thoughts. He knew he was on the right track. He stared fear right in the face and proceeded to take positive steps towards achieving his goal. Today, he is not only well on his way to achieving that grand goal but he has revised it so that it is larger still.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt

So by all means use techniques and strategies to manage your negative beliefs and use them on a regular basis. The more often you use them the more effective they are. However, more importantly focus on and develop your positive beliefs or else your negative beliefs will cripple you.

"Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."
Dr. Maxwell Maltz

I want you to take a good look at the picture accompanying this post. Yes, it's a chain but what I want you to see is that it can either keep you chained to the depths or you can climb that chain and soar sky high.

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Positive Thinking - Does it Work?

Does positive thinking work?

Let's consider the antithesis to this question.

Does negative thinking work?

Well, has there been a time when you have worried unduly about something? Maybe you were worried about an exam, a driving test, an interview. Chances are that your worst expectations came into fruition and even if you got the outcome you desired you recognised that you could have performed better had you not worried.

When we worry or have negative thoughts about something we are not allowing ourselves to think constructively about how to achieve what we want. We focus all our energy on the negative elements of a particular situation and what we put energy into grows.

Dr. Kathleen Hall writes in her book A Life in Balance,

"Affirmations are positive statements we tell ourselves. Our mind believes what we tell it. When you tell your brain positive information, you are feeding your brain extremely valuable food that heals your mind and body...When you tell yourself something over and over again, it gets recorded in your brain; then your mind and body believe it and you become what you have been telling yourself. A positive affirmation is a self-fulfilling prophecy."

This statement represents half of the picture because when we tell our brain, meaning our sub-conscious mind, negative information, when we repeatedly tell ourselves something which is negative it also gets recorded in the mind as if it were a true statement.

"A negative assertion is a self-fulfilling prophecy."

I was chatting to an acquaintance the other day. I could see she was tense and she was complaining of having headaches. I asked if she was worried about anything and she admitted that she was worried about a new job assignment. Now she wasn't worried about her ability to handle the assignment; she was worrying because she had this type of assignment before and didn't enjoy it. She was worrying herself sick and for no good reason.

"When you send your brain negative information, you are feeding your brain anti-nutrients that harm your mind and body."

Take getting a promotion at work. If we focus on why it's not possible to get the promotion and focus on our limitations then that's what we'll put our energy into. The presentation and or interview will roll around, we'll perform poorly, lose the opportunity and tell ourselves, "See, I knew I wasn't good enough!" "I knew I wouldn't get the promotion." We may even blame someone else – "The boss doesn't like me." "Bob is more experienced than I. He was bound to get the position."

When we have these thoughts we give up our power to influence change in our lives. When we accept that we create our reality then we can choose our reality. We can become more aware players in this game called life.

So if negative thinking works then, by the Law of Polarity, the opposite must also true. As Larry King said in his introduction to a special edition of Larry King Live aired recently called The Power of Positive Thinking where he interviewed Bob Proctor, John Assaraf, Michael Beckwith, John DeMartini and JZ Knight,

"Positive thoughts can transform, can attract the good things you know you want."

However, holding on to positive thoughts is challenging. When we are born we are encoded with the genetic material of our parents and, it has been proven, with the genetic material of our ancestors – that's a lot of hardwiring. We then grow up in an environment where the values of our parents and or guardians are also engrained into us whether it is 'information' that serves us in a negative or positive manner. Hence there is a lot of stuff to override. As Jack Canfield, puts it,

"We are a bundle of conditioned reflexes out of control."

We tend to put a lot of emotion into our negative thoughts compared to the emotion and energy we put into our positive thoughts. I can have a negative thought and if I don't invest too much emotion into it then I generally don't have to worry about it taking hold and manifesting itself. Unfortunately, we often invest a lot of energy and emotion into our negative thoughts and this simply serves to bring our worse fears into fruition even faster.

Conversely, when we say positive affirmations there can be an emotional detachment and a lack of consistency in saying them. Also, a lack of evidence in our visible world may cause our analytical conscious mind to filter and delete positive affirmations. Yet, if we are able to overcome this challenge and hold the thought in our mind of what we really want irrespective of our current circumstances then our outer world will eventually catch up with our inner world.

To demonstrate the power of positive thinking I'd like to go back to the 2006 Winter Olympics held in Turin, Italy. The men's Alpine skiing downhill race was won by three times French champion, Antoine Dénériaz. Dénériaz says,

"…since time that I said myself, "One day you will be World Champion, Olympic Champion…"

But Dénériaz was not expected to win. He had performed no better than sixth in a World Cup race this season. The commentators and many of the other competitors all talked about how tough the course was. The course also was getting progressively more demanding as the day wore on and more and more runs were completed.

Dénériaz was also the last of 30 seeded skiers. None of this deterred Dénériaz. He knew he had a job to complete plus there was champagne waiting for him to drink.

You see Dénériaz had been applying the power of positive thinking to the extent he was so confident he was going to win and beocme Olympic Champion he bought champagne to celebrate beforehand!

Dénériaz skied beautifully and won emphatically in a time of 1:48.80 stealing what had, until that point, looked like a sure gold medal, from Michael Walchhofer from Austria (1:49.52). Bruno Kernen of Switzerland was third with a time of 1:49.82.

The top US skier, Bode Miller, said in an interview afterwards,

"The way Dénériaz skied today, he was pretty much untouchable."

That positive thinking works can be proven scientifically. You undoubtedly will have heard of The Science of Getting Rich and The Science of Being Well. It bears well to remember that the Law of Attraction works both ways. Positive thinking is "The Science of Getting What You Want".

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Fail Your Way to Success

Life can be viewed as a series of ups and downs or as failures punctuated by high points - successes. What many fail to realise is that it follows that the greater the level of success you achieve in your life then the more failures you experience. And we have to have both - the failures as well as the successes - for how else would we be able to appreciate our success when it does finally arrive.

Jack Canfield said in an interview that Chicken Soup For The Soul® (co-authored by Mark Victor Hansen) was turned down by 144 publishing houses.

"…nobody wanted it. They all said it was a stupid title, that nobody bought collections of short stories, that there was no edge - no sex, no violence. Why would anyone read it?"

Their agent gave up after the first 33 rejections New York publishers.

"Sorry boys, I can’t sell it."

Quite frankly, could you blame him? After all, he didn’t have the same personal investment in this product as did Jack Canfield and his co-author Mark Victor Hansen.

But the "experts" were wrong.

Chicken Soup For The Soul® became an international bestseller and inspired a whole series of over 100 Chicken Soup books with titles as obscure as Chicken Soup For The Scrapbooker’s Soul and Chicken Soup For The Pet Lover’s Soul Dog Food. Really!

In the long run, the agent’s lack of staying power turned out to be an advantage to Canfield and Hansen as they got to keep the agent’s 15% commission.

It takes a very special mindset to persevere seemingly against all odds - the mindset of a goal achiever, the mindset of a WINNER!

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are not the only authors to have suffered repeated rejections for their literary efforts.

Examples of Other Famous Authors who Experienced Numerous Rejections

1. John Grisham’s A Time to Kill was also repeatedly rejected. A Time to Kill was turned into a major film with a stellar cast including Samuel L Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey.

2. Alex Haley’s Roots was rejected. Yet, the television serialisation of Roots took the world by storm.

3. James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy was initially self-published. It was its underground success that made publishing houses sit up and take notice. The Celestine Prophecy is a testament to the power of viral marketing. It sold over a hundred thousand copies within months of its first printing primarily by word of mouth.

So you see, if you truly believe in something, within reason of course, then follow it through. Keep trying different combinations and approaches and until you will find a way to bring your idea, your dream into fruition.

I was reading recently about Corey Rudyl, the Internet Marketing guru who turned a $25 investment into over $40,000,000 in online sales and, in the process helped thousands start their own Internet businesses. Corey died suddenly and tragically in a car accident last year. Corey loved car racing and he also loved the Internet business. He was just 34 when he died and it is a testament to his tenacity, perseverance and vision that the company he founded, the Internet Marketing Centre, continues to grow ever more profitable under the leadership of his protégé, Derek Gehl.

Did Corey Rudyl make mistakes? Of course he did but he did not see them as such. He had the foresight to recognise that each “failure” could be turned into a huge success if he simply applied the lessons he learnt from his mistakes.

However, perhaps one of the most famous men who would not give up in the face of repeated failures was Thomas Edison. When Napoleon Hill interviewed Edison he joked that if he hadn’t found the secret of the incandescent lamp that at that very moment he would be in the laboratory working on it instead of wasting time talking to him! Edison also said,

"I had to succeed because I finally ran out of things that wouldn’t work."

We now all benefit from Thomas Edison’s invention in ways that Edison himself may have found too numerous to contemplate. Or perhaps I’m being presumptuous.

Walt Disney was another great visionary who never gave up. When it was discovered that he was buying thousands of acres of swamp land in Florida folk thought he had gone mad but they didn’t have his vision. Walt Disney actually died before his dream could be fully realised.

Someone later remarked to an associate of Walt Disney that it was a shame that he did not see his theme park in all its splendour. The associate smiled and replied,

"Oh, he saw it."

Perhaps Thomas Edison’s vision of how the incandescent bulb would illuminate our lives was far more detailed and expansive than I give him credit for. Who am I to talk? While I work on eliminating my limiting beliefs I don’t know that I would have had the staying power to do 10,000 experiments.

I guess my point is that if you learn from your failures and keep striving towards your goals or dreams you will achieve success because that which you seek is also seeking you. I'd like to leave you with this quote by Thoreau,

"If a person advances confidently in the direction of their dream, and endeavours to live the life they have imagined, they will meet with success unexpected in common hours."