31/07/2009 by admin.

Living the good life and putting on weight by looking at food do not go well together.  Business despite the recession has been good.  My belief is that as companies’ sales slow, they look at how they can get their sales force to achieve results as order taking is no longer an option.  With sales going well for endless perception,  I found myself working harder, which meant more business dinners and more late night takeaways.  This is not a way to carry on, though it was hard for me to change my ways! 

As an NLP trainer, I certainly know the tools and techniques to motivate myself and how to have the inner conversation.  The problem was I didn’t have a massive goal.  As soon as I decided I was going to India, I knew I had to get fit and it started by losing weight.  My ideal weight for my height is just under 14 stone.  I’m ashamed to admit I was weighing in at 19 stone 4 lbs.  I signed up to a weight loss programme and in the first week lost 1 stone 2lbs.  After 4 months, I had lost 4 stone and weighed just over 15 stone.  During this time I had not started exercising.  My focus up to now was on losing weight. 

Ian and I had agreed to a training weekend.  He has an apartment in North Wales so we were going to cycle around Mount Snowdon.  We know it’s not the Himalayas, though it is hilly.  It was now time for me to get on a mountain bike and start getting fit.  I convinced my housemate, Rowena, or Row for short, to come training with me and of course my 2 dalmations, Oscar and Millie, would come.  Well we cycled around Virginia Water.  There is a small hill and we both got off to push our bikes up it.  The next day neither of us could walk properly and after a couple of days I was still a little sore in the saddle.  Row and I would cycle around the lake (3 – 4 miles) 3 times a week.  We knew we were getting fitter as we could now get up the small hill without stopping!   I’m not ready for Mt Snowdon but that’s the next trip.  Ian keeps e-mailing me saying he has a plan for our weekend away.  Help!

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Millie and Oscar

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30/07/2009 by admin.

It’s September 2008 and I’m with a friend and customer, Ian Hunter. Ian attended one of my Business NLP programmes earlier this year. We meet 2 or 3 times a year to catch up in London. He works for Fujitsu and has become an informal mentor to me ever since flying out to see me giving a keynote speech in Spain a couple of years ago.

I was saying to Ian, “….whilst I do a good number of keynote speeches on Motivation, Sales Excellence and The Customer Experience, I do not have a story. I haven’t won gold at the Olympics, fallen down a crevasse or pull the jaws of a crocodile open to remove my leg!” It was at that point, Ian suggested I join him on a cycling trip across the foothills of the Himalayas.

Without a second thought, I said YES!

It is very easy to make such a quick decision when you are clear on what your goals are. I know where I want to take my business and how I need to give more keynote speeches as a way to develop the business. This adventure gives me a story and whilst I am not planning to grapple a Bengal Tiger, there are going to be a number of challengers that I will need to face.

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Bengal Tigers

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