2308, 2011

The Innocent Project – it's not where you start, but where you finish !

By |August 23rd, 2011|Overcoming Adversity, Perseverence|0 Comments

This is the remarkable story of Dewey Bozella. For over 26 years he fought to prove his innocence for a crime he never committed. His story has come to light as the 2011 Arthur Ashe Award for courage.

His story is testimony that it isn’t where you start, it’s where you finish !

His story speaks so much of CHOICE.

How everyday we have the opportunity to CHOOSE how we feel and think. To CHOOSE how we respond. To CHOOSE how we interpret what happens to us. To CHOOSE how we go forward.

He chose to forgive. He chose to not let where he was (free or in gaol) define his happiness. He chose to make himself happy. He chose character and integrity and not admitting to something he didn’t do. He chose to take a bad position and make it better. He chose to never give up and write a letter every week to the Innocence Project in the hope of finding justice. He chose to move on and look forward after his case was dismissed after almost 30 years, despite the obvious injustice and arguably corruption by the original prosecution.

And there lies the challenge for us all. To CHOOSE and create our world by the decisions we make, to CHOOSE the self-talk we have, to CHOOSE the mindsets we accept and harbour, and TO CHOOSE the actions we take. bot-only-image

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1608, 2011

Not all that glitters is gold !

By |August 16th, 2011|Action|0 Comments

Elite professional sports people are some of the most dedicated people on the planet. I know this from the inside as I’ve been a full-time athlete in two sports and spent half my life around elite sportspeople. High performers can be found in any area – from mucisians, to doctors, to florists, to teachers. But my experience is in sport.

These elite athletes place their bodies on the line and commit themselves 100% to their sport. They live, breathe, eat, drink, sleep it. They put the rest of their life on hold as they prioritise training and competing above all else. Most people look from afar and wish they could live that life – an exciting life of travel, fame, money, adulation, following your passion and getting paid for it, achievement and the pride of representing your country.

But here’s the thing … whilst I wouldn’t change it for the world, not all the glitters is gold.
Here’s a lesson I’ve learnt along the way:

Success. Highlights videos. Medal ceremonies. Smiling faces. Sponsored cars. Television interviews. Signing autographs. Entry to great parties and events. Travel. The cheers of the crowd. Fame and profile.
Good hey … wouldn’t you want that ? … Absolutely !

But how about this ? Getting up at 5:30am to train when you don’t feel like it. Constantly watching your diet. The pain of pushing yourself. Missing weddings, parties, BBQs to go to bed early or because you’re travelling. Rehab for injuries. The monotony of training, training and more training. Feeling sore. Competing in rain and snow and minus 18 degree temperatures. All the work to prepare the sleds and polish runners. Dealing with the disappointment of non-performance or non-selection after you’ve sacrificed so much.
Good hey … wouldn’t you want that ? … well most people couldn’t be bothered.


There is a saying that says “Everyone desires to be a champion, but only champions have the desire to prepare.”

And to me that speaks of hardwork, perseverence, and discipline. Talent is never enough. Greatness isn’t born. Highly successful people do not just ‘become’ successful – they earn it. There are no shortcuts to success or achieving anything worthwhile. The ‘Secret’ and wishing the ferrari into your drive doesn’t work. We want it to because we’d rather shy away from the hard work and take the easy path. That’s natural, but it isn’t the way of things. It is more glamorous on the outside than the inside.

Consider the perseverence of some of the greatest achievers like Hannibal, Walt Disney, Christopher Columbus, J.K. Rowling, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln.

So my challenge to you is this …  you want the ‘gold’ (whatever that is). But what are you prepared to do to get it? Because on the inside it is a very different story and experience !



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908, 2011

The silent assassin – fear !

By |August 9th, 2011|Fear|0 Comments

The video this week is one that I use in many of my talks. More of something to lighten the mood up usually – what an incredible add hey !

But I do think there is a very important lesson we can learn from this.

” Courage is not the failure to recognise fear;

it is the refusal to accept its offer”

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(Anonymous)

I have faced a number of fears and it is one of the most stretching, but empowering things you can do.

I am scared of heights and in 2002 I went ice-climbing in NZ. I will never forget it. You think that you are constantly climbing but in reality because you are tied by a rope to your partner, you have to wait whilst they climb up there 50m before you then climb your next leg of 50m. And then once again you wait. High up on a mountain. While the wind buffets you. Whilst you have too much time to think and get scared. Whilst you have time to look down and freak out. I’ll never forget climbing one mountain on the corner of the ice, with a massive 1000m drop one side and 400m the other side (if I fell the other climber had to hurl himself off the other side so the rope would cut into the ice and to stop me falling to my death). Fun ? Not in my books. I was yelling out aloud to myself, willing my mind and body to conquer my fear and keep going. And all the time the fear gripped me, whilst for others, it was seemingly not an issue.

And then in bobsleigh, when you’re at the top of every track, you have to learn to conquer your fear. To master your emotions. Especially when it is your first time ever down the track and you have no sense of what it will feel like. And then again when it is your first time down that track from the very top. There is no room for error and you always have fear right there beside you.

But here is the lesson I have learnt. And it is the same lesson that Rugby league International Jason Stevens spoke about in my book A Life That Counts when he described the feeling before State of origin games. And that is – that the fear never goes away. The difference is that you learn to do it afraid.

Challenge – So, let me encourage you. There are fears holding you back from going after your dreams and chasing what you want. They will likely never go away. The difference will be whether  you are prepared to go after them despite your fears, and to learn to do it afraid.

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208, 2011

Driven by the pot of gold !

By |August 2nd, 2011|A Life That Counts, Miscellaneous, Motivation|0 Comments

This is an extremely interesting video because it speaks of a couple of themes that I wrote about in my book ‘A life That Counts’.

  • Purpose Driven – each of us is unique. There is no one like us in the entire world. We have unique talents, characteristics, personality and make-up. And that is foundational for us to believe we have been designed for a purpose. Every one of us has an inkling that we were born for something bigger. And that drives us as much as chasing the pot of gold and being driven by money.
  • Deep Motivation – I have written before about how we are not driven solely by our words and thoughts. That emotions and feelings play a significant role. In fact, our emotions are our strongest, most powerful driver, and often drive us in unconscious ways, well before we are consciously aware of it. eg You don’t need to think about being hungry or tired or scared or embarrassed. These just happen unconsciously and it affects our emotions and our physiology. What this means is that our emotions (our heart) are our primary driver of motivation. This is reflected in deep passion as opposed to conscious motivation (trying to talk yourself into being motivated). That is where the expression comes from – ‘the heart is the strongest muscle in the body’. So never forget that we are driven more by our emotions than by anything conscious. (Knowing your ‘why’ and your purpose are reflections of this).  With that in mind, is it such a surprise what this video talks about ? is it such a surprise that the carrot (eg money) or the stick (eg sacking) that most employers try to drive us with are not as effective as they might otherwise think ?
  • Making a difference – we all have a deep seated desire to make a difference in this world. To leave a legacy. To help others.  To live a purposeful and significant life above our own. To live a life that counts ! This is not so surprising. So let’s embrace it and make a difference. For surely the world needs it. And after all – a waterfall starts with a raindrop. Every little bit helps. Be the difference you want to see in the world and let that reflect in your personal world as well as in how that translates into your business world with your staff / colleagues / how you do business.

Fire up and have a great week !bot-only-image

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2607, 2011

The Peru Bull Fight

By |July 26th, 2011|Miscellaneous|0 Comments

Today’s blog is a little lighter. A bit of humour for you. Can you believe this. The things we do for fun hey !

Hope you’re smiling and have a great day.bot-only-image

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1907, 2011

Pure Inspiration II

By |July 19th, 2011|Motivation, Overcoming Adversity|0 Comments

Kurt Fearley

Well what more do I need to say ?bot-only-image

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1207, 2011

Here's to the crazy ones !

By |July 12th, 2011|Miscellaneous|0 Comments

apple ad think different 2

This video is interesting because it speaks of a number of things …

  • It speaks of knowing and finding the core, authentic you. That unique person that you were created to be, with your own interests, characteristics, talents, personality traits. After all, never forget, there is no one like you in the entire world. You are completely unique. Fashioned for a purpose. It is just up to you to find out what that is.
  • It speaks of never being afraid to be different. Of not being conformed and constrained by the limits that society places on us. The ‘should do’s’ and the ‘shouldn’t do’s’ that we’re bombarded with. The limiting mindsets and opinions that others like to place on us. The conventional thinking and the herd mentality that we so easily adopt.
  • It speaks of the process of initiating and inventing and creating. And it reminds me of the process of adopting change (Rogers model for the adoption of innovations) where at first people say that is crazy and ridiculous and then they sceptically try it out, before the majority finally adopt it and come to believe what the early adopters and investors said in the first place but were ridiculed for. Think about Bill Gates or ipads or iphones.
  • And it also speaks about how ‘Apple’ were positioning themselves in their advertising. They knew they were branding themselves as different thinkers. As being different. Speaking to early adopters. They knew their brand was about innovation and new and different. They knew ‘why’ they did what they did and ads like this merely brought this view to life. Very clever. Very effective.

Be inspired and be you ! The world needs it.bot-only-image

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507, 2011

Failing towards Success II

By |July 5th, 2011|Perseverence|0 Comments

Do you remember the first video I put up of Michael Jordan speaking about failing to success. The greatest basketballer of all time who not only trained hard but was cut from his high school basketball team.

Well here’s another video that speaks of ‘Failing towards success’ and at the same time of ‘Saying ‘no’ to no !’.

That is don’t let others determine your future. Don’t let others determine what you can or can’t do. Consciously make a decision to not be limited by other people’s opinions or let others somehow try and define your future.

Remember those dreams you had as a kid and watching those heroes that inspired you and dreaming you could be them. Remember planning what you would do when you grew up. Remember holding that secret dream i your hear and stepping out and then someone telling you ‘you’ll never make it’, or ‘you can’t do it’, or ‘why try’ or ‘better to spend your time and energy on something else’ or ‘you can’t earn a living from that’ or ‘get your head out of the clouds’ .. and the list goes on. There’s plenty of people to tell you that you can’t do something.

Well let this video inspire you. And let the following quote that I had on the inside of my bobsleigh during the Olympics inspire you.

“Impossible is a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world that they were given than to explore the world that could be.

Impossible is not a fact, it is an opinion.

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Impossible is not a declaration, it is a dare.

impossible is nothing”

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2806, 2011

Leadership – why would anyone be led by you ?

By |June 28th, 2011|Leadership|0 Comments

My post last week on leadership got me thinking again.

You will remember that I told the story of the CEO in a US company who had a special elevator installed which went straight to his office so he didn’t have to talk to the staff.

The thing is – having worked for a global US Investment bank and dealt with some very rich and powerful Private Equity, CLO and Hedge Fund Managers … I can absolutely see this being the case. One might say, that it is a question of time and not spreading yourself too thin. Granted. But there is an attitude behind every action like this. And in this case I would argue it is ego. Thinking you’re better than the staff below you. If I asked the question ‘Why would anyone be led by you’ to that CEO, I wonder what his answer would be ?

You will also recall that I mentioned in my last post how leadership is about INFLUENCE. Plain and simple. Forget particular personality traits. Forget particular leadership styles. You can judge a leader by their INFLUENCE. After all, didn’t Mother Theresa or nelson Mandella have as much influence as Winston Churchill ?

Well let me build on that. You influence others based on:

  1. The past – your reputation
  2. The present – your personal example and demonstrated behaviour
  3. The future – the trust and confidence that those you are leading have in you / your leadership / your strategy

Some of these are personal leadership traits (character, consistency, integrity, belief in your own decisions, what you’re driven by – are you self-actualised or driven by something else like ego, fear, power etc).

Some of these are leadership characteristics (vision, communication, servant heart, teamwork etc)

But don’t get too hung up on the detail. Leadership is about influence. So ask yourself this one question and the rest will take care of itself …

Why would anyone be led by you ?

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2106, 2011

Leadership – do you have your own elevator ?

By |June 21st, 2011|Leadership|0 Comments

I heard an interesting story the other day of a CEO in a US company who had a special elevator installed which went straight to his office so he didn’t have to talk to the staff.

And then I thought about the TV show sensation ‘Undercover Boss’ (which I love btw) which is all about company leaders/CEOs going undercover to get to know staff at lower levels of the business and find out what is really happening in their organisation at the grass roots.

So with those examples in mind, here’s a few thoughts on leadership …

  • Do we really need a camera crew and a disguise before we can find out what is happening in our organisation? Aren’t the best leaders all about theie people and realise that people are their greatest resource. Think about some of the best leaders in the world today.
  • When you ask people that love working for their company, invariably one of the reasons they’ll say is that the leadership and management is amazing. Perhaps that they provided direction, that they listened and understood, that they appreciated their staff and they had strong relationships with the rest of the company. And if I asked you the same – think about the best team environment you’ve ever worked in and tell me why it was so good – I bet you’d mention the people and the leadership amongst your reasons for why that was such a great team / company also.
  • It is funny isn’t it how some people see themselves above the rest of their organisation, whereas others are completely the opposite ? They mix and learn and have deep relationships with the people in the organisation. They are not ego driven, position driven or power driven. They are part of the team.
  • Which leader would you follow into battle or sacrifice for – the CEO who has his own lift or the opposite ?

It brings me to a key point about leadership.

Leadership is about INFLUENCING others attitudes and behavior. It doesn’t have to have a particular style and you don’t have to have a certain type of personality. Quiet people can influence just as well as extroverts. Hands off leaders can influence just as much as inspirational leaders as much as hands on, involved leaders. The key is INFLUENCE.

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