Commitment Archives | jeremyrolleston.com

Pure inspiration V – Arthur Boorman

Here’s something to start your new year off with a new mindset and inspiration.

This video shows the remarkable transformation Arthur Boorman made in his life in less than a year. Authur was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years, and was told by his doctors that he would never be able to walk on his own – never, ever !

He stumbled upon an article about Diamond Dallas Page doing Yoga and decided to give it a try — he couldn’t do traditional, higher impact exercise, so he tried DDP YOGA and sent an email to Dallas telling him his story. Dallas was so moved by his story, he began emailing and speaking on the phone with Arthur throughout his journey – he encouraged Arthur to keep going and to believe that anything was possible. Even though doctors told him walking would never happen, Arthur was persistent. He fell many times, but kept going. As he did he not only lost a lot of weight, he gained tremendous balance and flexibility. But more than that – he gained the hope that maybe someday he’d walk again. And he did !

His story is proof, that we cannot place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. Niether Arthur, nor Dallas knew what he would go on to accomplish, but this video speaks for itself. In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier !

Do not waste any time thinking you are stuck – you can take control over your life, and change it faster than you might think.

So may this video give you that injection of inspiration you need for 2013. Believe in yourself and go after your dreams – whatever they are – they might just come true !

How bad do you want it ?

Today I have invited a good mate of mine Tim Birch to write the weekly blog. Tim is an inspirational guy and one of those good guys all-round. In many ways we’re cut out of the same stone and we often trade quotes or videos or thoughts. That was why, as expected, I knew he’d come up with something inspiring and challenging. Over to you Tim …

“How often does ‘life’ get in the way of our best laid plans and intentions? So often the things we know we want to achieve get pushed further and further away due to the circumstance we let limit us…

I say ‘let’ because there is always a choice. A choice to say ‘Yes, I’m getting up when the alarm sounds to take a step in achieving my dream’, or ‘Yes, I’ll spend my weekend focussing on my studies’. The alternatives to these two scenarios may be staying in the warm, cosy bed or heading out to see friends for dinner…but at what cost.

You need to make your goals and dreams mean something and often it is only when these things seem like they will be taken from us that we start to really fight for what we want.

The below clip illustrates that, “when you want to succeed, as bad as you want to breath, only then will you be able to succeed”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowB5wNPvWQ&feature=player_embedded

Don’t tell me how bad you want to succeed. Get up each day and show me. No one will remember you for what you planned to accomplish in life. You will only be remembered for what you actually did.

My challenge – What will you do today ?

Not all that glitters is gold !

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 !

The silent assassin – fear !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTl3U6aSd2w

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”

(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.