In the last post we explored the different sources of energy we draw from as professionals - and as people. We considered the importance of energy from physical, emotional, mental sources right through to the underlying spirit of performance and those intangible but incredibly important aspects of life including values, commitment to a common purpose, community service & human connection.
Today we'll explore these underlying factors and specifically values. So what relevance does this have for business and performance in general?? Well, we will consider values in the context of values driven performance specifically with respect to sustainable performance.
I attended my first ever Ice hockey match last week. The wellness clinic where I have my office (Fluid Health, Port Melbourne) sponsors the Melbourne Ice so I went along as a guest. It was great to meet some of the guys and see how they play as its an exciting action packed sport. The Ice are an organization that are really achieving great things and their story needs to be told. They won the national championship last year and have consistently been in the top three for much of the past decade. Even more interesting is that the Ice is not even a profit making organization. Many of its competitors are and have paid employees, but the Ice is a not-for-profit community organization. As I was chatting to Andy Lamrock, the club president I asked what their secret to success was.
Did he talk about how much money they have and how big their kitty is? Did he talk about their new star signing? Not at all! What he talked about was how the Ice was a bit like a family with a purpose. A group with collective energy where everybody pulled together. He explained how the Ice mission statement doesnt even talk about beating other teams, or winning trophies but focuses more on ideas like providing elite ice hockey to the people of Melbourne, being a club of choice, fostering talent at all levels & conduct the club in a responsible, sustainable and transparent manner
If you go to the website page (click here) you will see how it proudly announces the importance of combining excellence, commitment and team work with a family spirit, marked by hospitality, honesty and integrity and the importance of developing each member of the Melbourne Ice family. Now, it was great to read this on the website AFTER I spoke to Andy, because I am sure that many groups and organizations 'display' similar ideals. But it was the examples that Andy used to explain HOW it actually happens in practice that was the real proof in the pudding for me. We will explore this more in later blogs, but for the mean time, best of luck to the Ice for the upcoming finals series starting next week. They are currently sitting first in the league so are in a strong position,
This takes me back to another chat I was very fotunate to be able to have with a really interesting guy, Mr Paul Peters while kitesurfing in Fiji a couple of weeks ago. As our little fishing boat sped along (sadly still with more fisherman and fisherwomen than actual fish in the boat!) Paul explained how he has found a way to combine his strengths in finance with his values of making a positive difference to the global community. Growing up in Canada with a father who was a church minister Paul really understood the power and importance of social values and working in a way that benefits the community. He later trained in finance and went to work in a multinational financial institution but then went on to set up a company that specialises in micro-finance and entrepreneurial support for people in some of the poorest countries of the world. It was fascinating listening to him as he explained how they combined financing and supporting a needy group an incredibly values driven and ethical way with an unwavering and rock-solid commitment to commercial business ideals. And how the most entrepreneurial and resourceful people he had ever met were people living in the slums of India and South East Asia. But most importantly it was the passion in his voice and clear sense of purpose and love about what he does that struck me. I could tell that he has found a way to combine his strengths with his values that will allow him to keep doing what he does for many years to come.
Finally Maverick! On the way through the airport in Fiji I picked up a book to read on the plane - and what a book! Maverick, By Ricardo Semler - The success story behind the world's most unusual workplace. Put simply Ricardo, explains how over the last 30yrs, with a commitment to creating a fulfilling and prosperous workplace that is profitable and an enjoyable place to work, his team have turned the brizilian marine equipment manufacturing business Semco from a $4million company with unhappy, unmotivated staff into a $35 million dollar organisation that is the #1 place to work in Brazil that is #1 or #2 in all industries it works in. How have they done it?
With a commitment to people and totally committed conscious choice to create a fulfilling and democratic workplace they have gone against all convention again and again so that now workers make decisions previously made by bosses, managerial staff set their own salaries and bonuses, everybody has access to the company books and shop-floor workers set their own productivity targets and schedules. This story highlights how many of the organizations we work in are really dictatorships and begs the question how democratic is our society if we spend 10hrs per day 5 days per week working within a dictatorship? We all know that dictatorships are outdated and inefficient nation building models because they dont provide the space for everyday people to flourish and use their inherent intelligence...so why do so many organizational dictatorships exist?
If we don't trust the people around us, especially the ones working with us, how can we possibly expect them to trust themselves?
If entrepreneurial drive and skill can be found in abundance in the slums of India and Indonesia and in the factories of Brazil, then surely it is in abundance all around us here in Melbourne, Victoria?
How much untapped talent and energy is within us and around us that we could access and use if we just start to focus on it and put some effort into evolving and leading change in the direction we want to go?
Chris
Spark - Better ways of working that spark our collective intelligence
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Procrastination!!!!!!
This blog is going to be very short. Writing regular blogs is an important communication tool for my business and just now I sat down and decided to spend the next hour and a half writing a blog entry, then paused and took a deep breath...and realised that I had more import and urgent tasks to attend to and that writing now was probably a bit of procrastination!
So Being totally straight up (Authentic, transparent and 100% focused) its time to do something else and re-blog outside of business hours.
If you or anybody else you know has issues with procrastination, my Spark programs provide great opportunities to gain self awareness and deeper understanding of procrastination. Click here to find out more.
Or if you want to check to identify some of the underlying causes behind procrastination click here to try my energy boost diagnostic
Talk to you again soon
Chris
So Being totally straight up (Authentic, transparent and 100% focused) its time to do something else and re-blog outside of business hours.
If you or anybody else you know has issues with procrastination, my Spark programs provide great opportunities to gain self awareness and deeper understanding of procrastination. Click here to find out more.
Or if you want to check to identify some of the underlying causes behind procrastination click here to try my energy boost diagnostic
Talk to you again soon
Chris
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Energy for professional growth
After discussing my own realization around commitment in my last post and the importance of giving 100% I have to say that I have had a really effective and positive week. I have had a few very important work conversations that I had been putting off over the last few months. Having these conversations has got the issues out of my head where they were always previously rolling around in the background. This has given me more 'head-space' and so my mind is more focused on what is really important at the moment. ...its pretty cool from my point of view?!
Im not resting on my laurels. My clients and business partners constantly remind me of the importance of taking action which for me right now involves getting to know more professional people with performance, wellness or leadership problems that they want to address or big dreams that they want to achieve more quickly and effectively. It involves making lots of phone calls, organizing meetings with potential business partners and clients, and writing regular blog posts and keeping my finger on the pulse of this new online community that is developing.
Which leads me into my topic for this week. What am I actually committed to? What is driving me to transition my business completely into personal and professional development coaching? Where is this passion and inspiration coming from that keeps drawing me into the corporate market? Because I can tell you right now that this is a really strong drive.
At university I was desperate to be motivated and passionate about some type of work but had no idea what that was so went out partying to try to find it. When running my business in London I was part of the way there but still didn't know what I really wanted because I kept looking at other industries and other jobs. Its clearly not money that is driving me because I don't have very much of it! Money is important and I want to be making enough money for my business to grow, to be comfortable, to be able to raise a family and live a prosperous life - but have no financial ambitions beyond that.
I have always been interested in performance and well-being. Ever since childhood with a passion for sport where I loved anything, cricket, soccer, basketball, rugby, skiing, sailing, running, cycling etc. And I also appreciated musical performance from my own scratchy violin attempts and banging on the piano to my friend Paul Rhodes who was a real virtuoso violinist and Glenn Gilbert who could turn an electric guitar into a hammer of the gods and literally shake the walls with powerful sound. And I also appreciated academic performance - even though my grades went into a clear decline as I hit age 15 and started to discover girls I held great admiration for my friend Ben Simmons who could answer mathematical calculus riddles while half asleep with his head resting on the desk at the back of maths class because he had worked until 1am the night before after work. And for my other friends who were committed to school work and assignments and really gave it their all.
So I have always appreciated and been inspired by high performance, and over the last 15 yrs I have grown to understand how performance is underpinned by 'wellness' in many ways. What I mean is that if any one of us has the opportunity to really prosper and be well in all different areas of our life our unique strengths, talents and skills will naturally come out and we just seem to be able to 'get the most out of our lives'. Now that sounds all well and good in theory but what are the different areas that we draw energy from to prosper?
Its a topic of much debate and research but I find it easiest to break it down into 4 different categories or energy sources...and what would the 4 sources of energy be? Simply put Physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy & spiritual energy. Now some people might say Whoa back Chris! what is this airy fairy spiritual energy and is it really worth commenting on in a serious article for professionals? but please bare with me here and ill explain.
Physical energy for performance comes from the food we eat and the liquids we drink throughout the day, the physical activity we do from such basic movement as the amount of walking we do throughout the day up to participating in at least 3 - 4 different physical pursuits each week. It doesn't matter what you do, whether its walking or wake-boarding or working in the garden - if you spend 9hrs a day sitting on your tush in front of a computer anything helps!! Physical energy also includes sleep and if you are not getting 7-9 hrs sleep a night it can impact on your energy levels and ability to be alert to opportunities and to maintain a sense of inspiration over time. This was my original passion and is what many people class as 'wellness' but after years of working in health and fitness and getting sporadic results I started to question, is there more to it......
Mental energy is an interesting one. With the great leaps forward in consumer communication technology in the past 20-30 yrs many managers and professionals have become multitasking machines but also overloaded with emails, texts, skypes, beeps, alerts and 24/7 emails. With the playing field constantly evolving mental energy can be greatly influenced by our ability to reduce interruptions by switching off all communication devices when performing strategic tasks and having important meetings. Setting boundaries with colleagues and clients on when you are not working and scheduling in hobbies and regular personal time also has a huge impact on longevity. And conscious decisions to plan your days and and organize yourself to do difficult tasks pay huge dividends. Personally these are things I am always working on and refining and it provides head-space so I don get caught up in the 'tsunami of technology trends'. But Im a people person so refining these tasks alone don't drive me and excite me about work!
So lets consider people. We are not machines and have emotions which play a vital role in energy levels. The irony is that when emotions are annoying us and we think they are stupid and a waste of time we are also being emotional! If we have pride in our work and work in 'high stress, high performance' environments emotional management is essential! You only have to watch the tennis legend Roger Federer in an interview to see how calm and centered he is. Some people are slaves to their emotional state but emotions are a physiological response and can be actively managed! We can fuel positive emotions by expressing genuine appreciation of others - or by simply smiling. We can defuse negative emotions by deep abdominal breathing (which stimulates the Vagus nerve and generates a parasympathetic neural response - for those wanting to understand the link). We can manage high stress events and intense emotions by being physically active or using our imagination to 'put ourselves in other peoples shoes and understand their perspective or by meditating or by simply talking with different people about it (friends, family, trusted coach or mentors) - This was very important for me when going through my marriage break-up (even through us blokes aren't supposed to talk about this sort of stuff) and allowed me to keep my business and coaching practice going. So emotions also are important (even for blokes - although guys and girls do have different management strategies). But I know many people who are very calm and confident but who don't have that buzz about them so there must be something more!
It seems to me that emotions are a personal thing. At a physiological level,a neurological and endocrinological response within a persons body. For many years as a personal trainer I was frustrated because I wasn't sure how to help clients manage their emotions to maintain health and well-being, then after training in emotional awareness and training techniques I was able to address this and as a coaching it has been great to see how clients (and I) have been able to do things they (and I) never thought possible in their personal lives and at work by being able to appreciate and manage emotional responses. It was very rewarding and continues to be very successful!....But....
Having great emotional awareness and managing emotional responses still doesn't explain where the drive comes from. What is a sense of purpose?
What I am talking about is the spirit of performance! That aspect of performance that is people orientated and non-physical. We cant hold purpose or commitment or fulfillment or engagement. But they are very real all the same and drive us to do the seemingly impossible or to maintain a laser like focus through a storm of change. We don't live in isolation, so the spirit of performance isn't personal. Our spiritual energy is affected by our family spirit, our local community spirit, the spirit of the organization we work in, our country, the world as a whole and the environment around us. You only have to notice how people's mood changes from season to season to appreciate this. In the last 15 yrs I have worked in many different organizations in 4 different countries myself and over the last 5 years I have spoken to many people about the spirit of their organization and in the community. Its become increasingly apparent how important it is for a person to have a sense of purpose about their lives and also be be involved with groups that respect peoples need to have a sense of purpose control. We might live in a democratic country but most people spend 8-12 hrs or more at work every day and I would question how many organizations are democratic. We might talk about equality but is our society becoming more inclusive or are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer at the moment? its important stuff, because research shows how people live longest and are happiest in inclusive societies. At an individual and organizational level performance is intimately linked to a strong sense of spirit and purpose.
So when I wipe away all the superficial stuff - which is important stuff, but superficial, at this stage of my life and career I guess this is what drives me. A passion for wellness, equality, sustainability and democracy and how these core values intertwine to within individuals and groups to allow us to prosper, smile, laugh, have fun and get the most out of life! I've gotta say, its a hell of a journey. I never saw myself as a political activist, but when I get to the core of what drives me I guess I am.
If you want to assess your own energy levels click here to try my Energy Diagnostic
I tell you what though, it took along time to write this...I think ill keep blogs a bit shorter from now on!
Im not resting on my laurels. My clients and business partners constantly remind me of the importance of taking action which for me right now involves getting to know more professional people with performance, wellness or leadership problems that they want to address or big dreams that they want to achieve more quickly and effectively. It involves making lots of phone calls, organizing meetings with potential business partners and clients, and writing regular blog posts and keeping my finger on the pulse of this new online community that is developing.
Which leads me into my topic for this week. What am I actually committed to? What is driving me to transition my business completely into personal and professional development coaching? Where is this passion and inspiration coming from that keeps drawing me into the corporate market? Because I can tell you right now that this is a really strong drive.
At university I was desperate to be motivated and passionate about some type of work but had no idea what that was so went out partying to try to find it. When running my business in London I was part of the way there but still didn't know what I really wanted because I kept looking at other industries and other jobs. Its clearly not money that is driving me because I don't have very much of it! Money is important and I want to be making enough money for my business to grow, to be comfortable, to be able to raise a family and live a prosperous life - but have no financial ambitions beyond that.
I have always been interested in performance and well-being. Ever since childhood with a passion for sport where I loved anything, cricket, soccer, basketball, rugby, skiing, sailing, running, cycling etc. And I also appreciated musical performance from my own scratchy violin attempts and banging on the piano to my friend Paul Rhodes who was a real virtuoso violinist and Glenn Gilbert who could turn an electric guitar into a hammer of the gods and literally shake the walls with powerful sound. And I also appreciated academic performance - even though my grades went into a clear decline as I hit age 15 and started to discover girls I held great admiration for my friend Ben Simmons who could answer mathematical calculus riddles while half asleep with his head resting on the desk at the back of maths class because he had worked until 1am the night before after work. And for my other friends who were committed to school work and assignments and really gave it their all.
So I have always appreciated and been inspired by high performance, and over the last 15 yrs I have grown to understand how performance is underpinned by 'wellness' in many ways. What I mean is that if any one of us has the opportunity to really prosper and be well in all different areas of our life our unique strengths, talents and skills will naturally come out and we just seem to be able to 'get the most out of our lives'. Now that sounds all well and good in theory but what are the different areas that we draw energy from to prosper?
Its a topic of much debate and research but I find it easiest to break it down into 4 different categories or energy sources...and what would the 4 sources of energy be? Simply put Physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy & spiritual energy. Now some people might say Whoa back Chris! what is this airy fairy spiritual energy and is it really worth commenting on in a serious article for professionals? but please bare with me here and ill explain.
Physical energy for performance comes from the food we eat and the liquids we drink throughout the day, the physical activity we do from such basic movement as the amount of walking we do throughout the day up to participating in at least 3 - 4 different physical pursuits each week. It doesn't matter what you do, whether its walking or wake-boarding or working in the garden - if you spend 9hrs a day sitting on your tush in front of a computer anything helps!! Physical energy also includes sleep and if you are not getting 7-9 hrs sleep a night it can impact on your energy levels and ability to be alert to opportunities and to maintain a sense of inspiration over time. This was my original passion and is what many people class as 'wellness' but after years of working in health and fitness and getting sporadic results I started to question, is there more to it......
Mental energy is an interesting one. With the great leaps forward in consumer communication technology in the past 20-30 yrs many managers and professionals have become multitasking machines but also overloaded with emails, texts, skypes, beeps, alerts and 24/7 emails. With the playing field constantly evolving mental energy can be greatly influenced by our ability to reduce interruptions by switching off all communication devices when performing strategic tasks and having important meetings. Setting boundaries with colleagues and clients on when you are not working and scheduling in hobbies and regular personal time also has a huge impact on longevity. And conscious decisions to plan your days and and organize yourself to do difficult tasks pay huge dividends. Personally these are things I am always working on and refining and it provides head-space so I don get caught up in the 'tsunami of technology trends'. But Im a people person so refining these tasks alone don't drive me and excite me about work!
So lets consider people. We are not machines and have emotions which play a vital role in energy levels. The irony is that when emotions are annoying us and we think they are stupid and a waste of time we are also being emotional! If we have pride in our work and work in 'high stress, high performance' environments emotional management is essential! You only have to watch the tennis legend Roger Federer in an interview to see how calm and centered he is. Some people are slaves to their emotional state but emotions are a physiological response and can be actively managed! We can fuel positive emotions by expressing genuine appreciation of others - or by simply smiling. We can defuse negative emotions by deep abdominal breathing (which stimulates the Vagus nerve and generates a parasympathetic neural response - for those wanting to understand the link). We can manage high stress events and intense emotions by being physically active or using our imagination to 'put ourselves in other peoples shoes and understand their perspective or by meditating or by simply talking with different people about it (friends, family, trusted coach or mentors) - This was very important for me when going through my marriage break-up (even through us blokes aren't supposed to talk about this sort of stuff) and allowed me to keep my business and coaching practice going. So emotions also are important (even for blokes - although guys and girls do have different management strategies). But I know many people who are very calm and confident but who don't have that buzz about them so there must be something more!
It seems to me that emotions are a personal thing. At a physiological level,a neurological and endocrinological response within a persons body. For many years as a personal trainer I was frustrated because I wasn't sure how to help clients manage their emotions to maintain health and well-being, then after training in emotional awareness and training techniques I was able to address this and as a coaching it has been great to see how clients (and I) have been able to do things they (and I) never thought possible in their personal lives and at work by being able to appreciate and manage emotional responses. It was very rewarding and continues to be very successful!....But....
Having great emotional awareness and managing emotional responses still doesn't explain where the drive comes from. What is a sense of purpose?
What I am talking about is the spirit of performance! That aspect of performance that is people orientated and non-physical. We cant hold purpose or commitment or fulfillment or engagement. But they are very real all the same and drive us to do the seemingly impossible or to maintain a laser like focus through a storm of change. We don't live in isolation, so the spirit of performance isn't personal. Our spiritual energy is affected by our family spirit, our local community spirit, the spirit of the organization we work in, our country, the world as a whole and the environment around us. You only have to notice how people's mood changes from season to season to appreciate this. In the last 15 yrs I have worked in many different organizations in 4 different countries myself and over the last 5 years I have spoken to many people about the spirit of their organization and in the community. Its become increasingly apparent how important it is for a person to have a sense of purpose about their lives and also be be involved with groups that respect peoples need to have a sense of purpose control. We might live in a democratic country but most people spend 8-12 hrs or more at work every day and I would question how many organizations are democratic. We might talk about equality but is our society becoming more inclusive or are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer at the moment? its important stuff, because research shows how people live longest and are happiest in inclusive societies. At an individual and organizational level performance is intimately linked to a strong sense of spirit and purpose.
So when I wipe away all the superficial stuff - which is important stuff, but superficial, at this stage of my life and career I guess this is what drives me. A passion for wellness, equality, sustainability and democracy and how these core values intertwine to within individuals and groups to allow us to prosper, smile, laugh, have fun and get the most out of life! I've gotta say, its a hell of a journey. I never saw myself as a political activist, but when I get to the core of what drives me I guess I am.
If you want to assess your own energy levels click here to try my Energy Diagnostic
I tell you what though, it took along time to write this...I think ill keep blogs a bit shorter from now on!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Inspiring Action - Taking the plunge!
I was tossing and turning about whether I should be talking this candidly...? won't I lose face? Will clients and potential business partners still consider me 'an expert' or more importantly somebody they want to do business with, or turn to and trust when looking to make important business or personal decisions.
After a decade of working in the personal and professional development industries I recognized these thoughts as just that..thoughts. Not reality, just the perspective I happened to have at that time, 'limiting beliefs' some would say. And by being able to recognize them I know I can then choose to disregard them or even just change focus so they disappear off into the background. But this was a big decision for me so they didn't go away so easily so I decided to just be comfortable with them sitting there in the background. So what was my dilemma and what has it got to do with inspired action?
To review the scene, the theme for this current series of blogs covers questions like, why do we need inspiration?...how can we become inspired?...how does it help us? The reason for this theme is that like many people I have noticed how over the past 10 yrs work, technology and lifestyle changes has caused life to become more stressful and as a society our well being and prosperity - our enjoyment of life - is being affected...drastically! If we are on a raft racing down a river and getting thrown around dangerously in rapids that constantly tower above us and batter against the raft leaving some people worn out and others just frazzled. Many of us disagree with these trends and want to make changes or work and live in ways that allow us to feel better, be more productive and be happier! But to do so successfully requires that we go, in many ways, against the flow of the river. This requires a change of direction or a burst of energy to get out of the rapids - this can require a leap of faith.
So what was my dilemma? Well I have been working as an executive coach and running my Spark program for about 4 yrs now so have developed into a really effective program that has worked well and provided great value for many people. But from a commercial point of view the main income source for my business has been a corporate health contract. So whilst Spark has got great results with both individuals and teams in areas of professional, organizational and personal development, it is not operating as a sustainable commercial entity. Anyway, 9 months ago I made the decision to focus completely on growing Spark as a self-sustaining business. After 9 yrs in the fitness industry, then 2 years as a corporate health contractor this felt like a major decision. My inspiration was crystal clear - I was desperate to grow my business in a direction that aligned my strengths as a coach and entrepreneur with my values around performance, productivity and prospering. I had been desperate to do this for years and had always been good at helping people but had stumbled time and time again when it came to charging for my service at professional levels. And so for years, my dream had been just that...a pie in the sky dream. But this time I took action to make it a reality.
So I started working with a business coach and this provided a great source of inspiration and support and I spent the next 6 months updating my products and preparing all my marketing materials, online web-stuff & strategy. I know know from experience how to be inspired, overcome challenges and achieve goals. I have overcome alcohol dependance, dropped 25kg, set up a business in the UK and sold it 7 yrs later and started a business in Australia with just $5'000 and a scooter. But in the back of my mind I still found myself looking for get-out strategies so I decided I needed to explore and understand inspiration better so I started to talk to people.
I spoke to some friends of mine, Jim & Lou who had just left their corporate jobs in Sydney to move to Byron Bay for a sea-change and to start their own business - wow, that is an inspired move I thought! I spoke to James & Jimmy at Fluid health where my office is, who turned their dream into Myotherapy business in Port Melbourne on the smell of an oily rag and a credit card and who have in 2 yrs grown a strong local community with loyal customers, happy staff, partnerships with sporting organisations such as Tri-alliance and Melbourne Ice Hockey.
I interviewed many different inspirational people who have achieved inspirational goals. Jonni and Elvira have both managed to survive and thrive with chronic life threatening health conditions. Kathy turned a professional disaster into an opportunity to start an industry leading business that has had a far reaching impact in the community. And the list goes on...
I started an acting course and an african drumming course in which inspiration and giving your all for the performance is fundamental.
And I continued to read books. I read about a pioneering heart surgeon who explained with solid science how important love and community spirit is for protecting against heart disease and chronic health conditions (Dr Dean Ornish - Love and Survival) . I read about an entrepreneur (Ricardo Semlar) in brazil who, in the last 30 yrs has turned a $4million struggling business (Semco) into a $35 million+ enterprise that is the industry leader and the No.1 organisation to work for in Brazil - and its all based on wanting his workers to prosper and feel fulfilled in their jobs & a steadfast dedication to democracy at work....Inspirational!
And all these experienced helped me, and I was moving forward and beginning to generate leads into Spark but not fast enough. Then 3 months ago (April) the marketing stuff was all looking good and I realized that it was time to transition again and really focus my attention on sales. You see as a researched inspiration and faith, I realized that I hadnt fully and completely taken that leap of faith. I was 80% there, but rather than commit to jumping out of the raft and swimming for the side of the river with all my might I was still looking for a life support to cling onto.
Where does 80% come from? Well I knew my budgets and with the contracting work slowing down the only way for me to generate income moving forward was through Spark. I had a 3-4 month buffer but with business bill and a personal mortgage to pay the money had to start coming in soon. BUT I hadn't fully committed because I was still looking for contracting work. It sounds like a subtle problem...but I knew in my heart that I was looking because I was not fully committing! I knew that for Spark to prosper, I needed to really give it my all.
Mic Jagger from the Rolling Stones once sang 'we can't always get what we want, but we get what we need'. And the world has funny ways of making this happen. This is how it has happened for me. Firstly I was in a meeting three weeks ago with an opportunity to make $5'000, but it a way that I felt would undermine Spark and I literally lost control of my brain. It was a good opportunity with a wonderful potential business partner. But I just froze, I couldn't understand it at the time but it was like my unconscious mind was holding me back. Secondly after a weeks holiday in Fiji I arrived back to discover an accounting error I had made resulting in me having a lot less money in the bank than I thought. With the mortgage looming and projected income alot less than projected expenses.....scary! Then on Tuesday my laptop was stolen. I didnt lose any data but it would $1000 to replace it.
I had been in these types of situations before and went through a range of thoughts and emotions. Pissed off, gutted, annoyed, depressed....I could save money here, make money there or I could just get a short term job....But with each set back I also felt more inspired and energised! I know in my heart that non of these options are what I REALLY want. What I really want in my heart is to stay inspired and committed to what I believe in. To just plunge 100%, and do what ever it takes to make Spark sustainable whilst honoring the vision and values I believe in.
So here I am for all to see. Feeling exposed...but at the same time energised and inspired like never before. Part of me felt that by writing this blog and making it public that Spark is not yet a commercially sustainable product I would lose credibility in the eyes of my clients and prospective clients. But I know know its nothing to do with them. Its the 80% credibility I have felt for myself that holding me back. To be an entrpreneur 80% doesnt cut it, it's all or nothing. I reckon its similar for many transitions - from manager to leader, weightloss, achieving work/life balance. We can have a big budget, create inspiring visions, understand our values and design brilliant plans but the secret ingredient is not physical or financial or written down on paper. The source of our inspiration is our inner spirit. It defies logic and lifts us forward in a leap of faith. It requires total commitment to gaining awareness and improving ourselves...then taking action!
As I sit here at the keyboard I really feel alive. I don't know whats in-store for the future but i am excited about it, that's for sure!
If you want some inspiration to kick-start your own lifestyle change or develop your career listen to the Spark 5 Step Audiobook FREE by clicking here
To keep up to date with everything that is happening at Spark click here
After a decade of working in the personal and professional development industries I recognized these thoughts as just that..thoughts. Not reality, just the perspective I happened to have at that time, 'limiting beliefs' some would say. And by being able to recognize them I know I can then choose to disregard them or even just change focus so they disappear off into the background. But this was a big decision for me so they didn't go away so easily so I decided to just be comfortable with them sitting there in the background. So what was my dilemma and what has it got to do with inspired action?
To review the scene, the theme for this current series of blogs covers questions like, why do we need inspiration?...how can we become inspired?...how does it help us? The reason for this theme is that like many people I have noticed how over the past 10 yrs work, technology and lifestyle changes has caused life to become more stressful and as a society our well being and prosperity - our enjoyment of life - is being affected...drastically! If we are on a raft racing down a river and getting thrown around dangerously in rapids that constantly tower above us and batter against the raft leaving some people worn out and others just frazzled. Many of us disagree with these trends and want to make changes or work and live in ways that allow us to feel better, be more productive and be happier! But to do so successfully requires that we go, in many ways, against the flow of the river. This requires a change of direction or a burst of energy to get out of the rapids - this can require a leap of faith.
So what was my dilemma? Well I have been working as an executive coach and running my Spark program for about 4 yrs now so have developed into a really effective program that has worked well and provided great value for many people. But from a commercial point of view the main income source for my business has been a corporate health contract. So whilst Spark has got great results with both individuals and teams in areas of professional, organizational and personal development, it is not operating as a sustainable commercial entity. Anyway, 9 months ago I made the decision to focus completely on growing Spark as a self-sustaining business. After 9 yrs in the fitness industry, then 2 years as a corporate health contractor this felt like a major decision. My inspiration was crystal clear - I was desperate to grow my business in a direction that aligned my strengths as a coach and entrepreneur with my values around performance, productivity and prospering. I had been desperate to do this for years and had always been good at helping people but had stumbled time and time again when it came to charging for my service at professional levels. And so for years, my dream had been just that...a pie in the sky dream. But this time I took action to make it a reality.
So I started working with a business coach and this provided a great source of inspiration and support and I spent the next 6 months updating my products and preparing all my marketing materials, online web-stuff & strategy. I know know from experience how to be inspired, overcome challenges and achieve goals. I have overcome alcohol dependance, dropped 25kg, set up a business in the UK and sold it 7 yrs later and started a business in Australia with just $5'000 and a scooter. But in the back of my mind I still found myself looking for get-out strategies so I decided I needed to explore and understand inspiration better so I started to talk to people.
I spoke to some friends of mine, Jim & Lou who had just left their corporate jobs in Sydney to move to Byron Bay for a sea-change and to start their own business - wow, that is an inspired move I thought! I spoke to James & Jimmy at Fluid health where my office is, who turned their dream into Myotherapy business in Port Melbourne on the smell of an oily rag and a credit card and who have in 2 yrs grown a strong local community with loyal customers, happy staff, partnerships with sporting organisations such as Tri-alliance and Melbourne Ice Hockey.
I interviewed many different inspirational people who have achieved inspirational goals. Jonni and Elvira have both managed to survive and thrive with chronic life threatening health conditions. Kathy turned a professional disaster into an opportunity to start an industry leading business that has had a far reaching impact in the community. And the list goes on...
I started an acting course and an african drumming course in which inspiration and giving your all for the performance is fundamental.
And I continued to read books. I read about a pioneering heart surgeon who explained with solid science how important love and community spirit is for protecting against heart disease and chronic health conditions (Dr Dean Ornish - Love and Survival) . I read about an entrepreneur (Ricardo Semlar) in brazil who, in the last 30 yrs has turned a $4million struggling business (Semco) into a $35 million+ enterprise that is the industry leader and the No.1 organisation to work for in Brazil - and its all based on wanting his workers to prosper and feel fulfilled in their jobs & a steadfast dedication to democracy at work....Inspirational!
And all these experienced helped me, and I was moving forward and beginning to generate leads into Spark but not fast enough. Then 3 months ago (April) the marketing stuff was all looking good and I realized that it was time to transition again and really focus my attention on sales. You see as a researched inspiration and faith, I realized that I hadnt fully and completely taken that leap of faith. I was 80% there, but rather than commit to jumping out of the raft and swimming for the side of the river with all my might I was still looking for a life support to cling onto.
Where does 80% come from? Well I knew my budgets and with the contracting work slowing down the only way for me to generate income moving forward was through Spark. I had a 3-4 month buffer but with business bill and a personal mortgage to pay the money had to start coming in soon. BUT I hadn't fully committed because I was still looking for contracting work. It sounds like a subtle problem...but I knew in my heart that I was looking because I was not fully committing! I knew that for Spark to prosper, I needed to really give it my all.
Mic Jagger from the Rolling Stones once sang 'we can't always get what we want, but we get what we need'. And the world has funny ways of making this happen. This is how it has happened for me. Firstly I was in a meeting three weeks ago with an opportunity to make $5'000, but it a way that I felt would undermine Spark and I literally lost control of my brain. It was a good opportunity with a wonderful potential business partner. But I just froze, I couldn't understand it at the time but it was like my unconscious mind was holding me back. Secondly after a weeks holiday in Fiji I arrived back to discover an accounting error I had made resulting in me having a lot less money in the bank than I thought. With the mortgage looming and projected income alot less than projected expenses.....scary! Then on Tuesday my laptop was stolen. I didnt lose any data but it would $1000 to replace it.
I had been in these types of situations before and went through a range of thoughts and emotions. Pissed off, gutted, annoyed, depressed....I could save money here, make money there or I could just get a short term job....But with each set back I also felt more inspired and energised! I know in my heart that non of these options are what I REALLY want. What I really want in my heart is to stay inspired and committed to what I believe in. To just plunge 100%, and do what ever it takes to make Spark sustainable whilst honoring the vision and values I believe in.
So here I am for all to see. Feeling exposed...but at the same time energised and inspired like never before. Part of me felt that by writing this blog and making it public that Spark is not yet a commercially sustainable product I would lose credibility in the eyes of my clients and prospective clients. But I know know its nothing to do with them. Its the 80% credibility I have felt for myself that holding me back. To be an entrpreneur 80% doesnt cut it, it's all or nothing. I reckon its similar for many transitions - from manager to leader, weightloss, achieving work/life balance. We can have a big budget, create inspiring visions, understand our values and design brilliant plans but the secret ingredient is not physical or financial or written down on paper. The source of our inspiration is our inner spirit. It defies logic and lifts us forward in a leap of faith. It requires total commitment to gaining awareness and improving ourselves...then taking action!
As I sit here at the keyboard I really feel alive. I don't know whats in-store for the future but i am excited about it, that's for sure!
If you want some inspiration to kick-start your own lifestyle change or develop your career listen to the Spark 5 Step Audiobook FREE by clicking here
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