Empowerment Through Change

Live with Passion and Purpose, TODAY not Tomorrow

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

I have been searching the internet for inspiration for my blogs and I came across this blog post from empowerment network and it made me stop and think. The more I read the more it took me back  to a dark time in my life.

Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed – Blog from empowerment network

Some of you who have been to GN Coaching’s website will know that for quite a few years I suffered from ME\CFS and before that I suffered from two bouts of meningitis.

During these times I went to some dark places and I use them now to help people understand that they need to enjoy life today not tomorrow because tomorrow may not come.

I remember my first bout of meningitis I was in so much pain, I had never experienced pain like it I have my 3 year old rubbing my head telling “Daddy you’ll be ok” and my wife trying to keep calm but she was frightened.  I remember at one point look at the two most important things in my life and a strange feeling came over me, things started to get dark around the edges of my vision, it seemed like I was in a tunnel and then I felt like I was falling, I have never felt so scared in my life I remember looking at my family with tears in my eyes I said I loved them because I really thought that was it, I had no idea what was going on and the ambulance was on its way.  I wouldn’t say my life flashed before me but as this blog from empowerment network has said all my regrets did and for a split second I was so angry that I had not lived my life the way I had dreamed.

As I fell I was brought back to reality with a quick jolt, no it wasn’t a sound of the paramedics shouting clear or anything dramatic like that, it was my mother-in-law running in and slapping me on the face (I think she had been wanting to do that for a long time).

Don’t hold back your life, never put it on hold until the right time because that time is now, today! this very second, embrace it live your dreams and live with passion.  Over the following years I went through hell, both in the recovery of meningitis and then suffering from ME\CFS for over 5 years it took me to the brink of suicide and again I got the same message in my head from my son saying “Daddy you’ll be ok”.

I know the blog above is about death beds and the regrets people have, I was given the chance to live with the insight of thinking it was all over.

With my coaching work I see so many people holding themselves back because of some imagined entity or lack of belief.  People who don’t realise and embrace the greatness that they have within them, they look and focus on the wrong thing; these are all just limiting skills that can be unlearned.

Take action today and learn the skills that assist you in embracing life, do not settle for a stagnant life, create the fizz it’s up to you it, always has been and it always will be. There’s a saying that I used to say to myself when things got tough.

“If you keep on doing the same thing over and over again, you’ll keep on getting the same results over and over again”

Change direction today, your worth the effort and we only get one shot at it so make it count.

What action can you take today, to help you create the life of your dreams?

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Creating Success in 2012

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Compass of Success

Well it’s the beginning of 2012 a perfect time to review 2011 and lay down the foundation for creating a fantastic year ahead.

Reviewing your last year is a time to give yourself constructive feedback.  It’s a time to see what worked and what didn’t.  I have met some very successful people in my career and they all review their successes and failures, you would be amazed how many people keep on doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, Albert Einstein describes that as insanity because if something is not working, would it not be sensible to STOP doing it and choose to take a different direction.

This is why a year review can be so effective because it makes you stop and pause, more importantly it makes to think.

I find it more effective, by breaking them down into sectors, for example health, financial, business, personal, relationships, recreational and others.

This year my recreational sector was pretty low mainly because I have been spending so much time building and developing my business so this year that needs to change, my aim is to get back on the golf course at least twice a month.

Perhaps you’ve been looking at your financial sector, and you feel you’ve wasted money on unnecessary things like that magazine subscription that you only flick through or that gym membership that you have never used because you would prefer to ride a bike.

This is the way I review my year and I think it’s important to take some time on this, because it deserves it, after all we are talking about creating a more impactful and successful year.  I get an A3 piece of paper and I draw a large circle, that circle is then broken down into the relevant sectors which I mentioned above.  I then score each sector out of 10; the score is based on my experience of that sector during the last 12 months.

I write some feedback notes which the review has raised about each sector making sure I include both the successes and the things that need improving, it’s then time to write what I want to accomplish this year for each sector and create 5 goals to assist me in achieving them.

This strategy really helps you get focus and creates clarity; let’s face it if you have no idea of where your target is how you can expect to hit it.

Get clear on your goals because they are your targets for creating a great year.

What are your review results, and what do you want to improve on in 2012?

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Fitness Goals for 2012

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Jogging on RoadI love looking for empowering videos on You tube and Yesterday I found this video, it is brilliant it reminded me of a guy called Bob who is unhappy about his fitness, he hates the fact that he is unable to play football with his kids and he no longer wants to struggle with exhaustion when he takes the dog out for a walk.  He has been to the doctors and has been told there is nothing to worry about and that he is just unfit.

Bob had stated that 2012 is the year that he stops being a couch potato.  He talks about how he seems to be spending so much time watching TV when he gets in from work, but he wants to stop this because it’s not helping him.

I wonder if this resonates with you, would you like to have more energy and improve your fitness and health.  Well let’s be honest you need to take the responsibility and take ACTION today, start small and then you will find that the compounding effect of this will create the motion.

There is a great saying if you keep on doing what you’ve always done you will keep on getting what you’ve always got, are you ready to take charge and do something that will benefit your life in 2012, take a serious look at you new year’s resolutions and make 2012 your best year yet.

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Reaching Your Target Weight Goals for 2012

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Success in weight loss at GN CoachingDuring this time of year I get loads of calls and emails from people who are not happy with their current situations and are wanting to achieve their new year’s resolutions or yearly goals.

The other day I received an email from a lovely lady in the US who we will call Emma, Emma gets very depressed this time of year about her weight because of all the festivities and extra socialising that she does.

She mentions that she struggles dieting all year round but it seems to affect her more because of the parties and social meetings that she goes to this time of year, she feels ashamed looking through her wardrobe and noticing that a lot of her clothes no longer fit her.

Emma concluded that she finds herself on a regular basis looking in the mirror and feeling very unhappy.

This is quite a common feeling especially around this time of year for both men and women, in fact some of you reading this blog may be feeling a bit like Emma.  Some of you may still be feeling that tightness around your waistline because you have over done it during Christmas, and you may also be looking forward to a new year’s party in a few days as well.

Well the good news is that it is a new year so why not commit to creating a new you, and achieve that target weight you have wanted to achieve, and learn strategies to increase motivation and focus to succeed.  Losing weight is one of the most common new resolutions that people make, but 90% of us fail to achieve it because we lose the motivation.

The first place to start is don’t diet because when we use the word diet you are unconsciously opening yourself to personal insult from your self-talk. Why not just change your eating habits in 2012 instead, this mean you are eating healthier and the bonus of doing this is you can loose weight as well as healthier.

I recently attended a networking event and started chatting with some of the female members there I was shocked that over 80% of them reported that the word diet made them feel sad and depressed, after speaking to them about the power of language they realised that by changing just this simple word they could remove the negative trap which lead them to eating more.

another powerful strategy to keep you motivated is to create a series of small goals that ultimately leads to the final goal which is your target weight, you see by making a series of smaller goals your task does not seem so big and unachieveable small stepping stone goals makes the task more reachable and achieveable.

Finally share your new years resolution or goal with some close trusted friends that will hold you accountable, you will be amazed how powerful this caqn have on us because most of us need help to achieve our new years resolutions or goals.

I wish you the greatest success in hitting your target weight and creating the success mindset.

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Stress at the Airport

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

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I am currently sitting in an airport with my family ready to start our holiday and a message has flashed up informing us of a two and a half hour delay.

I am looking around at all the hustle and bustle that is going on around me and I can see a massive amount of stress, this should be a time of relaxation but it doesn’t seem to be, people are looking at the departure board and seeing there flights delayed and there is a huff and a disappointing sigh, a drop of the shoulders and then a walk back to let there family know the bad news.

The funny thing is they are back about 15mins later and they repeat the process all over again.

Why do we do this?

The knock on effects of this action could last the day for them. Let’s look at a scenario I am currently watching.

There is a family of four they look around my families age the kids are about 10 and 12 and the parents around 35ish. They arrived all in good spirits laughing and smiling then, the mum looked at the departure board to find the flight delayed she swears and stomps back to tell the family, she has done this 3 times in the last 30mins, the board has informed them of a delay of 160mins, so why does she keep coming back anyway she goes back and complains to her husband, her temperament is fraid not one member of the family can change the situation but she has started shouting at the kids and the husband is getting it in the neck, now off course the husband is now in a mood and the couple are not talking to each other, the kids are playing some card game and laughing but they have just been told off for being loud and clowning around, this might sound familiar.

How long this lasts depends on how good the family are at processing there emotions, they might not talk to each other for the whole day who knows.

Here’s the same event but this is how my family are dealing with it, we are waiting for the same flight. My wife is reading some woman’s magazine (you know the ones that seem to enjoy taking photos of celebraties doing normal things like sweat when it’s hot) but hey she enjoys it, my kids are playing top trumps and they are armed with there iPod and PSP’s should they get bored, I of course am writing a blog listening to some relaxing music, we’re all looking forward to the holiday and talking about what we are going to do when we get there.

We are all relaxed and just waiting for our flight to be called, our response to this event is very different to the other family therefore our outcome is to, we are relaxed the other family are stressed and ignoring each other.

When you are going to the airport make sure you are prepared for possible delays take something to read or listen to, if your kids are of an age where they can entertain themselves make sure they are equipt with everything they need. Of course this is a little more challenging with young children and you have to make sure you have things to entertain them to or of course there is traditional games like eye spy for several hours.

One of the other ways to relax its to learn a breathing exercise I have a great app on my iPhone which can help with relaxing using breathing exercises. This is because when you get stressed your rate of breathing increases and this changes your physiology, when you slow your breathing down it will start to relax you.

Also if you know the flight is delayed don’t go to the departure board every 10 miniutes, what’s the point you know it’s delayed.

Anyway I am going to stop now after all I am on my holiday, the only problem is I do not have a spell check and I am dyslexic so I am sorry for any errors

So take care

Geoff

dyslexic and proud look on the bright side I might of created a whole new version of the english language

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