Blog
Following very busy two weeks in Dubai which resulted in some great international connections I’m following up, I had an amazingly busy week this week. I returned form Dubai late Friday night, then Sunday I was off down the motorway near London to deliver a keynote talk to year 10/11 and 12 students at an Academy the following day.
The feedback to this has been excellent and they are considering an Inset day training for their staff on the back of this. I then drove back to Nottingham for an overnight stay followed by a trip to Manchester on Tuesday. That evening I had a meal with Steve, Kelly and Romualdas from Nat West bank, together with fellow speakers Michelle and Andy.
The final Nat West conference
This was a meal to celebrate the final Nat West bank Legal conference we were speaking at on Wednesday morning. These three conferences held in London, Edinburgh and Manchester have been one of the highlights of my year. They have been so well organised and so well attended by the legal profession. It was a great privilege to listen to Michelle and Andy speak before I spoke to an appreciative audience.
These conferences have been very successful and the feedback on the speakers has been outstanding, which is wonderful news to hear. I was recommended as a speaker to Nat West bank by Anthony Long who is the CEO of Taylor and Emmet solicitors in Sheffield. I spoke at an event he organised and the feedback from his staff was extremely positive. He took a risk recommending me to such an key company – but I am so grateful to him that he did.
A recommendation from Anthony
It was great to see Anthony at the Manchester event on Wednesday and we are meeting up in December to celebrate together. Steve from Nat West bank told me that he took a risk engaging me as he had never seen me speak before, but he took the word of Anthony to be good enough. I am very grateful to both for giving me the opportunity to showcase my Mental Resilience keynote talk.
Sometimes I pinch myself because of the amazing things which are happening to me this year. I truly believe that if you continue to have a positive mindset and bounce back quickly from negative events which hit you daily; you have a very good chance to succeed in whatever area you have a passion for. I have a real passion for speaking and running my Masterclasses on Mental Resilience and I get excited when I hear about the positive impact I am having on people across the world.
Hilton Hotels wisdom
As Conrad Hilton the founder of Hilton Hotels said; ‘Success…. seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.’ As long as I have breath in my body I will keep moving forward to see how much I can achieve before I die. I enjoy being busy and achieving things, I also enjoy doing nothing and recharging the batteries. Sundays are the days I like to take off to do nothing connected with work and spend time with my wife Julie.
Work life balance is key as a healthy body and mind are essential to happiness – I don’t work at home this is my place of rest. We can be busy and happy if we are achieving positive things and making a difference. After I spoke at the conference on Wednesday I jumped in my car and drove just under 5 hours to Dundee in readiness for a full day Mental Resilience Masterclass in Dundee. This was for the Care Inspectorate HR staff.
The power of the Dream Board
I enjoyed a nice evening meal and fell asleep at around 9pm to ensure I was bright and alert for the day ahead. On Thursday, I rose at 5.30am to have my inspiration time reading motivation books and visualising my Dream Board which I do every morning. I have around 25 things on the board I want to achieve over the next 20 years and by visualising myself having achieved them, I experience the same feelings as if I have achieved them – and it feels great!!
This morning routine is a very important to me, as this is the time where I raise my emotional and energy levels. By the time I have finished this routine I feel energised, positive and able to take on the world! I then enjoyed a full day delivering my Mental Resilience Masterclass to a very appreciative group. It gives me great joy to watch a day like this unfold and observe the changes in mindsets taking place before my eyes.
Why the energy?
That night I went to sleep at 8pm to wake up at 3am. I then drove 6 hours back to Nottingham and was back at around 9am. I had a nice breakfast then spent the day following up all the leads from the Nat West conference and other leads I am working on. I finished the day at 5.30pm still full of energy. I believe that good sleep is important to a good life and I sleep like a baby.
Why is it that at the age of 62 I can have two extremely busy weeks in Dubai then an even busier week like I have just had and yet feel refreshed and ready to go as I write this blog? I believe it’s down to several things. Maintaining a positive mindset, getting plenty of high quality sleep, loving what I do and balancing work with rest and recovery; as well as healthy eating and exercise.
Thoughts for the week.
1. How do you start your day?
2. Do you have a routine which makes you feel positive in the morning?
3. Your energy levels are connected to your feelings – if you feel good your energy levels are high
4. How quickly do you bounce back from receiving bad news?
5. Try to establish some sort of morning routine which puts you in a positive state.
6. When something negative happens look for the seed of positivity within that – there will be something if you look for it. Once you’ve found it you will feel better.
Well that’s it for this week have a wonderful weekend and stay positive.
Warm regards
John
Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience available here