Well the day had finally arrived and I am in my favourite garden centre writing this blog before I set up the room on the fourth floor at Waterstones Nottingham. I am experiencing some very strange emotions today, with many flash backs to my early childhood days where I failed very miserably at school.
I underachieved dramatically at school and came away with 3 O’levels and one of those was woodwork! I remember my mother coming to school to ask if I could stay on to sixth form and the head teacher said not a chance as I had been a pupil who didn’t study and was disruptive.
Humiliation
It was humiliating to experience my mother hearing these words from the head teacher and I can only guess how she felt. But because she loved me so much she didn’t chastise me but encouraged me to go to college and study engineering. She demonstrated a love so deep that I didn’t drop out but she gave me a hope that one day I could make something of my life.
What really surprises me is that English was by far my worst subject in school and I got the lowest grade possible when I took my O Level exam. I haven’t studied English since the day I left school at the age of 16 and yet I now write this Blog every week and I have written a book. My book coach told me that my command of English is good and she was confident for me to write the book with little input from her.
Passion is back
My experience in school was very negative and sadly I didn’t achieve the potential I could have achieved. But it is never too late to get things right and over the past couple of years in particular I have turned things around and I’ve found passion in my life again. Passion is key to many things in life because once you find passion for something it is very likely you will succeed. Passion drives you to go further than you would normally.
Over the past couple of years I have married my darling Julie, I’ve spoken on a cruise liner to the Caribbean, spoken across the country, as well as speaking in Gibraltar and the O2 Arena (albeit in a restaurant to VIP guests at the Eurobasket Finals). I’ve also trained many groups of staff across the UK and Scotland and coached people including London and the Isle of Man. I’ve spoken to 600 people at the Rotary Club convention and I have written a book.
It’s not how you start
This is remarkable as just over two years ago I was decorating full time with just a couple of clients. But with hard work, desire, application and a never giving up attitude, I have turned things around. I belief that it is never too late to get it right. I had a very poor start to life at school but I believe the potential was always there; it just needed unlocking to fulfil what was inside.
I have developed a system to keep myself positive as much of the day as possible and this is described in my book Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience. I spend about an hour first thing every morning reading motivational books to get me into a positive state of mind and this helps the day go well. If things go wrong during the day I use the reframe technique described in my book to find something good in the situation and I’m back to positive again.
See the future
Visualising the future I want is a key part of my system and I spend time every day seeing things in my mind going as I want them to. I maintain a positive inner voice during the day and if I find myself speaking to myself negatively I change my self-talk. I make sure that I live by the 5 pillars of Mental Resilience which are described in the book – all high achievers have these pillars in place.
So the day has arrived to launch the book that I never expected in my wildest dreams but as if by magic it is here. If you can’t make it to Waterstones today then the book is available at www.jdmindcoach.co.uk and if you put in code free15 when prompted you will receive free postage and packing. If you can make it there is room for a few more to pop along to say hello.
I have a lot of things still left on my Dream Board, all of these things are exciting and achievable, so I am excited for the future. My book is a ‘how to book’ with tips and techniques to help you achieve your dreams because at the end of the day – It Is Not How You Start In Life Which Counts, But How You Finish.
Have a great weekend and if you are coming today I can’t wait to see you!
Warm regards
John
