Category Archives: Success

A Negativity-Free Day – Control Your Thoughts

Here’s a Brain Training Exercise take away for you this week : –

We all know that sound of the little voice in our head that has endless chatter going on about the world around us. Thoughts and reminders of the Past, Present & Future that bounce around all day long when there is a lack of focus or feeling of procrastination. They enter our head like little gremlins running around like wild coyotes. Like ego drones we soak it up and are unconsciously captured & mesmerised to the negative side of news, views of others and water cooler chit chat going about our everyday chores & fall almost into a dream like state. I think you know what I mean having mentioned it in a previous post.

Well help is at hand..

A very transformative exercise I use to activate a clear mind is to go an entire day without saying anything negative to anyone …….

On your negativity-free day you should avoid stating anything negative about :
*Circumstances in your life
*Other People
*Observations you make about the world around you
*Yourself
….

A basic method I use for controlling what goes into one’s head is by nullifying your mind. – By what I call “No-Minding”. You achieve this by composing yourself and empty your head completely of any thoughts for a short period of time; for instance start at 30 seconds and build up slowly to 5 minutes …then 15 minutes then 30 minutes thinking about absolutely nothing. Like a crystal clear pond of water. Try and control this process by blocking out any conscious feed or stimulus. eg – that car just drove past, fly on the wall, I must do my expenses, I’m hungry, what’s the time, why did he say that last night etc etc ..I think you get the gist!

Find a quiet place to do this where you will not be disturbed., I find early in the morning is best before anybody else has woken up. It gives you enough time to be on your own. It’s almost like a semi meditation. You may find it difficult to start ..this is normal. But persevere..as eventually you will find that by doing this your brain naturally tunes into all the good stuff going on around you and you have more control over the thoughts that benefit you.

One simple summary step is say to yourself — Does this thought help me towards my goals & desires or hinder me….observe them but don’t judge them …then change your focus ..disrupt the thought … observe nature … stay calm, hold positive thoughts and create no-mind..go back to thinking about nothing.

You’ll be surprised at the results and the source of clarity your mind enjoys.

After sometime I have found that I can control all thoughts for 60 minutes or more.

Give it a go & Try it !

To your successful mind.

Steve

Life Begins —————————–At The End of Your Comfort Zone

I love this one..its so true and yet most people just don’t get it .

The reason why is that it takes just as much effort to stay where your are …”Stuck”….. as it is to cross that eternal divide and make a change.

There’s a great meme you’ve probably seen this before – “Do what other people won’t so you can live like other people can’t” – This is so true ! Being an entrepreneur takes effort ..there’s no two ways around it. Effort in ….Freedom Out!

You expel just as much energy doing nothing and staying average as like everybody else ..and yet you’d be surprised that once you make the jump it becomes second nature and you end up using less energy to start something new. It’s like building a muscle …the more you exercise it the stronger it gets .

If you think of life as the journey towards our purpose, our true calling, is the fulfillment of our true potential.

Most of us live our lives within the limits that we have set for ourselves regarding what we are capable of achieving.

These limits are born out of fear, anxiety, social upbringing and staying with the pack. We dread what lies beyond what we already know. People are not even ready to imagine a situation where they overcome these fears & chase their dreams. They’re all to quick to find excuses as to why they can’t do something.

You need to get it into your head that there is no human endeavour that is impossible for you.

You don’t need to always stand on the sidelines and admire those triathon runners( I used to be like this). You could be running it too. You can write a novel. You can do a speech and receive a standing applause from admired followers( I’ve done this). You can learn to fly an aircraft( Done it already) ..you can start that business idea thats been knawing at you for years( yes do that too) .. you can a make a million dollars …..Yes Definitely.

The first step is to step over the fear. Get out of your comfort zone. Everything you have is within you.

Most people live out their lives in their comfort zones. Afraid to change, afraid to step out, afraid of the unknown, they stay where they feel safe and where they know all the rules of the game.

The best way to beat this is to embrace change even before it comes knocking on your door.

When you realize that you’ve been in the comfort zone for too long, when you recognize that your growth is stagnating, when you realize that you have not done anything new or exciting with your life for the last year. That’s the moment you need to make the leap of faith. There is a famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt which sums it all up ;-

” Far better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take ranks with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight of mediocrity that knows neither victory nor defeat”

One of the best ways to avoid falling prey to the lure of comfort is to use it against itself. Be aware of the time when life seems to be too comfortable. Look at the situation with the understanding that you are capable of achieving anything.

Most of the time, what we call comfortable is what our mind conditions us to believe is comfortable. Most of the time, we settle in our comfort zones, we are settling for that mediocrity. Those boundaries that your mind constantly reminds you to not cross, those were placed there by your mind itself, and they do not in any way represent your potential.

And when you recognize this, and deliberately push at the limits you have set for yourself, you start seeing that there is a whole new sphere of life out there, that is far more personally rewarding than what you were satisfied with earlier.

Make changes enormous changes to your life. Learn where you want to take your life and move in that direction. Start with a few steps at first ..maybe by altering your daily routine …shake things up a bit by introducing an element of risk. Do something everyday, each week that scares you …you’ll get a sense of feeling alive. I’m not suggesting you immediately go out & try sky diving… even though you’ll value life a whole lot more. But try things that raise your heart beat …go speak with a stranger, sprint to work instead of walk, drink water instead of coffee……

If that calls for a career change, do it. If that calls for a change in a relationship, do it. If that calls for a change in where you live, do it.

Make the changes that you were afraid to make all along.

Realize the limits you have placed upon yourself. Push them. Break them.

Let go of the limiting beliefs and thought patterns that don’t serve you in attaining your goals.

“Remember, what ever makes you comfortable… never lets you grow”.

To you all making a success of yourselves

Steve

Does your Cabbie speak English?

There’s been a lot of news in the UK on the subject of cabs vs Black Taxis and the battle of app driven booking systems that under cut the cost of travel in the London marketplace. I’m all for disruption if it saves money doing everyday tasks. But Uber has created quite a stir in Blighty across the pond. And the traditional Black Cab owners are up in arms about this online platform that threatens to erode their livelyhoods.

I’m all for a level playing field so our UK Taxis need to compete or dominate on a similar scale and develop a robust booking system that attracts the masses so they can hold onto marketshare.

In the meantime other players like Hailo will come onto the scene to provide additional competition.

But the latest tech breakthrough is even more extraodinary…

Uber has teamed up with Duolingo to enable its drivers in Colombia to self-certify their proficiency in the English language — and for riders to specifically request an English-speaking driver. The Duolingo proficiency test takes $20 and about 20 minutes for drivers to complete remotely; organizations like the Harvard Extension School, the Max-Planck Institute, Carnegie Mellon, LinkedIn and Upwork all accept it. To date, Uber reports that 1,000 of its drivers have been certified.

This is so important as only last year, Uber launched a similar “Uber English” service in Shanghai, but interviewed and selected English-speaking drivers in person, one by one. By dematerializing this vetting process and using Duolingo, a crowdsourced language service with 100 million users, Uber can scale its English-certified drivers quickly and easily. No doubt a major opportunity of employment for new arrivals of foreign nationals embarking on a new life in Europe and other countries if Uber rolls-out this additional feature.

What disruptive idea interests you?

To the next

Steve

Richard Branson A Jumbo Jet and An Inflatable!

Todays piece is about doing stuff that may appear bigger than you can handle; but in reality it is just the perception of what’s possible and not to hold back on going BIG!

You’ll surprise yourself that the perception of crazy …”we can’t do that moments” turn out to be the most successful no matter how wacky. Generating ideas and staying in the flow creates a level of inspiration that can turn out to be highly rewarding.

To coin the collective phrase about brainstorming sessions…”Lets do a mind dump” as I experienced regularly in workshops within the “MAD MEN” – Ad / Media world. This is where a lot of unique creative thinking is borne . Stretching the limits of ones mind to market a brand or product. This activity is now used in all manner of industries to gain advantage over market share in growing economies.

I can draw an analogy of this based on my own experience a few years back. Sounds crazy but …I recall back in early 1990 working on the RayBan Sunglass account and coming up with all sorts of ideas to expand the brand – At the time Richard Branson ” The Smiley One” was making huge endeavours to transform the Airline business and I thought there was a perfect fit with our Aviator line of glasses.

Prior to this Virgin Atlantic had already received a licence to open up the Los Angeles route from Gatwick and the official launch was May that year. We wanted to sell our product within “Duty Free” on airlines and the company had already struck a deal with Virgin. I had this idea of painting a pair of Wayfarers on the nose cone of one of their Aircraft to commemorate the partnership which Richard was very excited about. The launch was going to be a typical Virgin style send off with media reporters, Celebrities, TV networks like MTV attending and Richard wanted to make a mark in demonstrating new horizons for the airline business.

But after many discussions the CAA wouldn’t agree. Too “Over The Top”- they said – it would effect the “aerodynamic stability” was the official line. How the acceptance of the norm has changed over the years – There’s painted branded aircraft everywhere now.

Anyway…. Determined not to be put off by their decision I remembered that Richard loved ballooning as part of his crazy promotional Virgin activities. I thought why not set the scene for a summer beach theme at the check in gate with a Jumbo pair of Inflatable Ray Bans resting on the nose cone of the Jumbo Jet. How crazy is that —— Well after going back to talk with the various “officialdom” …..Imagine my astonishment when it was all approved. “As long as the Pitot tubes are turned off ..(they measure air speed / pressure ) they get very hot when systems are being charged during maintenance so can burn plastic”. they said.

Here are a few picks of the set up in prep before the launch ( me in the foreground) making sure everything would run to clockwork on the day.

And here is Richard Branson joining in with the fun before the inaugural flight.

Never let the initial possibility of “what can’t be” get in the way of “what could be”. Go and fulfill your potential and become an expert in something new.

As Richard would say ” Just Go For It” …

To your success.

Steve

The Impact of Hyperconnectivity

I’ve been away last few weeks and had a bit of a double holiday break this summer and time to reflect & ponder on forthcoming posts and the next stages of development for this site.

It is estimated as of today that there are just over 1.5 Billion people connected online around the globe. It has been forecasted that by 2020 in low estimations that this figure will rise to 5-7 Billion people.

This is all going to happen in the next 5 years not 30 ..its just mind boggling.

There are already plans afoot from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg to connect to the other half of the planet and give them Facebook via drones and new satellite architectures.

Google on the other hand through Project Loon is planning 1,000’s of Balloons over remote areas like Africa and the Far East to bring connectivity to the outer reaches.

And with companies such as QualComm & Virgin developing their One World Satellite network more people will be able to communicate at speeds of 1Mb +; which was unheard of 20 years ago.

Even Elon Musk is planning to start a 4,000 Satellite Constellation to assist in Google’s plans.

Just think about that for a moment. That’s an extra 5/6 Billion individuals that have never searched anything, bought anything, researched & uploaded anything coming online for the first time. That’s a lot of new consumers coming on stream with a lot of opportunity at their fingertips. But not only that with the level of technology available to them they can get their own ideas out there, shared, crowdfunded and connected.

The level of productivity and innovation is exploding.

But just think about where you stand now and what you can achieve. In a few years time, you’ll have a whole new marketplace of hungry consumers that can be tapped into.

The Connectivity Boom is coming so get prepared: I’m keen to be a part of this new frontier and connect with like minded folk who want to ride the economic wave of tens of trillions of dollars that are going to be flowing into the global economy.

This blog will explore the newest technological developments that are leading to greater wealth and abundance…for all of us to enjoy not just the few.

The so called “have nots” will be a thing of the past & be replaced with the “haves” and the “super haves” …everybody will have access to energy, healthcare, information, learning, tech, food and opportunity.

The rate of change is exploding and the so called inequalities of wealth & income is shrinking. We have the chance to bring our thoughts, personality, passions, ideas together on a grand scale and transform our lives. Our interaction with humans will be more intimate as this connectivity phenomenon unfolds.

These are the subjects I want us to discuss and explore.

So come and sign up and strike up a conversation.

To your success

Steve

5 Tips to Turn your Success Switch “ON”

You’ll be amazed by how much of a difference just getting out of your own way really makes. Self-Defeating Behavior causes life’s biggest struggle.
Life’s biggest tragedy is waking up at the end of your time only to discover that you havent accomplished what you would have liked to have done. Then realizing that you have done it to yourself and it’s too late to get a second chance. Few things make you feel worse about yourself than engaging in self-defeating behavior and having to live with the consequences. Fortunately, however, few things make you feel better about yourself than overcoming those self-defeating behaviors and replacing them with life-enhancing habits. ie Turning your Success switch “ON”

Overcome those self-defeating behaviors one of which is a major contributor including procrastination, obsession, self-pity, rebellion, and guilt to effectively cope with the challenges that lie ahead.

Over the years, I have heard many excuses for people not getting the success they want or believe they deserve from an opportunity. I have been known to use a few myself here and there.

“The opportunity wasn’t really there.”

“The timing wasn’t right.”

“I just didn’t fit in with those people.

“I’m just not Lucky”

” I don’t have the skills to do this”

“Its’ been done before” ….and on and on and on ……..

It’s not that the excuses weren’t ever valid. It’s just sometimes the excuses come whether or not they are valid. Many people start excusing themselves from incredible opportunities before they have the chance to fully explore the possibilities.

When you find the right opportunity, the one that can take you to a whole other level of success, you want to be able to grab it and run. The last thing you want is to trip over on your own two feet and let it get away or worse, be the immoveable object in the path to success. Here are five tips for getting out of your own way on the road to success.

1. Be disciplined. If you truly want to win the big game, you can’t be sloppy. You are competing against people who train and learn and practice. You need to be in control of your own destiny and that means being in control of your daily activity. Have your priorities figured out. If you don’t know them, you’ll be prone to distraction. If they’re wrong, you’ll get off track. Be able to focus the right amount of thought, energy, and activity on the actions that will get you close to your goal. Learn to focus and dismiss distraction when it’s time to get to work. It’s like exercising a muscle. The more you do it the more it strengthens.

And most importantly, learn how to rest. No one can work all the time without being exhausted. You need time to recharge if you are going to play at your best. Burn out is a poor excuse for failure.

2. Be confident. I have battled my own share of insecurities. When you are blazing new trails, it’s hard to be 100 % assured, but you have the control. I was winging to a friend when I was younger that I wished I were more confident. He looked at me and said: “Steve why don’t you just decide to be confident.” I did and have not looked back since. Nobody is in control of how you feel inside. Confidence comes from preparation and your own decisive state of mind. When I am speaking and presenting, I feel most confident when I have done my research and have practiced my speech at least a dozen times in front of people, my wife , daughter, son etc. Give yourself what you know you need. Whether it is practice, prep time, food, sleep, or funds take away the material excuses so you can move forward without concern.

3. Be bold. Many people just stare on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity to drag them into success. Being timid brings very little value when chasing your dreams. You need to take action and jump two feet in. Be Terrific …Be Bold

However, this does not mean be careless. You have to do your homework and analysis. The most successful people have shown their boldness by waiting while everyone rushes an opportunity too early. Study, prepare and assess, but know when it is time to stop analyzing, theorizing, practicing. Then make the decision to jump in or launch and just do it and do it big. It doesn’t have to be perfect each time. Otherwise your always be waiting.

4. Be gracious. Graciousness is not just about being nice. It’s also about being humble. True success is best served among friends and teammates who share in the glory and accomplishment. Start getting out of your own way by admitting when you’re lost, behind, or overwhelmed. Accept the greatest achievements come from the combined work and thought of many. Invite smart, energetic people into your journey and share the wealth and the credit along the way. Revel in their growth happiness and success, and they will celebrate yours.

5. Be grateful. Every day, I feel blessed. I have had my share of challenges and difficulties throughout my life, more than some, fewer than others. But with those roller coaster times came growth and opportunity. I always seem to find myself further down the success path. Even after complete loss and reinvention I still managed to find opportunities that made it worth getting out of bed and smiling.

Those times of loss make me more sensitive and grateful for the happenings in my life. Be it people who love me, good health, positive cash flow or just the chance to laugh daily, I never forget to share my appreciation with those who support me along the way.

To your success

Steve

Are you a “Disruptive Talent” – How to Challenge the Norm

During my long career in the commercial world ..I’ve always felt a bit of a square peg in a round hole. And may have come across to me colleagues as a bit of a maverick that doesn’t toe the party line & play corporate politics. Maybe that’s why I experienced a few redundancies along the way as I was deemed too dangerous for the business. Maybe I was born in the wrong era or just joined the wrong companies as doing things differently just was’nt the done thing! . …I succeeded anyhow!

But now there seems to be many square pegs that have bucked the system and have succeeded in their quest to “do things differently ” But not only that, the system ( ie the so called commercial world ) has come to respect and embrace these game changers as HR departments encourage the flow of talent as part of the employee mix.

“The term disruptive talent is an interesting rebranding of people with an identifiable character, people who we have all been working with for many years to try to help them better understand the impact they have on others,” says Mr Duff, who is a partner at UK business psychology consultancy Pearn Kandola.

“We do a lot of coaching people like this, people who are very bright in a particular role, very inventive and creative, but who have no chance of fitting into the wider culture of the business. How ironic!

“As a result, other people in the organisation cannot cope with the amount of antagonism and disruption they bring with them. That is why people who you can classify as disruptive talent tend to instead start their own businesses.”

Sir Richard Branson, who has an estimated net worth of £3bn ($4.5bn) has certainly thrived running his own businesses and is a classic example of a disruptive talent that has broken through red tape & politics.

He says: “I think anyone who sets up a business is to an extent a disruptive individual, because starting a business is simply someone thinking ‘I can do it better than anybody else, and I know how to do it’.

“For that idea to succeed you have to be doing it in a disruptive way, otherwise you’re just doing the same as everyone else and you are going to fail.

“When I came up with the idea of starting my airline and space company, people gave me every reason why I shouldn’t do it. In the end you have to be a leader, you have to give it a go.”

This belief in your own idea and that burning desire in your gut that tells you that you need to do this ; is one example of being disruptive; challenging the norm & ignoring the naysayers.

Carving out your own path completely blinkered to others criticism and ignorance is part of the challenge we all face in life. But its the hard part that makes it good. Being a maverick is cool and looking for new answers to do things better is what builds your character and allows you stand out from the crowd. Too many times, when leaders think deeply about a problem or challenge, they are merely doing what they have been socialized( ie fitting in) to believe is the right way to think about a problem or process, and it is very difficult to break this habit. All great business innovations and inventions in history have come from people who have not bought into this logic. Consider Steve Jobs. Who would have thought that a computer could have color? Or graphics? Or be a piece of furniture or art? We need to be conscious of our surrounding culture and be able to step out of it so we can produce original thinking.

Another great example is take a look at the success of Amazon. They fundamentally deconstructed the traditional relationship between a reader and an author, but kept its essence in place; the author writes a book and the reader buys the book. What was fundamentally restructured was how these two events occurred. Gone was the bricks n mortar bookstore to be replaced by an electronic one; traditional stock was replaced by one of the most efficient just-in-time supply chains imaginable. Then they followed that by restructuring the traditional physical book into an electronic platform that cut down on the weight and exponentially increased the number of books that could be purchased and carried efficiently by a reader. This sort of fundamental deconstruction and reconstruction is possible in every business sector; it simply takes a different way of thinking.

Share this post with your friends, especially if they are interested in any of the areas outlined above as this is the stuff I want to discuss.

To your success

Steve

The Secret to Innovation – Bad Ideas !

What do I hear you say …what on earth is Steve talking about ..

Hear me out just for a second here. There is a hypothetical soloution for new ideas.
Consider this …. you had meeting after meeting as a team bouncing ideas around the room to solve a problem and getting nowhere fast. Times ticking and you’re all feeling the pinch of the deadline looming on the horizon and the pressure is building. We’ve all been there. We’ve all done the brainstorming and then crash the ultimate in writers block hits you all and there is a general feeling of malaise of where do we go next to come up with a salient point that will stimulate momentum… That feeling of pressure to come up with “the right” idea to move forward has vanished. And you’re all looking at one another with that blank look of dispair.

Well here’s a novel method to get back in the flow. Ask your panel / team / committee to come up with a crazy idea no matter how stupid or far fetched. It could be totally unrelated from the topic of discussion.

About a new type of beer from fig juice / sports shoe , food additive/ new fuel for cars run on sweet wrappers ..anything ..Get it out of your head and exercise those crazy brain muscles. As Tony Robbins has said in many of his seminars to change your mental state you need to move your body your physiology. Well think of it like this.. moving your brain to a different kind of tempo. It’s fun and could become part of a scheduled down time to keep you energised.

This action helps dispel the road blocks in your head and gets you going again.. It’s like a reboot for the brain…

Try it out next time you feel your creative wheels spinning ….take time out to reset your clock.

These are the type of topics I want to discuss to help nurture a new community

To your success

Steve

10x Your Thinking — You need to be taking moonshots

If you’re a company or wannabe entrepreneur this snippet will hopefully resonate with you.

Most companies are really focused on how to create 10% improvements in their businesses – The usual conundrum is how do we reduce costs 10%? Increase profits 10%?

Astro Teller, Google’s “Captain of Moonshots”, often talks about how when you try to do 10% better, you are putting yourself in a smartness competition with everyone else in your industry (and everyone else in the world) and it’s a competition you’re unlikely to win. That’s just being average in my book. And average is not going to get you where you need to be. To draw on that well used analogy “You need to get your head space into knocking that ball out of the stadium”.

Don’t get into the routine of competing …you need to dominate!!

What Google call’s “Moonshot Thinking” where you try to go 10x bigger (10x cheaper, 10x faster, 10x cooler) etc.

Why try for 10x versus 10%?

No matter what your background, genetic make-up, or personal connections. In my view, success stems from working ten times harder than anyone else and displaying a “domination mentality”.

Extreme success, by definition, lies beyond the realm of normal action. If you want to achieve success, you can’t operate like everybody else and settle for mediocrity. Don’t allow yourself to come up short. Prepare to take massive action.

When you shoot for 10x improvement you approach the problem in a radically different fashion.
When you attack a problem as though it were solvable, even if you don’t know how to solve it, you’ll be shocked with what you come up with & achieve.
10X vs 10% improvement is 100 times more worth it… but, it’s never 100 times harder.
Finally, having a moonshot, focuses and motivates your team, attracts the best talent in the world, and critically allows you to solve interim problems and create interim products/services along the way.
Whatever the size of the company you run, business start up idea you want to get going, I hope this will help you create a sense of urgency around innovation and add new capabilities to spur innovation.

In the world today, the only constant is change and the rate of change is increasing.

You either disrupt yourself, or someone else will.

Best

Steve

Allow Yourself to be Great

You have been put on this planet to manifest your greatness…period…no question. To fulfill your ultimate potential

But during these perceived difficult times it can be hard to elevate yourself out of the mire. I understand that.. What with the constant barrage of bad news reported and chatter through differing social demographic groups its tough to get away from the sea of negativity.

The problem is that who you are – your authentic non-physical self – is already great but you don’t know that yet if you are experiencing
struggle & the constant feeling of just spinning your wheels.

Another way to look at this is imagine the seed of the oak tree. Everything that defines the oak tree is already in the acorn.
Unlike us, the acorn does not live under the illusion that it needs to be something else or needs to strive towards an
accomplishment that is not in its nature.

Your greatness is in your soul, your fibre . Your “self”, stripped of all the conditioning, excuses & contingencies that have created what you believe to be your current limited self.

My observation is that most of us don’t allow ourselves to live our greatness. Instead, we are too quick to place huge limits on what we
can do before we have even begun to do it. Don’t prejudge what your new horizons & discoveries could be and how they will turn out. Just live that quest for life in the moment as you know it to be without over analysing every situation.

The only limits you have are the ones you are placing on yourself.
Listen…. Push them to the side for now. You can always go back to them later if you want to, but I promise you this, you won’t need
them any longer if you practice living in the “flow” and living in”alignment”. Remember, we are as great as we allow ourselves to be.
Allow yourself to be great for the next few months and see what happens.

I hope today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation that you can make progress – If you choose to look for it. No matter how large or small, take out a notepad and record whatever comes to mind. You’ll be surprised of the traction you can achieve.

We are as great as we allow ourselves to be.

To your success

Steve