Community Spirit

What would you be prepared to do for your friends?

For those who have read the E-Myth - I wandered into the world of business after having an Entrepreneurial seizure. For those who haven't read the E-Myth - I decided to sack my boss and march into the world of business with no training or experience of what happens next. I knew that I could provide excellent services and that I would be better at it when freed from the dogma of other people's perceptions of how I should go about my business.

The reality was that I had no idea of what running a business was and spent over two years in the very harsh school of the idiots guide of how not to run a business. Indeed, I didn't even have a business as all of my services could only be performed by me - this is a job, not a business.

My major breakthrough, apart from reading the E-Myth, was to set up a community project through Walk Innovation. Through running a series of free events I have attracted people into my life who have helped me immensely. Walk Innovation has clearly given attendees many insights into their life, positive experiences and connections - who have quickly become friends. The support, enthusiasm and time that has been donated so kindly by those at my events has been quite incredible.

I have made mistakes to the tune of over £60,000 over the past two years and watched my life savings float away. Only the belief that I was doing the right thing prevented me from going back into my comfort zone and getting a job with someone else, resigning myself to the restriction of somebody else's rules. Every cell in my body knows that Walk Innovation is the correct path for me - even when my bank balance didn't. I now look at this as money well spent as I witness the wonder of community spirit unfold. The advice, help and direction that I have been freely given in the past weeks has been priceless to me and would have certainly cost several thousands of pound if I was to seek it on a professional basis.

The universe is truly a wonderful place now that I have allowed myself to receive it's gifts. Walk Innovation has provided an environment for people to connect - not just on a professional networking basis but as friends as well. A good business contact will do whatever they can for you as long as you pay for it. A good friend will use the law of reciprocity to do whatever it takes to make life better for you. This is something truly incredible.

This blog is dedicated to everyone who has helped me on my journey so far and to those who will in the future. I promise to do whatever I can to return the favour.

Much love,

Adam

Dealing With Challenges

  The last two days have been incredibly challenging for me. Over the past 7 weeks I have been spending a great deal of time and energy in getting my new Walk Innovation website up and running. It has involved daily liaison with my web designer, who was based in the United Arab Emirates.

  After 7 weeks of continued e-mailing and tinkering the website was almost perfect and my designer had told me that I would be able to easily edit the site. Originally, I had hoped that the site would be finished within a week and then realised that my needs were not being translated into actions. 

  As a trainer of NLP it is always important to remember that the meaning of all communication is the response you get. What I thought were easy to understand instructions were continually being ignored or misinterpreted by my web designer. Only through continued repetition of exactly what I wanted did I get most of what I did want done.

  Then came the bombshell - my designer had to move country and would not be available to help for at least 2 weeks. This led to a very rushed couple of days and an almost correct website.

  I then spent 2 days leaving flyers in every shop and establishment in the locality as I could, to get the word out. After this I decided that I needed to change some details on the site in the absence of my designer. Not being familiar with Wordpress I managed to lock myself out of the site (the reset password address obviously went to my designer's in-box and not mine.) So, I was locked out of my site and it had all gone horribly wrong. All queries were sending back an auto-responder message that we would get back to you as soon as possible - yet not reaching my in-box. I have no idea how many potential clients are still waiting for a reply that will never come. Great start for a new business venture!

  I watched 7 weeks of work undone in 1 second. This is a horrible feeling.

  My solution was to hold my head in my hands for a few minutes and let the reality of what had just happened sink in. Then I realised that it was my duty to transform the energy of this situation. My first task was to transform my mood. A quick click onto Youtube for some Eddie Izzard, Robin Williams, Monty Python and a bizarre Spanish lesson with a twist soon had me laughing out loud. I then meditated, asking the universe for help.

  Within minutes of finishing my meditation a friend of mine, Loren, who also happens to be a web designer, phoned me! She told me that we were going out for the afternoon and she would call by my house later. Clearly, Carlsberg don't do fortunate synchronicity, but if they did.......

  I was picked up, introduced to her friend, Natasha, and taken off to a lovely waffle house, sitting outside for a wonderful lunch. I was then taken to a favourite spot of mine, Tiki's Cafe, in Hemel Hempstead. The owner, Erkan, is an incredible man and has a very intuitive connection with energy. He sat down and spoke to me about a couple of niggling issues that I had, nicely buried in my unconscious mind. His questioning soon brought them to the surface.

  A little tweaking brought these out and made me realise how I had been holding myself back with my business. Simultaneously, Loren put up a temporary page on my website that stopped people from thinking that I would be getting back to them, when I wouldn't. She then agreed to redesign the site for me.

  In a few hours of magic my moment, minute, hour, day, week, month, year and life were transformed. After all, it is only the moment that we find ourselves in that dictates the life that we have had and will have. I'm tuned into the magic of the universe at the moment, I am grateful to my friends and I love my life.

  The gift of a situation will rarely be visible when the proverbial hits the fan. It is our belief that it is coming and congruence with our life path that expedites the journey from trauma to bliss. 

  I'm choosing bliss right now.

New Year's Resolutions - Keeping them Real

It is, once again, that time of year where many people commit themselves to New Year's resolutions - as I have done myself in many previous years. I've heard some good ones so far. One of my friends has committed to not smoking indoors - in order to cut down their smoking. Partially effective in the winter - not so much in the summer!

We all have the best of intentions when we make such commitments. However, many such resolutions are unrealistic within current models of the world and will just lead to failure, disillusionment and guilt. This will will result in many people paying attention to the voice within that says how hopeless they are and that's not too nice. When undertaking such lifestyle changes it is important to have enough leverage to sustain the process. For one friend it was a simple comment about how unpleasant he smelled after smoking - put to him in less polite terminology by another friend of mine. This one remark created an instant smoking cessation - which has now been the case for over two years.

In my case the motivation comes from the fact that I am a Health Consultant and it is my duty to lead by example. I will often be tempted by junk foods and my title is all that is standing in my way of indulgence. Fortunately, my resolutions are not absolute, they are based on balance. Because of this I allow myself occasional less than nutritional treats. This was the case over the New Year as I met up with many friends in Ireland, partaking in one or two local, alcoholic interventions at a delightful public house. What this does is ensure that there is enough latitude within the resolutions that I make to allow me to make many positive, long-term changes within my life - without the restrictions which led me to failure in the past.

So, for all of you who have started a New Year's resolution and are struggling with the new you - be kind enough to yourself to allow any positive change to occur at a rate that is sustainable for you - for the rest of your life. For some, giving up lifetime habits can occur in a moment of intense leverage. For those who don't yet have that - make the resolutions proportional to your belief that you can maintain them. Alternatively, get someone to coach you to a place where that is possible.

We all have the right tools to make changes that will improve our lives forever - we just haven't had the right questions if we are not making those changes now.

What question(s) should you be asking yourself in order to get the results that you need right now?

Resource management, magic, beards and cookies

  Sometimes it is easy to ignore the opportunities or magic that stare one in the face. This week, on my Santa, leaflet-delivery campaign around the neighbourhood I dressed up as Santa, once again, and prepared to go out. Having just broken up from school my nephew, Connor, decided that he wanted to go out with me - and he wanted to dress as Santa as well.

  This led to a trip into Borehamwood to see what we could find. On a pre-Christmas market day it was pretty busy. All of the main stores had no more Santa suits of any description. We had all but given up as we walked down the high street and back towards the car.

  I then noticed a shop that was closing down. They had minimal stock and I couldn't see any immediately obvious Santa suits. However, tucked in the corner were the final 3 junior costumes. Junior Santa was unleashed in that moment.

  I took Connor to pass out some leaflets with me. It was something that he took to like a duck to water. His genuine excitement at meeting new people was a refreshing angle on how to approach door-to-door encounters.

  After a tentative start on the first few houses he soon fell into his flow. He handed my flyers to all that answered the door, connecting with everyone. I have no doubt that he added leverage to my message and he made the process much more fun than it already was for me. Watching him connect with small children, who just looked on in amazement, was a magical experience. 

  Cars and even buses beeping and people waving as we walked down the road brought about a bit more magic. 

  One funny event was being spotted by a group of Connor's friends, claiming that I was not the real Santa. As we walked down the road I was pursued by this group of 5-6 year-olds claiming that I couldn't be real because my beard wasn't real and I wasn't fat enough. They advised me that I needed to eat a lot more cookies to achieve the weight that would make me look more real. 

  I'm not sure that the cookie, crash weight-gain advice will be enough to give me sufficient authenticity between now and Christmas. However, I will know to model the cookie monster next year and start growing a beard now if I'm ever going to convince the more shrewd members of the community of my seasonal status.

  As for Connor - all he wants to know is when we can go out and deliver more leaflets. A better intervention for a new business has surely yet to be discovered.