Business Coaching
It’s the silly season again so over the next few days I’ll be looking for a triathlon to compete in. One that doesn’t have too many hills would be nice. Thinking about this reminded me about the first time I tried a triathon and the leverage I created to make sure I actually did it. I told people about it, signed up and paid for it and then decided to raise money for orphans in Tanzania.
Then the local paper wrote a story about it and that was enough for me to make sure I had to go through with it. Read the feature below and think what external pressure would you have to put into place to ensure you went through with your most important goals.
When a determined life coach signed up to race in a triathlon he was hoping everything would go swimmingly.
But there was just one problem with his charity fundraising stunt –this time last year he could not swim properly.
Former Warwick School teacher Iain Smith, from Rural Way, Redhill, sets himself a seemingly impossible goal every year, and this Sunday he is aiming to compete in a triathlon to raise money for African orphans.
“I couldn’t do more than 10 metres of front crawl without coughing and spluttering to a halt,” he said.
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“I had to get swimming lessons in Donyngs to learn the technique and how to breathe properly.
“I could manage breaststroke but this was a race and I didn’t want to be the slowest swimmer in the pack, moving like a great big frog.
“So my first goal was to learn front crawl without drowning.
“I swallowed so much water in training that I feel personally responsible for people’s water bills going up.”
The former English teacher at Warwick School, in Noke Drive, Redhill, has been setting himself yearly “life-goals” since 2001.
Mr Smith said: “I started by doing the Great North Run, and since then I’ve written a 100,000- word novel, bought buy-to-let properties, and started an international charity called Raincatcher.”
Inspired by his charity work that helps fund water projects in Africa, Mr Smith’s goal last year was to organise a trip for Year 11 students from his school to Tanzania.
“Students from Warwick School travelled with me for three weeks.
“We had a great time doing lots of charity work, and now we are trying to raise money to pay for the schooling of 20 orphans,” he said.
The father-of-two is hoping to raise sponsorship money through completing the triathlon at the Crawley K2 leisure centre, which includes a 600-metre swim, 25-kilometre bike ride and a six-kilometre run.
“I’ve been training six days a week since last September,” he said.
“I’m not expecting to win. I just want to finish in a time that’s respectable for me and raise a good sum of money.
“Luckily you get the swimming over and done with first when you’re strongest.
“If they did it the other way round then I think there’s a good chance I would drown.”
Anyone wishing to support Mr Smith can donate by posting a cheque made payable to Raincatcher to Woolpits, Bletchingley Road, Nutfield RH1 4HN.
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I gave a short talk at my Business Group this morning talking about how Business Coaching can help people focus on what makes their business great. I referred to Louis Oosthuizen’s red dot approach, that helped him focus on the right thing at the right time, and win the Open Championship at St Andrew’s this weekend. This story from The Sun explains more . . .
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN was given the combination to crack open the St Andrews links by the shrink who introduced him to the ‘red spot’ theory.
The South African – nicknamed Shrek – won The Open by seven shots on Sunday.
But renowned sports psychologist Karl Morris says Oosthuizen’s thought process was “a mess” a week before the tournament.
Morris revealed: “His brain was scrambled.
“He was like a safecracker who knows all the right numbers but doesn’t know what order to put them in to open the door and get at the cash.
“I walked nine holes with him in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond last week, and sat him down for an hour or so afterwards.
“It was clear that mentally, he was a mess.
“So it was a case of getting him to think clearly, learn when to concentrate fully on the task at hand and when to switch off.
“The key to it all was the red spot we marked on his glove, which Louis referred to a couple of times after he had won The Open.
“That was designed to act as his trigger, in the same way that the referee’s whistle concentrates a player’s mind in football.
“The idea is that Louis would look at that spot as the beginning of his pre-shot routine and use it as his whistle.
“I watched him closely at St Andrews and it was noticeable how well he put that into practice.
“He looked totally focused before every shot but a lot of people remarked on how relaxed he looked for the rest of the time.
“It is impossible to keep your concentration at peak level for five hours, especially under the pressure that comes with leading a Major championship.”
Morris has worked with several other stars from Oosthuizen’s managment company, ISM, including Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke plus ex-England cricket captain Michael Vaughan.
But Oosthuizen, 27, is the firm’s first Major winner – Ernie Els claimed his three titles before linking up with them. But with Rory McIlroy also on boarde, no one could have predicted Oosthuizen would be the man to break the duck.
ISM boss Chubby Chandler joked: “With Ernie’s terrific Open record and his fondness for St Andrews, it’s fair to say at best Louis would probably have been our No 2 South African hope, let alone among the whole stable.”
Oosthuizen texted Chandler yesterday, moments after pinching himself to make sure he was not dreaming.
He explained: “I was in bed with my wife, and in between us was my seven-month-old daughter Jana and the Claret Jug!
“I sent Chub by a jokey text saying ‘How did this get here?’ I meant the Claret Jug, not my daughter.”
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Have FaithTuesday, June 29th, 2010
A LITTLE SELF-BELIEF GOES A LONG
WAY IN SECURING THAT DREAM JOB,
SAYS IAIN SMITH
You’ve made the interview. So now
it’s just a matter of showing you’re
the best person for the job, isn’t
it? But what about that little voice inside
your head repeating, ‘I’ll screw this up, I
know I will.’ Read more of Iain’s exclusive column for accountancy professionals
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Motivation and Values
Lots of people ask about motivation. How to get motivated to do something, and then to keep going. Before looking at any motivating techniques or strategies I always ask clients to consider their values.
This is because all the actions you take have to be in line with your values. It’s true. You’ll know if you have acted out of line with your values because you will feel incredibly strong negative emotions. For example, if you lied to someone you care about you would end up feeling guilty. That’s because you’ve undermined your own value of honesty.
So how do you get to know what your values are? If you had a choice of choosing a best friend, from scratch, what would you look for in that person? Would you want them to be like? List down some of the qualities they would have. Here’s a few that you might consider: truthful, loyal, fun, passionate, agreeable.
Write your own list.
Now look at your list. What you’ve actually done is catalogue your own values. Your list shows what’s important to you. Now look at what you’re trying to achieve. If isn’t in line with your values then you’re not going to be motivated do it. For you to create excellence in your lives you must have an understanding of your values.
Tags: Motivation, Values
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Self BeliefThursday, February 4th, 2010
Self Belief
You’ve made the interview. So now it’s just a matter of showing you’re the best person for the job, isn’t it? But what about that little voice in your head repeating “I’ll screw this up. I know I will.”
Even if it that happened before it doesn’t mean it will again. However if you go on telling yourself that it might you can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Generally we like to be right so we consciously and unconsciously find ways to prove we are – even if that goes against our better interests. Your negative thoughts can become a disappointing reality.
You can watch these prophecies in the playground where overwrought parents shout “You’ll fall! You’ll trip and hurt yourself!” and squeal as their kids unsurprisingly do. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Mum and Dad shouted “Keep running! You’ll always stay on your feet!” because this is what our most successful sports stars do to give themselves an edge.
All top performers know that self belief is probably the most crucial factor in success. After all once you get to a certain level the bodies are roughly the same, the exercise routines similar and nutrition standardised. What separates the winners from the rest is what they are thinking. That is the difference that makes the difference.
Sir Steve Redgrave says “it is the iron in the mind, not the supplements, that wins medals”. At the 2000 Olympics he knew after only 250 metres that his GB team was going to win gold, his fifth straight gold.
When you’re next facing a daunting challenge; an exam, project deadline or interview, run through the event in your mind and imagine it going wonderfully well. Really see the event unfold the way you want it to. Prepare yourself for success and believe in yourself.
“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re probably right” – Henry Ford
Tags: Belief
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