W Clement Stone

For this short blog, I will borrow some material from W. Clement Stone who gave us a great formula for success. It’s used extensively by one of my hero’s John C Maxwell and it has never failed me. I use it personally and in my coaching.  It goes as follows:

E + R = O

There, good luck!

What? You want More? Blimey you guys are really demanding, You’re really serious about making a big change aren’t you? I like that!

Okay, here goes:

E (Event) + R (Response) = O (Outcome or Result).

The principle is that whatever outcome you are dealing with in your life right now, success – failure, wealth – poverty, health – illness, joy – frustration are all as a direct result of the responses you made to an earlier event. In short, if you are unhappy with the outcome or results that you are getting in your life right now, you have two choices:

1. Blame the event (the economy, government, your spouse, the system or whatever happens to be in your focus right now), or
2. Change your responses to the events (until you get the outcome you want).

Unfortunately, most people take option one because that’s their ‘conditioned response’. It’s a response that was learned and is now automatic but it doesn’t have to remain that way. We can all re-learn so that a new way becomes automatic. The new way is to ‘change your response’.

What can be changed?

You can change your focus, your thoughts, communication, picture that you have of  yourself and the world you live in, the things that you do the things that you say, even to yourself. In short, everything that you think, say  and do needs to become intentional, in line with your values, purpose, beliefs and goals for yourself.

To achieve the best outcome following any event, just ask yourself some simple questions.

1. What is the reality right now? You might answer ”the economy is pretty tough right now”, or ”I’m overweight right now” or whatever might be going on for you.
2. What are my response options? Write them all down.
3. From the list, what is my BEST response option?
4. What thoughts are required for my best response option?
5. What words are required for my best response option?
6. What actions are required for my best response option?
7. Manage daily your best response, words & actions.
8. Share this formula with your whole team or family.

It fair to say that item seven will seem very awkward at first. Its new and you will have to remember to do it. Eventually, just as your habit of choosing option one above used be automatic, choosing your best option will also become automatic and you will be on the road to changing key aspects of your life and becoming a great leader.

So tomorrow, as a nation returns to work you will hear the moans, the whining and the complaints of everything that is wrong with everything, you’ll hear things on the radio or TV news or perhaps read things in the paper that previously you would have bought into and allowed it to change your outlook. Instead now, choose your best response, stay focused on the fantastic opportunities that exist with your best response and reap the rewards. Make the most of your day, week month and year ahead. Its going to be an amazing year and it starts right NOW!

Happy New Year!!

Over the next few days, millions of people will be thinking about how to make this year better than the last. Roughly, 95% of them will not take any action. How can you make certain that you are in the 5% that DO?

Most people will think about losing weight, stopping smoking, working harder, learn a new language or getting out of debt. Sadly though, the fatalists will think about their resolution, then immediately think of and remember all of the times it didn’t work before and then give up.

Others, a very small percentage, will follow through an actually take the first step or steps towards their resolution, then quit at the first challenge. An even smaller percentage will do all of the above and just keep going until they achieve the goal. To find out which category you are in, just think back to last years new year resolutions and see how many you didn’t even start, took only tentative step or indeed completed?

Personally, I don’t believe in ‘resolutions’ as such. I don’t think that they provide any more than an ideal, perhaps a guiding principle. Instead I set goals and targets but not only on 1st January, I set and review them every three months. As my birthday is June 21st, it serves as an ideal six monthly review . There is a structure to the process and the frequent check points help measure or track progress. nonetheless, January is a very exciting time for me and later  this month, I will be running Goal Setting workshops again to help those of you who don’t want to leave your goals to hope, chance and luck to use the same exhilarating and inspiring process.

For now though, lets stay with resolutions. Where do they come from? What are the New Years Eve traditions in different parts of the world?

Janus, Ancient Symbol Of Resolutions

The tradition of the New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year. However, it was in 46BC when the actual new year was set on 1st January when Julius Caesar first developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars. The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the God of beginnings and the so-called guardian of doors and entrances.

Good Luck Traditions

I remember as a child, my parents insisting on a dark-haired person being the first one through the door in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Come the stroke of midnight, no matter what the weather we’d all have to go out into the front garden and then the one with the darkest hair, usually me,  would go through a ritual of taking a piece of coal in through the front door and out the back, over the years, the coal was replaced with an old penny thought to bring wealth. Even as a child a remember thinking what a load of superstitious nonsense this is. Seemingly though, it was not just my parents that had their traditions, here are a few traditions from around the globe:

• AUSTRIA – The suckling pig is the symbol for good luck for the new year. It’s served on a table decorated with tiny edible pigs. Dessert often consists of green peppermint ice cream in the shape of a four-leaf clover.

• ENGLAND – The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first.

• WALES – At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.

• SPAIN – In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one with every toll, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead.

• GREECE – A special New Year’s bread is baked with a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for the Christ child, the second for the father of the household and the third slice is for the house. If the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early that year.

• CHINA – For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness. Although the whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family’s good luck for the next year.

• UNITED STATES – The kiss shared at the stroke of midnight in the United States is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history. As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the new year.

• NORWAY – Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year’s and hide one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.

Over the centuries, New Years Day has moved from the Roman January 1st, to the Christian December 25th, then they moved it to March 25th (Annunciation) and then in the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII moved it back to the Julian calendar making 1st January the first day of the year.

Today, there is no doubt that January 1st is a very important time for everyone, both for reflection and for thinking ahead. I’d prefer to remove the superstition and replace dogma with planning, hope with vision and wishful thinking with action. If goal setting is not for and resolution is what you prefer, that’s fine too. However, I would encourage you to choose your resolution carefully. Instead of making arbitrary resolutions to want more, have more and so on, resolve to reflect more often on what you already have, resolve to appreciate, every day, what and who is in your life right now. Resolve to love and appreciate your life just the way it is, even with the challenges, and I promise you that you’ll soon start to feel healthier, wealthier and happier in 2011. From that place, from that feeling of contentment with things just the way they are, anything more that comes your way – and it will- will be the icing on your cake! Have a Happy & Peaceful New Year!

Many people look to the beginning of January to ‘draw a line’ beneath what has gone by and make a fresh start, especially when it comes to losing a few pounds and getting fit, but how do go about making a fresh start?

Throughout January, I will be posting blogs as a guide to making that fresh start. From How to make the start, How to fit it all into a busy schedule, footwear, goal setting plus whatever else pops into my head that I feel may help you to make a start  towards creating a new you.

How To Start

Gym memberships are becoming more flexible these days and are a good option but still lack the personal touch in terms of providing sustained drive and focus that most people need to get the results needed. As well as that, they are not exactly the most enjoyable places to spend your time in my opinion. Even as a personal trainer, I haven’t used a gym for a long long time.

So, you might be asking, how do I get into good shape if I don’t use a gym? The answer may not be what you are expecting but here it is…

a) Running &
b) Resistance Training combined.

Running is FREE and living in Dorset, we have some of the most amazing scenery, beaches, forest, countryside and nature reserves to work out in. Results come very quickly and apart from proper footwear, (subject of a later post), you can wear whatever you want.

Before You Start

Make sure that you are properly prepared for your first session. Many people new to running try to avoid spending any money initially for fear of wasting it if they don’t stick to it. However, its worth spending some time planing your outcomes, running routes and most importantly which running shoes to buy. I will help you with this in future blogs.

Health Check

Consider A Check Up!

If you are a male over 45 or a woman over 55, even if you are feeling fine consider get a check up. Anyone coming to me MUST first have a full health and a fitness assessment with me which can lead to a GP referral for any contraindications to exercise that I discover.

Its especially important to do this if you have any risk factors for heart disease (obesity, family history, hypertension or high cholesterol). Be aware that cardiovascular disease start in our adolescence and it may be there without knowing, so book your check up as step one to making a fresh start.

Start With An End In Mind

If you don’t know where you are going you’ll … I’m sure you know the rest? Having a target to go for keeps you focused and challenged. Also, make sure that you understand the reasons WHY you are doing this as having a big reason will pull you through on the tough days when other priorities jostle for your time. Typical targets might be to run for 30 minutes without stopping, to run a 5k race for a charity without walking, a 10k? Who knows where you’ll end up? In the summary below I have included a video clip of a genius speaker who talks about the importance of setting goals. Also, I January, I will be running my own workshop on goal-setting from which you will leave with an ‘action plan’ for the year ahead.

Pace Yourself

When you are new to something over enthusiasm can often lead us down the wrong pathway. I always start new runners very gently, fast walking is sometimes the appropriate way forward. It vital that over eagerness is reined in to prevent injuries and to make sure that the body has time to adapt to the new demands being placed upon it.

Summary

• Before you do anything, write down WHY you want to lose weight, tone up, start exercising etc Remember, its these reasons that will pull you through on less enthusiastic days.

• Decide on your objectives, goals and targets. (see the vid below). Make them measurable, achievable and realistic to you and where you are today.

• Plan where you will run, use Google maps to plot the distance and if possible, make the route a circuit rather than running the reciprocal route home.

• If you fit the higher risk category above, book and go for your check up. By the time you have done that, I’ll be back with the next steps… How to Start.

Meantime, why not “Like” my Face Book Personal Training Page and access lots of hints, tips, myth-busters and other heath & fitness related info?

Follow Me

It caused me to reflect upon the pitiful performance of my bank, HSBC who appear not to know I exist, not until perhaps the balance hits zero and I’m sure that then will will remember me quite clearly.

I therefore sent an email to my alleged account manager this morning to see if I might get some response. The email is as follows:

‘Dear Santa,

I have been a really good boy and worked very hard and so for Christmas this year I wonder if you could make my bank take some interest in my business? I did meet a guy called Ray once who said he was my account manager but that was about three years or more ago and I’ve never heard from him since.

I know I’m only a tiny business and not worth much to the bank but I have managed to scrape by through tough times this year and have a very large vision for my business and I could really do with a hand right now.

I recently met representative Elves from two other banks at my chamber of commerce meeting and during their presentation they told fairy tales of how it can be, regular contact, help with cash flow using schemes other than expensive loans and a whole feeling of being a team dedicated to keeping the business alive. I don’t think that my bank have even noticed the declining balance and will probably just wait until it hits zero and then punish me with nasty bank charges.

Santa, should I listen the those Elves and go with them into the land of loveliness and never ending support or can you sprinkle your magic glitter over my bank so that they can finally see that I exist? I promise I will be an even ‘gooder’ boy if you can help.

Thank you

Paul’
Xx

I await response with excited anticipation. I’m not sure I will be able to sleep tonight as I eagerly await the morning to check my ‘Santa in box’ to see what he delivered for me.

I’ll keep you posted!

P

The walks will be resuming in January with plans to walk routes in Poole, Boscombe, Christchurch and of course Redhill Park.

if you would like to join, email coach@paulbellard.com for more details.

Be a part of a Mastermind group?

Master Mind – Defined as ‘Co-ordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose’. Napoleon Hill – Think & Grow Rich

Much has been written about the power of the mastermind  principles and I will not regurgitate it here to prove the point, I simply want to get the message and idea out that I feel compelled to share.

So many of us have attended seminars or bought books, read them and consigned them to the shelf with nothing more than a passive understanding of the principle’s  therein. I include myself in this group.

Now, I am inviting a number of people, no more than ten in total, to join and become the founders a ‘master mind’ group.

This group of  people will have a desire to become successful, or even more successful, be prepared for and to be challenged and be committed to making a difference to their own and others lives.

We will meet often at a frequency yet to be confirmed with the possibility of some or all meetings being web based, however, advice is that at least once per month is in person.

During the sessions we will combine minds, soul and vision, to build clear defined vision and purpose for each other, set goals that would otherwise either be impossible or would take a lifetime to achieve and to manage blockages, challenges and perceived defeat.

We will not only set but achieve our respective goals by overcoming challenge, delivering on our commitments to ourselves, each other and those we serve, we will listen to each other, encourage each other and be prepared to be held accountable.

I want to experiment, with the principles of wealth, success and vision. We will be the guinea pigs, we will study the best writings and studiously apply the principles to see that they work, we will grow together in a mutually supportive power house of ideas and we will document, record  and measure every step of the way.

I envisage running the alliance for one year to start with.  At the end of that year, the results will be made public and phase two of the vision will start, which for now I’d prefer to keep under wraps.

If you feel excited by this idea of being a part off this, then express your interest. There will be an application process to ensure that there is a diligent selection of people from various backgrounds and who are at varying levels of success in a variety of areas in life.

We will all have something to share and contribute, we will all be equal. This is not about paying money to be a part of it, it is more than that, its about a sustained mental focus over one year to truly challenge each other and the principles that so many read about and do nothing with.

Email me with your expression of interest..I challenge you to step up and go for it. The target start date is September 09,  who knows where we will be a year from now!

Following my studies into Coronary Heart Disease I have been shocked at the figures of how many people have been taken away from their children and partners just because they didn’t move enough! So, I’m dong something about it!

I am offering ANYONE the chance to get access to me, a REPS Registered Personal Trainer FREE of charge for two hours per week!! No money needed, no equipment needed just a desire to turn up and have some fun.

Ok, its any excuse for a social really but this ‘One Step at  a Time’ initiative is one of a number of events planned to ‘GET DORSET MOVING’ by burning fat, exercising the heart, having fun and feeling GREAT!

Flying High is hosting group walks (initially) which will take us from Red Hill Park to and along the gorgeous banks of the River Stour via picturesque Throop, (how nice does that sound sound?).

You will be taught how to set a pace that is aerobically beneficial to put your heart rate into the optimal zone for you to improve your overall health.

Yes Its FREE of charge and I will happily accept a donation to the British Heart Foundation for each session that you attend, totally optional! The sessions are designed to get people who are not doing any or enough exercise, to start moving your butt and feeling the benefits of low level aerobic exercise in the hope that you will continue to increase your activity levels over time and really start to enjoy looking good and feeling ALIVE again!

Its an informal, relaxing, social and enjoyable way to round off the day. There is even an extended route that goes via a pub! Yes a pub! I don’t want to shock anyone into becoming too healthy too soon now do I ?

The sessions are also an opportunity to quiz me about all matters around health and fitness issues on how you can start making a difference to your energy levels, vitality and health so that you can be more effective, focused and driven at home, at work and in business.

I really hope that people will step up, step out and take it one step at a time towards feeling ALIVE again!

Remember, there are two sessions per week which started in June. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday, meeting at Sun kissed Redhill Park, Redhill Avenue, Bournemouth at 18.30. Call me on 01202 549 369 for more information on how to find me. The route should take no more than one hour.

Also, watch out for other forthcoming events:

Circuits in the Park (more intense levels of training)
Life’s a Beach 2009 – Exercise on the Beach
Stabalise yourself – Pilates courses

Ask me for details and if you have any suggestions on how to get more people involved or how to make these event even more appealing I would love to hear from you.

Fly High in life…you deserve it!

Paul