Just get out there and do it!

In 2015 I decided to create the project that I call Access World Seminars.  I had no Idea what to do or how to get started. Have you ever had a desire or passion to create something great, yet were unsure how to get started? There was several things that I wanted to do such as teach seminars, run workshops and provide life coaching. The challenge was that full time employment meant financial safety and I was not willing to leave my day job due to my financial commitments.  I wanted to ensure that I did things intelligently, and not in a way that could potentially lead to financial ruin. Furthermore my full time employment was fantastic, and I wasn’t ready and really did not want to leave. Part of me wanted to take the proverbial leap of faith, yet after discussions with my wife I decided to do a transition slowly and intelligently.  If I began a business, I would need to work that business, and yet I had minimal business experience.  I certainly had the confidence to succeed, and yet realised that I also needed the competence, and developing business competence would take time. Together we discussed a 5 year plan….

The true value of Seminars.

When I was 14 years old I had a stuttering issue.  I found it very difficult to communicate, especially in large groups.  The worst letters for me were W’s and R’s. I found this to be huge hurdle that was inhibiting my ability to make friends, enjoy social settings and enjoy the experience of being a teenager. It was around this time that I participated in my first seminar.  It was a 4 day seminar that ran for long hours.  During this seminar I learned about affirmations and the power of the mind.  After this seminar I decided that I had the power to control my mind and speech by repeating the affirmation, “I speak clearly and well”. Each time I found myself with in group of people and felt that I had something to contribute I repeated the words in my mind, “I speak clearly and well”.  I would then speak, and unfortunately much of the time my words would come out wrong. I would stutter and stammer and trip over the words. Often I was annoyed or frustrated at the inability I had to manage and control my tongue. Often I was frustrated with myself and would repeat…

Memory – I really want to be a great fighter!

I was with a friend at school and he really wanted to be a great fighter.  I remember that he had a fight after school one day and that I showed him how he could win the fight using the power of his mind.  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I still remember the look of confidence on my friends face as he marched out onto the battleground.  I had shown him how powerful the mind could be, using the tools of a recent seminar. I was 14 years old when I attended an introduction seminar for “mind power” in Tamworth NSW with a man named Peter McMahon.  A woman was at the front of the room with her back to a white board.  The audience then came up with 20 random items for her to commit to memory.  I was amazed at her skill and ability as in a matter of minutes she learned and repeated back all 20 items.  Even more impressive was the fact that she had learned every item independently of any other item.  What I mean by this is that she could immediately recall item 7 or item 18.  Finally the audience was asked…

Can we really retrain our unconscious responses?

Russian Psychologist Ivan Pavlov learned that Dogs salivate at the sight of food.  He retrained this automatic response to salivate, by ringing a bell immediately before feeding time.  This was repeated over and over again.  These dogs were trained that the sound of a bell meant that food was on its way.  In preparation for the food the dogs began to salivate.  Because they believed that food was on its way, over time the sound of the bell alone would cause the dogs to begin to salivate. What if you could train your autonomic nervous system?  The autonomic nervous system is broken up into two main parts.  The sympathetic nervous system that controls our fight/flight response?  And the parasympathetic nervous system that controls our appetite and sexual desire. These are automatic responses to stimuli. It is believed that self-control is lowered when we are sleep deprived or low amounts of glycogen in the body. When stimulus hits one of those 4 responses, we immediately have an automatic response. Anger (fight), Fear (flight), lust (sexual desire), hunger (gluttony). Think about antisocial behaviour and crime.  Is not all of crime attached to one of these primal functions? How then can we train our autonomic nervous system to…

Feel as though you are flat-lining?

Well it seems to me that when you change the way you use your body, life changes……for a time.  Anything new becomes old over time.  It really does not matter what it is.  Any big change to your life, once repeated about 1000 times becomes normal.  Wow who would have thought that jumping with excitement would become like breathing or riding a bike.  That it would become normal to be excited every day. How amazing is that?  looking back over the last 18 months of my life have been like a dream. Life has changed more dramatically than ever before. It really is such an inspiration to myself and others and as a result many new opportunities have presented themselves. It really is incredible that Contributing to the lives of so many other people, coupled with personal growth has really produced a high level of fulfilment. Much joy is the result of giving so much of myself to others.  Furthermore the consistency of focus on the things that matter most in life has also been incredible, and has assisted with the feelings of fulfilment. Now it is time to move to the next level, as each of us must continue to…

Are you afraid to fail?

There are three resistors to mental effectiveness. They are fear, laziness and limited self-belief.   I wanted to write a little about fear. In particular the fear of failure. Fear can be good or bad depending on the context.  Fear can keep us safe, but fear can also prevent us from achieving our potential.   Fear of failure in business can cause one to shy away from making an attempt, taking risks, or having a go. Failure can lead to financial setbacks, or great loss such as foreclosure, or bankruptcy. Many people have started businesses, only to go out of business.  Fear stops people from taking out a loan to grow the business, spending money on advertising or employing staff. Fear can and will keep you from getting started, and fear can also keep the business small.   Fear of failure in relationships may prevent us from being open to the possibility of a relationship.  Those in a relationship may find that they unconsciously self-sabotage that relationship, or reject the other person first, for fear that they themselves will be rejected.  Failure to meet our responsibilities in a relationship may likewise be costly. If we neglect our relationship in the pursuit…

Why is leadership important?

Leadership is essential to every organisation and the world needs more teachers and leaders.  I fervently believe that in order to build strong teams, we need strong leaders.  These leaders must have qualities, attitudes and beliefs consistent with organisational values if we are to promote improved performance. A leader is not the one who can do the work of 10 men, rather it is one who can get those 10 men to do their work.  In the book the psychology of winning author Dennis Waitley described that 3 resistors halt our progress.  Laziness, fear and limited self-belief.  However I believe there are 3 principles that enable a business leader to get the best out of others. 1/ Money.  People need to be paid for what they do, and paid well.  Most organisations in the developed world have a very good payment structure and employees are paid well.  The only exception here is those involved with unpaid charity organisations or churches, where the reward is spiritual fulfillment. 2/ Autonomy and Mastery.  Autonomy relates to extending trust to employees, and allowing for growth in their decision making muscles.  Mastery is about improvement and development. Many organisations allow for creative vision, forward thinking employees and training and…

Depression – a chemical imbalance.
Body Language , Breathing Life , Uplifting / January 10, 2017

I had a conversation with my wife yesterday in which she described to me a friend that she has who is suffering with the effects of depression. She told me that her friend stated that she was standing in the kitchen when she suddenly felt negative chemicals release in her brain, followed by a flood of negative thoughts and feelings. She described how real these negative thoughts and feelings are, and how real the chemicals are.  Furthermore it was the chemicals that started the whole process. If it was not for that negative chemical release she would feel different, and even happy. As my wife told me this story I reflected on the experience which the last year of my life has given.  The last year of my life has been a positive and happy year for me and I thought about what had made it so.  I also thought about the stark contrast in my experience of life, compared with someone who suffers from depression.  This is a sensitive topic and I will therefore speak about it from my experience. I have suffered depression. I went through a divorce many years ago and I felt deeply the failure and…

The unconscious mind is your protection and strength.
Breathing Life , Communication , Imagination , Love / January 10, 2017

Life can be emotionally challenging at times.  It can be hard to enjoy life when we feel like we have failed, or we feel like we let ourselves and others down.  One way to mitigate failure is to take fewer risks, or to take smaller risks.  One way to achieve this is by not trying.  Another way is to shrink and become insignificant. When you have failed at something that you did not put much effort into, the failure seems to be not so bad.  The failure is half expected.  Limited emotional investment, is the unconscious minds natural built in protection against negative emotions.  When things are not going well, we will find a way to protect ourselves from intense negative emotions.  After all, the build up of these intense negative emotions can lead to depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.  Our unconscious mind knows this and wants to help is.  This is achieved by shutting down the feeling component of our nature. The issue with the is that by shutting down our emotions and eliminating these negative feelings, our positive feelings are also affected. One woman described her experience of life was like being a ‘zombi’.  She told…

Change your story. We are all story tellers in life.

You may not realise this but you are a storyteller. We all are. With ever action you take, with every word you speak and even your very presence tells a story. This story is being written every minute of every day. Just like almost every book, there is a main character. That main character is you. You have a past, a present and a future. There past is already written, and yet the past may not actually be an accurate rendition of events and situation because those events are filtered through perceptual filters, false associations and limited understanding. In other words we make meaning of events and situations that may be more imagined than real. Please understand that the events are real, yet our memory and interpretation of these events may be grossly inaccurate.  These filters can effect our perception of reality of a situation so profoundly, that the memory may be completely inaccurate and even unrecognisable.  To really understand this try reading both sides of domestic violence dispute, or getting versions at at traffic accident, or listen to someone tell a story about a situation that you were there for. It is always fun hearing someone tell a story…