March 28

The secret of success is to start…

The secret of success is to start…

How many times have you heard someone say that their life would be different if some fanciful event were to happen to them? As a coach I hear this all the time. Prefixed by “If only…” or similar such words, clients go on to lay out incredible visions of how different their lives could be. I usually follow this up with this question – “Wouldn’t your life be going somewhere you really want it to go, if you started to do something about it?”.

More often than not, the usual response at this point is “Yes, but…”. Two small words, but they are like chains and they weigh tons. Why do I think this? It is because they must be heavy as they are enough to stop the client going somewhere where they really want to be. Chains because they link your dreams to whatever you have invented to hold you back.

March 13

Focus on what you can do…

Focus on what you can do…

You may not have heard of Matt Hampson. This Mothers Day (15th March in the UK) marks the tenth anniversary of him suffering a severed spine during a scrum in a game of rugby. Matt was a talented young rugby player, the game was for England U21, and it was thought he had a promising career ahead of him. His injury has left him paralysed from the neck down, wheelchair bound and he is permanently on a ventilator.

So what does Matt say?