Personal and Leadership Development

No: 490 - August 29, 2016

I noticed a story, during the Rio 2016 Olympics, about a Kenyan coach who was sent home for posing as an athlete… don’t know the details but, I assume, it had something to do with the opening ceremony.

But spare the coach a thought – because people go around pretending to be what they’re not at all kinds of sporting events. Take, for example, the Tour de France that passed through our town two days in a row during the Summer. A world-class sporting event on our doorsteps, of course we had to go. But, whilst we went as spectators, lots of other spectators went as professional cyclists… dressed up in all the gear, posing in the town square as if waiting to be recognized, gulping sports drinks in the heat of the day as if they’d just finished that day’s climb!

It all reminded me of the Open Gaz de France – a women’s pro tennis tournament that the mountain village that we originally lived in used to host every second week of August. For the entire week of the tournament, two local girls – seventeen or eighteen years of age, friends of our daughters’, would stroll around the tennis centre in their tennis whites, bags of racquets and all, posing as tennis players… I think they might have actually been signing autographs for some gullible fan!

	A Quick Tip
	DOING THE UNTHINKABLE
	Don’t question your own ability to do what you might normally think to be the unthinkable. Instead, question where you are – what you see and hear, what you smell and taste. Get a handle on the reality of the moment and, mindful of your goals, just do the necessary without giving it any second thought.

	YOU COME FIRST
	You are the Number One person in your life - if you don't look after yourself first then you're damn all use to anybody else. Does this mean that you need to be selfish? Does it mean that you need to walk over others to get what you want? Does if mean that you come first to the detriment of others? No, no and no! It means that you need to do all in your power to look after your own state of mind - to control your emotions - so that you are suitably equipped to do what is right for all concerned, yourself included. People sometimes tell me that they will endeavour to develop focus and purpose for the sake of their loved ones - "I'll do it for my wife and children" - I've heard it, probably, a thousand times at this stage. But that's a lie - you don't manage your own mind for someone else - you do it just for you. If you don't, you won't do it. And if you won't, then you're actually a danger to those "loved ones" - like every other halfwit on the planet, you'll go through the motions and nobody will be any the better for your passing this way. And that is what you are doing - you and I are passing this way. We better do it right, do what's right and enjoy it while we can. If you're not fully engaged in your own life right here, right now, when were you planning on starting? As somebody said to me recently: "I'm fed up saying that 'I'll do this when...' or 'I'm looking forward to doing that' or 'I'll start doing that when I have more time' or, worse, 'when I retire'". You need to start pleasing yourself - not gratuitously but in terms of always - always - putting your real self first. Your real self will always do what's best for you and those you love. Your real self will always do just what needs to be done to get you to where you and those who matter to you really want to go. And those who really matter to you are counting on your real self... you had better turn up. <p> Turn up to your own life by embracing the reality of just this moment - but not just this moment for the sake of being calm and at peace but this moment to do the right thing... because what you do now echoes throughout the rest of your life and the lives of those around you.

	LEARNING... AND PASSING IT ON
	The Psychology of Success will take place again in Dublin on September 7th. Describe by previous participants as "life changing" and "the most important learning of my living and working life" (you can read their testimonials here), this one day will enable you grab a hold of what's going on in your head. And, once, you've done that, all else changes. There are still a couple - just a couple - of places levft for this day. If you're interested in participating on Sept 7th, you can find all the details here...
	If you're a consultant or coach, a HR leader or working in leadership development or talent management, or if, as a client told me last Friday, you are a guide for others, you may well be interested in psyberCoach. Following four years' development, psyberCoach is now online Have a look here...