Are You Ready to... Turn Pro?

What if your life could change because of one decision, one distinction, one stroke... do you think it can happen?

Why not?

Just as our life momentarily changes when we take a new side road or a new route, so it is when we shift our minds.

If you've never read the WAR of ART by Steven Pressfield, do it. Your life can change... if you want it to.

There's one phrase in that book (in fact, it's only TWO WORDS) that has forced its existence into my mind.

What's the two words?

TURNING PRO

That's it!

That's what has me fired and fueled and looking at every aspect of my life in a completely different way than I would normally be doing so.

What changed?

I changed.

I changed my thinking about what's possible.

And of course, whenever there's a declaration about wanting change to happen, then naturally, there's RESITANCE waiting... just around the corner... looking to drag our sorry behinds, to where it belongs - normality and mediocrity.

Steven Pressfield says it like this --

"Resistance HATES it when we turn pro!"

I like that.

I really like that because it's so true and it's so full of common-sense insight that it's so easy for it to slip under our conscious awakened thoughts.

And here's something else that happens when we Turn Pro (and that's true for ANYTHING we care deeply enough about):

What happens is that we COMMIT. We play at a different level. We play for keeps.

That's what happens when we TURN PRO.

And when it comes to writing and getting things done, there's no messing about with a Pro.

Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration.

"I write only when inspiration strikes, he replied. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o' clock, sharp"

A Pro.

What's important is the WORK.

Not the excuses. Not the reasons. Not the inner idiocy. None of that.

What matters most is DOING THE WORK.

It's what separates the Pros... from the rest

The book, the WAR of ART - Breakthrough the Blocks and Win Your Creative Battles - Steven Pressfield... Get it. It'll change your life... if you'll allow it in and are open to it.

Ideas Are Like Slippery Fish - Spear Them With a Pencil Before They Get Away!

Last Friday I was sitting with a, sort of, prospective marketing and writing client.

There was no agenda or rigidity as such. Just shooting the idea breeze, as it were.

And the amazing thing that happens when you have no real agenda, no real clue as to where you're heading, the almost miraculous can happen.

If you take a look at that piece of paper above, in the top left is my one hour or so meeting. (The rest of the doodles and scribbles are... other meetings!)

Now here's what's super instructive about this: my prospective client had a number of ideas in how to market his product and services. And they were good.

So when he saw me think, ask questions, process a number of thoughts and then take those ideas that were running about in my mind and scribble them down onto that piece of harmless, scrunched up paper, he was gasping for breath when he saw the little tiny blueprint I created for him.

I really didn't know what was going to materialise from our conversation from the outset.

That's what my good friend and author Steve Chandler says about creating from where you are - miracles can happen right where you are, in the current moment.

How true.

Here's what's key: if all I did was deliver those ideas and let them swim around in the atmosphere for the time we were together, and did nothing more but try to remember them at some future date, we'd both be saying... "what they heck can you remember about our meeting?"

Of course, the answer being... a BIG FAT NOTHING!

Ideas are so fleeting and so delicate that if we don't spear them with a pencil and grab them with all our might, they'll sail away into the vast ocean of life... never to resurface in their original form again.

Marketing ideas, business ideas, writing ideas, coaching ideas, fearless living ideas... they are all waiting to be created and pounced on.

Do it... get your notepaper and pencil and create your world!

(Oh, and as an aside, when you really DELIVER your stuff, people want to buy into it. I mean, they really want to buy into it!)

The Practice of Talent

Friend and Coach, Steve Chandler, mentioned a book in a recent communication to members of his Club Fearless (http://www.clubfearless.net/).

The title of the book intrigued me, as well as the work inside. The book's full title is - The Talent Code - unlocking the secret of skill in maths, art, music, sport, and just about anything else. Written by author, Daniel Coyle.

The book is an amazing journey into the 'talent hotbeds' of the world. If you thought genius' was reserved for 'others', get this book and you'll find a hotbed of lies and assumptions we may have been living with for years.

The key idea that I took away (and which was totally evident from the work in the book) was that talent and skill, is available to everyone because we all have it, in some way, shape or form.

And, that, when practiced and rehearsed and when we are coached or mentored to reach the best version of what we're capable of, we can literally, shift our own world.

I've also scuffed and dog eared and written notes on almost every page of a book called, 'You Haven't Taught if They Haven't Learned.'

This book is golden because it comes from two people - one (Swen Nater) who has been directly mentored and tutored by the legendary master basketball coach, Coach John Wooden, and, the other (Ronald Gallimore) who studied and analysed the coaching principles, philosophies and practices of the great Wooden. And he identified certain patterns and traits we can all use to better our lives in whatever area we choose.

(John Wooden coached UCLA - University of California, Los Angeles - to an unprecented 10 victories in the most demanding of college sports arenas you can imagine. And, it wasn't by accident or luck that he became the 'winningest' coach in history.)

A couple of Coach Wooden's many guiding principles, has to do with practice and skill. And, that by hard diligent application, any skill could be learned.

He was a master at ensuring his practice sessions were nothing but skill, team spirit and conditioning based, and, that there was no time wasted in unnecessary activity. In fact, the planning of his practice session lasted longer than the practice session itself!

Coach Wooden was known to have put his players through a process until players could execute the fundamentals in an automatic and unconscious way.

In other words, the disciplined practice of talent.
Those are 4 words worth considering jotting down - especially if you're looking to help others (or yourself) to excel at something where they're not quite 'there' yet.

Continuing with the sporting context here, let me use another couple because I think it ties things together.

The two soccer players you see on the left are considered two of the best in the world.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both players went head to head in the recent European Cup Winner's Final where Messi, playing for Barcelona, outshone his fellow skill merchant who played for Manchester United, where Barcelona, lifted the trophy.

What I found instructional and informative, were the pre-match comments of Manchester United's manager and coach, Sir Alex Ferguson - it was about the skill and application of that skill by both 'gifted grafters'.

Ferguson strongly believes that it's their work ethic that sets them apart. That they marry their talents with hard work. He says... "there are some players like Messi and Ronaldo who are innately gifted. But this is not enough and there is a practice element which becomes very important".

He also went on to say...

"If you watch Ronaldo, he practices after every squad training session".

What's obvious here is that the 'special quality' most top players posses, is the fact that they're willing to want to go and look for that extra edge. And they do that by creating and developing something on their own.

There's something about the phrase "an overnight success" that has 'injustice' written all over it. But then again, I suppose that those who do anything worthwhile, practice their overnight success to perfection - every night!

Andy Murray is hoping to become Britain's Men's Wimbledon Singles Tennis champ - after a 71-year drought. The last British man to lift the trophy in victory, was, Fred Perry.

Many years ago, Perry (below) was asked about whether the nation would produce another Wimbledon winner.

His answer was somewhat revealing and a kick in the head to all those 'overnight success' seekers.

"It's not a matter of producing anybody," he said. "It's a case of somebody, somewhere, who wants to succeed badly enough and is determined and bloody-minded enough to make sure he does."

Skill and talent lies in head zone of anyone and everyone.

Practice is the instructive genius that'll make anyone a believer... of themselves. And if you care to prove it, all you've got to do is... put it to the test.

Raja Hireker
www.CoachingByWriting.com

Anything We've Ever Really Wanted... We've Got!!

There was a time I used to crib about wanting a better physique, a better paying job, being a better tennis player, become fearless and goal oriented... be funnier... and everything else I said I wanted.

And, when I didn't get what I thought I wanted, I simply put it down to nothing much in particular. What I mean by that is I didn't really take a deep look into the dynamics of what was going on.

The fact of the matter is, there isn't much analysing to do.

Because, whatever I really want, I've got.

And let me broaden this out...

Whatever any of us has wanted, we've got.

And that's a key word, want, because, we either do something to get what we say we want, or... we don't do nothing much in particular.

Now if it's the latter, then what that means is that we never really truly deeply wanted it in the first place!

And that's good to know because why unnecessarily beat ourselves up over something we think we want, but do nothing to get it.

So if I really really wanted a better physique, I'd be creating a plan, a system, a programme of work in order to reach my desired physique. I'd be doing daily things like sit ups, squats, pull ups... I'd be totally aware of how I move through the day. (And, in fact, that's exactly what I've been doing for the last couple of months now and I'm experiencing a wonderful difference in my strength, stamina, 'look', mental clarity, ability to concentrate and get more done)

On the other hand, if all I did was wish a better physique into existence and simply hoped my health would improve with a little half-hearted dabbling here and there, then it's not something I really really want to have happen in my life.

And we can apply that mindshift thinking and processing to ANYTHING we say we want in our lives.

What about those in business?

Can we really want to have our business explode and be the best version of it that it can possibly be?

Sure... if we truly WANT that.

So, if I really wanted that to be the case, to make my business the best possible version that it can be, then I'd have to be working, acting in accordance to a plan of prosperity.

I'd have to be totally consumed with serving my customers and clients with products and services that can benefit their lives.

I'd plan to keep in regular contact and communication with my customers... I'd be listening to what my customers have to tell me... I'd be creating new, joyful experiences for customers, employees and, myself.

I'd commit to doing one task at a time. I'd commit to outsource the things I can't or don't want to do.

Can you see there's a powerful, practical, purposeful difference at play here than merely winging it or hoping that the business will take care of it self, which in turn, will magically, give me what I want?

It's Disneyland thinking. Pixie dust sprinkling.

And the truth of the matter is... (and whether we like hearing it or not, isn't going to make a difference to this truth), all of us have got what we want in our life currently, because... that's what we want!

It's not much more complicated than that.

There's really no need to reach for the long, drawn out services of a psychologist or psychiatrist - this is plain simple stuff -- we either want things, or, we don't. We either do things, or we don't.

The man says to me that his relationship is on a roller coaster of being either one of deep creeping silence and separateness, and then, it changes to one of banging voices, screaming madness and horrible blame.

And when I suggested that that... "that's what you want your relationship to be like or you wouldn't be doing your part", it stopped him, cold.

So, what is it you REALLY WANT? (without having to wait for Santa to shower you with his own idea of what you want!)

Name it, then... go claim it!

www.CoachingByWriting.com

Face to Face With Real Life Fearlessness

So, what do you do when you see a child who's bleeding from the mouth after a fall from the monkey bars at the local playground?

And, what if that child was, your very own!

Well, that's what happened to my five year old daughter a few days ago.

And, quite frankly, I thought I knew what fearlessness meant, until I saw what took place on the surgeon's operating table.

I mean, we've all read about some act of fearlessness, courage and boldness, but, we've probably never really identified or felt it... up close... and, personal.

So when the consulting surgeon said that it's better that the lower lip was operated on (my daughter fell from a height of around five feet, letting go of the monkey bars, but landed on her chin, so pushing her lower teeth through her bottom lip), both my wife and I agreed.

We also agreed that general anesthetic would be better, but, settled for local anesthetic.

So what the surgeon first did was apply an anesthetic gel to the ripped and torn area of my daughter's lower lip.

What happened next, jolted us.

The surgeon said that he was going to apply stitches to the area, now, right at that very moment.

What jolted us was the fact that there was no local anesthetic being given.

When we asked the surgeon, he just said that we should do it now because it just needed to be done, right there and then.

So now I was spread across the surgeon's consulting couch to get in front of my daughter who was propped up against the back support.

I was showing her pictures and videos on my mobile phone, just to distract her attention from the stuff that was about to happen.

My wife positioned herself behind my daughter's head, supporting and comforting her from that position.

The blood was now, flowing.

My daughter, was screaming.

I was fumbling with the various images on the phone, trying to talk through the pictures and videos to my daughter.

The surgeon was stitching, and stitching, and stitching.

It seemed like, an eternity.

I was getting hotter and hotter.

I was sweating, madly.

Like I had some form of tropical fever.

I needed air.

No. I WANTED air!

Desperately.

I removed my sweater with one hand, still fumbling with the phone in the other.

The surgeon looked up at me and asked if I was okay.

"I'm burning up" I told him.

And in a matter of seconds, he'd finished his work.

I was now in the corner, head between my knees.

My daughter was having the blood wiped from around her mouth area. She had five stitches.

I looked up at her from where I was sitting, still a little hot, eyes moist. And totally in awe of what happened.

I'd just witnessed pure courage and fearlessness... in all its glory and reality.

My daughter.

She's my super hero.

Who's yours?

Who Are You Serving?

If you're a coach, consultant or anyone exchanging high value services for money, this will be a rather important message for you.

In fact, if you’re experiencing any sort of lack or frustration in ANY area of life, this will still be rather important for you.

I know many authors, consultants, coaches, public speakers, healers, therapists and professionals of all kinds... who are barely making enough to get by.

Why is that?

Isn't having an armful of qualifications and certificates, enough for people to find us and demand us to take their money?

Well, quite frankly, those who think that way are literally BROKE.

That's because no matter WHAT it is we do as a profession, someone still has to be SERVED.

And that's an important word - served.

So, if you're struggling or if you know someone who is really struggling with their profession, career or business, ask them this question --
WHO ARE YOU SERVING?

Quite frankly, the only thing that counts is helping and serving others.

So, those professionals who sign up for a thousand and one social networking sites and who are intent in building their 'web of influence'... are spending enormous amounts of time, energy and mental capital on their efforts.

But I bet if you ask them 'who are you serving... where is the value that's been transmitted here?'... you'll get that blank, far away look backed up by a stunned silence that they can't quite wrap their heads around.

Because really - that's the only question you need to ask (again and again) - who are you serving - if you ever find that... you're not making the money you want, don't have the clients you want, don't have the life you want.

And the thing about this question is that it cuts through all the self chatter and the inner mumbo jumbo and the pathetic excuses we throw at ourselves.

Because let's face it; we love to defend ourselves, to rationalise, to give justifications to ourselves when things look like they'll hit the fan, the wardrobe and any other item in the house.

Yes. The question really is an EXCUSE BUSTER. And, it's a powerful RECESSION BUSTING tool, also.

And so let's take a short look at our relationships and see how this all fits together.

Ask a friend you meet occassionally, how their relationships are doing, how are they working out?

Well, for most, their relationships are pretty ho-hum.

Nothing new. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing exciting on a day to day basis.

In fact for many, there's a kind of slow, creeping separateness that gets wider and wider and wider.

So, when you find yourself of someone you know in a crapped out relationship, just notice where the focus of attention is.

Is it on the person themselves or, on the other party in the relationship?

Quite honestly, when you really serve others, when you take the concern and the drama off of you, and you focus on helping others, you can't have a relationship that doesn't work!

It's just not possible.

That's because your attention isn't on you, you're not focussing everything on you - instead, you're serving others, you're helping others, you're looking out for their best interests.

So, if you're feeling frustrated, angry, unhappy, unproductive, lethargic, miserable, depressed... simply turn things around and ask...

WHO am I serving here?

And notice this; when you serve others, you become a true hero to those very people you help and serve.

Now tell me that there's a better way to be than that!

Raja Hireker
www.CoachingByWriting.com

Creative Power - On Tap!!

A friend of mine received a tax bill.

It was for an amount that buckled him.

Briefly.

So, what did he do after gathering himself?

He went out for the longest walk of his life.

And what did he DO whilst walking?

He thought.

He thought how could he be of service to others.

He thought how could he offer something jaw dropping and irresistible.

He came back from his long walk and wrote all he could until his fingers ached and bled.

In fact, he wrote pages and pages of notes that contained -- pages and pages of creative ideas.

So what happened to these creative ideas?

Well, he put the best one, into action, into the marketplace.

And, the marketplace... swallowed it up.

Which meant...TAX BILL PAID! (and one happy friend)

So what's really going on here? Where's the REAL power here? (and we ALL possess it)

Well, it's in the QUESTIONS we ASK OURSELVES.

And there's really no 'in-between' here.

Either the questions help, or hinder.

They bring solutions or simply add to the problem.

They create the possibility of happiness, or misery.

So the true skill here, the true power here, is in asking the right questions.

THAT'S THE MASTER ASSET we all have.

It's just that we may not have practiced using this muscle of all muscles. And that too, in a way that creates what we want.

Many business owners ask the WRONG QUESTIONS.

They're asking - how can we cut back here, what can we get rid of, how can I lower my prices, how can I crush the competition, how can I avoid marketing, how can I be tightfisted with my vendors and suppliers...

When instead...

They could be asking questions like

==> How can I be of better service...

==> What can I add that would improve my customer's lives...

==> How can I better respond to my customers' and prospects' needs...

==> How can I communicate more effectively and moreauthentically to my target audience...

==> How can I improve my advertising and marketing so itbrings in a better response from higher quality prospects...

==> What ways can I make my offer irresistible to the prospects and clients I serve...

==> How can I get my target audience to fall in lovewith me, no matter what the economic climate...

==> How can I grow my business, no matter if everyone around me is closing up shop...

==> How can I get my emails read, responded to and acted on...

The thing about these questions is that they're seeking solutions. They're requesting the asker, to find answers which in turn, create momentum and movement. Answers that benefit the end user (- the client, customer or prospect)

What questions are YOU are asking of your business,career or practice?

And...do you find that the questions you do ask, do they help or do they hinder? Do they add joy, or misery? Are they optimistic based, or loaded with pessimism?

Well, when you make a practice of asking the RIGHT questions, you'll soon notice that there's no room on the table for any other kind!

Keep asking those bright creative questions andwatch your business, career or venture... SOAR!

Raja Hireker

http://www.coachingbywriting.com/