RAISING SELF ESTEEM

Next week I am coaching a group of 20 youngsters. They are with me for 6 hours each day for 4 days. I have several goals over that period:

• For us all to have fun
• To play and teach them some new skills
• To raise their awareness
• To help them achieve more
• To have them understand more
• To raise their self esteem

I have delivered the program many times before and this is I think my 7th time with this organisation but it will be the first time with this particular group. In fact, they are not a group and most won't know each other.

This week I am redesigning some components of the program so I will post agian later wityh some comments and observations on what I am doing, why and then next week I'll report on the success.

For now

John Gordon
The Inside Out Coach
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

ZIDANE ISN'T SORRY!

After all that!

We all make mistakes but hopefully we learn from them. We take corrective action and be seen to be doing so. Our response to life is what matters.

People are forgiving IF they see true learning, forgiveness and change, growth.

We can make a huge error disappear, with some appropriate action.

But we can also make a small error into a lasting problem if our response is one of denial, refusal, arrogance or whatever. If we blame others and do not take responseability for our own actions, then there are no lessons learned and everyone can see that change and growth are not forth coming and that there is a likelihood therefore that the same or similar or worse will happen again.

Whatever happens, it is our response that shapes us ... and an apology is a first step in our response ability.

John Gordon
The Indside Out Coach
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

ZIDANE WORLD CUP HEADBUTT

"Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones......"!



Did you find that astonishing? I did. There's been SO much media coverage that there is no need to go over and over that again. But I did find it amazing just how such a person could, and would do such a thing at such a major occasion with the whole world viewing.

Whatever drove him to do that?

Well, according to reports, it was a few words.

That's it .... a few words!

And it got me thinking.....

I coach on the use of language, for rapport and persuasion, for marketing, communication and relationship building. Marco Materazzi allegedly used words fro negative, destructive purposes. I think soccer 'stars' must be used to that. So what triggered such a reaction in Zidane?

More to the point, what words can we use to trigger a reaction, positive reactions like making decisions and taking action in our clients, customers and prospects.

Is there something you could write or say to them that would make them respond, react in an instant?

To do so no matter what the situation or what they were doing. So important it had to be done there and then!

The answer is to do with those key motivators of pleasure and pain. Zidane felt pain and his hurt was greater than the potential pleasure of letting go. To move away from the pain and towards a kind of pleasure his auto-response was to take the action seen above. To stop his mind auto-responding in this way he clearly need some re-programming, to build his self esteem.

The important thing is not what happens but how we respond to what happens.

More about this next time.

John Gordon
The Inside Out Coach
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

QUICK CHANGES

Later I'll be writing about some tools and strategies for achieving change. Whenever we change we must leave our comfort zone and stretch a little.

But before I do that ... here's some inspiration where quick changes happened over and over so fast ... it was the onlookers, the spectators, those who were judging who were floored.



Enjoy this and I'll makes some more comments tomorrow.

John
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

ESSENCE

Here's a 'Newsnight' tribute to Syd.

At the end, Joe Boyd (from The UFO Club) says that "there is still a tremendous influence of Syd's sensibility in all the songs that Roger wrote and Dave wrote ..." That's over a period of 30 plus years.

Such is the power of creating from within and allowing growth organically, ensuring that the original core values and beliefs and essence is developed but retained. And that's why Pink Floyd are still a success today.

There's much to be learned from this topical example, one I not only have empathy with but a person and lifestyle that provided me with many other life tools during some vital years of teenage change and growth. More on that when I am able.

John Gordon
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

JASON GARFIELD & BLISS DISS

The lessons learned!

OK, did you see Chris Bliss 3 Ball juggling in the last post?
If not ... watch it now. Then ... watch the one below. It's Jason Garfield upstaging him.



Now you've seen them both?

Which did you prefer?

Why?

For me there is a huge difference ... but I guess it depends upon what you want and what you got out of them. And when we deliver something to people ... could be customers but also when we share anything with anybody, we are contributing to that moment. We are 'using' other people's time and should be aware of that.

When I watch entertainers, I hope that they have considered their audience. Maybe Chris and jason did that, and realised perhaps that their audiences are different. You see, I think Chris' original performance is not just better but miles better. Did you?

But why?

Several reasons:
1) He created it (and it shows)
Even if it were flawed, the originality is worth big points.
That in itself is a lesson worth noting. Don't wait until somebody else does it and then hope to match or even improve. People remember and credit 'primacy'.
Who was the second person to fly? Who was the second man on the moon? Who was the second person to do anything?

2) It's not about numbers
Some juggling is, but this is not. And I guess that's why some may just prefer Jason's, if thye are into more balls and the patterns this allows. And, especially at a juggling convention, that's an important factor. But I believe that at the end, the comments are about the juggler's prowess with numbers. More is not better. In fact it is limiting! The focus on dealing with the numbers doesn't allow for the range of expresion that Chris achieves.

3) It's about soul
And that's the main point. By limiting to basic numbers, Chris frees himself to inject another important factor; emotion. Chris' routine has heart and soul and full expression of him as a juggler and person. Jason delivers a very different message with his routine.
And the reason it 'shows' in the original is, of course, because the act of creation is inherent in the presentation. It's inseparable. You can see Chris' expression being delivered via juggling.

Are your customers, potential customers aware of who you are? DO you express your beliefs and attidude in what you do? One essential in establishing a relationship with others is creating rapport. If you reveal something about yourself in this manner, wouldn't this go a long way to building trust, likeability and rapport?

This doesn't mean juggling or even putting out videos of you at work (although that's an interesting strategy I will deal with later) but it may mean you could look at the text, the pictures, the graphics, the images on your publicity material and see what they reveal about you. If you can 'share' some personal emotions as Chris Bliss does, I believe that your personal and busines relationships would flourish.

For now.....

John Gordon
The Inside Out Coach
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

3 BALL JUGGLING LESSON

The lesson is in the video. Take a look at Chris Bliss and I'll post later and ask you something about it and what we can learn from it.



That's it for now. Back later with the lesson.

John
The Inside Out Coach
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

GOODBYE SYD

I grew up with Roger Barrett aka Syd. And now he's gone. From the age of 11 years I spent time with Syd almost every day. We learned to play guitar together we learned to draw and paint and we experienced all that teenage life in Cambridge was to offer.

Syd and I had endless guitar jam sessions at Cambridge Tech which was also home to Cambridge College of Art which we both attended. After two years there, Syd moved to London to pursue fine arts at Camberwell and I remained in Cambridge for a further three years to graduate. I co-created the infamous 'Jokers Wild' with Dave Gilmour, Clive Welham, Tony Sainty, Dave Altham, Willie Wilson and others.

It is many many years since I have seen Syd. I believe the last time was at a flat in South Kensington, London (which had been used as a movie location). By then he and I had changed. We still clicked but only when his mind was able to be 'present'.

I awoke this morning with 'See Emily Play' on the radio. It jettisoned me back over 40 years and I've not stopped thinking about those teenage years all day. I've had 'Interstellar Overdrive' and 'Arnold Layne' running through my head whilst swimming in psychedelic images from those early lightshows we used to create in my flat near the College (projected at night out of the door, across the road onto the white house opposite). I wonder if they ever knew what it was lighting up their bedroom curtains in the middle of the night. We knew ... it was the beginning of a genius and his tortured life to come.

Shine On Syd ...

'Johnny' Gordon
www.MagicWorks.co.uk

Great photos here (I may have even taken one of these)
http://members.aol.com/pgrsel/barrett/index.htm

http://www.sydbarrett.it/

Syd's Wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barrett

What Syd Barrett means to me
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1818256,00.html

RIP PINK FLOYD'S SYD BARRETT:
SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/07/rip_syd_barrett.html

SUMMER LAUNCH

This blog has been inactive as I have been recovering from some personal disasters. A chance to apply some personal coaching on myself! Hmmmmmh ... more about that in good time.

Anyway, the website related to this blog is underway and will launch soo. When it does, I'll post here and then submit some links, some extracts and some previews.

Watch this space.

In the meantime, I am busy coaching a variety of clients in reaching Peak Performance. this begins with an 'Inner Game' and perhaps I'll post an exercise for interested parties soon.
Until then.....

John Gordon
www.TurningInsideOut.com