We are well into 2012 now. So how are you doing in relation to your new year resolutions? Have you started? Have you given up? Did you even set any resolutions or goals? Goals may seem boring but they are very important, if you don’t have a goal then what is there to aim for? Where are you going? Do you ever feel as though your life is confusing? Do you repeat the same mistakes? Do the same things keep happening over and over again in your life? When you think about the future is it hazy or clear? Imagine getting in to your car and just driving, you have no destination you just drive. It may be ok to do this; some people even relax by going for a leisurely drive with no destination in mind. But its important to remember that you are driving aimlessly you have no [...] Read more »

When you look in the mirror what do you see? I don’t mean labels like man, woman, husband, wife, son or daughter. What do you see underneath these labels? Are you a failure, a success, strong, weak, powerful or worthless? You see, what you actually see in the mirror is what you have created.Everyone has a story to tell and that story will go along way towards defining the person in the mirror. It’s important to remember that it is you who is telling yourself the story. People like your parents may have helped you to start the story they may have even written the opening chapter or even chapters of your story. But it is you who have carried it on. It’s just a story but it is a very powerful one. So what are you telling yourself? Is your life great, ordinary or even crap? Are you as [...] Read more »

“When you’re down on your luck and life aint worth a dime, find a girl with far away eyes” These words are from an old rolling stones song. I don’t really know what they mean but I like the song and its sentiment. When you’re down on your luck that can be a pretty shitty place. Maybe the girl with far away eyes is meant to represent alcohol or drugs as these are the things that a lot of people turn to in depressing times. When things get tough it is so tempting to run away and hide or even detach from reality. Drink and drugs distort reality they can even make it seem better for a short while, but even they come with a price to pay. Everything, including this precious life has its price and maybe that price is suffering as some spiritual texts say. I know that [...] Read more »

Your perception is your reality but what does this statement mean? Our perceptions are the way we interpret all of the information coming into our consciousness from the world around us. Imagine that when you were born you were fitted with a pair of invisible contact lenses. You are not aware that these contact lenses even exist let alone that you wear a pair. Your contact lenses are blue so you see everything in the world as being blue. Your best friend or partner has a red pair of contact lenses and so sees everything in the world as red. You can imagine the conversation these two people would have about the world and especially the colour of it. We are all wearing imaginary contact lenses and our perceptions are mainly coloured or even clouded by our beliefs. We all see the same events in the world but our lenses [...] Read more »

Kill the Messenger Why were some of the greatest people in history killed? Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mohammed’s life was threatened for years. Everyone can see, no matter what your beliefs may be, that all of these people were amazing human beings, so what did they do that was so wrong to deserve to get killed? They dared to be different, they went against the establishment, they were considered to be too dangerous to let walk around this planet. Human beings do not like change so when some one comes along, like a Jesus type of figure and says you can change your whole world, people get scared. Maybe that fear is because at a deep level we know that what these great people say is true. We are meant to be more than we currently are and that is scary. It’s scary because it means letting go of [...] Read more »

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” This is one of my favorite pieces [...] Read more »

What is your intent? And why is your intent so important? The dictionary definition of the word intent that I like says, Having the mind and will focused on a specific purpose. I am very much into my martial arts and I have noticed over the years that the best martial artists are the ones with intent. They are going to win no matter what the cost. I am not saying that this is right or wrong, I am not here to judge but that level of intent is very powerful. When ever I talk to someone like John Awesome Anderson about his times as a doorman in Coventry one of the things that really strikes me is the guy’s intent. When he got into a physical situation that he knew was going to get violent and there was no other way out, his intent was to knock the guy [...] Read more »

My friend owns a brand new shiny Jaguar (the car not the cat). He is a top guy and has worked hard for the comforts he has now got in his life. He would even say and I would have to agree, that he has earned the right to have these comforts by going through so much discomfort. However recently we were talking about finances and about how money was such a big issue for a lot of people including ourselves. I have reached a point in my life where I am happy with whom I am as a person. I know that I still have lots of issues and areas to work on but as a human being I can accept that I am ok, I am a good person and this self acceptance is a very powerful feeling. We both agreed that money wasn’t really that important in [...] Read more »

The new year is well and truly up and running. I keep hearing in the news usually Sky News which prides itself on repeating the same news every 15 minutes. That this is going to be a tough year but so far its just like any other year. Why do the news reporters love negative news? They thrive on it! January is normally a quiet month in the gym world but this year it has started with a bang, are people sticking two fingers up to those negative reporters? We have big planes for the real combat system, we are starting a new advanced master class in April which we intend to make very powerful, hard but powerful and most definitely life changing. The gradings are going well and we are getting some quality people into our system, standards are high but that’s how we like it. I think maybe [...] Read more »

Here it is another new year, a chance for a fresh start. Most of us are full of enthusiasm at this time of year and are promising to make great changes in our lives. So what happens? Its January the 1st today and I have already seen people on Face Book saying they have broken their new years resolutions and the year is not even a day old! Obviously because of the areas I work in, counselling/coaching this is a fascinating subject to me. The conclusion I have reached is that we all have a default setting. This is quite hard to write about because I know it might upset a few people but I am honest if nothing else. Those of you who think you have life sorted and know all the answers and I have met a few people like this. They are usually the loud, outwardly very [...] Read more »