This is a newsletter from somebody who I respect and admire, someone who came having very little, in the way of money, skills and knowledge to someone who now boasts a huge treasure trove of these things. This is the story of Geoff Thompson a factory sweeper and doorman who had ambitions of being a writer…
I worked in a factory. I swept floors. Now I am sitting in the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square London watching the gala premier (on the biggest screen in the capital) of my first feature film Clubbed.So don’t tell me that it can’t be done. It can be done. It is being done. I was a nightclub bouncer in a beer sticky Coventry club where aspiration got clubbed like a beached seal. Now I am sitting in Cineworld, Broad Street Birmingham presenting the British premier of my first full length screenplay to hundreds of people.So don’t tell me that it can’t be done. It can be done. It is being done.I am stood with the cast and crew of Clubbed before tens of thousands of fans at the Birmingham City football ground. It is half time, the green turf is our red carpet and as a celebration of our film we are being presented with a Clubbed football shirt signed by all the players. So…don’t tell me that it can’t be done. It can be done. It is being done.I am sat on a factory toilet surrounded by the hum of spinning lathes and the oil of hard labour and I am writing my first book (Watch My Back) using reporters pads and a biro (with perfunctory chewed lid). I am writing about exploits experienced in my employ as a club bouncer. I don’t own a typewriter; I don’t even know anyone that owns a typewriter, so I have no conception of how to take my words from biro to presentable document. I only know a compulsion that drives my coal-face experiences to the white-lined page – which I do. Later, after much disappointment and rejection I got the book published and now it has a global audience.So don’t tell me…’it can’t be done!’ It can be done. It is being done. I am at the French premier of Clubbed. We are in love-capital Paris. The film has played in dubbed French and the audience are standing with their ovation. This film was born in oil floor and shit and through restriction, and now we are here, in the film capital of the world, celebrating its life….so don’t, do not, tell me that it cannot be done. It can be done. It is being done.I am sat in my front room and my chest is an accordion of sob that are as savage as a football hooligan. I am reading a vitriolic ‘script appraisal’ (fifteen pages of spleen-vent that is writhing in ire) of my first attempt (1997) at a screen play and the words stab like a death row injection.Now I am at the BAFTAs lifting a heavy mask before the world and thanking God for my first major award ( for Brown Paper Bag).So don’t tell me that it can’t be done. It can be done. It is being done.I am sitting on the stairs of my too-small-abode with its worrying repayments and I am reading my latest rejection letter with the unkind PS ‘not sure who would want to read a book about a Coventry bouncer!’Now I sit here with over 300,000 sales, hundreds of published articles, commissioned and acted stage plays, front cover profiles, a TV series, film deals, book contracts and awards in their plethora. Apparently a lot of people want to read about a Coventry bouncer. So please, please do not tell me that it cannot be done. It can be done. It is being done.I am telling you that success is a choice not a lottery.I am showing you that the dream is a mass option and not minority caviar. I am the embodiment. You don’t have to be a great talent (talent will develop) you just need to be a tenacious warrior, a man that is scared but not frightened of being scared, a man that is sensitive, but who does not cower and hide from sensitivity, a man that is in trembling awe of his potential, but who marinates in his awe. Am who gets knocked down by criticism 7 times, but gets up eight times. Don’t, please don’t try to tell me that it cannot be done.It can be done.Man, it is being done!And if I can do it, if others can do it, you can do it too.Be well.Geoff Thompson.
“Clubbed” the movie based around Geoff’s life story is in selected cinemas now, see details www.clubbedthemovie.com. (Email produced with permission from Geoff Thompson)
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Good habits? Bad Habits?
Habits, we all have them good or bad. But how are they created?
A habit is created when we do something enough times consciously that it becomes embedded into our unconscious mind and we become unaware of the behaviour. Research shows that on average an action is transformed into a habit after it is performed 21 times.
How many times have you wanted a cup of tea and found yourself in the kitchen flicking the kettle switch? That’s an ingrained habit.
So how can we change a bad habit? The best and most powerful way is to use Hypnosis as I can bypass the conscious protection mechanism of your habit to create a different behaviour or you can try this exercise?
Firstly become aware of what other role this habit can be replaced with that is positive for you, e.g. if you were biting your nails, you may wish to chew gum, or if you were drinking too many sugary drinks you could drink water.
Once you have a replacement, more appropriate behaviour, the first thing is to notice the process that happens and relax. So if you were biting your nails, notice what you were thinking and feeling inside and be specific! Take a couple of nice breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth, relax your posture. Were there pictures, were you saying something to yourself, where was the feeling, in your stomach, chest, head shoulders, what did it feel like, tight, heavy, warm, cold?
Once you have the awareness of the process you will be able, not only to stop it more quickly but have a greater awareness of your unconscious impulses. It’s like a train, if you try to stop it after it has moved a few yards it’s easier to stop, but once it builds up speed, it becomes almost impossible to stop.
So each time you notice this habit a little sooner you begin to build greater and greater control over it, until you have created a new positive habit after repeating the new behaviour 21 times.
I recognise there are those of you that have their reasons for not having the patience to do this, so if you want me to help stop your train, call me now on 024 7667 5520.
A habit is created when we do something enough times consciously that it becomes embedded into our unconscious mind and we become unaware of the behaviour. Research shows that on average an action is transformed into a habit after it is performed 21 times.
How many times have you wanted a cup of tea and found yourself in the kitchen flicking the kettle switch? That’s an ingrained habit.
So how can we change a bad habit? The best and most powerful way is to use Hypnosis as I can bypass the conscious protection mechanism of your habit to create a different behaviour or you can try this exercise?
Firstly become aware of what other role this habit can be replaced with that is positive for you, e.g. if you were biting your nails, you may wish to chew gum, or if you were drinking too many sugary drinks you could drink water.
Once you have a replacement, more appropriate behaviour, the first thing is to notice the process that happens and relax. So if you were biting your nails, notice what you were thinking and feeling inside and be specific! Take a couple of nice breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth, relax your posture. Were there pictures, were you saying something to yourself, where was the feeling, in your stomach, chest, head shoulders, what did it feel like, tight, heavy, warm, cold?
Once you have the awareness of the process you will be able, not only to stop it more quickly but have a greater awareness of your unconscious impulses. It’s like a train, if you try to stop it after it has moved a few yards it’s easier to stop, but once it builds up speed, it becomes almost impossible to stop.
So each time you notice this habit a little sooner you begin to build greater and greater control over it, until you have created a new positive habit after repeating the new behaviour 21 times.
I recognise there are those of you that have their reasons for not having the patience to do this, so if you want me to help stop your train, call me now on 024 7667 5520.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
New Years Resolutions?
It’s that time again, the bins are full of wrapping paper awaiting the local councils to collect and most of us are feeling bloated and tired.
But today, we make a resolution to change! To lose weight, stop smoking, be a better person, get a better job or whatever drives you. But how long do we keep on with this decision to change?
Statistics show that only as few as 3% of these new resolutions are still in effect on the 1st of February, so how can we increase or chance of change?
Much research has been done over the years into the subject of motivation, what stimulus creates a desire to do something? Overall it has been agreed that people fall into two categories, those who move away from pain and those who move towards pleasure (stick and carrot motivations). "Ah that's me!" you may think but it's a little more complicated than that.
Dependant on the context i.e. be it in a family situation, work or maybe with a friend you may behave differently (because of your internal belief and value system). So in a situation say, like work you may do things because your boss tells you to and you worry about losing your job and this works for you, but other people will be motivated by promises of promotion or extra income and enjoy the extra work because of this.
Also people have different degrees of how much carrot (moving towards pleasure) and how much stick (moving away from pain) they prefer. So your boss could say if they knew you were mostly motivated by the carrot incentive but required a small amount of stick, "If you complete that work by Friday I am going to reward you all with free drinks at the bar, but if it's not done you will have to stay over Monday until it's done."
Imagine if you knew what motivated you, or if you knew what motivated those people in your life, how much easier would your life be?
Write down your goals for the new year in the present tense i.e. “I exercise regularly and am slim and healthy!”, then allow yourself to become comfortable in a quiet place and close your eyes. Picture this person that you want to become, what do they look like, how do they move, how and what do they say to themselves?
When you are happy with the movie of this new you, rewind it and step into that new you. See what they see, hear what they hear and feel what they feel.
Do this exercise each night before bed and each morning upon awakening to reprogramme your unconscious mind for these successful outcomes!
Happy New Year!
Nick
But today, we make a resolution to change! To lose weight, stop smoking, be a better person, get a better job or whatever drives you. But how long do we keep on with this decision to change?
Statistics show that only as few as 3% of these new resolutions are still in effect on the 1st of February, so how can we increase or chance of change?
Much research has been done over the years into the subject of motivation, what stimulus creates a desire to do something? Overall it has been agreed that people fall into two categories, those who move away from pain and those who move towards pleasure (stick and carrot motivations). "Ah that's me!" you may think but it's a little more complicated than that.
Dependant on the context i.e. be it in a family situation, work or maybe with a friend you may behave differently (because of your internal belief and value system). So in a situation say, like work you may do things because your boss tells you to and you worry about losing your job and this works for you, but other people will be motivated by promises of promotion or extra income and enjoy the extra work because of this.
Also people have different degrees of how much carrot (moving towards pleasure) and how much stick (moving away from pain) they prefer. So your boss could say if they knew you were mostly motivated by the carrot incentive but required a small amount of stick, "If you complete that work by Friday I am going to reward you all with free drinks at the bar, but if it's not done you will have to stay over Monday until it's done."
Imagine if you knew what motivated you, or if you knew what motivated those people in your life, how much easier would your life be?
Write down your goals for the new year in the present tense i.e. “I exercise regularly and am slim and healthy!”, then allow yourself to become comfortable in a quiet place and close your eyes. Picture this person that you want to become, what do they look like, how do they move, how and what do they say to themselves?
When you are happy with the movie of this new you, rewind it and step into that new you. See what they see, hear what they hear and feel what they feel.
Do this exercise each night before bed and each morning upon awakening to reprogramme your unconscious mind for these successful outcomes!
Happy New Year!
Nick
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