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This site is the website of motivational speaker Craig Harper. A constantly updated, one-stop information, inspiration, education and motivation station. Unlike many similar sites, it is a totally free resource for anyone who is serious about moving from mediocre to amazing in any area of their personal or professional life. With hundreds of articles covering a wide range of subject matter, great interviews with cool people and inspirational video posts, there's more than enough brain-food to keep you busy for hours. Okay, days!!
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Craig's Best Selling Books,  DVD's, CD's

   
personal development dvdDVD - Renovate Your Body
In this entertaining presentation, Craig discusses the notion of Renovating Your Body - once and for all. (Also available on CD).
 

Craig Harper - Fattitude.Fattitude.
While many books focus on food, Craig Harper teaches that creating life-long change is more about the dieter, than the actual diet. This book is perfect for people who have a history of 'almost' getting in shape.

   
Craig Harper - Food for thought.Food for thought.
In this book, Craig Harper walks the reader through his 21 rules to Permanent Weight Loss.
   
Craig Harper - So you've decided you want to get in shape (again).So you've decided you want to get in shape (again).
Imagine a pocket-sized fitness book that takes just twenty minutes to read. Craig Harper addresses the REAL getting-in-shape issues.
   
Craig Harper - Food, Exercise, and Lifestyle DiaryCraig Harper - Food, Exercise, and Lifestyle Diary. If you're serious about your training, nutrition, and lifestyle - Craig Harper's training diary is an invaluable tool.


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Welcome to Craig's site.

Craig Harper is a leading motivational speaker and educator. He is a highly sought-after corporate coach and is considered to be a leader and pioneer in the areas of personal and professional development. Working with hundreds of teams, companies and a wide variety of organisations on numerous continents over the last twenty years has given Craig a unique insight into, and understanding of, human performance and all its variables. Craig has an ability to educate, inspire, challenge and make people laugh all at the same time!
 

Renovate Your Life Blog


Tuesday, January 8, 2008
How to Operate a Human.
If you buy a television, a car, an iPod, a blender or pretty much anything these days, you can be sure of one thing - an accompanying 'user-manual'. A book or leaflet which tells you how to 'drive' your new acquisition. Yep, even a carton of milk comes with specific and detailed user instructions on the side. Who would have thought that pouring milk could be such a complicated and potentially high-risk process?

One of the many ironies of our world is that the most intricate, amazing and complex 'machine' in existence (the human body), comes with no instruction manual. "Here yer go Mr and Mrs Harper; one loud, screaming, kinda slimy small human - enjoy that. Er, him. I know you probably have lots of questions, but just take him home; you'll figure it out. You've got a while."

Sure, there have been numerous 'manuals' written on the most effective way to operate a human, but if you invest the time and energy to read them, you'll find that, as user-manuals go, they're mostly kind of confusing, somewhat contradictory (to the other manuals) and really, really, long. And the reality is that sometimes, in certain situations we don't have the time to go and refer to our manual anyway. Then what?

If only the human body had some kind of inbuilt feedback system to tell us what it needs. That would be cool. Kind of like an interactive, living, breathing user-manual. It could tell us things like when we need to eat less or more. Or when we need more sleep or rest. Or when we're dehydrated. Or injured. Or when we're over-trained. Or unfit and unhealthy. Or when we need to change a behaviour or habit in some way. It would give us some physical signals maybe. We might call them symptoms. If that were the case, then we could simply interpret these signals and adjust our behaviour accordingly to create the desired outcomes. That would be easy and efficient. We wouldn't need to rely on a written user-manual because ours would be inbuilt! An automatic and instant feedback system of sorts. What a concept. Wouldn't that be amazing? A machine that tells you what it needs. How advanced.

For example, we could interpret obesity as our body's way of saying "er, excuse me, I think you're feeding me too much and moving me too little", and we'd simply eat less and move more; bingo - fixed! Or we could interpret our yellow teeth, stinky breath and decreased lung capacity as our body's way of saying "hey, I'm really not a fan of this smoking thing"! Maybe we could see the on-going headaches, the lethargy, the white crap on our tongue and the irritability as a sign that our body might want to drink something other than coffee, coke and alcohol every now and then. Water perhaps. Or maybe we could consider our typical poor health to be an indicator that we need to change something significant about the way we live, rather than pop another pill. Crazy stuff I know, but just imagine if this were reality. We'd all be so healthy and functional.

Well, fortunately for us, in 2008 we have the luxury of talking 'user-manuals'. Phew. We call them 'experts'; doctors, psychologists, dietitians, personal trainers, physical therapists, dentists and a whole bunch of people (mainly medical folk) whose job title ends in the word(?) - 'ologist'. How lucky are we? Yep, these experts can tell us how to most effectively operate a human. How to eat optimally. How to treat injuries and illness. How to talk to other humans (can be tricky). How to exercise a human body and make it work more efficiently. And most importantly, how to make a human look good. Apparently, how a human looks is more important that how it operates. Not sure why though. I'm still researching that. Although there is much public debate about what is visually appealing. When it comes to dressing a human, it seems that there is no real consensus. Sorry, I digress.

But what if talking user-manuals are not always the answer either? Sure, they have some knowledge and they sound smart enough, but what happens when we ask ten different 'experts' the same question? Brain-ache, that's what. Confusion and despair. How are we non-experts meant to sift through the ever-expanding sea of conflicting ideas, schools of thought and philosophies on how best to operate a human, if they can't all agree?

If only someone would invent a human body which would provide us with constant feedback about what it needed. Then we'd be set. Then we'd all be healthy.

*Now, before you 'experts' get all precious and write in and tell me how irresponsible I am, listen up. I am not for one moment suggesting that professionals with specialist knowledge, skills and expertise should not be an integral and valuable part of any overall health strategy - when necessary. I refer people to a wide range of specialists often (apparently I'm meant to be one).

What I am saying (if you missed my rather obvious and sarcastic point) is that this marvelous machine that we call the human body is constantly 'telling us' what it does and doesn't need - how to operate it. Unfortunately, over time we have trained ourselves not to speak it's language; to ignore its voice.
If we would simply listen to, and act upon, the constant stream of information that our body sends to our brain (our very own inbuilt user-manual), we would be a much healthier population and some of us 'experts' might have to find a second job. I'd be okay with that. I could always start a blog.

Today's take-home Message: Stop ignoring (neglecting, abusing, compromising) your body.

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Motivational Speaker - Craig Harper
Craig Harper is one of Australia's most respected motivational speakers and educators. Some of Craig's recent clients include:

  • Alinta

  • Telstra

  • ANZ Bank

  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia

  • National Australia Bank

  • Corporate Express

  • Pricewaterhouse Coopers

  • Department of Infrastructure

  • Department Planning and Community Development

  • Simplot Australia

  • Porter Davis Homes

  • Rothschild Merchant Bank

  • Royal Children's Hospital

  • Fernwood Fitness Centres

  • Flour Daniel

  • Brivis

  • Sensis

  • Western Water

  • South East Water

For more information on booking Craig click here.

Some nice words about Craig:

"We had our annual conference over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th Feb, 2008 and we had Craig Harper as one of our presenters. He was wonderful, funny and professional, and he got our message through to the staff in a positive and fun way. He was loved by all!"

Ally Memic, IMCD, Australia

 
Craig's Most Popular Articles
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Low Fat Meals that Aren't.
A Dog's Life
Craig Meets Lance Armstrong
Smells Like Team Spirit
The Value of Criticism

Single? What's WRONG with Him?

Celebrate the Weirdo

Weight-Loss Bullshit

The Muffin-Top Pioneer

The Thief of Time
Living in Fat City
Sure, girls are cool.. but I so don't wanna be one
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Recent Life Lessons by Craig
Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs (part 2)
Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs (part 1)
Melbourne RYL
Don't Always Believe the Science
2008... and a Half
A Solution to Global Obesity... YOU!
Where are the Blokes?
Where Happiness Lives
The Sit-down Generation
Knowing what to ask
More life lessons like these...
 

 

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Motivational Speaker - Archived Articles click here for more lessons and laughs

 
         

Craig's Best Selling Books,  DVD's, CD's

   
personal development dvd

 

 



DVD - Renovate Your Body - Craig Harper

In this entertaining presentation, Craig discusses the notion of Renovating Your Body - once and for all. (Also available on CD).

Craig Harper - Fattitude.

 

 


Fattitude - Craig Harper
While many books focus on food, Craig Harper teaches that creating life long change is more about the dieter than the actual diet.

Craig Harper - Food for thought.

 

 

Food for thought - Craig Harper
In this book, Craig Harper walks the reader through his 21 rules to Permanent Weight Loss.

Craig Harper - So you've decided you want to get in shape (again).

 

 

So you've decided you want to get in shape (again) - Craig Harper
Imagine a pocket-sized fitness book that takes just twenty minutes to read. Craig Harper addresses the REAL getting-in-shape issues.

 

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