About This Site. 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!!
Enjoy.
Click play above
to
see one of Craig's weekly segments on national
television. (9AM with Kim & David - Network Ten)
Attention Website Owners!
How would you like to become an online business partner with
Craig? Click
here
to find out how to become an affiliate of craigharper.com
Life Coach
Melbourne - Craig Harper
If
you are interested in maximizing your potential,
stepping out of that 'holding pattern' and being
privately coached by Craig click here.
Business Coach Melbourne -
Craig Harper
If you're a personal trainer, gym owner or studio owner
who is interested in growing your business and/or your
career, then mentoring with Craig could be a valuable
part of your overall success strategy and professional
development journey.
Biological Age Testing
- Craig Harper
In a recent test, Jan Frazer, who has a chronological age (the
number of years she's been on the planet) of 67 did a biological
age test which showed she has the body of a 37 year old female.
Pretty Impressive! How old is your body! Find out here.
Nutrition Melbourne -
Craig Harper
Many nutritional
experts are confusing people with jargon and pseudo-science.
Craig's HPN Service provides remote access to Craig's Director
of Nutrition to cut through the dietary confusion and
contradiction.
Public Speaking Melbourne - Craig Harper If you've ever
thought about becoming a professional speaker or
improving your public speaking then you can be privately
coached here.
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. This book is perfect for people who have a
history of 'almost' getting in shape.
DVD
or CD - Renovate Your Body - Craig Harper In this entertaining presentation, Craig discusses the
notion of Renovating Your Body - once and for all. Many of us have a curious
ability to be able to get in shape for events (weddings, parties, reunions
and birthdays), if only we'd get in shape for life.
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!
When I was young and silly (last Tuesday) I had a bad habit of trying to keep fifty balls in the air at the same time; a dangerous practice for a man with the motor-skills of a new-born foal. I was always trying to do way too many things at once. Probably too much ego, excitement and enthusiasm and not enough logic or planning. Juggling ain't really my thing. Clearly I'm not a circus performer or Superman, and invariably my attempts to do a whole bunch of things at the same time would result in me doing nothing particularly well. Instead of doing one or two things well, I would end up doing ten things badly. This of course, resulted in frustration, poor results, loss of motivation, disappointment, wasted time and often, a loss of confidence and momentum for me. Sound familiar?
Many of us have so many things that we want to do / achieve / create that we never seem to get focused about any one thing for very long and therefore never really make significant progress or see the changes we want. Before we know it, we're five years older, we're still going around in circles, we're no closer to turning our dreams into reality, and we've dug a hole for ourselves that we can't seem to get out of.
Recently I facilitated a mentoring session with a lady; a new client. She told me about her history and her current life and then we spoke about her dreams and goals for the next five years; what her future life might look like. When I asked her what she wanted to achieve specifically over the next five years she delivered a fifteen minute monologue. "Wow, she has reaaaaaally been thinking about this for a long time", I thought. I went and bought myself some cheesecake, had four coffees, started a new company, made eight phone calls and when I came back she was still going! Well almost. She wants to create and run her own business, undertake and complete a university degree, write a book, travel extensively, compete in a body-shaping competition, do some volunteer work with an international charity, design and launch a range of clothes and become a successful corporate speaker. And that's the abbreviated list. All good goals (if that kinda stuff floats yer boat).
The Problem.
The problem is that she has had these goals (or similar) for the last five years and she's achieved none of them. Not because she doesn't have the ability, but because she has never totally committed herself to any one of those goals; too many balls in the air. Great at starting, crap at finishing. "Something always gets in the way", she told me. "Yep, you and your terrible I-can-do-it-all strategy get in the way", I replied. She always has ten fingers in twenty six pies an as a result, typically achieves not much. Surviving and coping, rather than thriving and creating.
The truth is that we don't complete (or even start) things for all kinds of reasons; procrastination, ignorance, fear, practical issues, poor organisational skills and a bunch more. But far too often, we don't achieve our goals because:
1. We simply don't prioritise - We don't put certain things on hold even though we should because that's what makes the most sense for now. We simply try and do too many things at once. We are unrealistic in our approach. We don't use our time, resources or skills optimally. We work hard not smart. We are very busy achieving not much. We are emotional and reactive, rather than methodical and strategic.
2. We don't totally commit. To succeed at any endeavour we need to totally buy into it; emotionally, psychologically, financially (perhaps) and practically. Half-assed effort equals half-assed results. I see it all the time - people who want amazing results with minimal effort; without doing the work. They are 'sorta, kinda serious' and they hope it will all work out. Things don't work themselves out. You build your best life or you have it shaped for you by situations, circumstances, environments, events and other people - it's a choice. You can continue to be a professional spectator and pathetically hope things will magically work out, or you can get in the game and start scoring yourself. 3. We don't get focused. We have the attention span of a two year-old. We change our mind every five minutes and we get distracted easily. Every week we're gonna do, and be, something different. We need single-minded, unwavering determination and focus, not occasional bursts of enthusiasm. If you're not totally sure about something, don't start it.
4. We constantly doubt ourselves - and we look for others to tell us it will all be okay. Sometimes we are insecure children in grown-up bodies. We feel like fakes and frauds. Join the club; you're not Robinson Crusoe. We've all got issues, doubts and fears. At some stage, everyone feels like they are not good enough, smart enough, talented enough, attractive enough, qualified enough or credible enough to do whatever it is they want to do. Get over it. I'm not a psychologist, a philosopher or a theologian but I spend much of my professional life talking about the psychological, the philosophical and the spiritual. Why? Because it's very relevant to my job and because I don't need any particular qualification to share an idea, a thought, or an opinion and that's what I do. Wanna hear something interesting? I have mentored and coached many psychologists because on some level they like and connect with my unorthodox, praca-demic approach. Alright, are you listening? YOU'RE OKAY! You don't need anyone's permission or approval. You are good enough. You will learn and when you land on your ass - get up! Stop finding reasons to do nothing, reasons to wait. Stop letting fear make your decisions for you. There, you've been told.
Remember that once upon a time Michael Jordon had never thrown a basket, J.K. Rowling was an unknown, wanna-be writer, U2 were a bunch of anonymous musicians and Benny Hinn didn't own a white suit!!
5. We suffer from chronic analysis paralysis - we think and talk too much and do too little. Always analysing and planning, never actually doing. Planning is good but not when it's all we do. Do something today (anything!!) to get you closer. To ignite that spark. To get those wheels turning and to create some momentum.
So, what to do then? Well, if you have a history of too many balls in the air for way too little results, then here's what I suggest...
Prioritise RIGHT NOW. Not tomorrow, not next Tuesday, not when it's convenient, now (okay, after you finish reading this). Get clarity and certainty about what you want most and where and how you should invest your time and energy in the short to medium term (now). Put certain things on the back burner because that's the smartest thing to do for right now. Sometimes we need to be prepared to let go of some things in order to move forward with others. Don't let this freak you out. Commit to doing one or two things exceptionally well and get busy, focused and productive. Be less of a dreamer and more of a doer. Dreamers dream while doers are out there getting shit done. And please stop waiting for some cosmic sign or some kind of approval from someone else. You don't need it; you are good enough.
* Let me know your thoughts and how you go. Just click on the comment thingy... even you chronic lurkers. If you would like to receive articles like this automatically, simply click on the 'subscribe to this feed' thingy at the bottom of this post and become a subscriber.
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Click play above
to
see motivational speaker Craig Harper in action.
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).
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.
Food for thought
- Craig Harper
In this book, Craig Harper
walks the reader through his 21 rules to Permanent Weight Loss.
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.
