This Blog was written in 2014 after I attended or more accurately
whilst I attended a Mastermind Retreat.
I was in a room full of wealthy, super successful, business tycoons…
I was intimated by the company… I made some pretty strong resolutions during that retreat …
As I look back over the last 5 years I am amazed at the growth that has taken place.
If you had asked me then if I would still be married, the answer would have been no…
The Impact defining my purpose and hi-impact coaching has had on my life is huge
But enough from me NOW ..lets read where I was then …
The Nearly Man? So close, but NO Cigar, have you, like me, worked your ass off, trained, fought tooth and nail, to get to the winners circle, covered in the grime of the fight, the sweat stains on your back, the streaks of blood trickling down your face, as the battle scars start to congeal.
Then on the final approach to victory, out of nowhere some squall blows up and knocks you off course literally in the last 100 meters?
You flounder in the water, surrounded by broken dreams, whilst the fleet of boats that you were leading, confidently, with that unassailable lead, sails over the top of you, and you thrash around in the water, slowly recovering to a crap 7th overall …. The Nearly Man strikes …. In Business, In Sport, In Life…Nearly a winner, Nearly successful, Nearly, So Damned Close but never quite making it!
The Nearly Man,
always so sure of the victory…but just not finishing the job?
That was me … Success snatched away. I believed, by fate, by circumstance… but in reality… it was me throwing the victory away… not having the faith in my abilities. I would surrender the winner's circle to once more feel in my comfort zone… I was living a life of failure because that was what I was telling myself I was capable of! What I deserved.
I know that sounds absolutely crazy… but self-belief is a strange thing, and your inner voice will always impact your performance until you are back in your comfort zone…
The Death Of The Nearly Man
Well, The Nearly Man was ejected from flight VS005 En-route To Miami, Florida, last week, he did not want to get off. In fact, he flatly refused to admit he even existed at first. But I pinned him down and threw him out… Now I have to keep him out!
I have just been on a retreat in Miami Florida, with a group of entrepreneurs, like-minded business people.
A disparate group, we have Ex ProFootballers with a massive heart. Serial entrepreneurs, who have vast experience of bringing new products to market, prepared to risk all, to develop their dreams, sometimes losing, but winning enough to keep going. Corporate success's who have worked hard to get to the top, only to find the executive dining room is poisoned by greed.
Hard-working blue-collar workers with a vision of success, legals, property developers, in fact, people from every walk of life, bound by a common purpose of making a difference to the world and themselves. Led by two guys who have the experience and the vision to put together an environment where people of this caliber, thrive, grow and succeed.
Before the final dinner, after all the workshops had been completed, we were all asked for our overriding takeaways from the event…
You have to understand the context, this had become a very tight intimate group. More like a fighting unit than a bunch of businessmen and women … we would cross the world to go to help one of our own…
When it came to my turn to speak, I was nervous. I knew what I wanted to say, but would I be able to express my feelings succinctly and accurately to the group?
Here Is What I Said :
For many years of my life, I have been The Nearly Man… nearly successful, nearly wealthy, nearly retired at 40,
On my journey to the retreat, I determined that I had to leave the nearly man behind. I had a struggle on the flight, and in a state of near panic, nearly decided to not turn up to the event, my mind playing awful tricks on me… But I overcame these fears, left The Nearly Man mid-Atlantic, and arrived at the retreat as the man with hope. Hope that this time I could achieve the success that had eluded me for so long…. probably through my own efforts at self-sabotage… certainly through a critical lack of self-belief….
You see at 16 I was torn from my chosen career path by parents and an education system that did not recognise talent but wanted to ram square pegs into predetermined round holes. I nearly became a diesel fitter/owner-operator of my own fleet of trucks… The Nearly Man
The Nearly Man Visits The Sports Arena
At 23 I was nearly a National Champion in sailing. The Passion in my life, but we blew it! We literally threw the last race with a momentary loss of concentration, capsized, on the last leg, only recovering after enough boats had sailed by to make sure we came away with nothing… ( On reflection, was the championship lost there? No, we should have done well enough in the series to have it wrapped up before this last race….)
At the age of 25 I was doing very well in my secondary career choice, but success was alien to me, just as a promotion was offered to take me to a Senior Area Management role, with a future life of relative ease, away from the endless grind of early mornings and late nights in The Luxury Hotel Trade. I self-sabotaged and moved in the wrong direction to failure… Constant grind, and a career that ultimately ended in a criminal prosecution, so I could never hold a liquor license again The Nearly Man…
My married life has always been one of financial struggles. Love and good grace has kept both my wife and all four children safe. The children have grown into incredibly confident young people, but Dad was still chasing success, almost enjoying the role of the poverty mindset…. forever The Nearly Man… Able to detect the wrong mindset in others but never able to correct it in my self… Physician Heal thyself
Next … A failed shop-fitting firm left me bankrupt. I kidded myself it was bad luck or somebody else's fault, but in truth, my lack of attention to detail, the fine print in contracts, caused that failure… with the money I was making why not hire a specialist? Nearly Men Don't do that… It causes you to win!
So back to the hospitality industry, more years of early mornings and late nights. Watching my children grow up as they slept. I was doing it all for them, but they didn't know me so what was the point… hey I was Nearly a Dad!
It was during this time I was introduced to the Amway Opportunity… again I did well, started to earn money, but a dodgy up-line and poor self-belief, robbed me of the success again …. again, I nearly made it… The Nearly Man… Not Fighting It Out To Victory, accepting what life was giving me, and then quitting!
Early retirement beckoned in the form of a new venture. I had returned to my roots of transport and distribution and was running a successful driver agency. I was able to stop driving and live off the work I supplied to the 10 or so drivers I employed.
A Pattern Of Self Destruction?
Life was good… Too good? It would appear so… I ran into trouble just as I cut my input down. My fourth child had just been born and I was determined to spend time with her and her brothers and sisters… Nearly Dad No More!
I had set up a driver agency, but it was built on poor foundations, without legal protection. I allowed my contracts to be stolen and I was left with no income, again… so nearly retired and so nearly wealthy, but No, The Nearly Man was at it again.
A Final Opportunity?
I was looking for ways to replace my lost pension, and was looking for a way to replace the passive income that eluded me in The Amway Opportunity. I loved the pay plan and the principle of MLM. That I could not enjoy success until I had helped others to succeed. However, the endless recruitment, the countless miles, the relentless churn of people getting in getting excited then quitting, was just soul destroying…
Then, I found what looked like an online version, but with huge differences, systems, support, and no focus on sales or recruitment… The perfect vehicle… seriously?
Could The Nearly Man really make it … at last?
In Conclusion
So in coming to Miami in hope. I was looking for the inspiration to change the way I thought, to dispel the story I was telling myself, a story that I did not deserve success, that I should remain in poverty… I am part of the best training and development system for business owners and entrepreneurs, … I say part of … let us be straight…
I am a Founding Member Of The Digital ExpertsAcademy.
A Training platform that has and will produce countless independent millionaires and multimillionaires. The Co-Founders have earned in excess of $40mm since they started in this industry 8 or so years ago….
And here I was The Nearly Man, about to self destruct again….
The Nearly Man – No More
As I finished my tale of my path to Miami, I proudly said … The Nearly Man was left at the halfway point over the Atlantic… I arrived in hope.
But I leave with true belief… belief in myself, belief in the system, BUT, most importantly, the belief that I Will WIN! The Nearly Man – No More
I have the support of the rest of the group and in that support … The True Knowledge that I will succeed… … and of course now they all know of The Nearly Man, they will absolutely NOT allow me to relapse into that self-sabotaging role again…
The Nearly Man has gone …. I know that I am at the point of finishing the job. I have the tools, and the support, to finally be the winner I was destined to be….
But What About You?
Have you achieved everything you want out of life? Do you finish up the winner, or like me, do you get so far, then life seems determined to trip you up… rob you of your just desserts, just when you are about to enter the winners circle, someone sticks out a leg and rather then standing proud on the rostrum with the accolades and the medals, you end up sprawling in the dirt, bleeding and dispirited.
Well, The Digital Experts Academy is open.
Understand though, this is an opportunity that will require capital investment and work.
You will be going back to school to learn
- how to work smart,
- not hard,
- to produce residual passive incomes,
- not a salary,
- Where you learn to think for yourself,
- not be spoon-fed all the answers,
- where you will be trained to become a self-sufficient business person
- who will be able to withstand,
- bad economies,
- stupid governments,
- and the whims of the stock market.
If this seriously sounds like you… then cast off your mantle of The Nearly Man, and get some serious information that will change your life
I look forward to seeing you soon
Take Care
