Here's One I Prepared Earlier...

Do you remember Blue Peter?  Do you remember when they would build a doll's house or a rocket made from a Fairly Liquid bottle?  And sometimes you could send away an SAE and get the instructions.  Well, when I saw the Action Man Quartermasters Stores, I was hooked!  I convinced my mother to part with a 1st class stamp and an envelope, and when that sheet came in I started on my project immediately.  Sticky wood-effect paper for the flooring, half a ping pong ball for the light shade, and the rifle rack that I already owned.

But here's the interesting part to this story - for me anyway.  While I was building it, I was also teaching an invisible audience how to build it at the same time!  I mean, out loud!

In NLP they call this modelling.  

At 10 years old I was replicating what I'd just watched the week before - I was building something and teaching an audience how to build it as I went along...

I guess once a Coach, always a Coach.

Many years later I spent 7 years studying martial arts - in particular Lau Gar Kung Fu.  Of the 64 of us that enrolled in that first class, after 7 years we were down to one - and it was me!  The disadvantage was that I got a lot less personal tuition than the rest of the class - it made sense for the teacher to teach all the other grades and spend what time was left with me.  The advantage was I got to teach, and that I really enjoyed. And all of my pupils went on to pass their gradings and win their next belt.

Skip forward to 2007 and I launched The Fully Booked Bootcamp.  This was a 12 month programme for people who had an idea for a business, and my job was to teach them how to launch it, market it and make it profitable in year one.  We had a room full of students, including Brian Costello, Jackie Walker, Brian Larkin.

Brian Costello launched Headstrong.  Jackie went on to become The Divorce Coach.  Brian Larkin won a BAFTA.

A couple of years later I did a 6 month "virtual" Bootcamp called The Alchemy Challenge - this was a webinar programme designed to monetise whatever knowledge or skills the students brought to the table.  Most of them implemented what I showed them and made money.

The Platinum Challenge came later - this was a follow up to Alchemy, but in particular on how to run your own Teleseminars, the best way to do product launches and a whole training on creating your own profitable membership sites.

After all this, I came to the following conclusion - I'm very good at making other people successful.

Whether its turning around a suicidal client, or Coaching someone into a better career, or helping teachers activate all the training they've ever had, it seems that the more I focus on my clients getting THEIR desired outcome, the better it works.

And before anyone quotes Zig Ziglar, the gist is switching from achieving my own goals to helping others get their's. All the best ideologies teach that principle, and I suppose that's how the principle has shown up in my life.

So its time for the next programme, and I'm gathering data on who needs help with what.  if you haven't completed my online [and anonymous] survey yet, please do.  Its at 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VD9BF68

Watch this space.  Now, where's my double sided sticky tape?

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From Woe To Win

Maybe you can relate to this story...

Back in 1989 I was a Clerical officer working in the Pensions Department of The Benefits Agency.  Seems like a lifetime ago, though its actually 25 years ago.  I had a car, a flat, a day job and my weekends to myself, and I was living on £850 per month. Plus the occasional food parcel that my dad would show up with.   A laughable income now, that wouldn't last me a week!

While it felt right at first, after a few years I knew the job inside out, it had become pretty dull, and I began to harbour thoughts about doing something else.  Was this it?  As the most experienced member of the pensions team, I was seeing men and women at retirement age coming in and getting a massive £54 a week.  And that was assuming you'd paid all your contributions all your working life.  Was that the best you could hope for?

Around that same time my first love decided to have a fling behind my back, so I was hurt, angry and full of trust issues.

Now I'd grown up reading marvel and DC superhero comics, loved role playing games and movies, and so at age 19 I'd started a wee fanzine business on the side called "Superhero UK".  Every month I'd be up till midnight stapling the pages of the photocopied zine together, I had customers all over the world who sent me postal orders [remember them?] and I had to keep a ledger of subscription payments, who owed me money, who's subscription was up for renewal, etc.  19 years old and I thought I was an entrepreneur :-)

As a result I met and got friendly with a bunch of like-minded guys from Birmingham who had aspirations to produce a full colour superhero magazine that would unite the worlds of comics, movies, toys and games all in one place.  They knew a guy called Bob who worked for IPC magazines and knew the industry.  The result was Fantazia magazine, which we managed to get stocked on the shelves of high street newsagents like John Menzies.  I remember going to a concert at the SECC and seeing it on the shelf in the kiosk.

My outside work project didn't go down well in the office, and the crunch came when a member of the Benefit Fraud Team warned me at an office party to stop rocking the boat.  He didn't like my positive attitude, and I certainly didn't want to catch his! That convinced me that I'd outgrown the civil service and it was time to dig my escape tunnel from an institution that valued targets rather than caring or integrity.

Plans were made and I handed in my letter of resignation, and got ready to move down to Birmingham to work full time as Editor of the new magazine.  We had an office upstairs at 69 Hurst Street, not far from the Bull Ring, and the computers and gear we needed went on our credit cards.  Four young bucks living the dream and having a ball.  I knew it would pay me an income, and stretch me at the same time.  We even managed to get distribution in the States, and Bob and I flew to the Las Vegas Comic Convention to interview Stan Lee [the guy who invented the Hulk and Spiderman], meet the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [or the 4 guys in suits] and do a lot of industry schmoozing.  At least I did - Bob was too busy at the Chicken Ranch and The Grand Canyon.

Two things then happened which both shattered my certainty and security.  The first was my Dad dying.  I was the last person he'd seen alive.

The second was when Bob decided he wanted the whole magazine business for himself, and we found out that a "Gentleman's agreement" isn't worth the paper its not written on!  He took the lot, and there was nothing we could do about it.  Christ!  More trust issues.

So with money rapidly running out, credit card debt, and my dream career over, I came back to East Kilbride with my tail between my legs and cried my heart out.  Panic.  Betrayal.  Grief.  Hopes crushed.  No idea of what was next.

I walked back into the benefits office to sign on.  "Aye whit happened tae yer wee self employed business now, eh?" came the gloating jibe.  I was seething, and embarrassed.   Humbling.  Having to fill in application forms for Income Support and hand them to one of my colleagues that I'd sat beside just days earlier.

Money was the big issue.  I was terrified of getting into more debt, or not having enough to live on, and the stress and ill health that it can bring.  I was told I was good with people, I knew the Benefits system inside out, and I'd had my first taste of the private sector.  Plus my Dad had been a Bank Manager.  So I chose the one career that I thought would be right for me... and became a Financial Adviser.

That one decision would shape me - it taught me about money, investment and saving.  I got used to having targets, making sales and customer service.  It also taught me a lot about how NOT to treat people. And best of all - it started me listening to Zig Ziglar, then Jack Black, then Tony Robbins.  Little did I realise that I'd stumbled into a new passion that would shape my career for the next 20 years...

The moral of this story?  Sometimes you feel like you're drowning in despair and overwhelm, with no way out.  Yet there's always a tiny voice from your conscious mind telling you "It's going to work out, this will pass".  You have no idea where you'll be in 10 years time, but as long as you have the intention to make things better, then you will attract, manifest and chance upon opportunities.

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What's Frustrating You In Life Right Now?

I was having a heavy discussion with some colleagues yesterday, and it inspired me to reach out and ask you, dear reader, what's going on in your life right now.

It would be great if you could complete this anonymous [and therefore safe to complete :-) ] survey so I can get a "feel" for what's happening in my readers' lives right now, and how I can best help you.

Thanks in advance for doing me this big favour.

NLP Practitioner Course Contest Winners Announced

Hi there, its Jonathan here, and I’m at the world headquarters of my company – that’s my home office actually J

Now the reason for this much awaited video, is to announce the contest results for the competition that I’ve been running for the last 7 days.

All the names have gone into a hat for the NLP + HGE Practitioner competition.  If you remember the prizes are as follows:

FIRST PRIZE is a chance to win a seat on my flagship course - saving yourself £2137 - as my guest. 

But then I made it even juicier by having a second and third prize

The second prize is the whole course on audio cd, so you can learn NLP at your own pace and refer back to it forever.

The third prize is a copy of my new book Lose Weight For Scotland - a complete 90 day programme combining expert tips, sneaky professional inside secrets, and self hypnosis to get you into great shape, if you're not already.

I’m going to pick out the 3 winners, but here’s the good news - I’ve changed my mind… about the prizes… but more on that later.  Let’s see if you’ve won first...

If you liked and commented on social media to help me spread the word, then your name is in here.  The plan was to offer ONE person a free place on the course.  That’s a £2137 course – for nothing.

But you left so many nice comments – All you had to do to enter was answer 2 quick questions - Why do you want to learn NLP?  What you would use it for - what area of your life would you want to improve?

55 lovely people left comments, Here’s some examples of what was said

I want to learn NLP for my own personal development. I would use it to become the best version of me possible and then in turn help others achieve a more rewarding and happy life.

I would relish the opportunity to discover a new deeper level to my being, to help me understand my own personal journey and potential growth that I can then share with others, for optimum reward for themselves and those around them.

So that I gain more self confidence which is necessary to be taken more seriously and to feel more comfortable preaching what I practice.

So I don’t know who’s going to win, but what I’ve done is take all the 55 names of commenters, and put them on little bits of paper, and I’m going to pull them out of my Wizard’s Hat

Now I need to mix these up real good cos someone is going to win a £2137 personal development course… The tension is building…

OK here’s prize draw winner number 1 -Lisa Warren

Winner #2 Garry Conway

And winner #3 Elizabeth McLeary

So well done – thanks for your help in spreading my message, and you’re about to be really glad you did – cos here’s the deal… Remember I said I’d changed my mind?

I have.  Here’s what my gut tells me to do – my intuition is telling me to give ALL 3 of you a free place on my course.  So that’s what I’m going to do… IF you get back to me before Saturday.

OK here’s what you have to do – private message me within the next 72 hours and I’ll give you all the details.  But if you don’t come forward, you miss the slot.

Thanks for entering the contest, and if you didn’t win, make sure you take part in anything I make available in the future.

Congratulations, and I’ll be seeing you in 3 short days time on our next NLP + HGE Practitioner Course.

NLP Practitioner Training Courses In Glasgow - What Others Have Said

If you're considering doing an NLP Practitioner Course then you must be looking to develop yourself.  Now most of my students are private individuals who want to work on themselves, not necessarily looking for Certification to become an NLP or HGE Practitioner as such.

Having worked as a therapist and Coach for over 20 years, I do resonate with other helping professionals, especially those that want to earn a living by helping people and grow a successful practice.

One of the reasons people come to me is because I am happy to teach them how to get clients and actually see a return on the investment they've just made.  So many people pay thousands of pounds every year to attend training courses, then never actually make any money from their new skills, and that's a pity.

Train with me and your life will actually get easier --  not just because you've dumped a lot of past luggage, and are running your head instead of it running you - but also because you can add 3 or 4 figures a month to your income.  Now I call that life changing money - enough to pay the mortgage, or pay a loan off, or get a new car.

You'll also hold certification in both NLP and HGE - the former internationally recognised qualification, and the latter unique to my Company and extremely few in number.  And that's because I don't believe in "Hiring in masses and training in classes".  I like smaller groups with lots of individual attention.

So you probably feel like you should be demonstrating more in life than you are, and you feel you deserve better than you're getting.  But despite all the books, cd's and seminars, you still have no idea how to make significant improvements.  if you did then you'd be doing it.

Whether its more energy, more money, better health or more free time, you goal is probably similar to most people that I attract - to make the most of the years you have left.  But you're terrified that all the naysayers might be right and all that "pop psychology" was a waste of time. [In truth a lot of it IS]

So let's end the frustration and let me teach you the tools you can use to make tangible, real fruitage in your life.

I don't want you to go through any more disappointments or longing. Come and learn what really works in the real world, so you can look forward to a life full of contribution, progress and fun. That's where I'm headed, and if you want to jump on board, now's the time.

Here's what Nicola had to say...

NLP Practitioner Course Contest August 2014

Hello there!  How would you like to win £2137 worth of personal development training?

I'm excited to tell you that on Saturday the 16th of August we launch our next NLP + HGE Practitioner Certification.  Its called Get Everything You Want, Change Anything You Don't.  

This will be my thirty-second Practitioner course, and I wanted to leave it til after the Commonwealth Games were over cos it was impossible to get a venue anywhere in the city centre - 4 weekends of my latest thinking on NLP, Hypnotherapy and personal growth.  

And you come out the other end having learned a lot about yourself, not only more confident but holding 2 certificates in your hand - one in NLP and one in HGE.  That's my trademarked version of NLP, but with all the good bits they missed out put back in again.  
Course, this might be hitting you out of the blue and you're not even thinking about doing a couse like this - that's ok, just take a look at the videos I've been putting on my blog this week from the guys and gals who've just finished my last training, and listen to the good things they have to say about it.  

We've already got folks from Scotland, England and who knows where else coming up to do the training. 

But the good news is that today I'm offering you a chance to win a seat on that life changing course - saving yourself £2137 - as my guest.  

But wait!  Don't order yet!  As they say on the infomercials.  Nah, lets just make it even juicier by having a second and third prize right?  Why not?  its my contest, so I make the rules.  Lets have 2 more prizes into the bargain:

The second prize is the whole course on audio cd, so you can learn NLP ast your own pace and refer back to it forever

The third prize is a copy of my new book Lose Weight For Scotland - a complete 90 day programme combining expert tips, sneaky professional inside secrets, and self hypnosis to get you into great shape, if you're not already.

Now what’s a good way to Inspire you to help me spread the word virally but with an “ethical bribe”- so you and a few other lovely  people will pass this message around, so I can reach more people just like you.

All you have to do to enter is answer 2 quick questions below this post:

1. Why do you want to learn NLP?
2. What you would use it for - what area of your life would you want to improve?

Then 'Like' this post, and share this post on your timeline, or retweet it.

Now, I don’t know I only 2 people will do this for me, or 100 people, but the odds of YOU winning a place on NLP Practitioner course are waaay better than winning the lottery, so you've got everything to gain, and it'll only take 30 seconds.

NOW, next Wednesday the 13th I’m going to take all the names of people who left me comments directly from the social media pages, and I’m going to put them into a hat to randomly pull out the winner of the seat on the course, as well as the home study version on cd, and the book winner.

Then I’m going to have it arranged for the winner [it could be you] to attend the 8 days of training free of charge… just for answering 2 simple questions.  Pretty easy, right?

So get typing, and get ready to see if you're the winner on Wed the 13th.  

And pack a bag - you might be in Glasgow on the 16th, two grand better off!

Take care, see you later.

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NLP Training Free Webinar In Case You Missed it

In case you missed it, I explained a lot about how NLP can be used to get everything you want, and change anything you don't.  Sounds like a big claim?  Then have a listen to the replay on Youtube below:




Here is one of my most recent students sharing his experience of an NLP Certification course:




And if that's whetted your appetite and you want to learn more, why not download the full course brochure for our upcoming NLP + HGE Practitioner Course HERE

http://jonathanclark.org/events/

Did This Help You? If so, I would greatly appreciate if you commented below and shared on Facebook

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