watch tHe skies

I’ve been wondering and wandering what to do about this blog. After all I’m sure that you may have noticed that posts have been sparse recently. That is partially due to time, partially due to diverting my efforts in to a new site, and partially due to a concern over what to write here.

Coaching and personal development musings, which take up a lot of the site to date, are moving to the new site, which is a site designed to provide advice, suggestions and book recommendations for those looking to make changes in their lives. In addition it is the home for information about the coaching and changework services that I provide, which is over and above my day job. URL to follow soon once the site is ready to launch. I’ve got enough content on there now, I’m just considering the layout and graphics now. I’ve also produced some products to sell too, however I am still toying with how and why to sell them. And I am still thinking about the final purpose of the site, which has changed a little since initial inception. Originally it was going to be a general self-help site that I would use to sell my products. However now it has changed to an on-line credibility resource to support my face-to face selling of my services. Currently the idea is that someone gets my business card and as a result has a look at my website as a supporting buying decision to the face-to face explanation of what I do.

And since I started the plans for the site, my work role has changed; I’ve taken on a lot more responsibility and I’m enjoying it a lot. So the new site and the coaching work is effectively a paid hobby rather than an aspiring career change. It gives me practice, covers its costs and grows my confidence to deal with even more challenging people, situations and problems.

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I seem to have been incredibly busy over the last few weeks, mostly down to work being very hectic, Ben becoming more and more aware of the fun he can have when I get home, and my latest project growing in scale significantly. So busy in fact that recently I’ve been struggling to keep awake long enough to actually get in to bed!

Phase 1 of my new project is almost ready. I won’t say complete, because the website is a starter for 10. It’s not perfect and I know it will be launched still with stuff to do, but I’m very pleased with it, as it’s almost all my own work (in terms of integrating the components, graphic design, writing the content), and I’m working with some additional support content with a friend of mine. For a while I’ve felt that this blog has had multiple personalities, that is, at times I’m writing coaching type blogs, and then at other times I’m chatting about what a barmy place the world is. They just don’t fit for me, and the coaching type blogs have grown out of all proportion. So I decided that they deserved their own site, a spin-off if you will. Leaving this site to be a vent for my meandering ramblings on life, the universe and gadgets. The process of planning this has spawned a way bigger project, some collaborative mini-projects and also further talk about opportunities to spread the word beyond the ”confines” of the internet. Unfortunately you guys will suffer my meanderings about the latter phases of the project once the site is live. 

The site will probably go live mid-december once I get back from my holiday.

So if you are a bit of an internet whizz and fancy casting your eyes over the new site, then let me know and I’ll point you at the beta site for feedback.

And yes I know what about phase 2? Well when you see phase 1 it will be fairly clear what phase 2 is…!

Hopefully the site resembles that which it should now…

Looks like something has gone wrong with my lovely theme. So I’ve gone back to basics until I can fix it. I’m not as html savvy as I used to be, so bear with me. Remember though, just cos it looks a bit naff and generic, means that it fits perfectly with the content!

The highly observant amongst you will notice a new blog in the blogroll. Mark Harris runs a youth programme helping young people to find direction and motivation. He’s also an NLP trainer and runs the Leicester NLP practice group with boundless enthusiasm and energy.

All this and a very interesting and heartfelt blog, so head over to http://www.livingawake.co.uk and  take a look.

Mark is also running an NLP Practitioner training in November, so if you would like first hand experience of that which I talk about an awful lot, head over to his site or drop me a line for more information.

A little shameless publicity is good for the soul, and so my soul is warm and cuddly as I ask you to take a moment to vote for my blog if you find it useful or entertaining or insightful or (add own description).

Anyhow, please take a moment to vote for me over at blogger’s choice awards, I thank thee.

Normal service will resume shortly…

Every now and then bloggers participate in certain “internet games” to improve their Google PageRank and attract new readers to their blog. These games are often easy to participate because they usually involve a simple copy/paste routine. Last time I participated in the Technorati Favorites Exchange and honestly it was fun to discover new blogs to read through this scheme. Now check out these new link building programs of Viralinks and Viraltags going round the net.

If you add these to your site you should see an increase traffic and Technorati authority. Drop me a comment if you include them. Cheers! (more…)

In preparation for tomorrow’s post, I read through my page “What is NLP” and decided that it was utter nonsense.

“No more than the rest of the site!” I hear you cry.

Here hear!

Anyhow I’ve completely rewritten the page, it is now shorter, more personal, and less rubbish. I hope you like.

With the amount of business miles I’m doing growing considerably in recent months (don’t worry, I’ll make it carbon neutral next April), I’ve had less time to spend absorbing the written word.

So I’ve been buying the odd audio book for the car, and this has grown to regularly consuming a book a week in transit, which is great. Of course I still pick up the printed copy cheapo like so I can make some notes, it just means that by the time I’ve listened to it, photoread it and made notes, I know that book back to front. Why listen to it if I photoread it later? Well think of it as a preview exercise that I can do with my hands on the wheel!

And so I’ve been looking around and decided to take the plunge and join Audible.

Audible is an audiobook website that gives you the option to buy one-off audio books for a fair discount, or join them as a monthly member where you get one or two credits per month to download whatever you want, irrespective of individual price.

So if you want to source good audiobooks for a knock-down price this is the place. And if you plan to listen to a lot of audiobooks, then you, like me are likely to get a bit of a bargain.

So as part of my joining introductory offer (£7.99 a month) I got:

Emotional Intelligence (Unabridged) by Daniel Goleman, a book about how the emotional mind works, and why we are wired to respond to it quicker than the rational mind. Understanding this will help you to be more empathic towards people, understand their reactions and therefore help to better manage and motivate people that work for you or you spend time with. £16 for 15 hours of audio if you buy it on its own, so I’ve already saved a bundle!

Success Mastery Academy - Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy’s programs are absolutely fantastic, yet up till now I’ve only been able to afford the small programs. This one is for sale at £200 on his website, and yet I got it for free. A complete transcript of a 2 day seminar, with workbook, this is as close to being coached by Brian Tracy as most of us can get, over 15 hours of audio for free.

A pretty good bargain I think. My temptation is to go ahead and subscribe to the 2 audiobooks a month (£14.99) programme, however I think that I will certainly be able to sustain 1 a month and I can always upgrade if I am ploughing through. As I already have a wishlist of 6 or so books, this looks like a good way for me to make the most of otherwise wasted time.

Incidentally Audible books work on all mp3 players, and you can burn the tracks to CD if you live in the dark ages!

So Giles, a friend of mine from my NLP Practitioner course, has set up his website offering his coaching and NLP skills to you, the general public.

So if you think any of these apply to you:

• I just can’t get motivated
• This experience \ memory \ phobia is holding me back
• I feel a little lost
• I don’t know what I want

Or anything similar, then perhaps you should head over to www.emotion-magic.com and get in touch with Giles, because the fact that you’re aware of those feelings means that Giles can help you feel better and move on.