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Is there such a thing as too much pressure?

Over the last few weeks I have been exploring, not because I consciously wanted to, the concept of pressure and how it can impact my life. Some of my clients have been dealing with a similar challenge and I thought it would be a great idea to post something about this today, to leave you to think about.

For some time now, I have believed that the harder I work, the better the result. Even though that hasn’t been true for me in the way I’ve gone about it, that didn’t deter me. Being an entrepreneur and health professional, I fell into the trap of ‘all entrepreneurs work crazy hours and don’t switch off because that’s just the way’. I started to realise pretty quickly that this concept doesn’t apply to all of us out there. We all have different approaches to life, business and how we manage ourselves.

What made this idea stand out even more in my mind that it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ way of looking at life was when I had a personal training session about 2 weeks ago. For the last 4 years, when I have trained at the gym, I have a specific way I like to work out. The movement is slow and continuous. The weights aren’t super heavy and the sessions are short and sweet. I decided to try a different approach with my person trainer. I pushed heavier weights, worked harder and a bit faster. As a result, I came very close to passing out after I was done and to add to that, I was out of action for 5 days. It took too much of a toll on my body. It became very obvious to me that working out in that way and also applying that same mindset to the way I do business, is not for me.

Then I asked myself, is there such a thing as too much pressure? Well that all depends on who you are. We all have different ways of handling life and this is determined by the way our body and mind operate. Some of us love being quick and on the go, pushing hard and achieving massive goals in a short amount of time. Some of us love to move slower and take our time, pacing ourselves and seeing a bigger picture before we take action and achieve our goals. Every one is different and that’s what makes life so interesting.

So before you take your next action step towards achieving your goals, ask yourself – is this the best set forward for me or am I trying to be like someone else? The answer to that question could help you save time, energy, money and most importantly, prevent you from getting sick or feeling emotionally stuck.

How 2014 has helped me learn how to be more vulnerable

16 months ago, I arrived back in Australia from living in Canada for one year and separating from the person I thought I would be spending my life with. I was broken, depressed and totally unsure how my life would turn around after what I’d been through. It was unexpected and not something I would have consciously chosen at the time.

Now, as 2014 is coming to a close and as I reflect back, I can definitely say that these last 16 months have been some of the most profound, nurturing, empowering and self-fulfilling in my life. For those of you who have experienced a separation, divorce or break-up that impacted almost every area of your life, this post is for you.

You would think that after what I went through, my desire to open myself up and connect with people would be something I’d prefer to steer away from. That may be true for a lot of other people but I made a decision that I wasn’t going to allow my past to dictate my future. I have worked hard at it this year and even though bits and pieces sneak in when I least expect them to, for the most part, my past is where I’ve left it – behind me.

With all the lessons I have learnt over this past year, there is one that stands out and continues to teach me more as I move forward into 2015. One of the challenges I’ve faced in my life, as a result of being bullied a lot growing up, left me feeling like I needed to protect myself and guard myself from pain, hurt and discomfort. As a result, I pushed people away and also tried so hard to change others in the hope that I could avoid feeling any of the confronting situations I might find myself in. The universe or nature has a way of making sure everything is balanced and my life was no exception. I was scared to drop my guard and be vulnerable and allow myself to experience hurt. Unfortunately and fortunately, I experienced everything I was desperately seeking to run from.

The pain of doing whatever I could, to run from what I perceived could hurt me was enough for me to say to myself – “It’s enough Greg! You need to make some changes.” And that’s exactly what I did and am continuing to do. The more I opened up and allowed myself to be more vulnerable, the bigger the opportunities that started coming into my life. I met someone who I love, who constantly and continuously encourages me, challenges me and inspires me to grow into more of who I am. I stepped out of hiding within my own business to give people a chance to connect with me, work with me and see what I can do to be of service to them. I even took a giant leap in my career towards to securing my financial future as well as the future of my vision and mission within my business and I started the journey of speaking and teaching which is something I love doing more than anything.

I am still a work in progress and there is still more soul searching to do but I am grateful for what I’ve done this year and where I am today. Last year, the idea of this all happening for me was a foreign concept but I couldn’t let all of that stop me from what I know I’m meant to do with my life and that’s to help people transform their challenges into opportunities, open their hearts and minds, empower themselves to be bigger and greater than they ever thought possible and to be inspired from within to go and share their magnificence with as many people as possible.

I’ve learnt that being vulnerable doesn’t mean I’m weak or that I’m necessarily going to be hurt by other people. That’s what I used to think. What I now know is that being vulnerable takes courage and strength because it means I’m putting myself out there, letting people in and even inviting challenge, pain and conflict to be a part of how I live my life.

 

Stop allowing fear to control your life

How much of your life is governed by the fears you have? Do you stop yourself from doing certain things that you would love to do because you are scared of failure, getting rejected or maybe not being good enough? What about any of the fears you have about certain social or health challenges you face or could be confronted with in your life? Do those scare the crap out of you to the point that if you had to deal with any of them, you’d want to eliminate them, delete them from your life or find a way to create an ‘anti’-dote for them?

The majority of us deal with fears on a daily basis ranging from fears around failing to be a success in business to being in financial crisis to worrying about whether or not the guy or girl we like is going to reject us or keep us around. Without us even realising it, we make decisions and take certain actions in our lives that have fear as the major driving force. We stop ourselves from saying how we feel, from pushing boundaries, taking risks in business, choosing to be who want to be and the list goes on.

We have been taught that confronting situations that challenge us are something we need to avoid, run from or eliminate somehow. As a society, we fear things that we don’t understand fully, like cancer or the current bullying issues that are affecting children and adults worldwide. Our lack of education around these big issues or illnesses pushes us towards making choices that actually lead to even bigger challenges. We want to make laws to criminalise bullying. We want a world with peace and no war. We even think that we can bypass nature somehow and eliminate bacteria from the planet. In doing so, this has lead to an increase in childhood allergies. We try to play g-d at every turn, wanting to live in an illusionary world with no challenges, with no illness and no conflict. When did human beings become so fearful of living? When did we choose to believe that we somehow have control over the laws of nature? At what point did we lose respect for the flow of life and the order of things?

I recently had a conversation with someone about all of these fears people have around some of the biggest issues that the world is dealing with today. Bullying and cancer were the two topics that came up, which I’ve blogged about before and spoken about at length. I suggested that the reason why human beings may have an aversion to dealing those issues and confronting them is because they’re scared of what they could mean and how their lives might dramatically change as a result. I mentioned that they are so scared of getting connected to who they are, uncovering the power that they have inside of them and doing something meaningful in their lives.

It was at this point that I offered an idea that I know challenges a lot of people, to such a degree that the very notion of going down a different road that could create change in their lives scares them even more than the situations they might be in. When human beings are faced with significant road blocks in their lives like cancer or bullying or even changes in their relationships, it appears that the easiest option is to run from the pain, avoid the problem altogether, cut it out, reject it or push it aside. My advice, based on personal experience as well as observing powerful changes in my patients and clients lives, is to step towards the pain that hurts the most and find out why you created that pain for yourself. Only when you can truly understand the pain and struggle you’re confronted with, can you change it. What most of us don’t realise is that we have the power to change our lives, to alter our trajectory and heal whatever ails us. We have it all inside of us but if choose to avoid what hurts us or could even kill us, we miss out on some of the most valuable lessons, points of feedback and inspired ideas that we could ever receive.

How The Be Who You Wanna Be Youth Summit Changed My Life

About 4.5 weeks ago, I hosted an online youth summit, featuring 25 speakers from different parts of the world. I had the idea for this event in 2012, when I was living in Canada. Originally, I wanted to put on a live event and stream it across the globe but due to the expense of such a production, I delayed it.

In March of 2014, I collaborated with Suli Breaks and 2 other speakers in a live event in Sydney, Australia. For the first time in over 14 years, I had the opportunity again to perform on stage – this time a little differently to when I was younger. I can’t even describe to you how fulfilling it felt to be doing something that I love so much. The next day, I decided I wanted to finally put on this summit but instead of doing it live, I chose to deliver it online.

The pre-launch period began at the end of April, for people to start signing up. It was moving quite well and considering it was my first event, the turn out was actually looking quite promising. After 6 weeks of registrations, the summit officially began and it was in that first week and through the experience of various other moments after that, that my life took a dramatic and unexpected turn.

Not for a moment, did I think that the youth summit would prepare me for the incredible journey I’ve now embarked on. In fact, I had very different expectations for where I thought it would take me or how it would impact my life. None of my initial expectations were met but what I did uncover was far greater than I could have ever imagined.

For most my life, or at least 25 years of my life, I have been hiding who I am, in varying degrees, from the world around me. I have been trying to be someone that I’m not and trying desperately to live a life that is centred more around what I perceived I should have or be instead of what was and has been right in front me. For those of you who know me, I was bullied quite significantly when I was growing up. Those challenges definitely impacted the way in which I managed and dealt with my life, from how to manage money, my social interactions, relationships with women and even my health.

After spending 2.5 weeks facilitating and hosting this summit, I realised all of this to be true. I couldn’t deny it any longer. I wasn’t being myself. I was hiding behind all the speakers, my branding, my logo and everything that I had created. Although the message has always been my own, I wasn’t taking ownership of it. I was denying my self and potentially, my ability to actually thrive in several areas of my life. So, I made a decision which has challenged me to the core of who I am. In all honesty, I was left with an internal conflict and wasn’t quite sure how I was going to resolve it. Thankfully, after a discussion with a wise friend of mine, I chose to follow through with my decision. The website that you’re on, right now, is as a result of that decision.

I sit here, before you the person reading this, sharing who I am with you. Everything you see on this website is a reflection me. I have come to understand that my vulnerability is far more powerful than I would have ever thought it to be and hiding that part of myself away has only attracted one challenge after the other until I learnt to let go and open up myself and my heart to others. It is an opening for those of you who would love to connect and one where I can be of greater service to those that need what I am able and would love to offer.

Since I made that decision to expose myself and launch this website, my life has changed and it was all thanks to the youth summit. I have chosen to re-integrate chiropractic into how I provide my services. I went back to my roots. The kinesiology technique that I developed just over 3 years ago, is now available as a healing tool. I have met and connected with several people who I will be collaborating with on several projects, in the next 6-12 months and I’m incredibly grateful to have met someone new and very special to me who, with her deep appreciation of me, is showing and reflecting who I have become, how I’ve grown and who I am growing into. All these blessings bring tears to my eyes and are clear indications that when you choose to go after what inspires you, what energises you and what fulfils you, you can master your own life. One year ago, I don’t think I ever would have thought my life would take the turn that it has but I will say this – I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Not only has this summit made room for new and exciting adventures in my life but I now have a very clear path towards creating the Be Who You Wanna Be Institute™. My end goal is help the kids out there be everything that they can be in life and embrace one another for who the they are. I am starting from the ground and building my way there, sharing my message, my story and everything I can that will give future generations of children a chance to live empowered and fulfilling lives, collaborating and working together to create change for human beings on the planet.

Finally, if there’s one lesson you can take from this post, it’s this – be who you are, embrace your differences, think in a way that challenges the status quo and do whatever it takes to live a life that inspires you and fulfils you with a purpose that burns deep within your heart. When you take that action step and make the choice to do so, the universe or whatever it is you call it, will deliver and it will blow your mind.