Huia Crosby Interview

I have the good fortune of meeting lots of people in the personal development arena but very few of them have the same unbridled passion for their field than Huia Crosby.

During 2006, I was very fortunate to have Huia as my own personal yoga teacher. Through her instruction and encouragement I can now happily say that I can touch my toes when just a short year ago it seemed like a complete impossibility :)

If you are looking to feel healthier and more energised than ever before in 2007, then you should definitely keep reading....


The Interview.

Damien Senn: So Huia, first things first. Your name is incredibly beautiful as well as unusal. What are the origins of your name and how did you come to receive it?

Huia Crosby: Kia ora Damien, thank you! I come from Aotearoa / New Zealand. It is a Maori name, the name of an extinct native manu (bird). My Mum & Dad were discussing whether or not I should be named Amanda, Alice, Susan or Sarah when Dad came home one lunch time and said “I’ve registered her, she’s Huia.” End of discussion. Interestingly my Father is the Pakeha (white one).

When I was younger at school I wasn’t so comfortable with my name. It has only been with the course of time that I have begun to honour it, for it is quite a prestigious name: ‘The Huia, above all other species in the forest, was sacred to Maori. She was closely associated with the great chiefs of the land, and only chiefs of distinction could properly wear the tail feathers’.

My Mother is of Te Rarawa & Te Aupouri blood – tribes in the very north of New Zealand and despite my appearance, I do feel very connected to my Maori roots.

Damien Senn: So what inspired you to become a holistic health practioner?

Huia Crosby: It soon became hugely apparent to me that personal training was too limiting for what I was about. Although personal training is powerful, I felt that there is more to a person and that I did not have enough tools to assist in focusing and managing someones lifestyle. I was fortunate as my growth was accelerated by my travels - ever since I could remember I wanted to travel the world. So at a time when I was searching for more tools I just happened to be embarking on my lifes greatest adventure, leaving the shores of New Zealand. Being young, hungry for knowledge, relatively carefree with little time constraints it was amazing where the flow of life took you with each question you asked someone.

Some people say that I’ve trained in too many things and that people won’t take me seriously. But I feel differently. For me it is a logical progression incorporating aerobics instruction, personal training, yoga, various massage forms, naturopathy and herbal medicine….. I see this more as a stage of gathering information and as the years fly by the teachings will become more concentrated.

Holistic health & healing encompasses a whole person philosophy: looking after a person in their entirety. Different strategies will work for different people so I believe it is important to have a range of varied approaches to connect with each person.

Anyone entrusted to heal should strive to encourage the innate ability of the individual in distress to restore balance and harmony.

Damien Senn: What does it actually mean to take a holistic approach to health?

Huia Crosby: ‘Holistic’ comes from the Greek word ‘Holos’ – meaning ‘whole’.

Holistic Health is the understanding that Human beings are more than just physical bodies- we harbour emotions, have thoughts, nurture souls, live within families, within communities and a society which is in itself dependent on the health of the environment. [William Bloom – ‘SOUL-ution’]

It is about having a balanced approach to life, ensuring that all areas of our lives receive adequate attention and care. A whole is always more than the sum of its parts. Demands in a person’s life and their requirements can often change from week to week, let alone month to year. So you are certainly kept on your toes!

The trinity: Mind-Body-Spirit, although often carelessly splashed about hold incredible power. Sadly in the west too much emphasis is placed upon the body. Imbalances are commonplace and everyone experiences them: It is said that every person suffers from at least one mental illness during their lifetime or abusing the body with chemicals, over/under weight, poor food choices, extreme exercise or inactivity etc. and regardless of your faith preference, spiritual disharmony and feeling disconnected also delivers its fair share of woes.

All life is inter-connected and as the worlds populations continue to tame their environments, producing concrete jungles and becoming more and more urbanised, we are losing touch with the natural order.

Damien Senn: One of your great passions is Yoga? What drew you into practicising this ancient holistic art?

Huia Crosby: I discovered just how powerful yoga can be whilst travelling through India. At that stage of my life I had not long left the shores of New Zealand and had only a few stamps in passport. I had my PE degree and not so much life experience. I was not ready for India, at all.

My first two weeks there I spent the whole time crying and trying to hide the sights with my hands. The smells, the sounds, the people, it was a sensory overload with such intensity. The complete absence of rubbish bins and the poverty rocked me to the very core of my being. I was in big trouble. I was attracting crowds grabbing at my hands, arms, shoulders, tapping my back, catching my eye all trying to capitalise on my vulnerability with their hunger. I was not coping!

Whilst walking through the tiny twisted maze of ancient skinny streets in Varanassi, of Beatles fame, dodging cows and their poohs I came across a simple sign: ‘Benares school of Yoga’.

Following that first ever class I found myself back on the streets of a city lost in time. I was breathing more deeply, more calmly. Everything had a different light to it. I seemed to have more space around me, the crowds weren’t harassing me as they once had done. I was grounded and was not so cerebral anymore. I just knew everything was going to be okay from here.

(Just don’t stop the yoga!!)

‘Yoga’ means union – the union between body and breath – the union between the trinity: mind – body – spirit. For me it was the ability to link everything together. It appeals as it is the oldest science of life, some texts even state that it dates back to over 2000 years ago.

Damien Senn: Yoga can look quite intimidating to the uninitiated. How would you recommend someone curious in Yoga to get started?

Huia Crosby:

Yoga is a wonderful discipline to try your hand at. Go for it! Even if you do not follow it for long, the skills that you will learn transfer into your everyday life and always stay with you – correct breathing, clearing your mind, releasing tension from your body.

Everybody will have their own style to learning and through a medium that they feel comfortable with. It might start even with a book or a dvd from the comfort of home, a beginners 8week course at a gym/health centre, asking a friend to show you the basic sun salutation sequence, searching out a yoga centre or if finances permit, private tuition. You will find that wherever you start your body will feel so sound that your curiosity will start to get the better of you and lead you further down the path anyway!

Please don’t be shy, it is not a competition with anyone else in the room or with yourself (I often get people to close their eyes in class anyway), it is a feeling. You feel a little bit of discomfort and then with your breath you unlock your body and it opens. Yoga does not limit or discriminate against anyone – regardless of age (both young and old), religion (you can use it to deepen your own chosen spiritual practice, If indeed you have one), financial position (the tools necessary are your body, your breath, whatever time you can surrender and a wee bit of space) and physical ability - if you can breathe, you can do yoga, I’m serious.

Yoga is unique in that it strengthens as it lengthens. Unlike the lifting of weights in a gym which strengthens through shortening. The weight applied is tailormade – that of your own body, you get strong for you – which is all you really need in life: to be able to handle yourself. It is balanced, both sides and muscle groups are kept in wonderful equilibrium.

'An upright posture and a few relaxed breaths can make a great difference' --BUDDHA--

Damien Senn: Many people will be thinking about getting into better shape in 2007 right about now. Where should they start?

Huia Crosby: At the very beginning. Purchase a blank notebook and start by taking a silent moment alone slowing your breathing right down to calm deep breaths. Allow your mind to clear maintaining focus and concentration. Connect with why you wish to change - envisage what the change would do for you and the direction you need your life to be moving in. Always keep it positive, as you wish to create positive changes not to sit about wallowing in negative ruts. When you have the thoughts and the accompanying energised feelings open to the blank front page and record what you felt and thought. The more honest you are the more power the writing will have as a motivating directing force. Read and reread your intention over and over again to reinforce why this is so important to you.

I appreciate and know that this might seem difficult and ‘over the top’ to some people, but it is the first step that I use when people come to me wishing for change. To change you need to set the intention to change and you need to be very clear on what it is exactly that you intend to do. We all need as much help as possible when wishing to create change and that is why the notebook also comes into play.

By starting a book specifically for your purpose and writing in your handwriting on the very first page where you intend to go sets the wheels of change strongly in motion. It also allows you to record your achievements, chart your progress, add cut outs or information that will aid you on your path and explain your frustrations to blank pages when things might not be going so well. It can also be presented to health professionals to fine tune your training or nutritional intake.

Support your process of change by getting informed – search the net, read some books, associate with like-minded groups, try something new, visit your health food store, find out where healthier food options are closer to your work, find a friend to join you ….. anything that will help to keep you on track and excited about where you are going.

Reaffirming to yourself ‘think-do-be’.

Damien Senn: What are some simple, easy to follow dietary tips that people could follow to start feeling healthier in the new year?

Huia Crosby: ‘let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food’ - Hippocrates

- rainbow: try to eat a rainbow a day! Nature gives you clues and colours her fruit and vegetables to help you so. Eating the different colours will ensure your receive the best possible range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The more colours the better.

- variety to prevent allergies: people get stuck in the same routine, eating the same breakfast cereal and meals day after day. Although this may seem convenient it seems that in the long run it won’t be. Your body does require a full range of nutrients to perform the HUGE number of processes it needs to carry out and it seems in its own funny way it will start to develop allergies to the usual foods given to it in order to receive that variety it requires. For example, wheat. One in three are gluten intolerant in Ireland, which has the highest rate in the world!

- softer sugars: white refined sugar spells danger, serious danger. It is unknowingly added into most products without the consumer realising. It is harmful – rots teeth, alters moods, feeds cancer cells and creates an acidic environment. Try fruit, honey, stevia.

- essential fats: a very trendy topic, but true. Essential fatty acid deficiency signs include: dry skin, dry hair/dandruff, abnormal wound healing, excessive thirst, dryness of joints decreased mental power etc etc Our diets are particularly lacking in omega 3, this doesn’t have to come from fish oil it can also come from spirulina, which is also a rich source.

- superfoods: get clever and excited about adding natures helpers to your usual diet enriching yourself with essential amino acids, energy, minerals, vitamins and age-defying antioxidants: bee pollen, chlorella, goji berries, wheat grass, hemp protein, LSA ..etc

Damien Senn: What approaches do you take to get the very best out of your clients?

Huia Crosby: The big bonus with having a health professional support you in your goals is exactly that: support. So that’s my job and why I love it as it is a complete pleasure to be trusted enough to work with someone to reach their goals. Of course you don’t necessarily need to hire someone, some people are incredibly strong goal setters in their own right and that motivates them enough. Also, team up with a friend to support each other – that can be just as powerful.

I encourage people to listen to their bodies. Our bodies are consistently giving us clues and answers to what it needs and how its coping, but often we’re so busy living our lives at 100 miles an hour that we don’t hear it. More often though, we just don’t want to know and block it out! By starting to take the time to listen to ourselves our whole lives start to harmonise. At the end of the day, nobody knows your body like you do.

I also really emphasise the role of nutrition in sound health. By even encouraging someone to eat breakfast you have already changed 33% of their day and that’s huge! Please watch the movie ‘supersize me’ to wake yourself up to the crippling fast food industry.

Movement! Everyday move your body. Your lymph system (the sewerage system) does not have a pump like your cardiovascular system does, therefore it requires movement to flush the toxins out. In this computer age world, long hours spent sedentary it is so essential – for the health of your spine also! Fresh oxygen to help with concentration and to give you vitality will also flood your body.

I encourage clients to understand that some days are better than others. Sometimes everybody has days where they slip up, it is human nature and not too worry too much. Remembering that each day is a fresh start.

Damien Senn: What sort of results have your clients experienced?

Huia Crosby: I always like to take the approach that they themselves have been responsible for their experiences, I see my role as a mere catalyst.

- freedom of movement
- greater body awareness
- tuning into themselves, listening to their bodies and being able to prescribe appropriate exercises/remedies/stretches/techniques at the basic level
- when their face becomes overwhelmed by knowing they can do a challenge
- a real enthusiasm for taking responsibility for their own health: my clients are the ones who really teach and challenge me more. It feels great when they come to me with newspaper clippings, or websites or treat me to impromptu book reviews or report back on healthier methods
- seeing the change in the way they view and relate to themselves

Damien Senn: How can a healthy mind and body help people to express themselves more fully in the world?

Huia Crosby: When you are more in tune with yourself there is clarity with knowing the direction you need to be heading in and the actions and choices you need to make in order to get there. We’ve all become disconnected with ourselves at times in our lives and the frustration and emotional turmoil that accompanies the indecision is a tremendous drain on precious energy. Everbody has their own style of reconnecting with themselves but once you’ve reestablished that connection again, respect it and go for gold.

Damien Senn: Do you think anyone can live an inspired life?

Huia Crosby: Damien, life is pure magic. Absolutely! I’ll leave you with one of my favourite quotes which sums that up:

‘It’s never too late to be who you might have been’

….and a new year is as good a time as any to set forth wherever you wish to go!

The 7 mistakes most small business owners make marketing their business online.

The 7 mistakes most small business owners make marketing their business online.

Many small business owners understand the potential of the internet to market products and services. Their real challenge comes when they actually try to implement their business visions online.

Below are 7 mistakes to look out for when marketing your small business online.

(1) Most small business owners don’t know the strategic goal of their website.

Most small business owners know the importance of having a website but don’t quite know the reasons why.

It is important to understand that a website is merely a tool. Just like any other tool, it is a great servant but poor master. Your website won’t guide you, you need to guide it.

The way you guide your website is by understanding exactly why you decided to create one in the first place. If you planning to build a website, spend some time considering exactly what purpose you hope it will serve. Some potential strategic purposes include.

- to build relationships with your target market
- to sell a specific product or service
- to generate subscribers
- to generate advertising income
- to funnel traffic to other websites
- to build credibility for your expertise

Once you understand why you are using the internet you can then focus upon the how (the how is actually the easy part!).

(2) Most small business owners make the mistake of taking marketing advice from their web designers.

Web design and web marketing are two very different disciplines. Most small business owners think that as soon as they get their website live then they’ll have a flood of people beating down the door to do business with them. The actual reality of the situation is often something quite different.

Remember that there is no point having a beautifully designed website if no one ever comes to visit it!

An effective website should not only be functionally designed but should also help the business owner achieve their commercial goals.

(3) They can’t decipher what sites are already doing well on the web.

If you want to achieve success in any discipline you need to find out who’s already doing well and what you can do to replicate or model their success.

This is no different on the web. There are businesses that are doing very well on the web and there are businesses that aren’t. Your job is to work out which ones are doing well in your market place and learn from them.

(4) They spend too much time on their site design and no time at all on marketing their site.

Small business owners would actually be much better off doing the reverse. Firstly creating a simply designed by nicely functional site and then investing the rest of their time generating traffic to their site. Once they have traffic coming to the site the challenge will then be to convert some of this traffic into paying customers and clients.

(5) They don’t build up a list of interested prospects.

Most people will only ever check out a small business website once and they will never return regardless of how much they liked it.

The reason for this is because of all the other millions of sites out there on the web trying to capture our attention. If you want to build long term relationships with your website visitors you need to provide an incentive to them to give you their email address so you can keep in regular contact. You can usually achieve this by giving something of value away for free such as a mini course or free download.

(6) They don’t effectively share and sell their expertise.

The internet is definitely a domain where people with an abundance mindset thrive. Your knowledge and expertise won’t do anyone any good, yourself included, trapped inside your head. You need to constantly strive to find ways to share what you know with as many people as possible if you are to experience the success that you desire online.

(7) They don’t leverage the resources of other people.

This one idea is a recipe for disaster online, thinking that you can do everything yourself. If you want to succeed online then you have to engage and utilise the talents and skills of other people.

Your first challenge is to first work out exactly what you are good at. Your second challenge is to then try and surround yourself with people that are good at doing all the things you neither have the time or inclination to do.

Topher Morrison Interview

Dr Topher Morrison Interview - Master Trainer of NLP.

At the age of 21, Topher Morrison was in big trouble. A failing personal development franchise had put him $85,000 in debt and he was eating every 3 days.

Through sheer determination, as well as the skills he acquired in the fields of NLP and hypnosis, Topher managed to turn his life around and in the process has built up a world class training organisation...

The Interview

Damien Senn: Topher, you have trained tens of thousands of people around the world including a number of Olympic athletes to reach their peak potential. What motivates you to do the work that you do?

Dr Topher Morrison: This really is the only life I know. At age 21 I purchased a personal development franchise in the Seattle, Washington and I’ve been working in the field of excellence ever since. But I think it started even earlier in my life…when I was 13. My youth pastor, Ken Thayer gave me a book called “See You at the Top” by Zig Ziglar and it was the first time where I found that there was someone else who felt the same way about life as I did. I’ve always admired Ken for doing that. So much so, that even though we don’t keep in touch, I still remember him and will always be grateful for the contribution he played in my life. It was probably back then that ‘contribution’ became my highest value. I get so much joy out of knowing I’ve made a positive impact on someone’s life. To do anything else in life for a career that didn’t give that contribution, to me would just seem foreign.

Damien Senn: Now it hasn't always been smooth sailing for you in your business life. What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in getting to where you are today?

Dr Topher Morrison: It would have definitely been when I owned the personal development franchise in Seattle. I was 21 years old, and had absolutely no right to own it. In fact, the franchisor’s told me I couldn’t purchase the franchise nine different times. But I was such stubborn punk at the time, I wouldn’t take no for an answer. They finally buckled, sold me the franchise, and within 9 months I was over $85,000 in debt. I was eating every 3rd day and my life sucked. But even worse than my financial status was my emotional status… emotionally I was bankrupt. I was what everyone in this world hates to be… a hypocrite. I was trying to teach people how to have an excellent life, but I couldn’t rub two dimes together. It was just a joke. My lowest point was when my high school crush, and her husband showed up at my door for the holidays with bags of food for me to eat. Let me tell you, getting a handout from someone is very humbling… but when you get a handout from a girl you used to have a crush on? That’s a whole new level of humility! And you know what? I wouldn’t trade it for all the money in the world… well, hell that’s a lie… I’d be happy to trade it for all the money in the world!!! But the point I’m trying to make is I don’t regret it one bit and it was worth much more than the cost of a college degree… that’s for sure.

Damien Senn: What made it worth so much? What did you walk away with from that?

Topher Morrison: Authenticity. It wasn’t just that event, but that was the big kicker. As I continued through my evolution of personal development I had the opportunity of working next to some of the best minds of our time in personal development… and you know what? I saw that same hypocrisy that I had when I was Seattle in these people too! I’d see them talk a big game on stage, get off stage and then become the exact opposite. It was amazing, and so valuable. It made me really contemplate how I wanted to show up in this world, and especially when I’m on stage inspiring others. My fundamental belief as a trainer is that my words mean nothing if I don’t live them the best I can… and I make sure to tell my audiences that I don’t live them all the time. The last thing I want is for someone to come to my events and think that I actually live the message I teach 24 hours a day… I’m only human, I slip up, and I want my audience to know that. Because if they don’t know that, then when they go to implement a way of thinking from my programmes, but then as humans do.. slip up, they’ll feel like they failed… that’s just nonsense. That’s the whole inspiration being the title of my new book, “Stop Chasing Perfection & Settle for Excellence.” I don’t try to be perfect, but I’m perfectly okay settling for being excellence… and that’s pretty easy in our society because so many people have accepted mediocrity as an acceptable means of living.

Damien Senn: You pride yourself on running a world class training organisation. What is it that sets your company apart from others?

Dr Topher Morrison: I love that question! It amazes me to see how many motivational speakers spend so much time trying to convince their readers or listeners that they are different than all other motivational speakers. Some of them even hate that title and deny that in fact, that is what they are. So I guess in the spirit of convincing people how I’m different here it is…. I’m the only one who admits openly that I’m no different from any other motivational speaker! The fact is there’s been nothing new presented in the field of personal development since the writing of the Bible, the Koran, the Bagdiva Gita, or any of the other ancient writings for that matter. Ever since then, its just been a rehash of the original teachings… but each speaker has their own way of delivering it. It’s the students responsibility to keep searching until they find a teacher or teachers that respond to them and deliver the message they need to hear in the way they need to hear it. My style of delivery is very down to earth. I don’t like to pump people up with false expectations, I like them to develop grounded, real-life strategies that work and make their lives more effective. Now I’ve deviated a bit from your original question, so let me go back to that briefly… I think what separates my company from other companies is this: We strive to be the Ritz Carlton of the seminar industry. Topher Morrison Inc really does go way above and beyond the call of duty for their seminars. Just ask our customers, you’ll hear all sorts of stories of how our company went above and beyond… we have to… my highest value is contribution. In fact, my ultimate goal is to one day have the Ritz Carlton say they want to become the Topher Morrison Inc of the hotel industry!

Damien Senn: You are a master trainer in NLP and also have a doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy. How have these skillsets enabled you to transform your own life?

Dr Topher Morrison: That’s the one area where I really feel like I excel. I walk my talk on this one big time. I regularly do self hypnosis 2 times daily, for 20 minutes each session. I do this for two reasons. Number one, is that I function much better if I do this. It makes sense right? I mean if you think about the relationship of your conscious mind and your unconscious mind like a team or an employment… the conscious mind is like the boss, the unconscious mind is like the employee. So if you had to work for a boss that had you work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and that employer never thanked you, or spoke with you in a supportive voice, would you develop a bit of an attitude against that employer?

Damien Senn: Absolutely...

Topher Morrison: Exactly! So if I want my unconscious mind to support me in achieving my goals, it seems only logical to want to take care of my employee… to talk with him regularly and lovingly so he is more willing to support me in my outcomes. The second reason is because of one of my codes of conduct in life: I never ask a human being to do something I’m unwilling to do myself. And in almost every one of my seminars, a message you will hear almost every time is the importance of strengthening your relationship with your unconscious mind.

Damien Senn: One of your great passions is the environment. You have presented seminars to schools and other organisations on the importance of preserving the earth's natural resources on a voluntary basis. What are some simple things that we can all do to help preserve the environment for future generations?

Dr Topher Morrison: You know if you would have asked me that question 2 weeks ago I would have given you a list of several things, but I just recently saw the most amazing film called, “An Inconvenient Truth” It’s hosted by our former Vice President of the U.S. Al Gore. I know that may immediately conjur images of a very stale movie, but he did an amazing job, and as such a clear message. My belief now is this: Every human owes it to themselves, their children, and this planet to watch this movie… it is life changing. In fact, if I were to give it a comparison I would say that the movie, “An Inconvienient Truth” will do for the environment what the movie, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” did for the human mind. Go see this movie, it’s amazing.

Damien Senn: One of the areas I see people really struggle with is their relationship with money. Why do you think that is the case?

Dr Topher Morrison: Because money is the most tangible way to measure success and failure. The second would be our physical weight. You can deny a failing relationship, you can even deny an unhealthy body a lot of the times, but you can’t deny a bounced check or a denied credit card charge when you are having dinner with friends. Those things are so absolute. Now if you want to know why so many people struggle with money, I think it’s because people fundamentally do not fully comprehend the universal laws of abundance. Think about it. Everyone knows someone who, no matter how much money they make, are always broke, and everyone knows someone who, no matter how little they make, they always seem to find a way to pay their bills, and even save a bit on the side. What’s the difference? It’s clearly not the income! It’s the relationship they have with money, prosperity, and abundance. And that’s something so few people have actually comprehended. They’re too focused on strategies to make money instead of first working with how they relate to money. If you have a bad relationship with money, and then you get a lot of money, you’ll have a really big, bad relationship with money!

Damien Senn: You are running a workshop in London on February 3-4th of February called 'The Mental Game of Money'. What practical tools can people expect to walk away with from this seminar?

Dr Topher Morrison: I’ve used the tools of Neuro Linguistic Programming to model the most successful experts on wealth. And ALL of them, without exception or fail share 5 things in common. They may not say it directly, but if you read deeper into their words, if you really study them and understand them, you’ll discover 5 governing rules that they all follow. This seminar focuses on those 5 rules to the mental game of money. It’s not a get rich quick seminar! It’s a down to earth, grounded approach to changing the way you relate to wealth so that when you start to generate more wealth, you don’t screw it up, but in fact, you make that money go further than you ever have before…. It really is an amazing program. I think it’s the seminar I’m most proud of because so much of the information is original… and by original I mean I’ve reworded in my own personal way what every other person says too!

Damien Senn: What kind of results have previous participants of this seminar enjoyed?

Dr Topher Morrison: Ironically, some of the most amazing stories of improvement aren’t even about money! They are about how their lives have improved. One girl specifically comes to mind. A 15 year old girl who came to my first program 1 year ago. She was dropping out of school, self harming herself, she had an eating disorder and her parents were doubting if their girl would survive. Her mom & dad came to the seminar and brought her along. They were expecting to learn how to improve their relationship with money and their daughter ended up turning her life around 180 degrees. In fact, come to my seminar Feb 3 & 4, I’ll bet she’ll be there, and you’ll see what I mean. She absolutely glows with life.

Other stories of success about money have been from the well grounded to the amazing. For example, I had an email the other day from a student who said that before the seminar she was horribly in debt and less than one year later she’s paid off all her debt and managed to put £11,000 in her savings account… now that’s not a million pound story, but that’s a great starting point, and if you ask her if it was worth her time and money, she’d give a resounding yes. I also had an email from a person who attended the program and the next week ended up getting £40,000 from a person she was fighting with legally for several years. She did a process during the seminar where you release negative energy toward someone who’s wronged you financially. She completely forgave the person during the seminar for what they did to her. That following week, the person called her, settled out of court and gave her more than she was expecting.

Damien Senn: What memorable mistakes, if any, have you made in business? What did you learn from them and how can they be avoided?

Dr Topher Morrison: One of my biggest mistakes was not treating my business like a business…. It’s one of the hardest things I have to face as a motivational speaker. People approach me during the breaks, they give me heart breaking stories, my heart goes out to them and I make exceptions for them with pricing plans or I take it easy on them so they can get to my program. And in nearly every single situation, that person has ended up not paying me in the long run. I’ve even had promoters who owe me over $100,000 just not pay me because I was ‘too nice’ and didn’t defend my boundaries. What I’ve realizes is that by me making special exceptions for someone because I feel sorry for their story, it sends a message to the universe that actually disables that persons instead of inspires them. So now I’m much more strict on policy. I treat everyone the same regardless of their situation, and it makes it much better, because that’s really what their unconscious minds want anyway… to be treated equal and held to a higher standard than they have for themselves.

Damien Senn: What are the best and worst things about being an entrepreneur?

Dr Topher Morrison: The best thing is that you are totally responsible for your destiny… and I think the worst part is that you are totally responsible for your destiny!

Damien Senn: Are there any other thoughts, insights, or advice that you would like to offer would be entrepreneurs thinking about setting up their own business?

Dr Topher Morrison: Treat it like a business. Do it for the right reasons, and know what you are worth… know what your time is worth too. Most entrepreneurs piss away 90% of their day not doing things that ultimately make their company money. And if you aren’t doing something that makes your company money, then you are actually costing your company money. I’ll share you a great story on what I mean, an it’s the fundamental element that has made my company the success it has become most recently. About 20 months ago, I had a conversation with one of my mentors in life. His name is John… that’s actually his name by the way, I haven’t changed it to protect his privacy! John has a net worth over 30 million dollars and he’s only 25 years old. When I asked him what he did that made his company such a success he gave me a great strategy. He said he made a list of the things that he is uniquely qualified to do in his company. There were only 7 things. And he vowed to only do those 7 things during work hours, and all other items of the business he would delegate. He had me make a list of my uniquely qualified duties for my job. I did, and he told me to hire staff to do EVERYTHING else. I immediately countered with common sense. I told him that hiring people to do everything else is easy for him to say, he has a net worth of 30 million dollars. I don’t have that kind of money and it’s not as easy for me to just go out and hire enough people to do all those other business duties. He paused for a moment and replied… “Yep, and its attitudes like that, that will keep you from ever being worth 30 million dollars. When I started my company, I couldn’t afford to hire all the people I did, but I did it anyway, and that’s why I have 30 million and you never will until you change your attitude.” That was the best spanking I ever received! So know what your time is worth!

New Years Resolutions for 2007!

Online video is literally transforming our collective ability to communicate with each other. I have to say that it is an area that really intriques and excites me, so one of my New Years resolutions has been to get out there and start making my own little movies.

The video below shares another one of my New Years resolutions. I hope you have fun watching it because I certainly had a lot of fun making it!

Are you moving fast enough?

Are you moving fast enough?

Make no mistake the world is moving quickly, faster than at any other time in the history of mankind.

Now if you want your small business to be successful in this environment it is imperative that you adapt to change. It is also critical that you are in a position to see the opportunities that change brings and then be fast enough to take full advantage of those opportunities. If ever there was a need for speed in business, it is now!

Below are three very simple tips to help you increase the speed at which you do business.

(1) Understand that it is impossible for you to be an expert at everything.

One of the most important lessons I can offer anyone looking to try and set up their own small business is not to try and become an expert at everything. It is the quickest route to disaster (trust me I’ve personally learnt this lesson the hard way!).

Your role as an entrepreneur is to first of all work out what needs to be done to achieve your strategic business objectives and then secondly, try to find ways to engage and inspire others to help you achieve your vision.

(2) Understand where you can best invest your time.

Once you have worked out what needs to be done you need to ask yourself ‘how can I put my talents to best use within my business?’ It is incredibly important that you discover where you can invest your time to create the most amount of value for your customers, clients as well as your business.

Of course when you start out, you will no doubt find yourself spending a lot of time doing things that aren’t the best use of your time out of sheer necessity. Even though this may be the case initially, you should be constantly on the lookout for ways and means to put your time to better use.

Better still, make it a habit!

(3) Build your business success team.

Once you’ve come to terms with the fact that you can’t do everything yourself you need to start attracting other people to do some of the work for you.

Now if you are not in a position to start hiring employees, a great place for you to start getting more leverage in your business is by outsourcing work on a project by project basis. A great place for you to begin looking for outsourcing partners is on a tendering website called elance.com.

When outsourcing tasks, look towards those that your business doesn’t hold a strategic competitive advantage in, beginning with the most time consuming first.

On elance.com you have access to a whole range of skilled professionals often working in countries that are more price competitive than your own.

Putting it all in to practice.

If you can put these action steps into practice within your business, you will not only increase the speed at which you can do things but you will also increase the value that your business can deliver to the marketplace.

The other added benefit is that you will find yourself spending a greater proportion of your time focusing upon the tasks you have a true talent for and that bring you the most pleasure.

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