Photo of the month - Like Father Like Son.

Photo of the month - Like Father Like Son.

As much as I like looking at pictures of myself there was one other photo that caught my attention this month and that was one of Lloyd and Spencer Elliott.

Lloyd and I have been friends for over 17 years now (we are old school buddies and even lived together for a couple of years in a notorious 6 man bachelor pad whilist we were both at University in Melbourne). Spencer is his little boy.

I have to admit that it was with grave concern that I recieved an email from Lloyd suggesting that both he and Spencer were going to cancel their subscriptions to my 'Design Your Life Newsletter' if their photo wasn't prominately featured in the next edition.

Now I am generally not one who submits to bullying tactics but because they are such a good looking pair, I decided to make an exception on this one occassion...

What’s holding you back?...

What’s holding you back?...

Around 7 and half years ago, I randomly walked into a travel agency in my home town of Melbourne. It was a Saturday morning and it just so happened that I had a bit of time to kill.

I casually strolled into the store and immediately walked over to a big map of world that covered most of one of the shops walls.

I stood there staring at the magnificence of the world and started to imagine what it would be like to travel to all the many different countries that grabbed my attention.

In this wonder filled state, a sales assistant called Kylie came over to me, said hello and we started a conversation. She told me that she had only just returned from a 2 year stint in London. The way she enthusiastically described her adventures held me totally captivated. Before I knew it, I reached for my credit card and booked a one way ticket to London leaving exactly 6 weeks later.

I was swept away by the moment.

Now I have to completely admit that I was completely swept away by the moment. Instinctively I knew that it would be good for me to step into the unknown but I'd had given absolutely no rational thought about how I was going to practically pack my life up and leave Australia in 6 weeks. I had no passport, no visa and no clue of how I was going to be able to pull it off. All I could do was trust that everything was going to be alright.

I gave away nearly all of my worldly possessions.

Somehow I did manage to pack my entire life into a back pack and a small suitcase. Everything else that I owned, I gave away.

The feeling of giving away everything that I couldn’t carry was both exhilarating and liberating. By letting go of ‘things’ I begun to experience a magnificent flow state that I had never known before.

Holding on holds you back.

By going through the process of giving everything away I became acutely aware of how my over attachment to ‘things’ was holding me back from experiencing the essence of what it feels like to be totally alive.

In our consumer driven society, we are conditioned to buy things that we don’t need and then strangely we fear letting those things go when our inner yearnings call us to step up to the plate of life and ask for more.

What would you be doing right now?

What would you be doing with your life right now if you didn’t have that car, that job, that house or that big screen TV? What risks would you take? What adventures would you seek out? What incredibly wild and wonderful people would you meet along the way? What big contribution would you start to offer the world?

Life is for the living. If there is anything holding you back from living the life you were born to lead, material or otherwise, you need to start letting go of it or risk never realising your true desires.

Embrace the true magic of life. Get clear on the kinds of feelings and sensations that will bring you totally alive. And then just get out there in the world and be all that you are!

Claire Richardson Interview

In 2000, Claire Richardson took a trip to New Zealand. Little did she know that the holiday snaps she took would be the inspiration for a new career direction.

Turn the clock forward 7 years and Claire's photography is in hot demand from both corporate and private clients. She photographs interiors, lifestyle and portraits and has most recently completed an inspirational book project in France for Ryland, Peters and Small....

The Interview.

Damien Senn: Hi Claire, thank you for offering to share you insights into the fascinating world of photography...

Now you worked as an interiors stylist for a number of years before finally moving behind the camera. What was it that inspired you to make the move?

Claire Richardson:

Inspiration to step behind the camera came at the suggestion of a lovely friend who is also a photographer. He made the comment after seeing some of my photographs taken on a trip to New Zealand in 2000. His encouragment prompted me to seriously consider photography as a career.

Damien Senn: Did you find the transition quite a smooth one or were there challenges that you needed to overcome?

Claire Richardson:

It was much smoother than I anticipated. I spent a year and a half testing on my first medium format camera, and experimented with different film types and techniques. I then used a selection of the images I'd worked on to produce my first portfolio and started to visit prospective clients. The feedback and encouragement that I received was really encouraging over the initial six months, and my commissions increased sufficiently for me to earn a living. I was then able to stop my styling work.

Damien Senn: Now I have to say that you made me feel incredibly comfortable in front of the camera. Tell me a little more about your approach to make people feel at ease when they are getting their portraits taken?

Claire Richardson:

Being interested in the person you're shooting is paramount. I really enjoy meeting new people, and hearing about their lives, so chatting to clients is my first point of contact. It generally follows that the more people talk, the more they relax, and physically open up to the camera. My favourite shots are usually the ones taken at the end of the shoot, when a client is happy and confident....they then forget the camera is even there.

Damien Senn: What is your most memorable portrait taking experience?

Claire Richardson:

That's a hard one, so I'll have to pick two! My first would be taking a portrait of the pianist Big John Carter. I first heard John play boogie-woogie and blues on London's Brick Lane when I was in my early twenties, and have been inspired by his music ever since. His passion and enthusiasm clearly shine through when you hear him play.

My second favourite would have to be the hour I spent last year taking photos of my wonderful grandmother, Win Richardson, now in her 90's. She's an amazing lady, has a real zest for life and great sense of humour.






Damien Senn: You have taken photographs for a number of books. Could you provide some insights into what it takes to get a collection of photographs to work together?

Claire Richardson:

By far the most important thing about shooting books is the 'vision' that the author or stylist has to have when organising a variety of locations and shots. A clear vision and good organisational skills are top of the list. If you get that right, then it makes my job easy!!

Damien Senn: Now you've just made the transition from film to digital photography. How have you found the whole process?

Claire Richardson:

It's early days for me to make a balanced judgement on shooting digitally, but so far I love it! The fear of change was greater than the reality, and now I've made the leap, I'm equally happy shooting both. Currently some clients only want digital, and others only want film.....so flexibility is the key!

Damien Senn: If you could choose your favourite photo out of all the many thousands that you've taken which one would it be and why?

Claire Richardson:

Once again it's hard to pin down to just one photograph. One of my favourite personal projects is shooting derelict spaces, picking up on the traces that people leave behind.

Below are a few of my favourites from that body of work.





Damien Senn: Do you think good photographers are born or made?

Claire Richardson:

I'd probably say that the greatest photographers are born creative, and their vision or 'eye' is what ultimately defines their work. You can learn everything there is to know about the science of photography, but without a good sense of composition and light, it would amount to nothing.

Damien Senn: What tips would you give to people out there aspiring to become professional photographers?

Claire Richardson:

Go for it!! It's a fantastic career and can be extremely rewarding both creatively and financially. It also opens doors into so many different areas......the possibilities are boundless!

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

Claire Richardson:

Yes I do. If people listen to their dreams, and not to their critics (both internally and externally), then I do believe that anything and everything is possible.

Knowledge is no longer Power!

Knowledge is no longer Power!

Yes, you did read correctly, knowledge is no longer power. How can this possibly be I hear you cry?

Well we are living in a world that is changing at breathtaking speeds and it is showing no signs of slowing.

The knowledge you have today may no longer be relevant tomorrow. In fact it is said that information that University students learn in their first year of study will more than likely be out of date by the time they reach their third year of study.

In times of great change, power doesn’t reside in the knowledge itself because before you know it, your knowledge you have will soon be redundant. The actual power resides with those who have the ability to seamlessly adapt to their environments through rapid learning and unlearning.

The rules are changing.

In times of great change, if you want to get ahead you need to think creatively. Doing the things you’ve always done just isn’t going to cut the mustard. The rules of the game are most definitely changing. And the great news is that this gives you the opportunity to start making your own rules.

With the changing business landscape it is important that you look forwards rather than backwards. The US Department of Labour are predicting that the top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 will be ones that didn’t actually exist in 2004. Don’t you think it might be a good time to start reinventing your business or career?

Ready, Fire, Aim.

Because the world is moving so quickly the old paradigm of ‘Ready, Aim, Fire’ just doesn’t work anymore. You will be much better off adapting a ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ approach.

With a ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ approach, you prepare yourself to the best of your ability, you then take action, and finally you take feedback from your environment and tighten your focus. And then you begin the whole process all over again.

The biggest mistake you can make.

In times of great change the biggest mistake you can make with your business is being afraid to make mistakes. The businesses that will be most successful in this new arena are the ones that develop a culture of encouraging mistake making. Each little mistake that you make holds a seed for you to totally attune yourself to your rapidly changing market place. So best make it a habit!

Liberate yourself from always having to be right.

The great thing about the ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ approach is that it liberates you from always having to be right. You will also quickly learn that you do not have to know everything before you can take action.

There is great pleasure to be had in moving forward purely on the basis of what feels right. This very act alone, will bring you closer to the incredible creative and intuitive life force that resides deep inside of you. It will also bring you closer to your true power, not in your knowledge, but in your ability to adapt.

Knowledge is no longer Power!

Knowledge is no longer Power!

Yes, you did read correctly, knowledge is no longer power. How can this possibly be I hear you cry?

Well we are living in a world that is changing at breathtaking speeds and it is showing no signs of slowing.

The knowledge you have today may no longer be relevant tomorrow. In fact it is said that information that University students learn in their first year of study will more than likely be out of date by the time they reach their third year of study.

In times of great change, power doesn’t reside in the knowledge itself because before you know it, your knowledge you have will soon be redundant. The actual power resides with those who have the ability to seamlessly adapt to their environments through rapid learning and unlearning.

The rules are changing.

In times of great change, if you want to get ahead you need to think creatively. Doing the things you’ve always done just isn’t going to cut the mustard. The rules of the game are most definitely changing. And the great news is that this gives you the opportunity to start making your own rules.

With the changing business landscape it is important that you look forwards rather than backwards. The US Department of Labour are predicting that the top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 will be ones that didn’t actually exist in 2004. Don’t you think it might be a good time to start reinventing your business or career?

Ready, Fire, Aim.

Because the world is moving so quickly the old paradigm of ‘Ready, Aim, Fire’ just doesn’t work anymore. You will be much better off adapting a ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ approach.

With a ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ approach, you prepare yourself to the best of your ability, you then take action, and finally you take feedback from your environment and tighten your focus. And then you begin the whole process all over again.

The biggest mistake you can make.

In times of great change the biggest mistake you can make with your business is being afraid to make mistakes. The businesses that will be most successful in this new arena are the ones that develop a culture of encouraging mistake making. Each little mistake that you make holds a seed for you to totally attune yourself to your rapidly changing market place. So best make it a habit!

Liberate yourself from always having to be right.

The great thing about the ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ approach is that it liberates you from always having to be right. You will also quickly learn that you do not have to know everything before you can take action.

There is great pleasure to be had in moving forward purely on the basis of what feels right. This very act alone, will bring you closer to the incredible creative and intuitive life force that resides deep inside of you. It will also bring you closer to your true power, not in your knowledge, but in your ability to adapt.

Neil Asher Interview - Managing Director of New Insights

Neil Asher - Managing Director of New Insights




At the age of 25, Neil Ashers life literally fell apart around him leaving him broke and lonely. It was in these dark moments that Neil made the life altering decision to never again let his past dictate his future.

Neil later began to immerse himself in the world of self development and started to put some of his new learnings into practice and went from working in a café to owning a million-dollar company in the space of a year...

The Interview

Damien Senn: Neil, you are no stranger to adversity. Tell me about your own personal experience of hitting rock bottom and how it motivated you to turn your life around once and for all.

Neil Asher: I was a chef for many years and I’ve cooked in some of the best restaurants in the world under people whose job it was to shout at me all day! (Think Gordon Ramsey!) and then I owned 5 restaurants in Jersey and Sydney until finally I owned a HUGE restaurant with 45 guys working for me and realised I didn’t actually like what I was doing anymore….. Well once I had this profound realization being the huge action taker I was (sic) I waited 18 months and started drinking A LOT instead!!

Then one day a friend recommended I see a life coach, I was aghast! A Life Coach!!! ME!! Never, I was scared and insecure hiding behind bravado and ego.
But I grudgingly went, and BOY I was very hard work!! Shut down emotionally and scared to reveal who I was.

Caro (my Life Coach) was up for the challenge!

She worked with me and helped me so much that I used to leave my coaching sessions on a high, then one day she asked me about my purpose in life, I’d never thought of it before but with her help I uncovered it:

“My mission in life is to create companies that inspire and educate people and leave a positive impact on the world and to be a role model of the limitless possibilities of mankind”

I cried the first tear in many many years and was left feeling inspired and unsure of the future as I knew for sure I was in the wrong job….

I called Caro the next day for some advice and told her I was scared but I knew I needed to make a change, she coached me through it and asked me great questions and I knew that I wanted to be a life Coach too.

So I spent the next 5 years studying with the best of the best (my father taught me this) and I now lead the sort of life I could only have dreamed of 6 years ago.

Damien Senn: You have invested an incredible amount of time, money and energy into your own personal development journey. Who have been your most influential teaches and why?

Neil Asher: Well I have learnt from many many great people but the person whose work I most admire for personal transformation is Dr John Demartini. I find his work has, for me, the truth within it. This is an important concept!

I do not believe in getting all hyped up in a seminar and then spending the next 12 months trying to figure out why that is not sustainable. I believe in balance and in finding your inner “guru” by following the wisdom of your soul.

Damien Senn: You went from working in a cafe to owning a million dollar company in the space of a year. What mental shifts were necessary to make this transition?

Neil Asher: Ha Ha! Well the BIGGEST mental shift that everybody has to make is to love themselves for who they are…. But to apply that to this concept the mental shift was “I’m the right person to be doing this” my thought process at that time was why the heck not!

If someone else can do it then so can I… I just have to learn what to do then apply it.
I still have this belief now.

As far as business is concerned I had to value myself. Pure and simple. Once you value yourself EVERYTHING changes!

Damien Senn: Your company New Insights Life Coaching trains busy people to become life coaches. With many Life Coaching training companies out there, what is it that sets yours apart from the rest?

Neil Asher: Well the No 1 thing is our focus on helping our coaches to start coaching businesses. Many many people do courses whether they are NLP courses, coach training courses or whatever without realizing that ultimately they’re getting into business for themselves.

This is an important distinction.

Because as I tell my coaches “It’s no good being the best life coach in the world if you’re broke!”

So we teach our coaches the skills to run a business as well as be brilliant coaches. We are the only coaching company in the UK that does that…. To me it’s obvious but you know as well as I do that obvious just means I’ve thought it through!

PLUS

Because of our focus on getting coaches going in business we also offer a very unique coaching guarantee and essentially what we say is this: apply what we teach you, implement what you learn, ask for help if you need it and you will get 10 clients as a result of our course.

Nobody else does this…. We’re the only training company that focuses on this for our coaches.

Damien Senn: What kind of results have your coach training graduates enjoyed?

Neil Asher: Great a chance to brag about our brilliant coaches!

O.K. well we have coaches earning over £5000 a day as executive coaches.

Coaches speaking in front of 1000’s of people and inspiring them to move forward in their lives.

Coaches working with teenagers to truly believe in themselves.

Coaches running seminars for personal development.

Coaches creating change within companies so that people are inspired to be there.

Coaches working with couples to help them re-kindle the love in their relationships.

In short we help our coaches to fulfil their dreams :-)


Damien Senn: What personal qualities do you think a person must have before thinking about a career in coaching?

Neil Asher: Well the only thing that matters is a desire to learn and a love of helping people. Everything else we can teach you, BUT so far I haven’t been able to figure out how to teach those 2 things to people.

So if you have those we can help you to become a coach.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or haven’t done in the past. Heck I was a chef! So if I can do it anyone can!

Damien Senn: You're an advocate of Holosync mind technology. Can you tell me about how it works and the impact it has had on your life?

Neil Asher: I use it everyday. I personally get a lot out of it and I use it to focus my mind.

I’m a big believer in trying things out and seeing if they work for me, I do not believe that everything works for everybody and I run a mile when I’m told it does!

But after testing holosync I noticed a difference in my mental stamina and also in how I focused and used my mind.

I speed read as well and I found it helped me to integrate the books I was reading at a much deeper level.

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

Neil Asher: : WOW where to begin!

O.K. first a word on mistakes…. If you’re living your life in fear of screwing up just know that you will NEVER be a success.

Failure is a necessary part of success.

One of my mentors who was making over £10 million a year at the time told me this “if you want to truly be great and do great things you HAVE to screw up all the time! In fact if you’re not making at least 1 mistake a day you’re just not trying hard enough!”

O.K. with that said my most memorable mistake was taking my eye off the ball with my wife…. 1 year ago I was working so hard, travelling the world, and for all intents and purposes I was a huge success. I was making about 500K a year profit and thought I was doing the right things.

BUT I wasn’t paying attention to my wife and her needs so I nearly lost her… it was very very tough for me as I felt embarrassed that I’d dropped the ball. PLUS of course I’m a very successful life coach and that should just not happen to me!

So it was a very humbling experience for me to tell my coaches what had happened and to get their help to get my relationship back on track.

So now I structure my life and business much differently and funnily enough I do more with less time!

Everything in my life and business is systemized so I can free up tie to focus on what’s important to me.

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

Neil Asher: Best is the thrill of the chase and the fulfilment of creating something that works, for me entrepreneurs are very unique people with very unique values. I love hanging out with other entrepreneurs and my coaching groups for entrepreneurs are very popular.

So best thing is hanging out creating ideas and solving the troubles of the world :-)

Worst for me is loneliness, to be an entrepreneur is to be a maverick and as such you will always live on the periphery of society I’m aware of the hierarchical structure within society and the dynamics of this and I could go into that AT LENGTH!

But that’s a whole new story!

So I’m basically a very social person and love to hang out and help other entrepreneurs kick ass and fulfil their dreams… that for me at least is great fun.

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?

Neil Asher: Yes, get started!

You cannot change direction if you’re standing still and just know that you will screw it up A LOT and that is all part of the game.

Surround yourself with like minded people.

Think about joining a coaching group if you have access to one.

And know what business you are in…. it is NOT the business you think it is!

If you’d like to learn what business you’re really in e-mail me and I’ll tell you ?

neil@life-coach-training.co.uk

Plan everything but expect not to follow up. But planning will help you believe it’s possible.

One final word, work on you…. You are your business and your business will only ever get as big as you and your vision allows it to. So work on you ad your business will automatically grow…. I see this time and time again.

Thanks for listening in and if you have any questions then please feel free to e-mail me, I’d love to help you :-)