Countdown to Success - T10,000 - 17 Days

When speaking about Mental Health we often talk about ‘being in a dark place’ when things have gotten tough. Having been in the blackest and darkest of places where there was no ‘chink of light’ or ‘light at the end of the tunnel’,  it’s hard to describe the true fear and helplessness of the blackout. It’s a very lonely place and even in a vast crowd or large city, it’s easy to feel alone.

Yet somehow the light comes. They say it’s always the darkest just before the dawn. Maybe its just a way of saying that things only start to get better when they’ve been their worst - something I can wholeheartedly agree with. In my experience letting the light, changes everything. The loneliness disappears and the impossible becomes possible. It only takes a spark to reignite the flames to warm the soul.

Take it from me, ‘Letting in the Sun’ will not only just brighten your own world. You’ll find it radiates out and opens doors and opportunities that you’d never thought were possible. Maybe start looking forward to a new dawn, the brightest and sunniest dawn you can imagine. One that will 'Let in the Sun.

9,983 Days - 1,079 Marathons - 255 Ultras 

Countdown to Success - T 10,000 -18 Days

It’s okay not to be okay. I know that as 9,982 days ago, I certainly wasn’t okay. Does waking up feeling paralysed from the inside knowing that things will just be the same at the end of yet another day of inner turmoil and conflict sound familiar? It was the knowing that there was no escape from my inner thoughts and self-hatred that drove me to the brink of what I call my ‘Point Zero’.

At ‘Point Zero’, the place where nothing, and I mean nothing, could ever get worse, i finally asked for help. It’s the moment where I ‘reached out’ - only in reality it’s way past the point where I should’ve. Looking for friendly eyes or the listening ear of someone that could find the light in my darkness felt like defeat.

 

The thought of calling one’s Doctor or confiding in a work colleague would’ve felt like failure, especially if one’s demeanour status has been projecting ‘fine’. Back in late 1993, I’d spent months being outwardly ‘fine’ but in fact was dying inside. It was only in January 1994 that I finally found the strength to reach out and make life-changing decisions of career, relationship and behaviour that would shape my entire future.

 

On doing so, I immediately felt back in control, relieved both mentally and physically as well as feeling positive and excited about my future. It was still okay not feeling okay as I knew it wasn’t going to last forever - it was over and it immediately felt more like a temporary blip where I could decide how and when it would finish.

 

It was even okay not to be okay when I was ill with Guillian-Barre Syndrome back in 2016. Being able to reach out for medical help and support and break my predicament down into bite-sized chunks really helped my whole recovery process. And true to form, it worked. It wasn’t perfect, but then nothing ever is, is it? It was just down to adopting a fresh state of mind. One where I realised that my world had more than one occupant.

 

In both cases, I found that I needed help from other people - a need to reach out and confide. A definite no-no in my earlier life but one now that I’m happy to say I’ve fully engaged with. Soldiering on, putting on a brave face, endeavouring to deceive everyone including yourself is a recipe for disaster and if that’s where you secretly find yourself today. 

 

SHOUT and SHOUT LOUD, to those around you that matter or are willing to listen. It could be the best thing you ever do.

9,982 Days Alcohol-Free - 27 Years of Success - 1,089 Marathons

Biggest Ever Loser...

I'm so happy that I have a new Biggest Loser in my Coleman Coaching Clients Portfolio. Since June 2020, Miss D has lost a massive 48.1kgs (7.6st) so far. And with 15.4kgs (2.5st) still to go, I'm keeping Miss D's identity under wraps until she reaches her goal of losing 63.5kgs (10st) - That's when the world will hear how during lockdown someone took the opportunity of upping their game and changed their life forever.

As you can tell, I'm super impressed and already amazed at the transformation that Miss D has undertaken both physically and mentally , whilst many people in the UK have lost the plot and found the biscuit barrel, whilst working from home during Covid.

Miss D is one of many success stories and you might seen how recently, Mitchell and Richard also upped their game.

Mitchell

Richard

Now, if you've slacked and stacked in recent months and want to shape up please contact me and find out how I can help. 

Marathons 1,083  Ultras 255  9 Guinness World Records  15 Marathon des Sables

Begin again...

Here are four questions that you might want to consider as we emerge from the post Covid-19 apocalypse…

What do you now expect from other people?

Are you wanting more? Do you expect a lot and are often underwhelmed at folks response? Do they see the world as you do? Do they share your thoughts and aspirations? Or are they just looking after number one at heart? 

 

People always say they care but are they there in times of crisis. When I found myself in a tight spot back in 2016, it was fascinating who stepped up and even more fascinating who didn’t. It taught me a great life-lesson and to those that did, I have heart-felt thanks and repositioned the hierarchy of my nearest and dearest accordingly.

 

What do you expect from work?

Do you expect to make your fortune? Be part of the next boom product? Earn the respect of those you meet and anger those you step on as your career blossoms? Or - feel a sense of satisfaction that you’ve made a difference and what you do has a real purpose and value. 

Having had the big job in advertising and printing endless amounts of brochures - I know my hard work and energy was wasted as none of it now exists - and, it feels kinda sad that it’s all in landfill if I’m being honest. 

 

Luckily I now feel that I help change lives and create brighter futures which has a far brighter future.

 

What do we expect from life?

I think we expect a lot. An awful lot. So much so, that it’s an impossible task. As we head towards Q2 in 2021, I mean, what on earth are we expect? It would be delusional to believe that 2021 will segway perfectly into a continuation of February 2019. The world has changed. We’ve all changed. Covid-19 has brought out the best and worst in people.  

Hopefully the Covid-Scowl as I call it will disappear as I run past folk out walking and we won’t have to queue outside the supermarket whenloo-roll, milk and prosecco disappears from the shelves in double quick time.

What do I expect?

I expect it’s going to take time. Time to heal and time for us all to get used to the new normal whatever that is. I haven’t got a crystal ball but whatever comes my way, I’ll adjust accordingly and with the flow hoping to make the most of whatever life throws at me and what I can throw at life.

1,081 Marathons - 255 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables

Get it right next time...

Out on the street I was talkin' to a man. He said 'there's so much of this life of mine that I don't understand'.

Of course if we understood everything, the world would be a really boring place. An audience always looks to see how the magician did the trick, rather than just take the illusion at face value. Having seen a 'Magician of the Year' return an empty crushed tin of Coke to being full and in need of a ring pull to open and poured out, was asked if I wanted to know how it was done. When I said 'no', he said he was confused as everyone asked. You see, I was happy with the illusion and didn't need to understand. You see, sometimes it's okay not to know...

You shouldn't worry, I said, that ain't no crime. Cause if you get it wrong you'll get it right next time.

But we do worry don't we, me included about getting things wrong. Failing our peers, failing in public and not looking the fool. Oh the embarrassment! And yet, this is exactly the thing that stops us exceeding our limits. Yet if we look at lots of people we would class as being super-successful in life - they have all been failures in one way or another along their way to success.

You need direction, yeah you need a name. When you're standing in the crossroads every highway looks the same.

It's very easy to give in when things go wrong isn’t it? Giving into not going down the same route again and using fuzzy logic rather than common sense to guide our next steps. Imagine using Pot luck as your Sat-Nav the next time you travel anywhere. I understand how annoying being Google-Driven it can be but even in the pre-digital age we weren't traveling blind - remember using 'A to Z Maps'?

After a while you get to recognise the signs. So if you get it wrong you'll get it right next time.

We travel down the same paths of failure and make the same mistakes time and time again. Why is that? Why do we live so much in hope that things will turn out ok? Why do we believe that things will change for the better when it's obvious they won't and don't. Is that what we call it 'Human Nature'? 

Life is a liar yeah life is a cheat. It'll lead you on and pull the ground from underneath your feet.

And when it goes wrong you become the victim. Get despondent and can't find a way back. We can feel cheated. Having been in this situation myself, it would have been far too easy to say 'Why me'. But then I would have been giving into the negativity that surrounds so many people I meet that live under the grey cloud of 'Regret'.

No use complainin', don't you worry, don't you whine. Cause if you get it wrong you'll get it right next time.

My advice is always to draw a line and move on. People make mistakes. I make loads of them. We all make mistakes. We don’t do it on purpose - things just don’t go the way we planned. The feeling of liberation when moving on can be overwhelming. There's always another chance. Another opportunity. Another way of making things happen. You just have to dust yourself off and have another go.

You gotta grow, you gotta learn by your mistakes. You gotta die a little everyday just to try to stay awake.

Sometimes it feels like you are paddling upstream. It does for everyone right now I can assure you. Covid-19 has changed our world - Finished off over 100,000 worlds in the UK alone and will finish off many more worlds in the months to come. So when you feel everything's a mountain that you can't climb, don’t worry because if you get it wrong, you'll might get it right next time.

1,079 Marathons, 255 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records, 15 Marathon des Sables, 27 Years' Dry

In a Moment - Stereophonics

A ‘moment’ can change a lifetime. And right up to that ‘moment’ we only have ourselves to answer to for the successes or failures we’ve created. In my experience however, it’s only the failures that actually flush the ‘moment’ out into the open.

Don't know where you're going, used to be a star

And everywhere you turn they're raining on your fire.

I meet many people that ‘Used to be’ something or another - or feel that the world is set against them. And maybe that’s true but the only person that will back on track is you.

You're searching for an answer your hands and tongue are tied

And everything that you thought you knew is buried deep alive.

The answers are there, right in front of your eyes - you just have to find the ‘moment’ to go and take life, head on.

You could take tomorrow, You think you've got it all

The emptiness will go in a moment.

The words of this track resonated with me yesterday (even though I'm not the biggest Stereophonics fan) as I tried to help a lost soul find the right ‘moment’ to start living life with a future. A future where tomorrow is brighter than today and every day brings joy, happiness and personal fulfilment.

I'm looking in the mirror, stare at my reflection

And I look like someone else.

I know how that ‘moment’ feels. What it’s like to be lost but also what can be achieved when you find a new direction and a reason to feel alive and full of hope.

Cause you just need to know

The emptiness will go, in a moment.

Now if you find yourself thinking about your ‘moment’ in the midst of this Covid-Madness’, well there’s no better time to press your reset button. Think about what you really desire, really want to achieve and really want to be.

Cause you just need to know time is on your side

Time will heal your mind.

It’s time…

1075 Marathons - 255 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables

27 Years' Sober 

Twist in My Sobriety - Tikaram

Sober for 27 years - What’s it like to have been sober for all that time?

Well it’s a great question to someone that hasn’t had a drop of booze since 1994 - and here I’ll be as honest as I can about the journey that I’ve been on for the past 9,862 days.

  

And of course, it would be easy to say it’s been a piece of cake and in a way it has - however in reality the first few weeks were pretty tough but I’ve forgotten that over time. My Rose-Tinted Glasses see it only as a time of success and those first few weeks as being a euphoric blur as I discovered there was more to life than drinking tins of super-strong lager to help block out my failings and depression.

 

Those early booze-free days out jogging accelerated my detox and started building the framework for a new life of sobriety. Not that I’d marked myself out for a life sentence at that stage - it was just a one day at a time regime that gathered momentum and a value that became too priceless to throw away.

 

So if you are looking for a straight answer, it’s feels normal. Yes totally normal. And in the last twenty-seven years - I’ve packed a lot it. I’ve been to amazing places, achieved many notable feats and been lucky enough to meet many amazing people along the way.

 

Just from one day stopping drinking. Something I’d never have thought of on day one of my sobriety journey.

 

So fast forward and is every day a bed of roses? Is every day a day just perfect? Well of course not - BUT it’s another day in a world where anything is possible if you are sober and prepared live life with a fresh set of rules and ideals. 

 

And inside it feels - BLOODY BRILLIANT and I’m SUPER-PROUD of myself.

 

You can feel that way too if you are out of control and heading into 2021 just as I was back in 1994. Try living life sober one-day-at-a-time and see where life takes you. Then join me as I head on towards 10,000 days and my next celebration of sobriety in May.

 

Go on - be brave as you have nothing to lose.

1074 Marathons - 255 Ultras - 15 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records - 27 Years Sober