The Eight Stages of Addiction Escape…

Addiction is always a hot topic and escape from its claws can be a lifelong trial for some. Being somewhat of an addict myself, I didn’t know that these stages really existed. I just did what most folk do when they are in ‘Addiction Peril’ - namely pack up, mess up and try again.

Now, I’ve seen some very promising and talented individuals end up becoming all consumed by their dependence on a complete spectrum of booze, drugs and behavioural traits. Even the acknowledgement of their situation is too much to take on board, which takes me nicely onto stage one.

1. Denial

We all know folk that are in ‘Denial’. Yes, acquaintances that have no idea that they are out of control or endangering themselves and the lives of others. Their once a month occasional blow-out, has spiralled into a daily need. It’s a process that happens all to quickly and It’s amazing that ‘a-once-in-every-28-days-kinda-thing’ can become an all-consuming ‘28-in-28’ necessity. I’ve been there myself, fingers in my ears, blocking out the observations of my nearest and dearest as I continued my self-destructive behaviour. Put simply, some folk are quite happy killing themselves.

2. Acknowledgment

Becoming aware of an Addiction takes time. It feels like the Addiction has slowly crept up on you - sort of when you weren’t looking. The glass of wine after work to unwind has become two, three, a bottle - two bottles, every day. Every morning has become a bit of a battle to get out of bed and the first few fuzzy hours are hastily coffee-filled as the day finally clears around lunchtime to start the whole process again. When I speak to daily one-bottlers about seeing three and four bottlers I always find it amusing how they say, ‘I’m not that bad’, but they are - they just haven’t ‘acknowledged their precarious position, yet. 

3. Not Today

When they have, well that’s when the ‘Dithering’ starts. Do you know an ‘Addiction Ditherer’? Yes they’ve ‘fessed up. Come clean. Acknowledged their situation but are really nowhere nearer sorting it out. This stage can last the longest and I’m sure we all know serial cigarette smokers for instance that say ‘I’d love to give up’ yet really you know they never will as they love smoking too much or feel like they’ve smoked for so long that there wouldn’t be any health benefits to be gained. How wrong they are and at over £10 a packet - how much poorer they are too. I remember being at stage three for some time before plucking up the courage for Stage Four as that, takes balls.

4. Next Week

Yes, picking YOUR day, the day that can change your life forever. I remember mine most clearly - the 5th January 1994. It took a huge amount of strength and personal realisation that I needed to change. Realising my ‘Self-failure’ and ‘Weakness of Character’ was a bitter pill to swallow. Admitting to myself was one thing, admitting it to someone else - well that was another matter, so I spent a fair bit of time in the ‘Next Week’ stage as there’s nothing more frightening than standing on the edge of a new future minus your best friend - Addiction.

5. Action

But then you take a deep breath and jump, it’s exhilarating. It’s fun to be free. Full of Adrenalin and positive thoughts. Well for a few days anyway, until the cracks start to appear and the hunger pangs of addiction start eating away like worms into your brain - consuming your inner resolve and goodwill. And don’t get me wrong, some folk grab freedom at the first opportunity. One short, sharp shock being all that’s needed to reverse the addiction tailspin in a single dose. If only it happened like that for everyone.

6. Failure

On average, it takes four times through the ‘Action-Failure-Cycle’ - an average. The ‘F’ word of Addiction is so condemning. For those looking for eternal abstention we’ll say from booze - the day count is there as an incentive as well as a final condemnation of defeat as the clock resets to zero and the whole process starts over. Food Addiction? Well, that’s more of a ‘Grey Area’ as even the mighty weightloss success stories I’ve helped to create will admit to a few sins along the way. Some folk take failure as a given when setting out on achieving their goal - I’ve always been mindful that any hint of failure must be put out of mind for success to happen and the ‘F’ word to happily ‘F’ off. 

7. Action

And back it’s back to Stage Five, well Stage three really if you really need a run up to tackle your obsession once again. I get the ‘Learning from Failure’ analogy and as a nation we love someone winning against the odds - succeeding after a making a complete balls-up the first time round. Only too often, this becomes the norm and folk become Yo-Yo Slimmers, Drinkers and worst of all Negative-Thinkers. My advice is always to look ahead with a blue-sky attitude - where the possibilities of life far outweigh the Kryptonite that’s attacking your inner resolve. Only thinking about successfully completing the next 24hrs in your quest to become the ‘Real’ you. The one that isn’t distracted, behaviour obsessed - one that feels calm and liberated. 

8. Termination

And when you are free, you’ll look back and wonder why you ever got so addicted in the first place. Why Booze, Drugs or Food became such an emotional crutch and such a problem. You might not even know you are a ‘Terminator’ - I didn’t. I set off on my journey just seeing if I could complete just one day, then a month and then a year. My obsession to do something has become an obsession not to do the same thing. A positive outcome from a dark time that’s now hidden in the vaults right at the back of my mind that’s now covered in a layer of positivity and achievements that mask any notion of a Stage Six Failure and continue to encourage me to help those who find themselves in a similar predicament.

So, let the battle begin. Addiction or Compulsive Behaviour of any kind eats away at the soul. Each morning, we get up with the best of intentions accidents happen, things go wrong, don’t go to plan or we plainly have a shitty day. Staying strong in these moments, well that’s the key to success as it’s easier to live life clean when things are going well.

9. Call me...

And if any of the above rings true, well it’s time for a change. Time to be free of the ‘Burden of Addiction’ and time to be AWESOME. 

So contact me and I'll help you start living a cleaner, happier, longer life - Amen.

1,059 Marathons - 255 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables

On the Run... The Pink Floyd

Live for today, gone tomorrow, that's me… Waters

Well, they say nothing lasts forever. And in our current rapidly changing world, the shelf-life of anything or anyone for that matter must be dramatically reduced. 

At this time, we’ve been instructed to be ‘Resilient’. It’s a word that’s being used a lot at the moment as our very existence is being threatened. Yet, when it comes to being ‘Resilient’ it’s not so easy as it sounds. Being able to stick at things without a definitive timespan is enough to fry many a brain and will do over the next few months for many.

‘Resilience’ is more of an inherent quality perhaps and also lacks a quantifiable scale. I mean, just how 'Resilient' are you? Looking back at my childhood, I was encouraged to ‘stick at things’ and most of the time did. That's where my ‘Resilience’ was borne. However, with my own children it’s harder to keep them on task due to the huge amount of choice, outside influence and digital white noise, certainly with my little ones anyway. Perhaps then, ‘Resilience’ grows with age in a kinda ‘Fuzzy Logic Way’, where we learn to endure higher degrees of hardship and discomfort learning to tough things out as we grow.

Maybe that way of learning helped me prepare to run further and further distances and also overcome serious illness. It's a test of character that right now that millions of people in the UK, let alone all over the world, are being subjected to where they will find their ‘Limit of Human Endurance’ as they face up to a silent killer that can strike anyone, anywhere at any time regardless of age, sex or creed. Having the determination to see this crisis out, will be the biggest challenge of our lifetime.

How we perceive that challenge and how we see our own existence post Covid-19 is the key. Not getting caught up in the moment is where I've succeeded in the past and I always try and see the positives in any situation. Let’s face it, the end of Covid-19 isn’t really the end, it’s just the start of a new beginning. 

And it will come to an end, just not today or tomorrow but one day.

Going forwards, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. It’s probably going to get a lot harder, who knows - but be prepared. Being able to see an end and adjust to a new way of living and working will define us all, you and me included.

So 'Live for today and Live tomorrow', that’s what I doing…

1,052 Marathons, 255 Ultras, 15 Marathon des Sables, 9 Guinness World Records

Get the Message - Electronic

I've always thought of you as my brick wall…

Well, it’s the end of a most extraordinary April. Thirty days where we’ve been exposed to a huge amount of information both in the media and online. It’s been a time of huge change and acceptance for most and as a broadcaster of such online information, I thought I’d investigate what I’ve been broadcasting to anyone prepared to listen.

Isn't it sweet?
So on close inspection, I’ve posted every day in April, using my tried and tested ‘Quotebox’ method on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Of the twenty-five quotes (above) from 1^st - 25^th April, they appear to fall into one of four message categories:-

• Inspiration
• Inquisition
• Instruction
• Imitation.

Inspiration

Interestingly, only 10/25 fell into the ‘Inspirational’ zone. The main reason, I believe, for broadcasting my thought for the day. And as a ‘Transformation Coach’ - surely my ‘raison d'être’, a key daily message - a catalyst for personal reform. My aim to post a thought provoking statement to change lives forever – with a 40% ‘inspiration’ success rate.

Inquisition

For the want of a better word beginning with ‘In’, where instead of being Inspirational, my quote was in fact more of a question. In my quest for delivering ‘Inspiration’, luckily only 2/25 of my ‘Quotes’ asked for a direct response.A waste perhaps, as the questions go unanswered.

Instruction

These were the days where I delivered a simple message of personal ‘improvement’. A surprising 36% where my daily messages said ‘Do this’ in a variety of combinations, at maximum volume in some cases. And when I say ‘Surprising’ I’m genuinely ‘Surprised’ as my aim is to lead, not to shout.

Imitation

When I hear or see something that’s inspired me, I like to share it. Yes, it can be a lyric from the Bee Gees - ‘Stayin’ Alive’ or Kate Bush’s - ‘Sensual World’ or dialogue from a TV Show or Film that’s resonated with me. So folk can enjoy them as well, I always name the source for a quick ‘Google’. The songs especially always highlight to me how it felt to live through those times – from artists that I admire for their sheer skill and creativity. There’s no need for my list of ‘twenty albums that have made an impact on me’ – if you are a regular blog reader, you’ll already know what they are.

Take my independent point of view…

And of course, it’s only how I see and perceive the world around me – it’s designed purely to provoke thought and inspire and following my investigation I’ll endeavour to be more ‘Inspirational’. Especially, as we continue to endure our toughest challenge in living history.

Getting my Message?

1,052 Marathons, 255 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records & 15 Marathon des Sables

Entangled - Genesis

A Year to Remember...

I wonder what we’ll think when we look back at 2020. It’ll certainly be a year that we’ll never forget - for obvious reasons. However, when we look back it will be only one of the many extraordinary times that will be etched deeply into our living memories. It’s all a bit dark right now isn’t it?

Yet when I think of sunnier days and happier times, my mind immediately takes me back to 1976. The year of the ‘Big Drought’. I had some great replies when I asked my social media platform yesterday if they remembered that year. There was a whole spectrum of replies. As a 14-year old boy myself, I remember it very well. It was an unprecedented time. A time post-WW2 where the country came together to face an unheard of national crisis – which we survived. Sounds familiar?

If you experienced 1976 for yourself you'll remember that Summer went on forever – well that’s how it felt anyway. As I clearly remember, it finally came to an end in a cataclysmic thunderstorm on the evening of Saturday 25^th September - when we all breathed a huge if somewhat soggy sigh of relief. Never have so many people in one nation prayed for rain!

The thing is, everything comes to its own natural end and runs out of steam. The Corona-crisis will too. It’s going to take time and strength to get through it – and a bit of nostalgia of better times. The current trend of listing and nominating albums that ‘meant-a-lot-at-the-time’ underlines just how much we love to hold onto the ‘good old days’ and in my case reliving that long hot, carefree summer with a dose of ‘More than a Feeling’ or ‘Entangled’ rather than the dreadful ‘Save your kisses for me’ or even more-dreadful (if that’s a term) ‘Mississippi’. Gave me a warm sense of belief as well as relief from yet another bad-news-broadcast on TV.

Time will heal…

Forty-four years’ on from 1976, (a matter of moments it feels to me), so much has happened. We’ve seen the rise and fall of the Space Shuttle, Concorde, Video, CD’s and the Floppy Disc. Will Apple, Facebook and good old Google be around in Forty-four more years’? Who knows but new life-challenges and inventions, will come and go – they always do. The terrible things that happened in 1976? Well, we tend try to forget the bad stuff don’t we and move on to rise out of the ashes. Rebuild. Stiffen our upper-lips and make the best of what we’ve got. 

Just like we did in 1976.

1,052 Marathons, 255 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records & 15 Marathon des Sables