Lights, Camera - ACTION

I never really understood how to formulate a “Goal” – seemed to be difficult for me to choose just one “thing” or result…

Instead I found that by simply imagining “how cool would it be if…” I could create a future scene that included a variety of things..

For example, I used to think it “would be really cool” to actually live and work in the USA – I could visualise the cars, the buildings, and the people I could meet. I had a movie in my mind of what life could be like, how people would react to my accent, the air temperature and how I would be able to ride a Harley Davidson to Death Valley, or drive a ridiculous SUV over the Hoover Dam…

It wasn’t a Goal, it was more than that, it was a ready-made show reel in which I was the Director, Producer, Writer and Star – to me it was it was real, I could play the movie to myself in my mind whenever I wished…

That was when I was 17 – at that time life was not so sparkly and bright – eating cold food in a damp flat, or sleeping on the Central Line to keep warm was a million miles away from the USA…

Now let’s scroll forwards – on the 31^st March 2008 I receive a telephone call. Would I like to take my self my business and my family to live and work in the USA – Las Vegas to be precise…

My instant response was yes – within 2 weeks I was there, we sold everything and moved to the USA, we had a fabulous time there for two years. I bought the Harley Davidson and the SUV rode to Death Valley and drove over the Hoover Dam.

Note that this actually took 25 years to achieve - and to go from Ponders End to Las Vegas took plenty of work, learning, winning, losing, blood sweat and tears...

After a while we started to realise that actually, France was more in tune with our personal and professional ambitions and offered us a preferred lifestyle. So I produced another movie this time with the whole family as cast and crew but this time the location was France…

Sure enough, I attracted a business opportunity in Luxembourg – which meant that we could live in France, so again we immediately agreed and relocated back to Europe. We are still here – and rather than a new movie we are simply putting together the sequel – France 2 - the Monaco Years...

So what I have come to realise is that I don’t like Goals – I like Movies, and once the Movie is clear in my mind my actions, behaviour and decisions are guided in such a way that the opportunities for the Movie to become a reality become open to me. My job is simply to recognise the opportunities and capitalise on them when they come along - my subconscious

The biggest challenge that people face in business and in life is that they either don't recognise the opportunity, or if they do they don't say YES, they think about it, procrastinate, find excuses, allow the fear to be stronger than the excitement- and end up doing nothing.

For example, working with me will change your life and change your business - I guarantee it. The only thing that holds people back is the debilitating activity of the logical mind which looks for evidence, certainty, guarantees and predictability. What great movie have you ever seen that had predictability or certainty in the script...? 

Movies are products of creativity, use your creativity when making your decisions too...

The real beauty of this method, for me at least, is that when the phone rings and someone describes an opportunity – I can instantly either say yes or no, because if it is the right one, I will have already seen the movie in my mind and providing the two match, life is good.

Precessional Efffect

Around 12 months ago I published my first book - Life Rules OK. A semi biographical stopry of personal growth, developmenmt and success - with some of the lessons I have learned so far on my journey to date.

For those of you that have published a book, you will know what it feels like to hold a finished piece of work n your hands, and the sense of pride that having completed the work brings. I wrote the book with the intention of inspiring people - or just one person maybe - to aviod some of the "excitement" I had experienced iin my teens.

So keen was I to get the message out that we ran seminars and workshops where I gave books away to anyone who would turn up to an event - just to get the message out. Turns out that this was perhaps a mistake..

About two weeks ago I recieved an Email from a young lady who had bought my book from a local charity shop - (someone I gave the book to had chosen to pass it on..) and she was so moved by the content that she was compelled to summarise the material in the form of a Poem;

Life Rules 1.2.3

This is the way I clearly see
As we move away
We leave behind
What keeps us stuck
As life was struck

To change our views
To match values
To keep open minded
As visions were blinded
To move forward

To embrace the fear
To keep hold of our dreams
Of ones we see dear
Life rules 1.2.3
This is the way

I clearly see
As my pictures
Profoundly become me

Emma Islip - 2012

Now the lesson here for me is that giving something away does not in itself generate any benefit, however the precessional effect - if the book had not been donated to the Charity Shop - can be amazing..

The Universe acts in mysterious ways - I got the effect I wanted but not in the method I anticipated. This happens in Life and in Business so often..


If you want to give your God a good laught - tell her your plans for the future..

Proving a Point...

I remember being told that I had two choices in Careers at school - either to go down the Pit or join the Infantry...
I also remeber running away to London to creat my own future at the age of 17 - I was aksed if I did it to prove "them" wrong. I knew that "they" were wrong already, I didn't need to prove that, they had demonstrated that through their words and actions.
What I did have to do was prove myself right - I developed an "inner" belief in myself that shielded me from the negative views of others, that has stayed with me to this day. At 17 however, I ended up sleeping on platforms and carriages courtesy of British Rail, or eating at the Charity Shelters courtesy of the Red Cross - but I always believed, and Lynn believed in me too - if you believe strong enough then reality catches up eventually...
Of course, the belief may have been overstated at the time - but the more trust I have had in myself the more I have been able to prove myself right. This has enabled me to stay in married for 26 years so far - in spite of what the family had to say - live in three countries, get my MBA and write 36 books...
It's not what other people think about you that is important, it is what you think about yourself that matters. If I had listened to the external voices back then, I would have been in a very different place now.
The top three life lessons that I have learned so far, that I hope will help you on your journey;
1. Trust your instinct..
2. Love unconditionally..
3. Say Yes..

Have a great week...

Swallows or Hedgehogs...

Hedgehogs are one of only three UK mammals that have the ability to hibernate. They will hibernate through the winter depending upon the availability of food. When times are tough they roll into a ball and hibernate – waiting until things improve and their food supply becomes available again before they wake up.

Hedgehogs will even change their diets according to what is available and frequently eat foods that are high in fat and sugar although their metabolism is designed for low fat protein rich foods. This leads to cases of fatty liver and heart disease being quite common. 

British Swallows spend their winter in South Africa, covering up to 200 miles a day at speeds of up to 35mph. Swallows value consistency and understand that in order to achieve it they have to go somewhere different in order to achieve it. The journey is hazardous and sometimes they will die of exhaustion as they fly over the Sahara, but they value consistent temperatures and food supply above the hardship of making the actual journey.

In business and life we have a choice – we can be either a Hedgehog or a Swallow.

The Hedgehog business is cyclical; the results look like a roller coaster, when times are good life is good, when times are tough a Hedgehog business will roll into a ball and defend itself, and if sales dry up it will go into hibernation – we call it denial or insolvency.

The Swallow business endures the same cycles as the Hedgehog but the response is different. The Swallow takes the risk of changing its environment, leaving what is comfortable and embarking on a journey that whilst dangerous, has the potential to deliver abundance and security; and most of all, continuity…

So what type of business does the best – when the markets are good, business will be good and staying put and reaping the benefits of an abundant harvest looks like a sensible and easy option. When winter arrives in the form of a recession, staying put is not an option, and success will be achieved only by taking the risk of doing something different; metaphorically flying over the Sahara.

The business environment has changed, it is not that is any harder than it was before, it is just that we need to change what we do and where we go in order to achieve the same levels of success. The Hedgehog mentality of hibernation in the hope that things will get better doesn’t work, the recession will last longer than you reserves of cash.

Swallows will win the day. They always did, just that Hedgehogs justified their behaviour when times were good because it seemed to work for them. Looking for new markets, innovations and customers, taking the risk of the new and daring to take the journey is where the Swallows business attitude will win.

Plus, if I am going to fall over - I would much rather do it soaring over the African Plains than hiding under ahedge in West Bromwich. Its a choice...

R is for Recession...

It is unfortunate that when business is good we believe that it is due to our knowledge, passion and entrepreneurial skills, however, when business is not so good we blame the recession, the government or our customers.  On an incoming tide,  all boats rise and so it is with companies in a strong market; whatever we do will probably work, and sometimes a business can be successful in spite of the owners knowledge passion and skills…

When business is tough we realise that what we used to do simply doesn’t work, the tide is flowing against us and we have to find “new” ways of attracting customers and growing our sales. In reality we don’t need to find any “new” ways at all – we just need to go back the basic principles that the levels of our previous success had afforded us the luxury of ignoring.

R is for Results – there are 5 Principles to follow to get Results…

1.       Philosophy – be clear on your goals, standards and values. Your business will be a reflection of you and it may be that you need to change, learn new skills or think differently.

2.       Product – is your product or service truly excellent? Is what you do attractive and valuable to your clients, is it unique and different from your competition?

3.       Process – does your business only run when you are there? Remember, it is not what you supply but the context in which you supply it that makes the difference – is excellence systemised, or is it a lucky random occurrence?

4.       Promotion – are you marketing your business effectively? Are you sending compelling messages to your defined target market and can you measure the results you are achieving?

5.       Profit – is not your objective. Profit is a symptom of everything else that happens in your business, the outcome of the first 4 Principles. If your profit is not where you need it to be, simply look at your Philosophy, Product, Process or Promotion to find the solution.

The 5 Principles should be approached in sequence – it is no good having great Promotional activity if your Product and Process is not up to scratch for example. In my experience, we must start with ourselves – challenge ourselves to learn adapt and change at the same pace as the environment changes around us; only then will everything else fall into place.

It's the Recession Stupid...

One of the most frequent questions I get asked by business people, whether it is when I’m on stage, with a client or at an event is – “how can we grow in a recession..?”

Even when I reached out to my network and asked for ideas for a title of a new event, EBook or workshop – the instant response was the same – “how can we grow in a recession..?”

So this Blog is a prelude to an EBook a Workshop and a Business Master Class event that will seek to answer this very question. If you’d like more details on these events, see the contact information on our website – or simply email me on davidholland@resultsrulesok.com

First, there are two harsh realities of business, the people that manage them and the environment in which they operate – I will explain both realities by telling a couple stories that I hope will bring clarity…

Harsh Reality # 1 – It’s not about the Recession it’s all about You.

When the market is buoyant, cash is available, companies are expanding and recruiting, confidence is up and life is good – businesses do well. In fact under those conditions, just about any business will do well regardless of how it is built, run and managed. All boats rise on the incoming tide…

When business is good there is a tendency (and I know this won’t apply to you) for some other business people to associate the business success with them; it’s their ideas, direction, inspiration and business intellect.

When business dips and the results stagnate or decline, it is these same other business people who blame the market (recession is such a convenient term), the Banks, the Government, Customers, Employees – in fact anything is blamed rather than the unfortunate Harsh Reality that they simply do not know what they are doing. More to the point, they never did – they were successful in spite of themselves, the historic strength of the market simply masked over the cracks in their ability and lulled them into a false sense of security; their self-belief and ego being massaged by the returns on the balance sheet.

So the first Harsh Reality is to recognise, or of course for others to recognise, that the Recession is just an excuse and that the results in any business are a direct reflection of the ability, knowledge, passion and skills of the people who run it – if you want better results, get better ability, knowledge, passion and skills.

The challenge here is that this is a potentially huge slap in the face to the ego of these other business people. Admitting that we need more knowledge and passion suggest that we are not as clever or grand as we thought we were and have to adapt our identity from being the “know it all guru..” to become the eager student…

Harsh Reality # 2 – It’s not about the Recession and it’s not about anyone else.

In the USA a business owner who happened to be a reasonably recent immigrant there was being interviewed about the success he had achieved in developing a chain of Coffee shops in a large east coast city. From humble beginnings, in spite of English not being his first language, and with little money he had built a successful and thriving business that was the envy of others in the sector.

The interviewer introduced him onto the radio show and the first question was.

“so tell us, how you built this thriving business in the middle of the deepest recession since the 1930’s..?”

His answer was perfect and in my view should be printed on not only the mind but the business cards and store fronts of every business owner. 

“I didn’t know there was a recession, no one told me…”

This simple story explains exactly why some people have struggling businesses – they are told that things are tough, they focus on it and guess what; things get tough…

Harsh Reality #2 is that you absolutely must keep focussed on your business, not listening to the news, reading the headlines, or having pity parties with the poor souls who read the Daily Mail, Express, Mirror etc. There is only one page in a newspaper that is factual – and it is at the back, it reports the actual scores recorded in the football.

It could also be argued that the statistics on page 3 of The Sun are accurate but that is a different discussion…

Remove from your network all negativity, speculation and hearsay – this may involve not talking to certain people – and you know who they are; yes you do..!.

Put into your network bright intelligent enthusiastic people who believe in you, will help support and guide you. Build clarity of your vision, focus on you customer and the experience they have when the trade with you – focus on simply being the best there is and then it doesn’t matter what the market is doing, you will be doing great…

Sometimes ignorance is indeed bliss…