About This Site. This site is the website of motivational speaker Craig
Harper. A constantly updated, one-stop
information, inspiration, education and motivation
station. Unlike many similar sites, it is a totally
free resource for anyone who is serious about moving
from mediocre to amazing in any area of their
personal or professional life. With hundreds of
articles covering a wide range of subject matter,
great interviews with cool people and inspirational
video posts, there's more than enough brain-food to
keep you busy for hours. Okay, days!!
Enjoy.
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Public Speaking Workshop
- Craig Harper
If you've ever
thought about becoming a professional speaker or
improving your public speaking then this is the workshop
for you.
Life Coach & Mentor - Craig Harper
If
you are interested in maximizing your potential,
stepping out of that 'holding pattern' and being
privately coached by Craig click here.
Business & Career Coach - Craig Harper
If your a personal trainer, gym owner or studio owner who is interested
in growing your business and/or your career, then mentoring with Craig
could be a valuable part of your overall success strategy and
professional development journey.
Body Composition Analysis
- Craig Harper
Craig's
Qualified Exercise Scientists can provide you with a
complete Body Composition Analysis in just 30
minutes.
Fattitude
- Craig Harper
While many books focus on food,
Craig Harper teaches that creating life-long change is more about the
dieter, than the actual diet. This book is perfect for people who have a
history of 'almost' getting in shape.
In this entertaining presentation, Craig discusses the
notion of Renovating Your Body - once and for all. Many of us have a curious
ability to be able to get in shape for events (weddings, parties, reunions
and birthdays), if only we'd get in shape for life.
Food, Exercise, and Lifestyle
Diary -
Craig Harper.
If you're serious about your training,
nutrition, and lifestyle - Craig Harper's training diary is an invaluable tool.
Craig Harper is a leading
motivational speaker
and educator. He is a highly
sought-after corporate coach and is considered to be
a leader and pioneer in the areas of personal and
professional development. Working with hundreds of
teams, companies and a wide variety of organisations
on numerous continents over the last twenty years
has given Craig a unique insight into, and
understanding of, human performance and all its
variables. Craig has an ability to educate, inspire,
challenge and make people laugh all at the same
time!
*Hey Team, before you read today's post, don't forget that you can submit your own words of inspiration and education to our Lessons From Readers writing forum until next Sunday (May 13)... so get writing... we've already had some amazing contributions. If you've got no idea what I'm on about, read the post below this one.
If you're like many, then some days your mind is a war zone.
Complete with the good guys (Mr glass-half-full) and the bad guys (Mr stay-in-bed-you-loser) fighting for your attention; your thoughts.
Competing for valuable territory on your cerebral landscape.
Fear, self doubt, anxiety, apathy; all normal daily, emotional experiences for us mere mortals. All debilitating... if we let them be.
For many people, every day is an ongoing war of the mind.
A kind of tug-of-war between the you, you want to become... and the you that believes you'll never get there, don't deserve to be there and don't have what it takes.
The you that rationalises failure. The you that accepts mediocrity. The you that constantly talks yourself down. The you that has listened to (and believed) way too much negative crap from idiots for way too long.
The truth is that some of us will have our own personal war of the mind for a while yet (to some extent)... but the good news is that (1) it doesn't need to stop us from creating amazing and (2) things can be significantly better from today if we (choose to) take a different attitude into every situation.
Didn't say it would be easy... just said it's possible.
I'm kinda successful (and sometimes kind of a loser) and I still deal with mental and emotional challenges daily; this isn't called weakness or inadequacy... it's called the human condition.
The difference (from some) is that I choose my future.
I (mostly) control my actions and reactions.
I maximise my (limited) potential... because I want to milk every ounce of my ability and see what I can do and be... in my lifetime.
When I get to the end of my days (hopefully that's a while yet), I want to be able to look back and say "despite my fears and flaws, I did the best I could with what I had... I absolutely squeezed every ounce out of my life and I have no regrets."
I know that I have written on variations of this topic regularly, but the truth is that despite our knowledge, despite our education and despite our frequent visits to sites such as this, many of us still constantly short-change ourselves, constantly accept second-best (we believe that's all we're worth) and constantly under-achieve (no offense intended).
One of the problems with (some) personal development (a.k.a. success) philosophies is that there's typically a huge focus on the external (income, beauty, career, toys) when in fact, nearly everything that truly limits us is internal.
When we get the internal stuff right, then the external falls into place more easily... but too many try and do it the other way around.
When we put the 'who we are' before the 'what we've got'..... then we start to succeed. On all levels.
We don't stumble across our ideal career, land our dream job, find our perfect life-partner and then... get our sh** together.
No... it happens the other way around
And unfortunately, many people don't really get this.
They have been poorly programmed. They have had bad teachers. They embrace the "when I own this, earn that or weigh less... then I'll win the war of the mind" philosophy.
Dumb plan.
A famous crusty old football coach once said that all games are won or lost between the ears... well life's kinda like that also.
Here are my tips for winning your personal War of the Mind:
1. Go on the offensive. Get a little aggressive (not physically) about what you want. Nothing wrong with the occasional well-planned attack. Sitting around hoping and waiting is frustrating, futile and pointless. Start doing and creating. Beating ourselves up (emotionally) serves no purpose but sometimes we need to get a little angry at ourselves (habits, behaviours)... in order to create some real momentum. Stand up for yourself, have an opinion, get off the fence, stop compromising and stop allowing yourself to be a victim. If you don't have a wooden head and strings attached to your arms and legs, then there's a fair chance your not a puppet... so stop living like one.
2. Get the wheels turning early in the day. Being productive early in the day generally gets our head in the place we need it to be to create positive outcomes. If possible, exercise early in the day too. Do something significant before lunch time.
3. Do something (soon) that you've never done (properly) but should have long ago. Make that decision. Start that diet, exercise plan. Maintain that new eating and exercise plan! Make that phone call. Address that fear front on. Talk to that person. Take that chance.
4. Don't accept defeat. A defeat is only a defeat when we call it that. We only have experiences... and then we choose what to name them. We choose what they will represent to us. How they will impact us. One person's defeat, will be another person's lesson.
(Are you listening Grasshopper?... this is not a theory, this is a fact)
The labels that we give things (situations, circumstances, events) are very powerful... so be careful how you define things.
One of the saddest sights is someone who has given up.
5. Cut the negative self-talk. Even if you think you're rubbish, we don't wanna hear it. It's ugly and pathetic. It annoys the crap out of the rest of us and it doesn't help you... at all. Stop talking yourself down. Call yourself a loser often enough and you'll become a prophet.
6. Commit. Start commiting and stop avoiding. Stop fluffing around. Make commitments which will (help) ensure you keep doing. Enrol in a course (and pay up front!). Make a verbal commitment to someone who will keep you honest. Some people spend their lives avoiding commitment of any kind, don't be one of them.
7. Turn your fear into excitement. As I've said before, a certain level of fear is healthy. But that's not the kind of fear we're talking about here. Being able to turn that debilitating fear into a challenge and an opportunity is where we grow, adapt and win. A friend of mine who is (was) terrified of heights went sky diving. Totally changed her. For the better. Now she's so fearless and driven she's annoying!
8. Don't confuse what you feel... with what is real. Just because you feel inadequate.... doesn't mean you are inadequate. It's a feeling; nothing more. Learn to differentiate between your self-limiting emotions and reality. Make sure you don't turn those negative feelings into beliefs. Sometimes we need to do things despite what we're feeling.
So, if your mind is occasionally (or frequently) a war zone then perhaps today is the day you'll wheel out the heavy artillery and start taking back some ground.
After all, it's yours.
* Leave a comment and tell us where you're from.
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Click play above
to
see motivational speaker Craig Harper in action.
Motivational
Speaker - Craig Harper Craig Harper is one of Australia's most respected
motivational speakers and educators. Some of Craig's recent clients include:
"We had our annual
conference over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th Feb, 2008 and we had
Craig Harper as one of our presenters. He was wonderful, funny and
professional, and he got our message through to the staff in a positive
and fun way. He was loved by all!"
DVD
- Renovate Your Body - Craig Harper
In this entertaining presentation, Craig discusses the
notion of Renovating Your Body - once and for all. (Also
available on CD).
Fattitude
- Craig Harper
While many books focus on food,
Craig Harper teaches that creating life long change is more about the
dieter than the actual diet.
Food for thought
- Craig Harper
In this book, Craig Harper
walks the reader through his 21 rules to Permanent Weight Loss.
So you've decided you want to get in shape (again)
- Craig Harper
Imagine a pocket-sized fitness book that takes just twenty minutes to
read. Craig Harper addresses the REAL getting-in-shape issues.
DVD
or CD - Renovate Your Body - Craig Harper
Alinta
Telstra
ANZ Bank
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
National Australia Bank
Corporate Express
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Department of Infrastructure
Department Planning and Community Development
Simplot Australia
Porter Davis Homes
Rothschild Merchant Bank
Royal Children's Hospital
Fernwood Fitness Centres
Flour Daniel
Brivis
Sensis
Western Water
South East Water
For more information on booking Craig click
here.Some nice words about Craig:
"We had our annual conference over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th Feb, 2008 and we had Craig Harper as one of our presenters. He was wonderful, funny and professional, and he got our message through to the staff in a positive and fun way. He was loved by all!"
Ally Memic, IMCD, Australia