11 things you probably don’t know about me
.1. I loved school and was always incredibly excited to go although it was mostly about the people. I really didn’t understand why school was important so when it came to the work I just did enough to get by.
I wish I had realised sooner why learning, focus and skilful communication was important.
2. I went to church every Sunday from the age of 4 which remained a source of embarrassment for me right up until I stopped at 16. Despite this review I really loved the people and the conversations and laughs we used to have.
I wish I had somehow recognised that we were just a bunch of people trying to figure out how to live and that this mysterious book seemed provide some insights. Everyone seemed to operate out of an absolute certainty that I just couldn’t understand and so I always felt like an outsider who didn’t quite get the joke.
3. I was football obsessed from the age of about 10 and applied all of my focus in that direction. I played for hours every day. I went to the library and got books on skills and drills. I asked for autobiography’s for birthdays and Christmas, I bought 3 or 4 magazines every month. I ate, drank, slept football.
Connecting the dots looking backwards I can see that the most effective way to approach education is to find the obsession and then simply support it.
Everything I do today is all about scratching my own itch or solving my own problem. I’ve had this same intensity in my life with table tennis, business, pain, performance, understanding humans, and coaching.
4. From the age of 12 I started trying to make my own money. I ran a car washing business, did two paper rounds, carol singing in December. Eventually I realised that monetising my skills would be the most fun thing to do. I set up a “soccer school” with a couple of mates. Once we reached 80 kids paying £5 a time every Saturday my PE teacher scared me into shutting it down.
The reality was we just needed insurance which I now know would have been an easy fix but I’ve learn a lot about communication reflecting back on that interaction.
5. My friends used to dare me to do things on nights out, mostly so that we could have fun and alter the course of the night and meet some new people.
The dares would vary but the ultimate goal was the same. Say something to make that group of people (often girls) want to hang out with us.
My friends were blown away by what they saw as incredible bravery. The truth is that I never saw it as a nerve racking thing. I somehow discovered early on that if you tell the absolute truth with a cheeky smile people are generally surprised, open and interested to find out more.
6. I studied Sports Science at college and learned absolutely nothing. Then about 10 years later I found all of my notes and discovered that although I learned nothing the course did actually teach some really useful stuff. That’s when I really learned that information, knowledge and wisdom are 3 totally different things and information not practicalised will not stick because from the brain’s perspective it’s useless.
7. I did a hands on BSc in sports conditioning, rehabilitation and coaching during which my hands and brain started to learn things that I nor science yet had words for.
We tend to think that science leads discovery but its far more often the case that science helps us understand what we have already learned and so further enhance what we have already discovered in practise.
8. I worked my way through university polishing “Staple’s” store floors at night. Me and a couple of mates made £600 a week which would be about £1000 today. Not bad for a student. We pissed most of that up the wall but we had an amazing time doing it.
9. After university I started my real education. I worked as a rehaber and sports masseur in a Chiropractic clinic, as a health advisor in a doctors surgery trying to create behaviour change in the most consistently visiting patients, doing pitch side for Bristol Rovers youth and other Bristol Academy football and rugby teams, visited people homes doing PT and injury treatment, trained and treated Elite Cricketers, Rugby players, Tennis player, Olympians, Lawyers, CEO’s and consultants at a private physical health centre that I later owned.
10. I opened Absolute health gym and healthcare and up until 6 weeks before I had never paused to think about my future for more than a few minutes. I honestly never considered that I could do something that seemed at the time so much bigger than me. My father-in law just said it so matter of factly and I literally felt my perspective shift.
Two things I’m really careful of now is firstly checking where I’m thinking too small and secondly making sure I’m thinking big in a way that works for me rather than creating something I want no part of. Eg Best in the world would inspire me more than biggest Franchise - big can mean many different things.
11. I moved my whole family to Denmark 🇩🇰 on a whimsical decision made on the beach in Hellerup. Like I said, I rarely think about the future. What’s good about that is that I very much follow my interest and live in the moment so I’m pretty much always happy.
The down side of that is that I have in the past failed to set up today so that it also pays off in the long term.
I’m now careful to make sure I have created a strategy for all of my actions that considers the longer term but it’s not something that comes naturally.
I really enjoyed writing this. I could have written 100’s as I think I learn a whole lot about myself when I do.
What’s something people probably don’t know about you?
