My 5 Month Review...

Lockdown, COVID, Masks, Stay at Home, Pandemic, Recession, Depression, Schools, Deaths, Pubs, Cases, Zoom, Re-opening, House Prices, 2nd wave...are all words that have been ingrained in our minds and everyday vocabulary over the last few months.

More recently, this thought has been playing on my own mind. I have been consciously thinking about all the negative information being spoken and written about on a daily basis. This led me to start asking myself some questions;

• What are the short term and long term effects of this?
• How can I actually use this time as an opportunity to grow?
• Is there anything I can learn that will set me up for success in the future?
• Are people still working towards their goals in life or have they paused everything?

The purpose of this article is to share my learnings over the last 5 months* and to demonstrate how being laser-focused on personal development, thoughtful goal setting, mindset improvement, and engaging in 1:1 coaching has led me to a happier and more fulfilling period of my life. I'm confident, that if a crisis hits again, big or small, I am mentally ready to tackle the obstacle in front of me.

(*The reason why it is a 5-month review is that it is exactly 5 months ago, this week since I jumped from living in central London with my best mate to Ireland where I am living with my Sister, Brother in Law and my 20-month-old Nephew in the countryside. Which, by the way, I am massively grateful for.)

The goal here is not to come across as some Personal Development Guru or Mastermind in goal setting but more to share the books I’ve read, the audibles I’ve listened to, the learnings I’ve acquired and the actions I have taken that I’m confident will ensure I achieve my goals and vision in my life. Yet, ultimately, and more importantly I hope to spur anyone reading this to take action and learn for themselves how important personal development is to achieve a 10/10 in all the important areas in your life!

Interestingly, the journey actually starts in February of this year. I sat down with my newly acquired coaches and business partners, Daniel and Ashley Yamoah at Peace of Mind Projects to go through some goal-setting exercises and property investment learning. During the session, and subsequent sessions, I was recommended to start working on;

• My Goals - We all know what goals are, in this case, it was my life, career, and investment goals.
• My Purpose - ‘Your life purpose consists of the central motivating aims of your life—the reasons you get up in the morning.’
• My Vision Board - Which is, ‘a collage of images, pictures, and affirmations of one's dreams and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation, and to use the law of attraction to attain goals.'

This was a great opportunity to pause, reflect, and take time to think about what is important to me and what I really want to achieve in life...

However, it’s not an easy process, you don’t just find your Purpose in your back pocket. You don’t wake up one morning and think ‘Ah yes, I know what I want in my life’. It is an evolutionary thing. It's not something that appears one day, you create it. What I have written down today may expand and shift into something else, or maybe it won’t. I may even create a 6-month vision and purpose, then create a new one after that. What is important is that I have the structure and the foundations there and this is something I reflect on most mornings. One of the reasons I was able to put it together, asides from the help from Daniel and Ashley was by listening to The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, which was an absolute game-changer for me. I could go into so much detail on the benefits of this book but I don’t want to ruin the surprise. It is an absolute must if you want to improve your life, find a productive morning routine, and just feel amazing overall. There are 101 perspective-altering views that I got from this book and there are two I want to share with you;

Number 1 - ‘Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development because success is something you attract by the person you become..’ A powerful statement and so true. It is actually a quote from the famous Jim Rohn. Not only did this book result in creating a killer morning routine, but it has also completely shifted my mindset on how important personal development is. We all know finding time is a challenge but if you want your life to be different, you must do something different first.

Number 2 - One of the reasons why 95% of society will live a mediocre life is due to the ‘Lack of Accountability’. Hal writes ‘The link between success and accountability is irrefutable’. Highly successful people embrace accountability. They use it to take action. They also say that 95% of people who read a book won’t implement what they have learned. Learn and take action. Actions are the bridge between the inner and out - Thoughts (Inner) and Action (Out) = Results. Find an accountability partner. It is something I did with my best mate and the added value it brings is, irrefutable.

Woohoo, well done Stephen, you’ve identified your goals, you’ve identified the steps needed to achieve them. You have an amazing morning routine. You are on a path to success. Life is great. This isn’t so difficult. But, wait...what happens when you face an obstacle that knocks you off your path, some unprecedented event in life, a set back you were not expecting. What happens?

Well, there are plenty of books/audibles that discuss the importance of having a ‘Why’, or as some people call it a ‘Purpose'. What I’ve realised over the last several months is that very successful people in life have a Why so big and strong, that there is no other option other than to achieve their Goals. Successful people will get the job done because they have to get it done. There is no alternative. Robert Kiyosoki, in Rich Dad Poor Dad, writes ‘you must find a reason greater than reality. Your Why needs to be a deep emotional reason.’

The message I'm trying to portray is, yes you will face hurdles and obstacles in life but it is knowing deep down the bigger picture and your ultimate Goal. Having the mindset to get there is important, no matter what happens. Setbacks are opportunities to learn. Obstacles pave the path to greatness. Embrace them. The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday is an absolute must-read/listen if you want to shift how you perceive challenges/problems/obstacles and actually use them as a positive and a way to grow. It has helped me tremendously in the past and actually even to this day. Saying that all of Ryan Holidays' books are amazing if you want to get an understanding of Stoic philosophy in modern times.

A common theme in personal development and financial education books is the absolute need in investing in yourself by constantly learning and taking action. You must train yourself and educate yourself to achieve success. There are plenty of books, courses, seminars, and workshops you can attend to grow your skills and knowledge so that you can produce a better result in that particular area in your life. Establish the important areas in your life, create a vision as to what you want that to look like, learn, and take action.

All this positive and productive work I was doing on personal finance, property, personal development, creating systems, goal setting, and the coaching I was doing with Daniel and Ashley led me down a path to explore professional Life Coaching in more detail.

Coaching is by definition is ' helping someone to move from where they are now, to where they want to be, and to do this more quickly and effectively than if they acted alone.'

After speaking with a friend who is a qualified Life Coach (whom I am now also working with) and a current colleague who is training to become one, it heightened my curiosity and I decided to take action and look into it in more detail. This led me to attend a 2-hour webinar which discussed everything about Life Coaching, what it is, what it isn’t, what the learning journey consists of, the steps needed to become qualified, and the areas in which a qualified Life Coach can specialise in. It got me really excited and two weeks later, I took action and signed up to do the course, which I am now doing.

To finish and summarise, although a lot of people are finding these times difficult and there is a lot of uncertainty in the world, it is actually an amazing opportunity to use it as a way to grow, learn and take action. There are a few reasons why I decided to publish this article on LinkedIn. One being, as a way to step outside of my comfort zone. Secondly and more importantly, it is to show that with the right people around you, the willingness to learn and take action, the right mindset and the desire to do something meaningful you can live a more enjoyable, happier and fulfilled life!

Remember, Life Is Good :)