My wife Val reminded me that since June 23rd I had no lost over 5 stone ( 72 pounds/32 kg) and that I needed to get things into perspective. The same as a child I wanted to know why was I not there yet, instead of being happy that I was over half way to the goal I had set to lose 10 stone ( 140 lbs / 65kg) and it got me to thinking we do that in business all the time, we concentrate on whats not happening rather than on what is.

When we start to make changes to our businesses or our lives things do not tend to happen overnight, of course there is always and exception to the rule but these are rare. In my case I have been over weight for at least 40 years so the weight went on over those years it cannot come off in a month its going to take time. In business if we have identified what we need to do it can take time to see the results coming through. I coined a phrase years ago, It worked so well I stopped doing it! Many people I meet and deal with in my coaching business have more than enough ability, they have simply forgotten to continue with the basics that they used do do when they first started up the business.

It is also easy to also easy to focus on things we have no control over instead of those we have. In my case I control what goes in my body by what I eat, so therefore if I consistently eat the right things there can be only one outcome. I may have to alter certain food from time to time as my knowledge of nutrition increases but the simple facts are less calories in than used means weight loss.

The same rule as simple as it sounds applies to business, more money in than out means profits. My father had a great expression Turnover is vanity profit is sanity.

Ask yourself this question if you are a business owner, How much time this week have I spent developing my business? A lot of business owners spend lots of hours working but on what? Be honest with yourself see things how they are not worse than they are. Small changes every week can add up to a massive change at the end of a year.

I ran a seminar this morning to which one of the attendees then spent sometime with me after the session as he wanted clarity on some of the points I had raised.

During this session I made sure I gave him clarity to which he said thank you, this has been great fun and learning, he then asked a question, Why do people not put this into practice? I said because a lot of the time Business owners are overwhelmed and unfortunately do nothing. He again asked but Why? and you know what I am not sure I know.

I have now reached a weight I do not remember ever being and I have a long way to go to reach my target weight,but I am so clear about the outcome its working and well. It would be fair to say however it has taken some 45 years to get act my act together, Why? I think I a still finding that out as I go through the process. Plenty of well intentioned people over the years have tried to help me and I did not listen so who am I am to say anything about people who don't appear to act on good advice.

I truly would love to know why you may not of act on sound advice over the years, but chose to find out the hard way. I promise if I find out why I have waited 45 years to lose weight I will share it. Please share your thoughts I would appreciate it.

Having just secured a new client in Northern Ireland whom my first visit to was last week you can imagine my joy when he sent through my airline tickets. You guest it Easy Jet. My fears started when I opened the email, first thought seat belts, second thought arm rest, third thought will the plane be full will I get a spare seat beside me? So what should be a huge positive i.e. new client paying my expenses etc was now beginning to be a nightmare in my head.

However I had forgotten I have now lost nearly 5 stone (70lbs,31kg) since I was last on an Easy Jet flight. While waiting in line to board the aircraft and of course with Easy Jet there is no seat allocation you just fight with the rest of the passengers to get what seat you want ( Easy Jet call it first come first served not fight in fairness but you get the scene) My first check is the amount of people I see in the line I have mentally counted 120 that means spare seats, that's good that means take an aisle seat and at worst no one will sit in the middle one and at worst someone will sit in the window sit. Lets face it no one wants to sit beside a fat guy on a flight do you? My heart was still racing and all my fears of the past where in my head mind and soul, I am really at this point not in a good place.

I get on board about 30th to board the plane and get an aisle seat hurray is the cry in my mind. I sit down with all the normal fears and try to fasten the belt, then my head realizes the arm rest is not attached to my backside or pushing into my belly. Then the seat belt clicks shut without a problem, so at this point feeling lucky I pull down the table and it does not hit my belly so for five minutes I sit with the biggest grin on my face like the cat that got the cream that kind of great feeling. Then someone had the audacity to break this feeling by asking may I have the the window seat? I said boldly why not have the aisle I will move to the window seat to which they were very happy. I sat in that window seat like it was all my Birthdays and Christmas,s rolled into one.

Past fears control a lot of how we act and behave I am learning that while I have lots more weight to lose things are changing for the better but my subconscious mind has not yet caught up with my reducing sized body. I am back in Northern Ireland next with the same airline bring it on

I refused for a few months to accept how big I was getting so would not go near the scales, in business we tend to hide from the real facts about why our business is not moving forward to scared or willing to accept things may not be as good as we think they were.I phrase I love to use with clients is "See things how they are not worse than they are" because at least once you know where you are you can take action in the right direction.

Of course when I was saying this I was thinking well you are not prepared to accept that principal about your weight. So on the 23rd of June this year I decided that enough was enough and something had to change. I knew as we do about our businesses that we are responsible when it comes to the state they are in whether good or bad and trying the blame game does not wash. But what really counts in all of this is the why.

As a business owner you need to have a why and as someone wanting to change their life by losing weight its the same. On days when life or business are hard, because everyone gets days like these, if your why is big enough you will keep going. With my weight I had never given it a big enough why or had the right accountability partner to help me focus on the outcome, rather the every day thinking about what I could not eat. This is the same as business. Business owners think if they sell more that solves everything, and yes sales are a good thing but what if you are not selling profitably then sales are not the answer hence why we need to be honest to ourselves and look at the facts.

So I did with my weight stepping on the scales I have to admit I was fearful, why because in my heart of hearts I knew where I would be roughly but just up until that point did not want to accept it. Embarrassment that a so called accountability coach could let himself get into such a state. I also knew I was the only person that good draw a line in the sand and get reality and move forward. I also have a great coach Kevin Hall of Dan Bradbury who has been an inspiration, and Lucy Long who has never given up on me,but I found my why and accountability partner and she is the best.

I am 48 years of age and my wife Val and I had children later in life in fact 3 in the last 4 years, Morag 4 , Heather 2 and my son Angus being born some 22 weeks ago.Sitting in a church paying respects to my friend James Cruickshank who was taken from us to early at 67 I realized that when Angus was 21 I would be 69 and I have always liked a party so I am going to be at his 21st, however not if I continued on the path I am and that scared me. Morag and I had a chat and I made her my accountability coach. I told her that the weekend of her birthday in August her and I would go swimming and that Daddy would be losing his tummy, you are now thinking he has really lost it. Well if you think I am going to let my daughter down you can forget it, how could I ever ask her to see something throw, try new things be patient stick in at school if I don't do what I said I will do? I could never look her in the eye again. ( By the way Val and I took Morag and Heather swimming the last weekend in August it was great fun and a huge barrier for me gone through)

The results of the scales were 26 stones and 6lbs or 370 pounds or 167.829 KG no matter what scale of measurement you put these figures in they are not attractive. The great thing is I had told myself the truth and now I could move forward by doing the right things, which is exactly what we can do in business. My first week was a breeze as with everything new, the second week I was away to London for 3 days this is the critical time, but oh yes I had that new accountability coach. Every time I thought might just have a drink or a piece of chocolate Morag would appear in my head as I cannot let her down. On my return I had lost weight first time ever.

I am heading to Newcastle tomorrow to begin a new chapter of this story and I am scared, I have to date lost 3 stone 10 lbs(19.0508kg or 42 pounds) I am going to write a daily journal with updates and let you know the good the bad and the ugly. Have you got a big enough why and have you got your team in place to get started? whether in your business or life change is scary working with a team is less so. The biggest learning for me so far is telling people how they can help and guess what they have and I appreciate everyone of you. Go on ask for help you will be amazed what you can achieve.