A recent course in PhotoReading just finished in Milano.
But no course would be the same without the chocolate cake, and sure enough a cake arrived.
Thank you all.
see “Old Friends”
Still traveling to Italy to give courses, it is always great to see old faces, friends I have made on previous courses, and yes I can call them friends, as we seem to make a bond.
One such person is Donatella Fazzino, a lovely girl, whom I have met many times on NLP courses and PhotoReading and Mind Maps, her smiling face, her eagerness to learn, and her friendship was a joy for me.
Oh and Donatella, your driving was not that bad.
I have a day off today in Rome, the airmen I am training have their senior officer visiting their base, so I am catching-up on my work and emails.
I had just finished replying to an email, and just about to hit “send”, when I receive a text message from the person.
I then sent an email message to a person who had been negotiating with me to provide courses for them, but I had not heard from for two months,saying, if they did not wish to proceed, please let me know as I have other people wishing to work with me, and within five minutes, my telephone rang, and one of these people was asking me to go to their country to give my courses.
Oh Poo Poo, I really must have the power I talk so much about, telepathy, the power to transmit my thoughts.
Although I have traveled to Milan in Italy, I have not ventured from the Concorde hotel where I am giving PhotoReading and Mind Mapping iMindMap courses, it is an enjoyable time,as I take participants from unconscious incompetence towards unconscious competence.
The participants visibly get more confidence and better with each hour, and the difference after a nights sleep is very evident.
It has not only been the participants who have changed but also the weather.
Arriving early Thursday morning, to a little snow in the air, to cold rain on Friday and Saturday, this Sunday morning there is not a cloud in the sky. Now for Rome tonight.
View from the Concorde Milano
One of the benefits of my work is that I am often asked to give talks.
Today I visited the Surbiton Probus Club, with about 50 members in attendance.
I hardly ever know what I am to talk about, unlike other speakers who have one set talk, so sometimes I get a challenge, to make the talk entertaining and informative, to get it right so that the listeners do not fall asleep, especially after a good meal. Well, if the talk is on hypnosis, then falling asleep can be an advantage.
But now I am back home. I have ironed my shirts, now I must pack for an early start to Milan Italy tomorrow, to start a set of PhotoReading and Mind Map courses in Milano and Rome.
To my many Chinese followers Gong Xi Fa Cai, Happy New Year.
So to my female followers, if you received flowers or a card and you do not know who sent it, think of me, and where is mine? Next year, perhaps you could send me a card or chocolates, as I do not like flowers much.
To my Italian friends. I will be in Milan from 18th February until 21st, and then in Rome from the 22nd until 26th, giving PhotoReading and Mind Maps courses. You can still join the courses by contacting Fabio Cucinotta
You can give me my Saint Valentines Day card and present then.
I will never become a millionaire, not because I would not like to become one, nor that I do not dream of not having to budget of what I spend, as most people have, but because I am not driven by money.
Some people are driven to make more and more money, that is their driver in life. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact it is good. For them.
Me? I am driven by other things. I get my drive from seeing change for the better in people and things.
I love to find how things work, to get them to work, to repair if broken. Yesterday, I had great joy in modifying my kitchen hot water tap to flow without splashing all over the place, and the exhilaration I felt this morning when washing-up my breakfast plate and cup, without getting wet myself must be the same as an athlete looking at their gold medal after winning at the Winter Olympics.
I love watching people change on my courses, when people come to me for fears and phobias. It gives me a buzz. The woman who was petrified of going into the MRI scan at the Penang Adventist Hospital, and after two minutes of me talking and working with her, being calm and ready for the treatment. The Doctor who had Bells Palsy, with zero percent movement in one side of her face to now having 88% movement, seeing her smile after 32 years, and the happiness on the face of her husband.
A member of the Southside Chamber of Commerce I belong to in London, asked me for help. Not for therapy, not for hypnosis, just to help her move her business along to the next level, to help her resolve a problem in a foreign country. To coach her, guide her.
I helped her by listening to her, finding her strengths and weaknesses, by helping her come up with her own solutions, but where she did not have the expertise, finding that for her, or just spending a little time, not for finacial gain, but giving my time.
Over lunch recently, I sat next to a highly respected business person, having served his community beyond what was expected of him, but now he wanted to stand back, to take things easy, to do his own things what he wanted to do. The relief on his face, his posture change within a few minutes when I got him to solve his own dilemma.
Did I charge them a fee? No. My payback was seeing them move forward.
Yes, sometimes my way, my generosity bites back at me. Sometimes I am taken advantage of, sometimes I am used, sometimes I am stabbed in the back, sometimes agreements are broken, because of the greed of people chasing money. I wish those people well.
So, if you need a costume, a dress, a suit designed, created, made, why not call or visit Pearline Banton in London who has a wealth of experience in delivering quality designs, patterns and clothes. Just take a look, no matter where you are in the world at Pearline Banton (click to visit web site) and see what she can do for you.
I love gadgets and to be able to watch UK TV when I am travelling around the world.
I am a firm lover of Slingbox, as I travel abroad a lot and watch UK TV in the hotels via my PC. I also have a home in Malaysia, and with Sling Turbo and Sling Catcher, I can watch UK TV on my 32″ Malaysian TV. OK, when I sit down to watch TV in Malaysia in the evening it is early morning in the UK (8 hours difference).
The problem arose when I was say in Turkey and wanted to watch BBC1 and my wife was in the UK home wanting to watch ITV1, two different channels, there would be a fight as I changed the channel and she changed it back.
To overcome the above I rent a second cable box from Virgin Media which is dedicated to the original Slingbox Clasic.
I decided to experiment with the newer Sling Media Solo attached to the other Virgin Media (TeleWest) TVDrive cable box.
I have my TV connected to the TVDrive via the HDMI cable. That leaves output available from the TVDrive to the Singbox Solo via the SCART (A/V, SD), S-Video, or Component (SD) outlets, and I spent even more money on more cables to try to get remote viewing via the PC working.
I could obtain a very acceptable video and audio signal on my PC remotely, and from my remote PC, control the TVDrive cable box back home, i.e. turn the cable box on and off, BUT, there is no text overlay, i.e. menu, information, shown on the PC when hitting the remote control on my PC, YET, the text overlay appears on the TV back at home.
The answer so far is before leaving home switch the output on the TVDrive to SCART, but then my wife complains about the quality of picture she is watching on the home TV.
Result?
Not the answer. Back to the drawing board.
Great product, great service from Sling Media, but I cannot believe I am the first one to have this problem.
Being a member of The Kingston upon Thames Rotary Club gives me great pleasure and enjoyment. The idea of Service above Self, being able to give back to the community, to other people, what I have in my portfolio of life experience gives me great joy.
Today, I had the honour to be asked to be part of a small team of Rotarians to visit a local school (The Richard Chandler School), to give mock interviews to 16 year old pupils, so that they can prepare themselves for life outside school, to experience and to gain knowledge of what to expect when being interviewed for a place at university, for a job, and to give feedback on how they did.
Just to listen to a young man who wished to become a creative writer, but failed to mention that he was already doing this on the internet as a so called game, because he thought it was not important, to draw out of another the fact that he manages a young football team, coaching them and leading their training sessions every week, to listen to one saying that he did not think he was sporty because he did not play football or rugby yet was a member of a swimming club, going swimming three times a week, and the enthusiasm of a young man who liked horror movies, yet the more I asked and drew him out, I realised that he did not just look at the film but analyzed what was really being said below the surface, (click to understand) the social messages being given.
I trust my little effort has helped them on their road, to point out to sell themselves, to prepare themselves, and to give them an experience.
I love my work.
Travel, means that I meet new people in different countries, but also I meet old friends too.
A very quick visit to Istanbul allowed me to return to a fantastic eating place, La Cantine very near to the historic underground train at Tunel and the terminus of the famous Taxim Hill tram.
Sometimes old friends come to my home towns, and I look forward to being with Mehpare Kileci of GAP Danışmanlık, and her family in London. Mama Mia.