Doing it my way!

Image sourced from Google

The temptation to write several separate blogs has been pulling at me for nearly a week now. So much has happened that if I wrote it all down, I'd still be writing tomorrow afternoon. Instead I'll summarise as much as possible because; quite frankly I'm busy and have things to do...

An underlying theme, a very constant underlying theme is one of happiness. Even during the more stressful moments I have, there's still an undercurrent of 'happy' flowing beneath my feet - so when things aren't totally positive I just dip into the stream. 

Since going into business for myself, my whole outlook on everything has changed. I understand why anyone who is self-employed has an air of confidence about them. Making things happen and pushing yourself to bring about success takes a lot of energy and the process isn't an overnight experience, you never know when things will take off, and if they do, can you maintain the snowball effect?

As exciting as it is, it's scary but satisfying.

One thing I avoid is thinking I have any competition. I'm not interested in what anyone else in my field is doing, I focus totally on my own unique way of engaging, supporting, and training people - yet I'm humble enough to listen and learn from other trainers like myself, and humble enough to thank people for showing me new and interesting techniques. 

Confidence is definitely a byproduct of putting your self out into the world. It was that same confidence that helped me tick 'speed dating' off my bucket list last week. 
I attended on my own and had the most amazing and fun set of experiences all within the space of 4hrs. 

Armed with no more than 3 minutes to get to know someone, you quickly learn the most expedient questions to ask, and every so often spark an immediate rapport with someone partly due to the shared experience. I didn't go with the intention of meeting someone I could date, it'll sound strange but, I just wanted the experience, the practice. And I've found coming away from it all with a heightened ease of speaking to absolutely anyone. 

If I'm queuing for something, I'll talk to the person in front or behind me. I'm on the tube and see an interesting trinket or item of clothing, I'll enquire, and like that; another conversation begins... Naturally people like to ask what you do, and as if by magic I'm talking about personal training and contact details are exchanged. 

Lately, I've been quite a hard-ass when it's come to my son who's looking more and more like a man each day. It worries me sometimes that he isn't always mindful of his surroundings and thoughtful of others, so I've been 'serious dad' for a while now. 
That's come to an end! I tap into the 'happy' and get that smile from him that I haven't seen in a while by being the father he needs right now. And, what's great is that he's opening up to me more regarding what's on his mind and the things he wants to do with his life. 

Being a parent, helping another person navigate their life respectfully is the most rewarding thing anyone can hope to do, you just worry constantly that you're doing it right, or at the very least, a half decent job. 

My next trick will be to earn more doing less hours and thus expanding any time I can have with my man-cub...

So you see... This piece started out in my head as a random smattering of thoughts which I still haven't fully formed and written, but the blog feels like it's come to a natural end. And who would I be to drag it out any further except to commend anyone taking their lives to the next level and showing my love and adoration to all the parents out there. 

I couldn’t think of a more fitting song to complete this piece: 

Women ...and making the first move...

Pic sampled from: Google

I've listened to a lot of 'How we met' stories over the years and one common theme within many is the fact that the girl isn't the one that notices the guy, and more often she didn't actually like him at first.

D'you see? That simply tells me that guy was super persistent and possibly wore that woman down until she submitted defeat and said yes to a drink/date/coffee.

The realisation led me to engage a few female work colleagues on the topic and; 95% said that its traditional for the man to make the first move, they also mentioned they may not particularly like the guy or his advances, but it's the ‘done’ thing! Why change a habit of a lifetime?

Something else that crept out of the discussion was, “Men thinking we’re up for anything straightaway because we instigated the initial attraction.” Okay, I can understand that particular argument, some guys can lack a ‘self-control’ button, but for guys like me who think they are quite mature and can easily navigate engaging with a woman who goes after what she wants, we don’t often see those brilliant individuals because they may have noticed us but go into ‘second-guess-myself’ mode and we pass each other by without a word.

Armed with the revelation sure to send me on a pathway laden with success and rejection I couldn't help wondering why women feel it's not their responsibility to make the first move. My answer came from a number of female sources in various forms and guises, but the one that stuck with me was: "Men are supposed to be the hunters, it's what y'all do!"

I can't really hide behind the excuse that I'm busy anymore, or I have too much going on to get involved with anyone. That ship has upped anchor. I am still swamped but I can make time (something I haven't been willing to do lately).

My problem isn't an inability to make a move albeit the first one, I just find women who make that move are extremely sexy. Confident women really, really, really turn me on!

The next few days/night are laden with lunches, nights out, drinks and socialising, so we'll see what happens... 

I think Monica captures the essence of this evenings thought-ramblings: