Nick Williams Weblog

Brian Mills – Living his dreams – from underground ticket collector to movie therapist, angel therapist, writer and film maker

Brian is one of the most infectiously enthusiastic people I have ever met, with a wonderful innocence and is a natural dreamer, in the most positive sense.

When we first met he was working at London Underground at Temple Station and his duties included collecting tickets. But Brian was leading a double life on his days off, evenings and weekends. He was a passionate student of spiritual and personal development ideas, which started as he had a speech impediment as a child and was extremely self-conscious and learned how to overcome his fear and phobia. He had a life long love affair with films, loved to write and already written articles and one book about film memorabilia.

Time to leave

Brian had been smitten with the idea that part of the trick to happiness at work was your attitude towards your work, which helped him enjoy what he did more. But he confided to me, “I have learned to tear tickets with a smile on my face, tear tickets with love and tear tickets with awareness. But I am getting fed up with tearing tickets! I enjoy the camaraderie of the railway, but I know there must be more.” So Brian signed up for the Unconditional Success Master Class I started in February 2002. During that course, run a day a month over six months, he decided that he could actually do anything he wanted. Through the ideas I taught, the encouragement of the group and the belief he had in himself, Brian reconnected with his ability to dream and then manifest his dreams.

The Time Was Right

Within that six-month period, he took early retirement from London Underground where he had worked on and off for eighteen years. Then he enrolled on Angel Therapy training with Doreen Virtue in USA. On top of that he also reconnected with a childhood dream of living by water, and through a series of amazing coincidences found a houseboat on the beautiful Tagg’s Island near Hampton, and decided to move home from his old family house in East Ham, East London to the houseboat.

Brian’s passion portfolio

Brian now runs a business but doesn’t see what he does as a business, but more of a collection of passions of his that he gets paid for. He earns money from:

· Writing – about film and angel therapy and doing film reviews
· Individual angel guidance readings and angel workshops
· Movie therapy – he helps people find movies that will help them grow and expand and has already been a guest on the Richard and Judy afternoon TV show in the UK

What does Brian love about his work now?

Brian now gets paid for doing what he would happily have been anyway and is passionate about two particular things in his work:

1. Being a creator – having ideas and making them become real – he is fascinated by how thought become things and we can craft our lives through the power of our imagination

2. The ability to inspire people – to be able to help people believe in new possibilities for themselves and guide them through the journey of creating positive change

What part did I play?

Brian told me, “You came along at the right time. I needed someone to inspire me and look up to. It is important to have mentors – you inspired me to go and inspire other people. You helped me develop the confidence and self belief to revive my dreams and go for them.”

Brian has now followed his passion for movies through to actually writing, producing and directing his first eight minute feature film called Chic Cuisine and has a new dream of writing and directing a feature film.   

Brian's tips for fellow dream builders

I finished by asking Brian what tips he has for other people wanting to follow their dreams:

1. Believe in your yourself, believe in your dreams
2. Be enthusiastic and passionate because that is attractive and draws people and situations to you
3. Keep stoking the fires of passion. It is OK to have lots of dreams and lots of passions, not just one, and passion is the fuel for your dreams
4. Get more "cheer" leaders in your life and weed out the "jeer" leaders

You can contact Brian direct at brianjohn.mills@btinternet.com, or by calling          020 8979 9999      

Have you got a success story to share?

If you a story of success to tell about how Nick's books, CD's, live events, workshops or coaching have helped you become happier, more successful or fulfilled in your work, please let him know. He may be able to feature you on the blog if you'd like and you can help to inspire more people. E mail him on nick@nick-williams.com

Sharon Stanton-Keep – From crisis to becoming the Healing Poet

Sharon lives in Worthing, near Brighton on the south coast of England. She has four grown up daughters, a wonderful husband and beautiful home and doing lots of good work in the community. As she hit 50 Sharon thought, “There must be more to life. I have so much to be thankful for, and yet I lacked a deeper meaning.” She told me, “I had written poetry since I was a child, and it has been important for most of my life. But it went on hold for about 20 years as I bought up a family and cared for elderly relatives. From my late 20’s to my late 40’s my life was on hold a little. I filled it up with busyness, doing voluntary work as well as running my family. Keeping busy also kept me away from my creative side. I think I was probably quite afraid of my creativity, not knowing where it might take me.”

Sharon’s turning point

The turning point for Sharon came as her mother’s health deteriorated and became terminally ill. Sharon started to write poems again as a form of personal solace, as there was a lot of pain in her life. When her mother died, she wrote a poem for her memorial service. She found that other people asked Sharon to write poems for memorials of their loved ones, and she began to find a whole new aspect of creativity opening up within her. She began to feel alive and authentic again and it all began to spread out from there. This is when I came into Sharon’s life. “A friend gave me your first book, and I was much inspired by that.” Sharon sent me an e mail in January 2004 and, as luck would have it, three weeks later I was giving a talk I gave in Borders in Brighton, close to where Sharon lived, and we met at that talk.

It was beginning to dawn on her that she could become more than a housewife and carer, and that she could develop this new sense of purpose. But it was new to her. She hadn’t even been to London on her own in 20 years. She’d never been to a seminar, had hardly used e mail or the internet. She was discovering a new sense of identity and discovering who she was beyond the roles she had played so well. After we met at the talk in Borders, Sharon enrolled on a Master Class that I ran once a month over six months in Brighton. During our sessions, we looked at how she could “play bigger” with her poetry and reach more people.

Sharon’s growing impact

One of the principles I helped Sharon understand was how we grow through connection and that we can make big strides through continuous baby steps. Today, just three years after we met, and four years since she read the poem at her mother’s memorial, Sharon has written two books of poetry, one is called Come Alive With The Healing Poet and  she has produced two CD’s, which have sold around the world. She has been invited all around Europe to read her poetry. She’d also been invited to South Africa and done some successful events. When I spoke to her in December 2006, she had just returned from three days in Hamburg. Now, on BBC Radio London, she contributes a thought for the day, which is read out at daily and has become known as The Healing Poet.

What is the work Sharon was born to do?

She told me, “My work is reaching out to people at whatever point they are in their life with love and compassion and to find empathy with them. So whether people are experiencing pain and suffering or joy and inspiration, I am able to write words that encapsulate that experience. In that process something magical happens and even a healing can happen. The words of my poetry are somehow a vehicle to carry that energy. My work is not a bolt on to my life, but the way of my life. Each day I offer myself anew, and ask how I can be of service to my children, to people who might need comfort or inspiration, to life and to myself. I am to do this through every interaction, no just through a poetry recital. For Sharon, the aim of her words and her intention is create deep and even spiritual connection to people, and these connections can be deeply fulfilling.

Which of Sharon’s particular talents does her work utilise?

I hope my talent is to have an empathy with people. I love being compassionate, a good listener and accepting of people, however they are feeling and whatever they are experiencing. I am given lovely words to go out and share with people. What I love about my work is that it gives me a much deeper connection with people by allowing inspiration and love to come through me. People say I find the right words at the right time. I don’t make small talk I enjoy coming from my heart and connecting deeply.

What are the obstacles Sharon has faced and overcome?

Like most of us, Sharon did not turn up fully and confident and ready to go. She has had her own obstacles to overcome. Initially she experienced a lot fear and doubt, and wondered who she was to be writing and sharing poetry. She had to let a few people go from her life who she felt overly dutiful towards. She shared with me, “I have learned to recognise that even in fear I can choose love and not fear. A most powerful tool I use is detachment from the outcome. I share my love through my poetry and try to detach from the outcome, of what people might think and how they respond. I have also had to overcome a competitive element in me. At the beginning of someone else read a poem I felt threatened and undermined by it.” When I asked her how she got beyond that, she explained, “I made something else more important than my fear, which was to share my talents and make my contribution.” She continued, “ I live much more authentically so I can share authentically with other people. The more I overcome my own obstacles the more compassion I have for the challenges other people face, and I know that they can overcome their fears. I can give people hope. Still each day I face some inner questioning, but I no longer let my doubts stop me.”

What part did I play in Sharon’s success?

She told me, “You played a huge part. All your books inspired me, but your first book gave me so many insights. When you got up and spoke in Brighton, I felt like I’d come home, I was like a kid in a toy shop. All you said went in deeply as I identified with what you said and who you were when you were saying it. I saw in you what was emerging in me. I wanted to get up and speak naturally and from my heart like you did. You taught me that I could make giant strides through consistent baby steps. Then in the Master Class you encouraged me to believe in myself and showed me practical things that I could do to reach a wider audience.” 

Sharons tips

I asked Sharon if she had a couple of tips for anyone who wanted to get into their creative flow and find their life purpose. These are Sharon’s tips

Tip one: Discover quiet time and discover who you are beyond your roles in that quiet time

Tip two: Just love. Love yourself so you can love others and be loved by others

You can find out more about Sharon’s work and products at: www.thehealingpoet.com

Jennifer Percival - From NHS nurse to UK expert, author and lead nurse on smoking cessation

When Jennifer Percival attended one of my courses in London in 1997, she was a trained nurse, midwife and health visitor who had spent 20 years working in the National Health Service in the UK. Today she runs her own business, has become the UK, and increasingly international, expert nurse on smoking cessation. In January 2007 her second book You Can Stop Smoking was published internationally by Virgin Publishing See www.youcanstopsmoking.co.uk

In 1997 Jennifer was in a senior position in the NHS but had reached a plateau and had found there were few opportunities for further skills development.  She was very nervous of changing her career as she was newly divorced, had a massive mortgage and a young son to support. This doesn’t sound like a starting point for becoming an inspired business manager.  However, Jennifer has now set up an independent training consultancy with a business turnover well into six figures.   What’s amazing is that she achieved this at a point in her life when everything seemed to be going against her. Here is how she described her journey.

Inspired to change track

“After attending Nick’s course I realised I needed to change track. Having no money was the root of all my fears.  My negative thoughts about debt blocked my creative energy. I had stopped trusting that the world was a place that could support my dreams. After doing Nick’s exercises I realised that what I needed was more self-confidence and inner trust.  I knew I had a passion for communication and teaching. What had to change was my belief that it was possible to follow my instincts and produce enough income to support myself and my son.

Letting her heart lead the way

"I decided to take the leap and follow my heart rather than logic.   I realized that my strengths were both my skills and professional background.  I decided I would target health professionals first and told relevant NHS managers I was available to run courses for them in a freelance capacity.  I used my annual leave to do this work.  The feedback I received was great and gave me confidence to take the plunge and set up an independent training business. I produced a training brochure and sent it to NHS managers with a health education brief.  From this I got my first new clients.  In the beginning, I was providing just one course a month.   After each one, I asked the participants for their evaluation and asked the managers what else they might need. From this I identified the gaps I could offer to fill.   Through my evaluation, I discovered I had found a niche in the market.  NHS staff wanted to learn communication strategies they could apply to health education.

Baby steps to create an expert niche

"When I first decided to try out my dream, the first step I took was to drop my regular hours to three days a week.  I then used my two ‘days off’ to work on developing the training consultancy.  I contacted the editors of professional magazines offering to write for them. I discovered that magazines are pleased to take pieces describing how ‘theory’ can be applied to ‘practice’, so I concentrated on this area. I referred to the importance of good training in my articles and offered my contact details. My articles provided information to nurses on good approaches in talking to people about smoking; thereby blending my counselling skills and my training background. They were popular and incidentally also generated some interest in my training consultancy.  These articles established my ‘expert’ status in this area."

However, Jennifer has now set up an independent consultancy and training business with a gross turnover, that in some years has reached six figures. After just three years of self employment she needed to employ a full time PA and administrator to help her cope with all the work.

And the money has followed

Jennifer continues, "Earning money was never my primary objective and I am slightly amazed that in some of the years since I started working for myself, my annual business turnover was in excess of £100,000 ($190,000, €150,000).  I found money has not been an issue ever since I let go of my concerns. I have learnt to trust the process of creation and know that somehow it always works out just right. To this day, I don’t have a formal business plan and have never needed to borrow money from a bank. 

"I have continued to follow my heart and my inspiration. New and exciting opportunities open up all the time. If I have an idea, I tell people about it. What I have noticed is that many of these shared ‘ideas’ come back as offers of work. I have now presented at events in the UK, USA, Scandinavia, Europe, Iceland, the Middle and Far East and South Africa. I never set out to become an expert, but to make a difference in people's lives. My goal was to wake up each day and be able to work at something I felt passionate about and know what I did mattered. Along the way I have become known  as a 'key opinion leader' in my field and when I give my presentations I am introduced as an expert, and I feel very proud of that.

Contact Jennifer direct at jennifer.percival@usa.net

Click to see her new book on amazon.co.uk

I recently interviewed Jennifer and she very eloquently described her journey from being a senior nurse to becoming an entrepreneur, expert and best selling author. Click here to see the interview I conducted with her.

Jennifer is typical of someone who creates their own niche of expertise through their love of what they do and their desire to contribute. If you want to develop your expert journey, click here to see our online course on Establish Yourself As An Expert. Click here to read Nick's article I never set out to become an expert.

Click here to see Nick's live event schedule, and click here to book personal coaching with Nick.