Monday, December 17, 2007

Issue 448 - Chocolate Brazil Crisis?

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

With Christmas lurking around the corner, I thought I might get some treats for myself, and as I was deciding what to get, it occured to me that I hadn't had chocolate brazil nuts for a while.

Whole brazil nuts covered in a thick layer of chocolate - oh yes!
Well in this case, oh no actually.
I couldn't find them in the shops anywhere.

I braved the Christmas aisles of all the shops to no avail.
I even asked the odd assistant or two, but they knew nothing.
Maybe there has been some sort of brazil nut crisis that I had missed, so I went online to search.

It turns out that there is indeed a brazil nut problem.
A lot of countries are now banned from having the nuts in their shells, as the shells contain a toxin which may be linked to liver cancer.
The cost of removing the toxin is prohibitively expensive, so a lot of shops don't sell them now.
The chocolate ones don't have the shells though, so that doesn't fully explain it.

Someone suggested I try the pix 'n' mix sweet section.
They do indeed have chocolate brazils, but there are 3 problems that spring to mind.

Firstly, god only knows how old anything is in those pick'n' mix sections, but 'fresh' is probably not a word that applies.

Secondly, those sweets are open to the grotty little hands of all sorts of tykes, and let's be honest, it's probably best not to think about where some of those hands might have been.

Thirdly, the pick 'n' mix sweets usually cost 79p a quarter, and those chocolate brazils are heavy.
Plop a couple of those beauties into a bag and the price soon shoots up.
For that kind of price, I expect my brazil to be rolled in chocolate up and down the thigh of a real brazilian, and I'm not talking Pele...

If you're reading that thinking that it has nothing to do with goal achievement, self improvement or wealth creation, you'd be right, but it was on my mind so I thought I'd share (something I'm unable to do with chocolate brazils at the moment!)

This is the last newsletter of the year.
The Christmas break is nearly upon us, so my next issue will probably not be until New Year.

It's a good a time as any to look back at 2007.
What did you do this year?Did you do the same as 2006 and get the same results?
Or did you start down a specified road, and make progress?

Your answers will, and should, dictate the way you approach 2008.
The same actions will get the same results, to get different results you need to take different actions.
It's a simple concept, but staggeringly effective if you fully embrace it and use it to your advantage.

So, I'll sign off after another year of waffle.
I hope you enjoy reading, and for those of you that celebrate Christmas, I wish you the same as those that don't, and it's the same thing I wish everyone every week - Health & Happiness!

'Til Next Time,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

The Great Gordino's Curling For Gold:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/curlingforgold.html

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

How To Make Money From Sport:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, December 10, 2007

Issue 447 - Were The Bee Gees Right?

Hi,
I hope everything is ok where you are.

One of Britain's most successful bands, The Bee Gees, wrote a song called 'Words'.
In it they said 'it's only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away.'
Mind you I don't want to rave about it too much, as the next 2 lines consisted of nothing more than 'na na na' several times.

Anyhoo, it's a good song, and eases me (somewhat painfully I accept) into one of my favourite self improvement concepts.
It's to do with the words we use to ourselves to describe ourselves.

Most people don't say these words outloud, they think them quietly.
This can be very harmful, as it can lead to you using the most damaging of words to form the most damaging of thoughts.
I remember the motivational author Earl Nightingale was a big believer in learning new words, because the more words we know, the more ways we can formulate thoughts, and the better we are able to challenge self limiting beliefs created by no-one other than ourselves!

I believe firmly in creating a positive framework of words to describe your current circumstances in life.
This should be based around an acceptance that they are the result of choices you made in the past and continue to make in the present.
If you add in the crucial follow-on that your future is also shaped by your choices, and use the most positive words you can, you are setting yourself to go in one direction only, and that's forwards and upwards.
(hmm, hang on is that 2 directions?)

I'm also a believer in talking to yourself outloud.
I wouldn't recommend doing this in public, but when you do it in private, it forces your thoughts to be less vague, forces them into structured sentences.
Once you say them outloud, you can then challenge them for yourself, to see if they actually are sensible when out in the real world as opposed to the potential fantasies of the mind.

Some people poo-poo this kind of idea as absolute nonsense.
Fair enough, but I'll wager most of those people have never actually tried it themselves.
It works for me, which is why I write about it so many times, so if you haven't ever tried it, give it a whirl and see how it goes!

Ok, that's it for this week.
It's a short and sweet newsletter, and I have unashamedly repeated something I've mentioned before, because I think it's such a simple yet effective technique which can only help people - so what words to do use to describe yourself?

'Til Next Time,
Health and Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

The Great Gordino's Curling For Gold:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/curlingforgold.html

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

How To Make Money From Movies:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/movies

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com

Monday, December 03, 2007

Issue 446 - Evel Knievel Jumps The Pearly Gates

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.
3 subjects today - branding, marketing and mindset.

I see that Evel Knievel has died.
I'm of the age to have owned a toy Evel bike when I was about 8, and he cut an iconic figure in his stars and strips jumpsuits.
He realised early on that he could get 'money and women' at the same time by being a stunt rider, and went for ever more elaborate stunts.

In the late 60s he rose to real fame when he jumped the fountains at Ceasar's Palace, and broke his skull and a lot else on landing.
He was unconscious for 2 months, but the legend was born.

Into the 70s he had the idea of jumping a canyon in a rocket cycle, and the event was watched live worldwide.
Unfortunately his bike was rigged in such a way that he had to hold a lever out to *prevent* the parachute opening.
When he launched, he passed out, and the parachute deployed almost instantly...

Then he jumped 13 double decker buses in front of 70,000 people(!) in London, with the inevitable mutli bone break.
A master of self branding and promoting.

Here's some bad marketing - sometimes I write good stuff about Tesco's, and sometimes bad, today it's bad...

An elderly couple were doing their Christmas shopping, and spent a lot of money, £300 in total, including a meal in the restaurant.
They got a letter in the post saying they had stayed in the carpark for more than their alloted time, and 'not to do it again.'
As you can imagine, it won't be a problem next time, because they won't be shopping at Tesco anymore!

As for the mindset topic, the publicly funded TV channel here the BBC, holds an annual Sports Personality of the Year Award.
The shortlist of 10 includes -
Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson, who lost the final of the rugby world cup.
Lewis Hamilton, who lost the Formula 1 World Title on the final race.
Andy Murray, who didn't even take part in Wimbledon.

How about Victoria Pendleton, who won 3 World Campionship Golds in cycling?
Not a chance...

Joe Calzaghe, a British boxer with over 20 world title defences, has long said he doesn't stand a chance because he won something.
I wonder if they celebrate defeat and ignore victory that much in Australia or the US?

Ok, that's it for today, I'm off to seek out my Evel Knievel bike, and ask the BBC if I can be nominated, as I can think of several sports I'm no good at...

'Til Next Time,
Health and Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you know anyone else who you think would enjoy the Great Gordino Newsletter, please pass it on to them!

The Great Gordino's Curling For Gold:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/curlingforgold.html

Transform Your Life In 21 Days:
http://www.transformyourlifenow.com

How To Make Money From Movies:
http://www.gordonbryan.com/movies

Grab my free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan by sending a blank email to:
mailto:transform@getresponse.com