Have you ever bought a book on someone else’s recommend, only to find it wasn’t the great read you’d been told it would be? Even worse, did you force yourself to read that book from cover to cover because you convinced yourself it might get better? Or maybe you really didn’t think you had any other option?

My bookshelves are littered with ‘interesting reads’, many of which haven’t been opened. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of sitting with my feet up, reading a book. It’s the time it takes to ‘read it thoroughly’ – and to take copious notes if it’s a book about Leadership or Coaching – that has put me off in the past.

Well not anymore. The shackles are off and I’ve discovered the art of browsing or, better still, starting a book and then discarding it if I find it disagrees with me. Dr Steve Peter’s book called The Chimp Paradox is a case in point. I managed to read 4 chapters (and that took me a while) before my irritation got the better of me and I gave it up as a bad job.

Dr Steve Peters, the Psychiatrist, has a huge reputation and has worked with some of Britain’s top athletes. Like the current economic climate, tournaments bring additional pressures so why wouldn’t organisations make this kind of service available to people. Much of the work I do, to help successful clients become even better performers, involves a form of ‘Mind Coaching’. Business Leaders know their stuff and basic Business Coaching just wouldn’t cut it.

It’s the gimmick in his book I struggled with; his analogy that we all have an unruly ‘chimp’ that cannot be controlled; only exercised to minimise the disruption it causes. That’s a deflating thought, if you believe it and could lead some people to give up the fight.

In my reality, life isn’t a battle; it’s a wonderful opportunity to have it all and that’s what I want for you too. It’s likely you’ll hit some obstacles along the way, many of which you will have created for yourself and that’s when working with a Mind Coach can make a massive difference.

What I’d like you to take away from this is the acknowledgement that you can have what you want, however distant it may seem. Remember, if someone else is achieving it then it’s possible for you; it’s just a matter of how…