In this interview with Chris, you will discover that despite growing up "a bit of a gypsy", and being exposed to abuse, he still reached success with his goal setting endeavors. You will also see that he places a high value on the support of family.
Hello Chris, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I appreciate it, and I'm sure my visitors will enjoy it.
CHRIS: Thanks Colin, it’s a pleasure.
COLIN: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself.
CHRIS: I grew up as a bit of a Gypsy. My father was in the army when I was young and we lived in North Queensland, Australia. I was born in Sydney, Australia and moved often. I spent about 8 years as a child living in Australia’s capital (Canberra, Australian Capital Territory), before that we lived in Sydney then Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast. While in Canberra, my father as a single Dad, met my step mother and instantly I gained a brother and two sisters. Since then my parents had another two children (a brother and a sister).
We moved back to Batemans Bay after living in Canberra and I finished my high school days there. My parents decided to move to Sydney but I wanted to stay put so I rented a caravan and lived solo at the age of 16. At the time I had no TV and spent my time listening to music, training in martial arts and assorted scallywag behaviour.
I then left school and moved up to Sydney and lived in my parent’s very full house. At this time I had many jobs I didn’t like, such as factory work and door to door sales for which I often didn’t get paid. My parents then moved once again to North Queensland to help manage a backpacker’s hostel for friends. I moved in with a friend of mine and began studying health and fitness at college.
At this time I gained a higher fitness level than I had ever achieved in my life. Once I graduated I did various casual work until I could make it in the fitness industry. I started a business as a contracted personal trainer in a fitness centre in Parramatta, in Sydney’s west. This was great but it was up and down. I took on work as a security guard to cover the harder times and worked sometimes 2 or 3 days straight with no rest.
While working in security I met my wife and we soon moved in together. I had many jobs in this period. One night as a doorman I witnessed a colleague commit suicide with his own gun. It was time to get out of that job. I then took on a job as a guard riding in a cigarette delivery truck to protect the driver. After four weeks on the job I was held up at gun point and abducted for nearly two hours.
After much trauma and recovery I married my wife and we have since had a wonderful little daughter. Now I run seminars on peak performance and human potential.
COLIN: Did you have any goals when in you were in school, and what were they?
CHRIS: While in school I had goals very different to the ones I have now, although some are similar. In school I was very much into full contact martial arts and being as fit as I could be. I was very disciplined in working towards these goals. One of my goals was to achieve a certain weight of muscle mass and I exceeded it by quite a lot. I also had many other smaller goals that are hard to remember now, some of them outrageous, some of them achieved and some of them abandoned.
COLIN: Did you reach any of the goals you had while in school?
CHRIS: Sorry, I partially answered this question during the previous one. Yes I did achieve a few, the muscle building goal was an example and there were also a few academic ones that I reached also. However, I was a very different person in school and now have a vastly different outlook.
COLIN: As we grow older, our dreams and goals usually change. What are your goals today? What goal have you already achieved?
CHRIS: That’s correct, our goals can change massively. Today I plan to take over the world (kidding). But seriously I am aiming right now to become one of the world’s top authorities on peak performance and personal development. I have put my heart and soul into this one. Another one is to be successful while still maintaining a free spirit, I don’t want to be a corporate stiff. I also have high hopes for my family and they are already happy and healthy; my daughter is a ray of sunshine, so that one is happening naturally. I have also got a bunch of goals that are harder to articulate such as mind, body, spirit type goals and martial arts goals. Oh and I can’t forget my humanitarian goals, this is to begin an umbrella children’s charity with targets in the millions to start with and down the track it will be billions.
I am already on my way to achieving the personal development/peak performance career goal I mentioned. I am building mostly through word of mouth, this can be tough but the quality is far greater. I am already running seminars and building my website. As I mentioned, my family goals seem to be taking care of themselves.
COLIN: In deciding on your goals as stated above, have you made any conscious efforts for the pursuit of those goals. For example, do you have your goal/s written down? Do you visualize your goal already achieved? Or do you just "go with the flow" as they say?
CHRIS: I have a combined approach. I consider myself a free spirit, so I don’t like to be tied down to anything rigidly if better options present themselves along the way. I use a Japanese approach called Kaizen. This requires planning but not planning too far in advance, I mean we can’t possibly know what is going to happen way off in the future. It’s about continuous improvement, I plan out the first step and how I will reach it and along the way I have successes and failures which serve as learning experiences to better equip me for the next step.
Things become less complicated that way and you eliminate what is unnecessary and only apply that which is useful. My approach is to take massive action by at least taking the first step, the rest will come naturally.
I do have my goals written down in specific detail but I alter them very regularly to reflect my changing, growing and adapting personality.
COLIN: Do you think things would have turned out differently, if you had followed a “formal” goal setting plan? Or do you feel the result would have been the same?
CHRIS: As I mentioned, what I do is a formal goal setting plan to some degree. I just like to keep it flexible because life is dynamic, it’s not static, we need dynamic plans for a dynamic world. My plan is more like a framework or guideline, or maybe you could call it a general structure. If I had been too formal maybe I would have gotten some of the unexpected treasures in my life. Sometimes we can have goals but not realize that there are other goals that we may want but don’t know about yet. I remain opened to these experiences because I would not have many of the successes in my life if I had been too formal and rigid.
COLIN: Did you encounter obstacles in working towards your goal, and if you did, how did you overcome them?
CHRIS: I love obstacles, well most of them anyway. I’ve had many and I believe that the most successful people in the world screw up much more than the people who are self proclaimed failures.
One major hurdle in my life has been money, although it’s not the be all and end all, it serves as a handy means to an end. I come from a fairly low income family, I witnessed a lot of drug abuse, violence and sexual assault and there was never much available in the way of finances. I credit this with boosting my imagination and creative power. I had to come up with many ways to achieve the same things with less money, so I had to take a different route. It taught me to become an alchemist and create something from nothing.
I’ll give you one example; I wanted to run an outdoor seminar/workshop but the council insisted that I needed a license and insurance and all the other silly red tape just to use a local sporting ground. Well I was strapped for cash so I did some radical rearrangement in the backyard of my rented house and held the workshops there. Not as professional I know, but it helped start the ball rolling. I mean it was free after all.
COLIN: Were the obstacles unexpected, or did you anticipate them, or perhaps think of possible obstacles?
CHRIS: The financial obstacle were a mix of both, the workshop example was unexpected, I thought I could use the public park without consulting anyone. I have had many expected obstacles though and for those I was able to pre-plan. With the unexpected ones, I just used the resources I had at the time and my own imagination. This is were thinking quick and cultivating a state of choiceless awareness comes in handy.
COLIN: Did you need to overcome any obstacles from other people (negativity, ridicule, etc.), or do you need to overcome obstacles from others in the pursuit of your present goal? And would you mind sharing what they were/are?
CHRIS: I have had to overcome unbelievable negativity. In my industry, as you would probably experience, there is a kind of stigma attached. I have had many friends try and bring me down because they thought I was living in a fantasy land. I dream big dreams and this often results in a lot of skepticism and that leads to people spreading a message about you that is not true. People can make up their own view of what you are trying to achieve and blurt out their own abstract perception of it. This can be very hard because it makes you look bad.
I have also had several people try to bring me unstuck in my seminars. I’ve had some difficult participants but this has led to me developing a flawless ability to communicate the message in a way that no one could possibly object. I am very good at dealing with challenges during my talks and events now days.
COLIN: How important do you regard the support of others, like family or friends, in helping you achieve your goal?
CHRIS: I think that this is of the utmost importance because it helps you keep the dream alive. It can be a lonely old road to the top when you are thinking on a different plane than everyone in your life. I just think it’s up to both you and your family and friends to work together with everything so that nothing about your goal or their concerns creates problems for any of you.
COLIN: Who is the one person that has helped or supported you the most in achieving your goal?
CHRIS: I have a friend that has really encouraged me throughout the past few years. She has really been there to spread a good word, get me fired up etc. I have applied much of my knowledge in helping her also, I have helped her overcome a lot of past hurt from her past.
COLIN: How often do you think of your goal, and the path to achieving it?
CHRIS: I live by my goals because I structure them in a way that includes every aspect of my life. I have everything from career goals to fun and leisure goals. I am always using the Kaizen principle by asking myself, “how can I make this better or more effective?”
COLIN: Have you ever written down your goal, or do you now have your present goal written down?
CHRIS: I keep a daily journal that rehashes on my goals and my life lessons. I update the goals I have written quite regularly and I always ensure that I don’t make the same mistake twice. My journal is broken down into four areas; a) personal development- this includes health, fitness, sports, meditation, emotions, spirituality, skills development and anything relating to self. b) Relationships - this includes family, spouse, friends, social, work relationships (clients and partners) and basically anyone I interact with. c) Career/financial- this one is self-explanatory. Finally d) Contributions- this is how you contribute beyond yourself. It can include the contribution you may make in your career, your humanitarian efforts, favours, kind words etc. Literally anything you do that contributes to a greater good beyond your own needs.
I take these four areas and I do a briefing of the day, lessons learned and one small increment of improvement I can make in each area every day. This takes between 10-20 minutes to complete every evening.
COLIN: Do you think having your goal written down can improve the possibility of achieving it?
CHRIS: Absolutely, I mean you need to be specific if you want to achieve something. How can you get somewhere if it’s not clear where you are going? I think the most neglected part though is not so much the goal itself but the compelling reason behind that goal. You need to know why you want to achieve a particular goal and that needs to be clear, you need to remind yourself of it regularly and it makes it a lot easier if it’s written down.
COLIN: Do you think that a coach could have helped you reach your goal easier?
CHRIS: I have used coaches and still do. I coach people myself but I also have people that coach me. When I worked as a personal trainer I used to hire another trainer to train me. I think that someone coaching you and mentoring you through helps you gain outside perspective through a different set of eyes and a different lifetime of experiences. The coach has got to walk the talk though, they have to be a shining example and they have to really know how to get results in every circumstance rather than regurgitating a bunch of bumper stickers.
COLIN: Did you feel satisfied after achieving your goal, and did you immediately know what your next goal was? Or did you "take time out" after reaching your goal?
CHRIS: I believe in always having something to grow towards. I have reached goals in certain areas of my life and directed my focus at a different aspect of my life. I believe you need to gather momentum, this is what I have always tried to do. I usually don’t set “end” goals but rather journey’s, standards and lifestyle habits. My goals are dynamic in nature, it might be to improve at least one skills in a given area every day over the course of life. I always take a next step towards my next goal or the same goal even when I don’t know the perfect steps to take at the time. You will soon learn if you need to change direction or not, provided you have enough sensory acuity.
COLIN: Did you, or do you, ever feel like giving up on your goal, and if so, how often?
CHRIS: I never feel like giving up 100% but I have had fleeting moments that have made me so frustrated that I either considered a different route or I just decided to give up for that day and pick it up another time. This is not often these days because I use the Kaizen principle, this makes it impossible to overwhelm yourself and burnout.
COLIN: If you did feel like giving up, what would you say was the reason?
CHRIS: One of the reasons most people give up these days is that they don’t see instant results. I have been guilty of this in my life also. It’s like a stone cutter who hits a massive boulder with a hammer. He could hit it thousands of times and it looks as though nothing has changed but little do others know that he is weakening the boulder. Eventually one of those strikes smashes the rock into many pieces and all the fruits of his hard labour begin to reveal themselves all at once.
Sometimes progress is invisible and that’s why so many people give up. I’ve come close in the past but I always remind myself that it may be the next hit that cracks the boulder.
COLIN: Do you feel luck played a part in you reaching your goal? If so, could you tell us in what way luck was a part?
CHRIS: There is a quote I like: “the harder I work, the luckier I get”. I can’t remember who said that but it’s true. I believe there is not really any such thing as luck, it’s about making the right decisions along the way and having absolute certain faith that you will achieve your goal. Who knows, maybe some might see certain opportunities as luck but I see them as noticing the opportunities that are already there. A lot of people seem to miss the golden opportunities that are right in front of them and they consider others with less resources to be lucky.
Some have told me that I am lucky to be an effective speaker, like I was born that way. If luck means practicing and offering my free speaking services to civic service clubs, martial arts schools, high schools and everywhere else I have volunteered to speak then I guess I am pretty lucky. Maybe I am just lucky to have a mind-set that pursues goals with relentless persistence.
COLIN: Are you satisfied with where you are, at this point in your life? If you aren’t, what do you feel you want more of, or what do you still want to achieve?
CHRIS: I want more of everything, gimme, gimme, gimme. I believe the key to life is to have gratitude. The mistake most people make is living by the philosophy of “some day”. Everything we want from life is a means to an end, you don’t want a nice car or home “just because”, you want it because it will lead to a certain feeling. I am happy with were I am but it doesn’t mean that I am not striving for growth every day. This is what keeps us human, we need to have something to look forward to but at the same time we need to be grateful with what we have. I am grateful but I am also living in a state of active expectancy and excitement of what I can do with my future.
As I stated before, my goals are generally dynamic, so I still want more of all these things. I want to continually improve and experience more from life every day.
COLIN: If it were possible to start over today, what would you do differently?
CHRIS: I would take all of my failures and apply what I now know to be effective and discard all of the stupid things. However I do think that we can’t start over for a very good reason, we need that failure in order to grow. Maybe we are starting over, maybe we have a chance to start over at any time. One of the specific things I would do is seize more of my past opportunity and get clear on what I really wanted at an earlier age.
COLIN: Do you have any words of advice for my visitors?
CHRIS: Aside from the obvious advice I have weaved throughout my answers so far it’s hard to think of any more off the top of my head. One thing I would like to really make a point of though is take the first step. Don’t’ wait for the perfect time to start, just take massive action and lean into it. It may not be the perfect first step but it will give you some lessons to learn from and helps give you the momentum you need to take the next step.
And a second thing, be a kid, don’t get caught up in logic and reasoning 100% of the time. Indulge your child ego state and do something spontaneous and just have fun. Do a silly dance, pinch your spouse on the bum, play ninja turtles with a group of four year olds, jump in a puddle. Just try to set aside some regular time to forget problems and responsibilities and dream, fantasise and think like a child, i.e. “it could happen”.
COLIN: Thanks again Chris, for taking the time to do this interview. I wish you all the best for the future, and may you experience only the best that can be. I trust your site goes from strength to strength (www.endlesshumanpotential.com)
CHRIS: It was my pleasure Colin and the same to you.
Read another goal setting interview here
Are you interested in being interviewed? If you would like to share your goal setting story here, please contact me, and I'll get the details to you.
