Bryan Dunlop - News

Bryan Dunlop, a highly successful sales trainer and motivational coach introduces Business First readers to some of the thinking which has produced impressive results all over the UK and to his unique firewalking challenge.

Have you ever considered how you became the person you are? How you developed your perspectives, your views, your attitudes and what impact these have on your quality of life? Are they holding you back?

Our attitude controls everything that we do. But how often do people consciously check to see if they have the “right” attitude?  And if you have acquired the “wrong” attitude, can it be changed? Is it possible to find the right teacher or coach to help you change your attitude and enjoy the changing process?

I believe that the answer is yes.

Why? Because I have done it successfully and consistently and achieved amazing results.

One element of attitude is perspective. We all have a perspective on life. Some people view life as an adventure, something to be enjoyed, a bit of fun. Other people view life as a struggle, something to be tolerated at best and survived at worst. How can people hold such diverse perspectives on life? And where do these perspectives come from? Are we born with them or are they acquired?

Scientists continue to debate whether we are a result of our genetic heritage (our nature) or the influences we are exposed to as we grow (our nurture). Are people actually born as pessimists or is a pessimistic outlook acquired?

Some people grow up to believe that if you expect the worst you’ll never be disappointed. Of course this makes the assumption that consistently expecting terrible things to happen to you is a better plan than actually expecting some good things to happen to you and occasionally being wrong.

Which of those two plans is likely to lead to a happier life? That depends whether you think being disappointed is bad! For some people the height of their “highs” in life is determined by the occasional “low”. For other people they like a life that runs out on a very even keel, no changes if possible, just keep it steady. Neither view is correct or incorrect. It’s just different for everyone.

I believe that our attitude is like the software that computers need to make them work. When a child is born, they are essentially without the operating software but ready and very willing to have it installed.

The attitude “software” comes from any number of sources: parents, brothers, sisters, friends, teachers, the media, society, our culture.  We get all sorts of things installed in a very random way, in some cases from sources whose own software wasn’t necessarily that positive. You’d never allow your work or home computer to operate from randomly installed software that hadn’t been rigorously tested for quality and suitability would you. So why do we?

Most people don’t ever get the chance to sit down and consciously understand where all of this software has come from, how they have become the person they are and finally what they can do if some of it isn’t quite as good as it could be.

Well now the opportunity exists.

Our one day event called “What really is (im)possible?” is designed to provide you with the awareness and knowledge you need to understand what really is possible when you put your mind to it:  how to understand your own attitudes, limiting beliefs and where these came from.  Once you grasp this, then we show you how you can challenge and re-programme the way you see yourself, the way others see you and the way you think and act when faced with problems.  This one-day seminar is your opportunity for a new perspective on life and its challenges, whether in business, in sport or in your personal life.

The event finishes with an opportunity to demonstrate your newly empowered positive thinking by taking on a serious mental and physical challenge: to walk barefoot across a coal bed burning at 1100ｰF. It is completely voluntary. Though this is the climax of the event, you will take away much more than just this fantastic memory.

Arthur C Clarke wrote, “In order to know what is possible we must confront the impossible”.

The next event in Belfast on 14th May 2009 is the third time the event has been run here in Northern Ireland. People who have attended previously have described it as “inspiring, challenging, entertaining and fun”.