Bryan Dunlop - News

Feel the burn?

18 December 2008

Ulster Business article on Bryan Dunlop's first fire walking event in Northern Ireland

Many of us are facing pretty tough challenges at the moment, but for a group of business leaders this month, the challenge was completely different: to walk across a 10ft bed of burning coals at almost 600 degrees C.

The event, "What Really is (IM)Possible?", was a showcase by Co Down-based sales and motivational trainer, Bryan Dunlop. He uses firewalking to demonstrate the power of positive thinking.

Bryan Dunlop is a highly experienced motivational coach who has trained sales teams for clients including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life and Dell. His approach is based around re-programming our mindset to think differently about how we approach challenges and risks.

Bryan Dunlop is not unfamiliar with taking risks. The 46-year old is a former member of the British Army's elite Gurkha Rifles. Having left the Army and while working in Angola, he was in charge of security at a diamond mine which was attacked by terrorists. Bryan and his team were taken into captivity for three days before being flown over the border to safety in Namibia. Here he faced the biggest personal challenge of his life, being asked to return to war-torn Angola when no-one else would. He took up the challenge and led his team with him.

Bryan subsequently joined the financial services industry as a wealth manager in London. He progressed into the marketing training team and ultimately became the Leader of the sales training team. He established his own business from scratch in 2001 and now train sales teams in many of the major financial institutions in the City of London, Edinburgh and Manchester. The majority of Bryan's Clients are FTSE 100 Companies though he also works with small businesses and individuals.

He attended a five-day course in Sweden, where he learned the art of firewalking and is now Northern Ireland's only qualified firewalking instructor.

The first firewalking showcase event at the Hilton Templepatrick was attended by around forty delegates from businesses across Northern Ireland including Belfast City Airport, First Trust Bank, Bank of Ireland, RBS and Hastings Hotels.

Bryan's training examines the past experiences we have had in our lives, how this impacts us and how it affects the way we react to challenge or adversity. He uses practical lessons to "re-programme" our thinking and to see challenges in a different way.

Through the day's coaching, he shows his delegates how they can complete the firewalk - and in fact any task - if they have a focused and positive state of mind.

Bryan knows from his own experiences that we alone dictate how we meet and overcome the challenges that are part of daily life.

Bryan has completed over 150 firewalks and has only ever received one blister. He puts it all down to harnessing the power of the mind.

Bryan Dunlop said "People find it inspiring to think that they can challenge their own pre-conceived perceptions of themselves. Everyone has enormous untapped potential. One of our objectives is to wake people up to this, to ignite something within them. Walking over burning hot coals is a pretty dramatic - and effective - way to prove this".

"The strategy we use for walking on the coals is exactly the same strategy that successful entrepreneurs and sportspeople use day in and day out. The main focus is attitude. You can't implant the desire to do something, but I can show how persistence, determination and belief work together to calm the inner voices which put you down. Basically, I develop strategies for achieving excellent results, regardless of the challenges being faced in the business, sporting or personal environment".

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