Tuesday 19th May 2009 - Follow YOUR dream ??

I am constantly hearing those words spoken by motivational leaders and TV experts and to be fair it's mostly by people who are not facing any current life or financial challenges. Personally I think this applies to all of us when times are going well. You see most people who work hard and find "success" either personal, professional or financial are then in a position to be able "to make a choice" about how they spend their time and so advocate following your passion for "inner peace". I support this but also temper that with a strong dose of reality about "needing to pay your bills and support your family".

One of the best examples of this explanation comes from a book titled "The One Minute Millionaire" and it was this book that inspired me to try a variety of life passion pursuits for elements of my career over the last ten years which has been varied and fulfilling for my soul. In the book it states that there are five (5) Freedoms

1. Financial Freedom - the ability to not only meet all your financial commitments but also save and spend it on your leisure pursuits
2. Time Freedom - now you have the first one covered you can choose how you wish to spend your time and with whom as there is no reason to be anywhere you don'w want or have to be
3. Relationship Freedom - now you are meeting all your financial commitments and spending your time the way you wish, there is no outside stress and your time and energy can be devoted to your loved ones
4. Spiritual Freedom - with the other three met you spend time exploring who you are and what you want your life to be about adding context
5. Ultimate Freedom - now that you have met the first four then it is a fulfilling life you are now leading that makes you a whole person.

It is definitely a life I would "choose" and plan to work towards.

For example over the last 10 years my career path has been :

Fitness Instructor - which has been my passion for over 25 years. I have tried to always learn more about the human body and the net result is that over time my body has reflected what I have learned to the point where I still teach Spin classes in Sydney and train nearly every day as it is part of my lifestyle habits now. Life is about constant evolution of both the body and the mind so I believe. This morning I had blood work taken by my Doctor of 12 years who commented I had never looked fitter or healthier. NOTE - he asked for my latest program content about The Human ECO System :-)

TV Show Creator, Producer and Host - in response to the childhood obesity issue back in 1999 a fitness instructor colleague and I created a lifestyle show for kids on Saturday mornings in Australia on the national network which rated very well called The GYM JAM Club. So good was the concept that the network created a similar program to ours and we were dropped after our initial 13 week series .... is there karma in that ? Regardless I continued to believe that solutions need to include education for change so I went back to the drawing board continuing to plot adventures.

Author of two healthy lifestyle books dedicated to changing your life in 8 week plans - there were two as I am constantly striving to find more effective ways to lose bodyfat and improve health. With time and knowledge you find steps change so I am always learning and sharing that knowledge and the last one Human ECO System moved from macro-nutrients such as Fat Protein and Carbs to more important nutrients that get the body to function more efficiently. It also was the genesis of this ongoing Blog.

Nutrition Supplement Consultant - with so many different health issues plaguing us it began to be clear that our nutrient profiles from food were seriously lacking. In response to this I also was aware that I had a profound interest in ways to assist with my own nutritional support. The most obvious and easy was to take nutrition supplements. I spent nearly researching what would work and what was just "marketing hype" and it become clear I needed to be taking a broad spectrum Multi Vitamin and Mineral compound. I contacted the US company Twinlab and sought their assistance to bring a limited range to Australia. They had just partnered with the IRONMAN brand to launch a new series of products specifically for Joe and Jill Average or better known as the Weekend Warriors. This partnership led me to be invited to compete in the 2000 IRONMAN World Triathlon Championships in Hawaii which I contested with only 12 weeks of training and completed (no easy feat let me tell you haha) in 15 hours 36 minutes 24 seconds and it seemed longer.

Epiphany - While I was disappointed for sure that the TV network had excluded us from the new venture and adopted most of our ideas and concepts I never felt that they had approached the children in a way that would do anything for most of them once they reached school age as these programs were more aimed at the "under 5 market". One market I thought the Wiggles had a pretty good strangle hold on :-)

However due to the ongoing issue of childhood obesity I occured to me that most fitness professionals sought to get children more active (which I fully support), with programs either in school or after school and the education experts tried to provide nutritional knowledge in ways such as the 5-a-Day Programs of Vegetables and Fruit or just expecting Parents to cope with the barrage of Marketing that multi-billion dollar food and drink companies spent to over-ride the best choices.

There seemed little cohesive steps to marry these two elements of fitness and nutrition together in a way that would "engage the children". I was always a fan of cartoons, comic books, video games, the internet and of course with technology moving at lightspeed the cool animated movies and their "instant adoption by children to imitate their heroes" so in this "space" is where I chose to develop my content using my A.K.A. principles of Awareness / Knowledge / Action.

Writer / Producer / Director Animated Movie and Interactive DVD Game (http://www.bodymechanics.tv/) - Study of these key elements mentioned above led me to realize that a TV show only had the power to engage children if they saw it, and took action but more importantly only if the networks replayed the key messages. You see what I learned during my journey of discovery during 2003/4/5 in my development of my animated movie and interactive game from childhood learning cognitative professionals is that we try to repeat a key message three (3) times consecutively for it to be remembered. I recalled and it was explained to me in easy to get examples - learning my maths times tables or tying up my shoelaces - long before velcro :-)

From my original concept for the Body Mechanics I was lucky to work with some of the world's leading medical, health and fitness professionals who eagerly wished to participate and be part of the Body Mechanics Advisory Board and included the calibre of Dr Mehmet Oz (Oprah Show and America's Favorite Doctor), Dr Francine Kaufman (worlds leading Diabetes professional) plus many others who all saw the value in this innovative concept.

They all had some light to shed on this aspect that allowed me to finish with two products that I still think is way ahead of it's time and will surely get to be a part of changing and possibly improving the health of children globally. Yes it has won 11 awards in the United States from Parenting and Children's Advocacy Groups and had me interviewed in New York by Dr Oz on the Oprah Radio Show which was a very surreal experience, one I loved and will value.

It now has a series of elements written and waiting for funding for development which include Comic and Cartoon adventures featuring the "good" characters such as Soolyn (Insulin), Gluke (Glucagon), Neuro (the Brain), Sara Bellum (Cerebellum) who are constantly battling the "evil" characters like Kortz (Cortisol), Betez II (Diabetes II), Col Esterol (Cholesterol), Free Radz (Free Radicals) who are led by their infamous titan - AG, which stands for Awesome Guy (the Fat Cell) who rules the uncared or unhealthy body where they battle in the movie titled "Escape from OBEEZ CITY".

Global Health Warrior + Writer / Producer (Warrior Media) - while the other media company is seeking to expand the potential exposure of the Body Mechanics brand with further funding I decided to explore other creative outlets. I have continued to promote healthy lifestyles and teach Cycle classes which I can't ever imagine not doing and always learning more about the Human ECO System which is my "PASSION" although it will not currently provide me for the lifestyle I have described above in the Five Freedoms.

I spend equal amounts of time writing new adventure story content for my movies. One is an animated adventure that is currently seeking funding of nearly $40M but has some very keen interest from Australian voice talent with it's unique storyline. It has already been gathering interest and then I have another script which is about a female serial killer that could be from today's gossip magazines which was fun to write - but don't upset this lady :-)

There are three other scripts and a few TV shows concepts I will continue to explore and in the mean time I am like most people. Working to pay for my lifestyle and in today's market place that is not easy but it is my belief in my passion for healthy lifestyles that keeps me both positive and focussed on achieving goals I set myself. That or I really am an undiagnosed ADD child.

Follow your dream but temper it with the reality that many talented people are doing things that they have to, in order to allow them to live. Also failure is not a bad thing and in fact Thomas Edison failed many, many times to achieve his goals but it took only one success to allow him to always be remembered (light goes off over Tony's head)