Happy New Year to all! Very aptly for our first blog of the year, business coach and inspirational speaker Lisa Clifford offers her expert insights on how to kick start 2012 into being your most successful year yet.

1. Think of something you’d love to achieve that when you achieve it – it will blow your mind.
2. Now take a moment and become aware of all the reasons this dream is great for you and your life.
3. Take a moment to imagine you are celebrating the success of your dream. Visualise it as though it is happening right now. Make it real.
4. Really connect into what you are feeling, thinking, sharing, what are people saying to you.
5. Make a list of people who inspire you and the reasons why they inspire you.
6. Create a dream board of all the dreams you have set as goals, show your feelings, aswell as your celebrations. Hang this board somewhere that you can see regularly.
7. Enhance your wellbeing so it can support you through working towards and achieving your dreams.
8. Pick a mentor. Be clear of the role you would like this mentor to fulfil, frequency of meeting, style of meetings, feedback.
9. Now draw a time line of your year – like a road with signs on ………………the beginning of the road marking now and the  end being New Year’s Eve 2012, then write on the sign posts your landmark achievements and the date.
10.  Take one action right NOW that begins your journey.

Lisa is based in York and is a Business Coach, Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnosis, trained by Paul McKenna and the founder of NLP Richard Bandler. 

For further information visit www.lisaclifford.co.uk or email Lisa at lisa@lisaclifford.co.uk.

This week’s followed up on our previous theme of identity icebergs. The concept is that to change people’s (and your own) results, actions and behaviours (above the water) you need to work on their beliefs, values, environment and skills (below the water). It’s certainly something we’ve experienced at Quest – and something we continue to work on. Up-skilling as well as operating with common values and beliefs is a core facet of our business. Casting off self-limiting beliefs and delivering on an ethical platform are definite ‘Quest-isms’.

Our discussions struck a particular chord with me having confronted my own self-limiting beliefs by completing a marathon. Having never previously taken on any serious physical challenge – nor committed myself to such a time-consuming and all-enveloping training regime – I was able to achieve a major life milestone. I cast off my previous belief system that I could never achieve such a tough task and focused on crossing the finish line.

So, how does learning about identity icebergs add to my working life? Well, I think it demonstrates a valid point for PR. Let’s extend the analogy and say that PR is the above-water for a company – its own internal mechanisms are played out by the below-water part of the iceberg. By quite literally getting under the water of our clients and understanding their business vision, values and abilities, we hope that what we’re portraying is an accurate reflection of the truth.

For some in PR that’s not always the case. Companies have approached us to cover up or fudge issues to protect them from media flack and I can happily say we have so far turned them down. Why? Because how can we stand by our own ethical value if we don’t extend that to our clients. Presenting the public with a false impression of a company or person is tantamount to lying – not something I am comfortable with (or, quite frankly, very good at.)

And me? Well having cast off my self-limiting beliefs I have unleashed a new demon – how to satisfy my new craving as an exercise junkie. So, I’ve joined a gym – not the cheapest experience ever but hopefully one that will enable me to continue pushing myself and dispelling further personal myths.