I’m sure there are many older influences and reasons that contributed to this, however 29th December 2011 must surely go down as the “starting point”.
I had arranged to meet with Britt Brennan at the Walkabout Wellness gym facility in Malaga, the purpose of this meeting was to work out a bit of a plan for the Walkabout Wellness website. Britt had been a web site client for a while at this stage, amazingly we’d not actually met or even spoken on the phone.
a seed was planted
While we chatted about Britt’s broader vision and what she was setting out to achieve, a couple of things resonated with me; the notion of a “wellness centre” in the Swan Valley, the burning desire to DO something that wasn’t just commercially-driven. The meeting had also confirmed what I’d already known through the emails and messaging; we got on well and shared some common ground.
When I left Malaga that afternoon, my mind busy. It was not working on website solutions though — something quite different was happening; a seed had been sown.
thinking is dangerous
After the Christmas and New Year break was over my thoughts turned to how best to take my part-time web business to the next level. As part of this I got back into reading some “personal development” stuff; in particular I picked up a copy of Napoleon Hill’s “Law of Success” for my new “toy”, an ebook reader.
I’m not quite sure what exactly happened next — a number of things in the book triggered a chain of events that defy logical explanation. I had set about creating a definite aim for the business, had progressed down that path very nicely indeed and then it happened.
I was sat on a bus just 3 days ago (Jan 18th 2012), doing some thinking (as I often do), when the seed planted on Dec 29th decided to burst into life.
long story short
It occurred to me that if Britt’s project could attract some general interest, publicity and funding/sponsorship then it would become a reality sooner rather than later.
It also occurred to me that not only was there some common ground between this project and some ideas I’d had of my own — I was also attacking things from the wrong angle. I’d assumed I needed to work hard, build up the business, make some money and THEN fund my ideas.
My mind had clearly been processing Britt’s ideas sub-consciously and figured out this was all part of the same problem and it could be realised a lot sooner than expected.
What happened next defies belief — I sat down that night and wrote a very VERY long email to Britt, explaining what I had been thinking, discussing the common ground and common goals we shared. For reasons that I have yet to FULLY explain to myself, I made Britt an offer.
run fatboy run
I suggested to Britt that I could become something of a “lab rat”, that she could help me get from overweight, unfit, desk-sitting, couch potato to the point where I was able to take part in and complete a marathon.
Now I fully understand:
- the offer to go through some kind of fitness training; it’s an item from my personal “todo” list that is long overdue.
- why I suggested something that I really don’t like (I hate even the idea of running) — it’s a clear, practical demonstration of “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” This philosophy is a large part of what Britt is setting out to achieve with teenage kids
- that such a huge deal (fat computer geek to “athlete”) would help spark interest and sponsorship
These are all logical — what I don’t really understand is why I wrote those words and then pressed the send button. Was it impetuous, was it compulsive, was it stupidity? 
Whatever the reason, it was sent. Whatever the reason, it seemed to make as much sense to Britt as it did to me.
Whatever the reason, I am now on a very different path to the one I was treading a few days ago.