Article by Dwayne Alexander | About Dwayne

John Shackleton lives in Auckland.  Before he arrived in the Land of The Long White Cloud he became one of Europe's top inspirational speakers after achieving phenomenal success as a businessman, international sports coach, property developer, British (and now NZ) Masters swimming champion, executive coach to CEO's and MD's; quite a background! 

John explains the importance of controlling attitude, confidence, self-esteem and mental focus.

'My passion is helping people to understand how improving these things greatly enhances their performance either as a producer themselves or a manager of others', says John.

His style is energetic, amusing and hard hitting, using examples from business and sporting achievements (and failures!) and then adapting them to his audience's environment.

John spent most of his teenage years training as a competitive swimmer but failed to reach international standard because of a lack of self-belief.

'I now realise that I had all the skills and ability but I just didn't believe that I was good enough'.

Retiring from competition in his late teens, he became a coach and studied Sports Psychology. This eventually led him to coach the British Triathlon team to become European champions. It also persuaded him to get back in the water. In July 2000, he placed 5th in both the 100m and 400m Freestyle events at the World Masters Swimming Championships.  He swims faster now at the age of 50 than when in full training at 18 years old.

In the 80's, he started a British-based training company, developing an impressive client list, including organisations like ICI, Rank Xerox, Securicor, IBM, Hewlett-Packard.  It eventually became the premier company of it's kind in the UK, turning over more than 1 million pounds.

His role as MD of this company, coupled with his sports psychology background, led John to become one of the UK's top business coaches, working with CEO's and top executives from many blue chip companies including 3M, SmithKline Beecham, Astra Zeneca & Pfizer.

His eighteen years experience in business and training, combined with his sports psychology background, has given John a unique style and an unrivalled ability to help individuals grow, develop and achieve more.

His presentations use the latest human development technologies to help people excel and achieve new heights.

'Most people really want to achieve greater things, but are held back by their own thinking, negative attitudes, limiting beliefs and fragile self esteem. I love helping people to harness the awesome power they have inside and use it to create outstanding results in their lives.'

John is a regular speaker with Speakerlink (www.speakerlink.co.nz)

NAME: John Shackleton
 

DATE OF BIRTH:  23-05-1954.  I am 54 and proud of it!
 

HOME TOWN: Born in London. Live in Auckland
 

HOBBIES: Competitive swimming
 

GOAL:  An interview with any Olympic Swimming Gold Medallist
 

My Favourite Time of the day is first thing in the morning - 5:30 am! It's when I go swim training or if I'm not training I can get so much work done.

I first knew I was different from everyone else when I was at school and my friends were consumed with 'looking cool'

I really enjoy getting people to stop making excuses and take more responsibility for their results in life. 

List a few of your recent accomplishments that you are proud of:

1. Completing my book, 'Life is for Living', and pre-selling enough copies to make it a 'best seller' before it was even printed.
2. Obtaining my CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation from National Speakers Association Australia and joining that elite group of speakers.
3. Being awarded 2007 Speaker of the Year by NSANZ
4. Having a vasectomy without crying!

Did you celebrate them? How? We celebrated # 3 by having too many drinks and then I had to do a presentation at 7am the next morning. 

I am busy at the moment potty training my two year old.

My big hairy audacious goal this year is to get back to my fitness levels of four years ago when I achieved my lifetime best times in the pool.

I knew I was onto something when people laughed at my jokes when I was on stage.

My secret for getting things done is (as Walt Disney suggests) to observe the masses and do the opposite.

My darkest hour was when I nearly went bankrupt about 20 years ago.

I came through it by not getting any sympathy from my wife. She just told me, 'You can do it, just get on with it'.

Who or what has influenced your career choice? Dr Denis Waitley, a leading authority on self esteem and one of the worlds best inspirational speakers.

How old were you when you ....... I was 50 years old when I swam my personal best time for 100m butterfly.

What do you do to cope with stress? Exercise

How many hours do you work each week? Probably about 20, although my wife would say 60.

What do you do when things aren't going your way? Ask for help and then work harder.

What is the most important piece of advice you'd give to people who are struggling to create a positive change in their lives? You tell your kids that they can achieve anything they want to in life so why don't you tell yourself the same message?

What is the hardest lesson you've had to learn in life/sport? If it is to be, it is up to me.

What separates successful people from unsuccessful people? Self-belief

Do you have any daily rituals that help you keep focused and in the right mental state to succeed? Be grateful for all the blessings I have in my life.

What was your background before you became a speaker?  Failed competitive swimmer (didn't make international), Sports coach with sports psychology background, Management trainer.

Do you have any school/study qualifications? I have two university degrees but I don't think they have any relevance to any success I've achieved.

Do you have any other interests at the moment? My children

What are the three most important personal qualities you've had to develop to become SUCCESSFUL

1. Good self-esteem
2. Determination
3. Independence

Who inspires you the most and why? Paralympians. They consider that we are the ones that are handicapped. 

Do you have a formal goal setting process? Yes, be extremely specific with the goal and always attach both reward and consequence motivation with any goal.

Have you ever been scared? What did you do about it?  I'm scared on a regular basis. Get used to fear because if you aren't feeling scared then you are taking things too easy.

What comes first...success or confidence? Confidence, always.

How do you build confidence if you're not a confident person? Study it. Read everything you can find on it and apply it to your own life. Be prepared to fail as much as you can and take no notice of what other people might think.

The Parting Shot: When I feel frustrated that things are not coming together as I wish, I proceed to: Consider myself a winner for not quitting when things got tough.

Article by Dwayne Alexander
Dwayne is the founder of http://www.livemygoals.com/