How people can shape your life and how you can return the favour

 

Last week I mentioned two incidents that shaped my life career-wise, this week I'm going to be talking about the people who shaped and influenced my life.

Throughout our whole lives, we are continuously being influenced and shaped by other people, whether it's just for a few brief moments or whether it's a life-changing experience.

Take a few moments to think about all the people, up to now, who have helped you along the way to becoming the person you are.  It's often not until we actually sit down and do this, that we realise just how many people are involved in shaping us as human beings.  

Here's a few of mine:

• My family - goes without saying that my parents and big sister shaped me hugely as a person.  They taught me right from wrong, how to always respect other people's points of views and instilled a 'never give up' work ethic in me.  Sadly my big sister passed away a number of years ago but even when she was ill, she only had my best interests at heart and wanted me to be happy and follow my dreams.

• Mr Bob aka The Husband - yeah, I suppose he's got to get a mention!  Following a painful divorce (aren't they all?!), Mr Bob taught me that you can find your soulmate and have an equal partnership.

• The professor I worked for at the University of Sheffield - this guy had THE most amazing stories to tell and everything was "marvellous".  I remember him calling me from Iraq during a visit to a University out there and how "marvellous" it was to be escorted everywhere by bodyguards in an armoured car!!  He visited some of the scariest places in the world in a bid to make things better for the people who lived there, that was the kind of guy he was. He taught me how to never judge people no matter what their background and circumstances.

• John, my running buddy - I'm pretty certain I've mentioned John in a previous blog.  He sadly died of sudden cardiac arrest but I was lucky enough to spend a good few years with him by my side when I started running.  His down to earth attitude, never-ending positivity and old school training advice continues to be with me to this day.

• My fitness peeps - this lot have their own challenges to deal with yet they turn up, week in, week out and have a go at whatever exercises I throw at them, no matter how weird and wonderful.  They're not just my fitness peeps, they're friends too and have taught me that by pulling together and encouraging each other, you can achieve anything.

• Professor Steve Peters, yep The Chimp Paradox guy - I'm not going to apologise for the massive name drop here because this guy really has influenced my life.  I was lucky enough to come across Prof Peters when I worked at the University, as he did a lot of work with the medical students.  Then when he started working with sports people I used to try and tap him shamelessly for who he was working with!!  Prof Peters is one of those people that you could listen to for hours and hours, he's such a quiet spoken but really, really interesting guy. He very kindly did a number of sessions for me and my University colleagues and he taught me how to look at things differently and there was always a moment when he'd say "why, why can't you do that?" and you'd think "yeah, why can't I, I can do anything".

• The Brownlees, as in the triathlon brothers - unfortunately, I've only seen them from a distance but they've influenced me nevertheless.  I just love their attitude towards their sport and their training.  They're the kind of people who make it look effortless yet their training ethic and hard work behind the scenes is off the scale. I have a quote stuck on my computer screen that says 'Think?  What would Jonny Brownlee do? - Pick up his bike and run!'  I use this for when things get really tough.  In the World Triathlon Series a few years ago, Jonny crashed during the last lap of the bike section, his bike was so badly damaged that he couldn't ride it.  So what did he do?  He picked it up and ran the last mile to the transition area and then carried on with the run section and finished the race.  Now that's an attitude we could all do with when the chips are down.

There are plenty more people who have influenced me over the years and others who are currently influencing me right now, but the above are a few standouts.  I find it fascinating how some people can completely captivate you and have such a profound effect on your life.

How to re-pay the compliment and influence other people:

• Be authentic - don't pretend to be someone you're not, show people that it's ok to be YOU.

• Listen - don't just hear what people are saying, actually LISTEN to what people are saying.

• Lead by example - show other people what is POSSIBLE.

• Be kind - even if you don't agree with someone, it's important to be KIND, always.

• Share knowledge - if you're an expert in your field and know something that would be useful to others, share your KNOWLEDGE.

Most of the time, we don't even realise how much we can influence other people so always be aware of your actions and demeanour because you never know what others might be saying about you!

#2021