"You can't get anywhere in anything without work, action, movement..whatever you want to call it." Scott Haines

Just getting on with doing something however poorly is important. Mike Litman talks about how you can upgrade your conversation if you just get on with things by taking action.

He uses the example of one man or woman talking about getting a website up. He or she talks for 6 months. This is boring!

Another man or woman takes speedy action and gets his or her website up in one week. It is not perfect but he or she can now move on. They are no longer talking about putting up the website. They are talking about bringing in traffic. This is exciting! They have moved on but can still improve their website as they go. They have moved from being nervous about putting up their website to being excited about it.

Another person might dither about starting an ezine. Another just starts one. She might lose many subscribers as she goes but at least her ezine is improving and more and more subscribers stay on. Her talk is full of excitement and enthusiasm.

Someone talks about writing a book. Another one just starts writing every day and gets on with it. His or her book may not be great but it can be improved. The talk is no longer about writing a book; it is about improving a book and selling it!

About 15 years ago, I took action to open a martial arts school instead of just talking about it. I didn't feel too confident and my first lesson opened with just one student coming through the door. My marketing had been practically non-existent. However, things soon improved.

Two years later the class was thriving. If you are interested, check out the photo on the home page of my self-defence site. The URL for this is listed below. The photo on the right is of my class in 1992, about two years after the one student had appeared. The school is still going strong in 2005.

Eva Gregory has written a great quote:

"Inspired action is the difference in potential and actuality."

However, sometimes uninspired action is also the difference. We cannot always afford to wait for inspiration. Inspiration often arrives after we have started. If a thing is worth doing it is worth doing badly at first and improving later.

This is the basic principle behind brainstorming. Early criticism kills a creative discussion. Early criticism can stop creative action in its tracks.

Of course, it helps, to plan and learn the necessary skills but if you wait too long for these your project will die. Action, movement and work are essential.

Above all, if you take action on things, you will live an exciting although not necessarily a comfortable life!

John Watson

John Watson was born in Shanghai at the start of World War II on Dec 31st 1939

His father, a British civil engineer, was given the choice of working in the mines of Northern China for the occupying forces or going to a concentration camp. He refused to work for the invading forces.

As a result the whole family were imprisoned in a concentration camp in the middle of China in 1942. Eric Liddell (featured in the Chariots of Fire) the Scottish runner and missionary was imprisoned in the same camp.

In 1945 the family was rescued by American troops who were parachuted in. John's most treasured possession from this time is a plane made of bullets given him by one of the US soldiers. The tail parts have been lost but most of it remains. He also remembers being given a bottle of coca cola by one of the US troops and has been an addict ever since!

They moved to England and then, when John's father died, to the Isle of Man.

John went to school in the Isle of Man and then taught Physical Education at a prep school in Hertfordshire. Around this time he had three mystical experiences of contact with God.

He then studied English Literature at Cambridge University and later became an English teacher in South East London but, after 5 years, he did a diploma in Religious Studies and began teaching about religion full time.

After 33 years teaching in three London Comprehensive schools, John retired from teaching. He received several awards and commendations for teaching both religious studies and the martial arts. He still teaches martial arts after beginning training in karate at the age of 37. The style he now teaches is Choikwangdo, a brilliant self-defence and health oriented style founded by Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi in 1987.

In his retirement he began studying internet marketing and continued his study of the psychology of achievement and self development. This has always been a key interest.

John plans on writing reports and books on both teaching and on achievement in general. He feels that many schools let their students down by not teaching enough about how to study (by using mind maps for example) and about how to set goals and how to start saving money for their early retirement!

John's main aim is to make the most of his own potential and to help others make the most of their's. He also wishes to pass on whatever he knows of the meaning of life and to discover more and share more about the truths behind the universe.