This site is the website of motivational speaker Craig Harper. A constantly updated, one-stop information, inspiration, education and motivation station. Unlike many similar sites, it is a totally free resource for anyone who is serious about moving from mediocre to amazing in any area of their personal or professional life. With hundreds of articles covering a wide range of subject matter, great interviews with cool people and inspirational video posts, there's more than enough brain-food to keep you busy for hours. Okay, days!! Enjoy.
Click play above
to
see one of Craig's weekly segments on national
television. (9AM with Kim & David - Network Ten)
Online
Personal Training
Can’t always make it to the gym? With your very own
Cyber-Trainer you don’t need to. Our online PT
service is for people who would like to access the
skill, knowledge and experience of a quality
Trainer, without doing the face-to-face thing.
Life Coach
If you are interested in maximizing your potential,
stepping out of that 'holding pattern' and being
privately coached by Craig click here.
Business Coach
If you're a personal trainer, gym owner or studio
owner who is interested in growing your business
then mentoring with Craig could be a valuable part
of your overall success strategy.
Biological Age Testing
Recently, 67 year old Jan Frazer completed one of
our biological age tests only to discover she has
the body of a 37 year old (in terms of fitness,
strength and function). How old is your body? Find
out here.
Body Composition Analysis
Craig's
team of experts can provide you with a
complete Body Composition Analysis in just 30
minutes.
Online
Nutrition
Many
nutritional experts confuse people with their jargon
and pseudo-science. Let Craig's Director of
Nutrition cut through the dietary confusion and
contradiction for you.
Fattitude
- Craig Harper
While many books focus on food,
Craig teaches that creating life-long change is more about the
dieter, than the actual diet. This book is perfect for people who have a
history of 'almost' getting in shape.
DVD
or CD - Renovate Your Body In this entertaining presentation, Craig discusses the
notion of Renovating Your Body - once and for all. Many of us have a curious
ability to be able to get in shape for events (weddings, parties, reunions
and birthdays), if only we'd get in shape for life.
Craig Harper is Australia's leading
motivational speaker
and educator (according to Google Australia). He is a highly
sought-after corporate coach and is considered to be
a leader and pioneer in the areas of personal and
professional development.
Working with hundreds of
teams, companies and a wide variety of organisations
on numerous continents over the last twenty years
has given Craig a unique insight into, and
understanding of, human performance and all its
variables. Craig has an ability to educate, inspire,
challenge and make people laugh all at the same
time!
Hi Groovers. If you happen to live in Australia and you read this before ten a.m. (Wednesday), and if you happen to be near a TV at 9.45ish, take a peek at Channel Ten. I'll be chatting about work-life balance and retirement. Should be interesting.
Things you won't find in a text book
At the start of this year I wrote part one of this article. I have since been asked many times for direction, advice and stories for fitness industry newbies and wanna-bees. People always say that the real learning starts when you finish school, well in many ways, they are right (whoever they are). For me, the real learning (for my career in the fitness industry) started when the study stopped. Ironic huh? These days, when I lecture to wanna-be trainers I always leave my academic cardigan and slippers at home and wear my very pracademic work boots to class. If you're gonna spend a career helping people renovate their body, maximise their genetics, change their behaviours and create their best life, there's a few things you'll need to know first. Things you probably ain't gonna find in a text book. Things like the words ain't and gonna for example! Here's what I learned in my first year of being a humble gym instructor (yes, I remember back that far).
Shut up.
1. People lie a lot. Human beings lie. We all like to think we're above lying, but we're not. Put up your hand if you've never lied. Fibber. When it comes to exercise, eating and lifestyle habits and behaviours, it's no different. Nearly everyone lies at some stage, especially about eating habits. Some people do it incessantly. Some people lie so often that they start to believe their own crap. Stupidly, I used to believe the morbidly obese people who would look me in the eye and say "my diet is great and I never eat junk food." I was so young and naive. And stupid. I would beat myself up for not getting results with them, when all along they were totally sabotaging the process behind my back and lying their asses off to my face. If someone is morbidly obese then there's a very high likelihood that they're (1) over-eating and consuming poor quality foods and (2) lying about it.
2. Giving people information and direction is easy but getting them to apply it consistently is another thing. I got to a point early in my career where I became very frustrated because I realised that I could tell people what to do, why to do it and how to do it, but I couldn't actually MAKE them do anything. Education is useless if we don't apply it and resources are a waste of time and money unless we use them consistently and intelligently. We are one of the most educated fat countries in the world. So educated yet so stupid.
3. Many people don't actually want to work or sweat to get in shape. They want a short cut. A pill, a powder, a potion or a product that will do it for them. As soon as I use terms like self-control, discipline, organisation and commitment, some people switch off and their eyes glaze over. And they'll stay fat and keep looking for a quick fix.
4. People will happily pay for gym memberships that they don't use. Great for the gym owners, not so good for fat Australia (America, England, NZ, SA, etc.). Apparently just having a membership makes some people feel better. Weird. It's always okay though because they're starting back at the gym next Monday. Of course.
5. Changing our body is all about our head. Our physical self (the way we look and function) is (largely) a by-product (or symptom) of our mental and emotional states. How we feel and think, determines the decisions we make (food, exercise, lifestyle), which in turn determines our behaviours and habits, which impacts greatly on our physical reality. If some trainers (and other health professionals) would spend more time focusing on what's happening above the shoulders, they would see much better results below the shoulders.
6. Many people are more attracted to the 'idea' of exercise, than they are to the reality of it. Some people are legends in their own mind and the older they get the better they were. Embarrassing. Many people talk and plan more than they do. If you're a surfer, who surfs once a year, you're not a surfer. You're a sedentary person who owns a surfboard. Owning a surfboard doesn't make you a surfer anymore than owning a paint brush makes you an artist.
7. Some people are very emotional (periodically irrational) about their exercise regime. Some people are inclined to make emotional decisions about how and when they exercise. Rather than doing what works (what will best benefit their body in the physical change process), they will gravitate towards what they enjoy the most, or what they are physically and emotionally comfortable doing. We need to find the balance between doing what we enjoy and doing what works (produces results). People don't like change. Even with their exercise program, people are creatures of habit. Some people have been training the same way (with very little change) for years.
8. Their body is not my responsibility. For a long time I felt completely responsible for my client's results. Boy, that was an exhausting place to live! When it dawned on me that I am only a resource (not a solution), I felt somewhat liberated. I can't eat for people, I can't exercise for them and I can't make decisions for them. Therefore, I can't change their life. Only they can. 9. Some people stink. I know that this point is of no educational value to you but I couldn't leave it out because I have such vivid memories regarding this issue. As someone who has a thing for (nice) smells, I was amazed (when I first started in the industry) at how much some people smell and how unaware they are of their stench. And I mean S-T-E-N-C-H! I've trained people who have literally made me dry retch. Think Parmesan cheese and multiply it by a hundred. I could tell you numerous revolting stories about some people's interesting approach to personal hygiene, but I'll spare you. I have walked up to people on the gym floor (men and women), handed them a can of deodorant and said "spray this on, you stink." I'm nice, but not that nice.
10. The best Trainers (teachers, instructors, coaches) are the best communicators. A brilliant academic with zero communication skills will always make a crap health, fitness or medical professional. While someone with average academic ability and excellent communication has a much better chance of being a great educator.
We don’t know why, but people go crazy for these shirts. Perhaps it’s because they allow us to tell people what we really think without wasting our breath! Order your shirt here.
'You're Not the Boss of Me' T-Shirts
Are you sick
of the bossy people in your world? Well,
this T-shirt could solve all of your
problems and change your life. But then
again, probably not. Order your shirt
here.
