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.
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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!
On the back of my recent How To Operate a Bloke post, I received several emails (from blokes and chicks) requesting that I write a similar post about the female of the species. My response to those requests is (1) as if I'd know how and (2) what do you think I am, a complete idiot? Don't answer that. You do know there are different rules between the sexes right? For example, if I make fun of a man, that's entertainment. A comparable post about a woman; disgusting and sexist. If I was to call the typical bloke a big, dumb, penis-driven, emotionally inept, Neanderthal with the I.Q. of a wombat, that would be socially acceptable; if not downright hilarious. The equivalent comment about a woman would be considered insensitive and derogatory; journalistic suicide even... craig-who-dot-com?
Voluptuous? Full-figured? Curvy?
Okay, just to be clear - making fun of blokes; funny. Making fun of chicks; not funny. Especially if in some moment of cerebral meltdown, you choose to refer to their bodies. Calling a fat guy fat; fine. Calling a fat woman fat; not fine. Even if she's gigantic. "Wow, isn't she.... er... voluptuous?" Better still, say nothing. Even if you think you're saying the right thing, it won't be.
You Sexist Pig...
A few months ago here in the thriving metropolis of Melbourne, we hosted the Australian Tennis Open and there was something of an uproar because a (male) commentator suggested that one of the female tennis players might be carrying more body-fat than is desirable for an elite athlete. Not a completely unreasonable insight or observation. Naturally he was labelled a sexist pig and there was absolutely no chance that his opinion might in any way be worth considering. On the other hand, if she (the player) had been a he, the media would not have been remotely interested in the comments and there would have been no public outcry. In fact, there would have been no story, no media attention and the remarks would have gone un-noticed. Nobody would be talking about the out-of-shape male tennis player and nobody would be discussing sexism in sport because the remark was about a bloke - and it's okay to say whatever we want about male bodies. Funny even. But not female bodies. As an exercise scientist and someone who has worked with thousands of bodies for nearly three decades, to me the comment (about the female tennis player) had nothing to do with gender, sexism or discrimination but some people chose to make it about that. It had to do with the athlete's body-fat percentage and her level of conditioning for her sport. It seems that some people look for a reason to get offended.
What if She was a He?
If a sports commentator talks about how out-of-shape a male athlete appears - and they do often - nobody even bats an eyelid because they are merely pointing out the obvious. In the AFL (Aussie Rules) grand final last year there was a player by the name of Stuart Dew (pictured below) who put in a great performance. He is an athlete who took a year off the game and then was drafted by the eventual premiers, Hawthorn. Take a look at an extract from the Australian newspaper (below), the day after the game. By the way, the stuff in orange is the actual title of the article. Could you imagine a newspaper article with the title "The fat Woman is singing...."?
"The fat man is singing as project Dew tips scales in September" (The Australian, Sept. 29, 2008)
FOR men everywhere who are a few kilograms past their prime, Stuart Dew is the new cult hero. A year ago, he weighed 20kg more than he did during Saturday's grand final, and without being rude, he could still shed a few. But the spare tyre he carried around the MCG did not stop him being one of the stand-outs in Hawthorn's stunning premiership, with his desperate tackling and two goals late in the third quarter helping to turn the match on its head. As Hawthorn great Robert DiPierdomenico quipped during yesterday's post-match celebrations at Glenferrie Oval: "It was one for the fat man, eh! How good is that? You don't have to be an athlete to play this game."
To my knowledge, not one person complained about the above article (or it's title). Could it be because his name is Stuart, not Sarah?
Houston... We Have a Footballer
Last Saturday night (April 11, 2009) I was watching a football show here in Melbourne and one of the members of the panel described Dew as the only AFL player who could be seen from outer space. When the comment was made, the only response from the rest of the panel was laughter. If I was Stuart Dew I don't think I would be personally devastated by the comments but could you imagine the public outcry and backlash if a sports commentator made comparable public comments about one of our elite female athletes? My guess is that he/she would be sacked. There's a lot of distance between laughter and sacking isn't there?
The No-Penis Policy
Then there's the well-known chain of female-only gyms here in the Land Down Under. One of their recent advertising campaigns involved gigantic billboards emblazoned with the words "No Toms, no Harrys and definitely no Dicks". Personally, I am not offended in the least by their marketing strategy (it takes a lot), in fact I found the campaign kind of amusing and clever. But that's me. However, I wonder what the response might have been if I decided to promote my chain of bloke-only gyms with an advertising campaign that highlighted the absence of female genitalia in my centres? Probably not good I'm guessing.
What Writing Plan?
I'm not really sure how this article came to be - I didn't actually plan it - as such. I was just sitting here at my computer thinking about this stuff. I do that. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) I just start writing and something like this is the result. So I guess there's no major personal development message and no life-changing insight or philosophical brain food for you today; just me thinking out loud and wondering what your thoughts on this topic might be?
Although it is kinda interesting don'tcha think?
Let me know your thoughts and do your best to keep it clean, intelligent, relevant and constructive.
Enjoy your day Rockstars.
If you're not sure how to leave a comment, clickhere. Yep, even you chronic Lurkers.
P.S. Also, let me know if you managed to abstain from arguing for twenty four hours (off the back of yesterday's post).
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