The beauty of excellence...

Inspired by this great post by Peter Shankman I thought it was about time I blogged about something I feel so passionate about yet so many people seem oblivious to.

I've long had a problem with the likes of X-Factor, Big Brother, and Britain's Got Talent... without wanting to offend you the reader , I've also become increasingly frustrated with people who support these programmes through tuning their telly into this manufactured bubblegum for the brain. The problem is you see, that Britain really does have talent... just not the sub-mediocre rubbish that's watched by millions and generates billions, all at the expense of a few poor souls whom the nation tunes in to laugh at every week. 

You'd think the truly tragic story of Jade Goody would have made the more mentally capable amongst us wake up and smell the reality coffee... here was someone who the greedy, calculated, and influential of the TV world decided to build up and knock down on an almost weekly basis, for no other reason than to line their own pockets. As for the x-Factor, it really is no different to the freak shows of the 19th century, the main agenda being to line up a load of less capabable and more vulnerable members of society so that we can all have a jolly good laugh. The only reason they even bother with including the odd person that can (only just) knock out a tune is so that they can hide behind the false notion that it's some kind of talent show, but as I said earlier... Britain really actually truly does have talent...

On Saturday evening Hels and I tuned into episode one of the absolutely amazing BBC programme Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment - a three part series which follows drum and bass pioneer Goldie on a personal mission to discover the young people who's talent and passion for music is at the centre of their lives. If you didn't see it (which you probably didn't) then please do tune into BBC iPlayer and watch it here, and don't forget this Saturday's episode two. Goldie and his fellow presenters travelled the length of the country to find young people who's talent might have slipped under the radar of mainstream media... (note: does mainstream media even have a radar? Or do they just create celebrities to fit the image du jour?)... As they ventured into each musician's house, completely unaware as to what they might find, time and again they (and me) were reduced to tears of pure joy at the truly beautiful talent of these amazing young British people...

The fact that it was watched and talked about by probably 1/100th of the audience commanded by the likes of Simon Cowell is more a sad indictment of you the viewer than anything else. In his article mentioned above Shankman says 'Welcome to the age of mediocrity'... it doesn't have to be, but that's up to you...

Tom

Inspired...

Today's entry is entirely stolen from an amazing video I watched yesterday... the monologue sums up pretty much exactly how I feel right now... check it out and be inspired

"I feel genuinely lucky to hand on heart say I love doing what I do, and although I may never be a rich man, if I live long enough I'll certainly have a tale or two for the nephews... and I dig the thought of that."

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

Routine...

Having consistently kept up with my blog through five years of Ironman training things have gone rather quiet on the written front over the last few months. Well, they say 'if you want something done, give it to a busy person' so with me at absolutely the busiest I've ever ever been in my entire life... I thought I'd climb back on the blogging horse!

I'll be posting regular and concise entries at a minimum of once per week and as much as possible will keep training based stuff over on the new training diary page of my website (see above).

This section of the site will be much more about life as I see it, interesting stuff that I stumble upon and exciting things that I get involved with. Talking of which... quarter past six in the evening on Wednesday the 9th of February... details to follow ;)

See you soon,

Tom

Jump...

Since leaving full-time employment and embarking on a self-employed future I've had loads of emails from people thinking of doing the same, asking for advice, and loads of emails from people who've already done it, welcoming me to the self determined life.

I thought that this week I'd just make a short comment around the most common misconception... 'leaving the security of working for someone else'.

The inaccuracy of this statement is clearer now than ever before but for many the lightbulb is yet to flash. The truth of the matter is that a permanent contract really isn't worth the paper it's written on and, as so many have found out in recent years, it means pretty much nothing the moment an employer's unsustainable business strategies bring everything crashing down. Particularly in challenging times, such as we are all currently facing, surely the most secure option is to take control of the decisions that will affect you and your family for years to come. 

It's not therefore the 'brave' decision to leave the comfort zone of full-time employment, simply the 'sensible' one.

This week's photo is my good friend Greg about to make a rather large splash in Lake Worthersee, just prior to Ironman Austria 2006. Greg's only ever known a life working for himself, firstly running an amazingly successful independent dry cleaners in Oxford and then, just when the market for that kind of stuff took a downward turn, he sold up and set up his current, and equally successful, property development company. An inspiration in taking control of your life... after all, it is YOUR life... isn't it?

See you soon,

Tom

Exciting times...

Check out those tan lines! 

As is becoming 'de rigueur' the blog section of my website is getting rather neglected... it's not even the main landing page any more, but that's a good thing. 

At the moment I'm up to my neck in super exciting stuff... on top of the parkrun and Marathon Talk commitments I had a really exciting meeting last week about working with these guys around the topic of 'Time Management' - oh how my mum will laugh ;)

Now, as if I wasn't busy enough already I couldn't resist organising another #winterswim... it's completely free and open to all, regardless of swimming ability.

Come on in, the water's lovely ;)