Travel Blog – Two Big Smokes, Toronto, ON and London, England

It’s Saturday and I’m posting today’s Blog today as it is a work day for Laura and I as we are flying on Sunday to Toronto, ON and we are getting ready to take our operation on the road with us for two weeks.

That is one of things that attracted me to this business that I could literally work from anywhere provided I have a wireless signal and we have every piece of electronics imaginable x 2. Another was to have the ability to invest in and travel to experience the work of world-class personal and professional development leaders.

When I was online looking for a picture to relate to the term that I hear people use for

Toronto, ON as the “The Big Smoke”, I found it ironic that the term seems to be used for

London, England as well, which is where we are flying on Thursday, May 31st.

We will spend Monday – Thursday in Toronto, ON and I’ll be working with my clients on the phone over the four days.

In the midst of this, Laura and I will be attending The Toronto Independent Financial Brokers Summit, May 29th and 30th at the Toronto Congress Centre. There are loads of high quality presentations that we want to hear and I will be presenting Removing Your Roadblocks at 9:30am EDT on Wednesday, May 30th.

We will fly to England on the evening of Thursday, May 31st and arrive at London Heathrow early Friday morning. We are flying business class to do our best to sleep on the flight so that we can make the best of Friday and Saturday in London. Then it is off on Sunday morning, June 3rd on a three hour train ride across the English countryside to a week-long Business Retreat with Chris Barrow in Devon.

Chris Barrow is one of a very few coaches that have come out of the coaching movement that has created a real business.

The coaching industry is riddled with snake oil sales people who have never been in business or who have built a coaching practice on clients who are “needy”, who are looking to fill a hole in their lives with the coaches professing that they too can create a coaching practice when the reality is the “needy” don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. It’s kind of incestuous … coaches, coaching coaches, coaching coaches. At the same time, we all get our start somewhere and there are some excellent people in the coaching industry and excellence goes along with being honest with their clients about the client’s ability to build a coaching business. There is an expression, those that can’t teach and those that can, do.

Chris is the real thing and his practice specialty is working with dentists in the UK through The Dental Business School. He has been voted in the top ten most influential people in UK dentistry.

Laura and I work with Chris for many reasons. We have become good friends over the years. He has the heart of a lion and he does whatever it takes. The fact that Chris also used to be a financial advisor helps too. Chris has completed The Strategic Coach and many of the same coaching courses that I have taken so who better than to go on a business retreat with?

Here is a picture of the retreat location which is a secluded magnificent country mansion where we will be from Sunday June 3rd to Friday, June 8th, 2007 along with 10 other couples.

Buckland House, Buckland Filleigh nr Bideford, Devon