Thank you for visiting Baloani, which I hope will prove to be a great point of reference for your personal philosophical
and spiritual journey.
My name is Paul Becque. When I first dated my wife, she called me Beqster, and the name has stuck! Now my friends and work colleagues use it too.
Since I was a child I wanted to know what life is all about. Consequently, I’ve studied many different beliefs and kept an open mind.
Buddhism and Taoism have been very inspirational for me. And, more recently, “The Secret” and our growing knowledge of quantum physics has taken me to an even deeper level of commitment to my discoveries. “Baloani” is simply a video diary of my journey and a reference point for anyone that resonates with my exploration.
Blog week 5 -
I gotta tell ya, just by knowing that I have to answer to YOU in a weeks time, is really forcing me to continually work at these principles at a level I have never experienced before. Usually, I would read a chapter, and probably two or three in a day, moving on, never stopping to work at the exercises or even spend a considerable amount of time thinking about what I have just read and how I could use it.
Consequently, if you decide to buy the book by Jack Canfield, or any other self improvement, personal development book, I would really recommend that you read the whole book to ensure you like it, but then return to the start and work on each chapter a week at a time. Read the chapter every day, consider what has been suggested and really do the work. Put it in writing.
This week was simply... believing in yourself. I consider myself to be lucky in this
area, because I DO think of myself as being lucky, being a go-
This was another
week which seemed to be simple enough. However, by reading the chapter every day, it really kept my mind in one continuous place... can I do this? Can I really double my income in the next year? Double the amount of time I have off?... Yes!
So, believe in myself? Fortunately, I already have a strong sense of achievement.
That’s not being big-
In the 11 Forgotten Laws, Bob Proctor suggests you make two lists...
1) A list of successes, then pin it to the wall, somewhere you can see it on a regular basis.
2) Then write a list of things you consider to be failures, things you’d rather forget, that may have held you back... then burn it. Really, BURN IT! It won’t physically change anything, it can’t change your past, but apparently the message this sends to the brain, it’s psychological effect, is very powerful. It’s FREE, why not give it a go?
After much deliberation, I decided to list my own successes right here. I know this is personal, but the project is supposed to be... hey I’m listing my dream life, putting it all out there, so why not let you into my past too.
My earliest memory of success was at the age of five, whilst attending infant school. I painted a scene of clowns performing at the circus and the piece of work was entered into a competition, which I won... I’ve loved art ever since.
A couple of years later, when I was about seven years old, I joined the Cub Scouts and represented the pack in a cross country competition. I can’t even remember if I won, but I do remember pushing myself to the limits to ensure that the pack with the yellow neckerchiefs, being out of breath, wondering if I’d make it to the finish line... I did. I may still have the certificate somewhere, and the team picked me up and carried me like a champ!
The Cub Scouts was brilliant for me, because the possibility of gaining badges for
activities was sufficient incentive for me to learn to swim, learn to map read, get
involved with science projects... I ended up with 13 badges and became the “Green-
When I was just a kid, about 10 years of age, I got invited to participate in a school
play. I was only meant to be a Herald, which was a tiny role with just a few lines.
But something happened, and I got re-
The next big accolade was getting into Dover Grammar School. Several of my uncles had attended and were already enjoying successful careers in banking, shipping and oil. If I could get to that school... I could do anything! I remember it well, because we had to sit the 11+ exam in those days, and it seemed like forever waiting for the letter which appointed schools, to arrive. When it did, my Mum read it out and pretended that I’d been unsuccessful... I was gutted... but shortly afterwards she let me know the truth. An amazing feeling of achievement, that I can still remember more than 30 years later.
Attending Dover Grammar provided me with a source of success that I had not expected. It wasn’t academic achievement, but the ability to entertain. I started acting in the school plays, originally in small roles, but soon worked my way up to leading parts, with plenty of help from my mum who generally made my costumes! But true success came when Bryan Owen, the drama teacher, encouraged a few of us to audition for the National Youth Theatre. Despite being several months too young, I was lucky enough to be accepted and went to London in the summer of 1979, at the tender age of 14, to become the youngest member of the organisation. After the workshop that summer I went on to perform in London theatres and even toured Europe for two summer seasons. It was amazing! Thank you Bryan!!!
In 1985 my sister finished dance school and began working for Carnival Cruises
as a professional dancer. I got a free holiday out of it and joined her in the Caribbean. It rocked my world. I knew that I had to change my life and get onto cruise ships... it was like Las Vegas at sea, and the Americans loved the Brits! Despite the disbelief of many of my friends, I subscribed to “The Stage” and wrote off for every cruise ship audition that was advertised... some months later, I was in London auditioning for Costa Cruises... got offered the job and flew to Miami with my best mate, Marcus Anderson on 11 July, 1986. I can clearly remember our first night in Miami, sitting in a pool, scorching hot weather, all expenses paid... man, life was good! The dream had come true!!!
But that was just the start. After only a few weeks of being onboard the ships, it became clear to me that I wanted my bosses job. To become the head of entertainment on board, the Cruise Director. Again, I was told “hold your horses”... “You’ve gotta be at least 25 to become an Assistant Cruise Director, let alone a Cruise Director”. Well, I didn’t listen, I didn’t care, I could only win by learning everything possible and becoming the best at whatever I did. Within two years, I was Cruise Director... thanks to the encouragement and guidance of Steve Leland, my boss, who wanted to retire!
Luck? Right time, right place? Law of Attraction? Magnetised? Intended?
Call it what you like... it was the time of my life. I cruised for a period of 18 years, ending my career aboard the world’s most famous ocean liners, the QE2 and the Queen Mary 2 during her inaugural year. She was the largest cruise ship afloat when she was launched in 2004 and gained attention wherever she went.
One more story, coz I could go on for longer... and I believe you’ll be able to as well, if you spend a whole week thinking about your successes. Incidentally, please don’t think that I’ve only enjoyed good times... that would be completely untrue... I’ve had loads of failures too... probably more failures than successes... but that wasn’t the point of this exercise, and ultimately, we’re trying to grow our “positive attitude muscle” by flexing the success biceps!
Okay... here’s a negative experience that I turned around! When I finally left the ships in December 2004, after two unsuccessful attempts some years earlier, I decided that I would only remain on land if I found a job or career that I loved. So I committed 110% to finding a job in tv. I gave myself one year, and promised myself that I wouldn’t give up any earlier... not easy when you have the responsibility of a mortgage, bills, kids, wife, etc. But I treated it as a personal challenge.
To be honest, I was pretty confident that I’d land a job in no time at all. I already had an agent in place, I had already spread my wings, sent out my CV and made lots of enquiries. How difficult could it be? Three months later, I was still in exactly the same position... auditioning... what professionals call “resting”. That was no good to me I was building up debts. Over the next three months I picked up a couple of jobs which hardly paid anything, and despite calling, emailing and letter writing, I just couldn’t get a break. Once my credit card debt hit £20k I started to panic. I had restless nights. £30k. £40k. My world was imploding!
Then I got a call to audition for one of the big shopping channels on telly, Bid tv. I’d been watching for months, even practicing in my bedroom. I’d made showreels with the graphics flying in and out and even added music. I’d written on several previous occasions, but not been accepted. A week later, I got a call to audition for Royal Caribbean cruise line as a Cruise Director... and with such large debts, and my year running out, I had to consider it.
About a month later, I auditioned for Bid tv on the Wednesday. It went really well, but they said they’d let me know in a couple of weeks. Consequently, I had to fly to Miami the following weekend to meet with the cruise line for a six hour audition. At the end of the day, after dancing, singing, telling jokes, providing presentations, answering a barrage of questions, they offered me the position... But I had to stall them because I knew that the right job, was the one on land, at home, with my family. They agreed to wait. Two weeks later, Bid tv called. I’d got the job!!!
Almost five years later, and I’m still with the channel. I love the job... it’s fun,
it’s creative, it’s entertaining, it’s television. We sold our house and down-
I really encourage you to take the time to do this exercise. Sit down each day, go through your past, look for those moments of success, the triumphs, the promotions, the love stories. Success isn’t only wealth. It’s love. It’s family. It’s courage. It’s life. I really enjoyed going through my own past, it made me smile a lot and really appreciate where I am today.
It’s also worth noting, that I did not see “The Secret” or become aware of the “Law of Attraction” until 2007. Imagine what we can achieve with the application of this new information in our daily lives?
Andy McCluskey 16 March 2010, 04:03:09
Never under estimate the power of positive thinking, it is something I learnt many many years ago.
This site is all about participation and sharing, so please feel free to jump on facebook or send a message to email@baloani.com with a success story of your own.
Next week... Become an inverse paranoid.
when nobody else will.
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