Guest Blog by Francesca Gordon-Smith, Positive Voice

​​In 2008, life took a very different turn. I was surprised to read that I was far from alone; it seems that as many as 1 in 4 Brits experience mental health problems each year. It took me by surprise; one day I was going about my life as normal and the next I had to face the fact that I had gone into a deep low. Looking back, I can guess what caused it. I had broken up with a man who I was very much in love with, my granny had passed away and my business wasn’t as successful as I would have liked it to be. I avoided seeing friends and family because I didn’t want them to know; I was ashamed.

Luckily, I am not one to dwell in this kind of state. I quickly began searching. I spent a great deal of time in bookshops reading all the personal development books that I could get my hands on. Each time I passed through Leicester square, I found myself in Watkins Spiritual bookshop; some days I would buy books, other days I purchased Angel cards and sometimes I went to have my tarot cards read. All of this helped a little, but I was still a long way from that light at the end of the tunnel. Over the months that followed, I went on dates, I worked, I started studying Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and I discovered Spiritual Church. I just kept busy and looked in every direction I could for happiness and hope.

We are born great, pure, innocent, and yet from an early age we are taught we are not. From an early age I knew that there was more to life then what I was being taught. 

My curiosity to question the unquestionable is what lead me to pursue a life time of learning, studying many life disciplines, and seeking great teachers that helped me in my journey to understand how to unleash the greatness in me, the infinite wisdom that deep down my heart knew I had, and live a meaningful life. 

This journey of seeking the truth led me to travel the world and seek opportunities, possibilities, and people who were on a similar journey to not unleash their own greatness, but also to many life adversities that destabilised my entire being. 

Unleashing Your Inner Genius requires for you to walk both of these journeys, travel the world and eventually when you find your place in the world you too will feel inspired to go within and listen…..
Listen to the silence, to your heart beat, to your souls calling to express your genius to the world, to do what you have been called to do since birth and before that.

It is through facing every adversity head on, moving forward step by step that I started my personal and spiritual development journey  that lead me to experiences that both challenged me to my core and helped me see the power that was within me waiting for me to harness it. The more I started to unlock my own power, the more I was called to teach others the love and the wisdom that I found within me and is there built in each and every one of you. 

There has never been a time in history where men are expected to be everything a man used to be and at the same time fulfill the many demands of today’s fast paced world in which they have to up their game in order to feel a sense of belonging, emotionally connected, loved, accepted and unleash their greatness that is within that is essential to living an Influential Gentleman’s life.

You may have noticed how the changes and the vast amount of information we are subjected in our daily lives influence our behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and daily habits. 

How in the last 20 years there has been an exponential rise in helping women cope with these fast shifts, demands and the changes that come from living in the 21st century. Yet, how there are only few good quality programs out there that help men through those changes that come from living in the 21st century in which in order to be loved, successful and claim a social status they are expected to dress like JFK, speak like Alan Watts, lead lice Lincoln, work out like a Spartan, forgive like Mandela and party like Sinatra.

Whether we admit it or not, we have become like commodities, we are being measured by how well we dress, how successful we are, how well we cope with change, emotions, and our ability to adapt and resolve complex problems fast. 

So how do we then rise to this level of evolution where we as men thrive, feel secure in ourselves, are breadwinners, love ourselves and are emotionally balanced, stable, and mature? 

Imagine what your life would be like if you learnt how to truly unleash your potential? 

Inside of ourselves there is everything we want: strength, conviction, love, depth, solidarity, decision, focus, confidence, and sheer determination in the loud, ringing tone which punctuates their delivery.

So what makes us access our own greatness? 

You may think now, if it was so easy everyone would do it. .... But, really why don't they?

It took me years to accept and acknowledge me and that each person is unique, unique in their set of values, experiences, thoughts they generate, beliefs they have, and the filters that sort out the billions of bits of information that we receive through our five senses each and every day.

Having worked with thousands of clients to help them in their journey to unlock their true potential in 8 key areas of life: emotional, physical, spiritual, mental, love, relationship, business and financial, I found that the words " When the time is right", "Its hard", "I WILL" , "I Won't" and " I Can't" were what stopped them from living in the present and unlocking their true potential.

I spend years in living in the past or in the future, I  learned the art of living in the present and now help others in their journey to minimise their time thinking about the past or future and focus them in the present moment.

Journey within is about helping you to transform your psyche, your emptions, your  spirit and embrace the art of transparent communication. 

What do I mean Journey Within? Let me start with one of my favourite quotes from Dalai Lama: " The transformational transparent conversations we record offer you the opportunity to listen to powerful dialogues full of life wisdom and insights from all my guests which support and empower you to embrace change and move through your fears to experience new perspectives, new ways of seeing and engaging with the world."

In 2008 I went through massive changes in my life, personal as well as professional life. Having been made redundant i spent some time to think, evaluate my life and the direction i wanted to take. I noticed within myself that I was predominately functioning from a foundation of lies and fear. I realised that I was lying to me, my family about the man i was, i was living in fear about being truthful about who i was. I was living two worlds, in one i was the "straight loving son" and in the other " i was the gay man living and enjoying life to the fullest", because of my fear i created two separate personalities each requiring a lot of energy to manage. 

A journey within is about connecting to the full essence of what it means to be a human being. It’s about taking responsibility to look within yourself and inquire into the deepest questions you have about your unique indescribable gift of life. It’s about truth and no longer upholding lies within and without. 

When we observe within we often notice we are functioning from unconscious actions and using old operating systems in the way we view the world. It’s not easy reprogramming conditioned habits and addictions. It’s not easy taking responsibility for our actions. 

I love nothing more than transparently sharing the insights I have picked up through direct experience to support others to thrive and blossom while I know this serves the evolution of humanity. 

Do you wake in the morning knowing there are obstacles ahead of you that are stopping you from truly living a happy, joyful and successful life? 

No wonder, in today busy and extremely demanding world we are so busy with dealing with what life through's at us on daily basis that we tend to forget what truly matters to us. 

Let me ask you a question, when was last time reviewing your life and asking yourself who are you, what do you want from life and what's in your way? Take a moment as you read this and write down the answers to these 3 most important questions that if you want to overcome any obstacles that hold you back that you should know the answers for. I coach many clients on getting their life back on track, to overcome their limiting beliefs, and create the breakthroughs quickly and easily so that they can overcome the obstacles they might be facing. Today, i would like to share 12 obstacles that many of my clients face that holds them back from living the life of their dreams

One of the main questions that i hear over and over again during my coaching sessions or from friends, family or when i am out and about is how to make more money and be more successful. 

It really is is simple, in this article i will share with you my secrets on how i created the success, freedom and lifestyle i now enjoy. Just like everything else in life, it starts with making a decision to be successful and have a great relationship with money energy, once you have made that quantum jump in your mind, you will start to attract the right people, the right resources, and the right opportunities to make this happen. Have trust in yourself, and let the flow of this energy embody you. 

I used to work in IT, few years ago i realised there was so much more i wanted to do and bring into this world. I made the decision to embrace my true gifts and start working with a range of individuals who were experiencing lack of self confidence, direction, and had no clarity on where they wanted to be or go in life. I founded The Velvet Journey to help men who experience issues that resulted from lack of self confidence, bullying, rejection, and deep rooted limited beliefs. I planned the vision two years before and  once i started to put all the energy into this vision the successes followed, more and more i was attracting men  that needed my help to overcome their personal and business issues. 

 I am often coaching clients who feel they lack personal power and charisma in their relationships.

Let me ask you a question, do you remember times when you tried to change someone's behaviour?  I'm quite certain at some point in your life you have!

When you tried to get someone to do something different, how did it go? What did you say? What did you do?  Most importantly how did the person react, where you aware of this or not? 

Naturally, I'm guessing it didn't go so well. Firstly, the person probably didn't change. Secondly, things probably got worse as the person became angry, silent, or defensive towards you.

The interesting thing is that not only you might have tried to assert yourself and persuade the person to your way of thinking, but you probably pushed them further away from where you want them to be, right?

It's frustrating, isn't it? The most common communication barrier people use in this situation is giving advice.

You try to send a solution to help the person. You think you are doing the person a favour by giving advice, but all you are really doing is making the person feel frustrated for having received the solution. Are you ready to discover more?