Welcome to the Steve Jobs based Join Up Dots Podcast Chris Randall The Flow Coacher

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Introducing “Flow Coacher” Chris Randall

Chris Randall is today’s guest on the Join Up Dots podcast interview.

He is a man who has a thing going on which when I heard about it I knew that I had to have him on the show.

How many times have you heard me talk about finding that thing in your life when you literally lose hours at a time.

You get so engrossed in the activity that you look at the clock and think “God it feels that I just had breakfast and it’s lunchtime already!”

It might have been a while since you last felt that feeling whilst working in your current job or occupation.

And that is where our guest comes in.

He provides his life changing method “Flowcoaching” to lead a highly successful and well rewarded life doing what matters most to you.

He believes as I do that it can also transform any business into a happy, creative and passionate place that inspirational people seek out.

You enjoy yourself more, get more things done, and therefore have more free time for yourself.

Yep cake and eat it time.

How The Dots Joined Up For Chris 

He wasn’t always on this path, as he was once a banking litigation lawyer before building (from scratch) and running a successful international investment banking recruitment business

In his last 3 years he personally billed over £2.75 million in revenue and juggled that task with the responsibility of running and managing the business.

Nowadays, however he no longer believes he has to be ‘hard-nosed’ to get things done, however, he is just as keen on adding value to his clients’ lives and businesses.

And of course enjoying himself too. He loves climbing a mountain or two. Can’t beat jumping on his bike. And is even a world record breaker!

So when did he realise that the ability to immerse yourself in an activity in such a way is the way to go?

And does he see more and more people now looking for the same things in life?

Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots, the one and only Mr Chris Randall

Show Highlights

During the episode we discussed such weighty topics such as:

How he now realises that at University he wasn’t being true to himself, and went for jobs he knew that he could do, and not those that he would love to do.

Why the education system seems to him as a conveyor belt for industry and lacks creativity for children to really follow their passions and believe in themselves.

How companies should focus as much on happiness as the bottom line, and really thinks that this approach would make a world of difference to everyone.

Why we should all ask ourselves the questions…what do I really love doing, were do I love being, and what am I truly great at?

And lastly……..

You will  hear the two of us go head to head in a battle of the Yoda Impressions……who will win do you think???

How To Connect With Chris Randall

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Return To The Top Of Chris Randall

Transcription of Chris Randall Interview

Intro [0:00]
When we’re young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph.

David Ralph [0:26]
Yes, hello there. Good morning everybody. And welcome to another episode of Join Up Dots. This is Episode 256. I’m struggling slightly at the moment I’ve just eaten a bag of crisps or potato chips as they’re called in America. And I can still feel one going down my throat whipping me from the inside out. So this is going to be professionalism at its best to get through this but I’m going to get through it because I’m gonna guess on the other end of the line, who is he he’s he’s great. He’s English. He’s got a very laid back way of operating and he is somebody Who has a thing going on? Which when I heard about it, I knew but I had to have him on the show. Now, how many times have you heard me talk about finding that thing in your life when you literally lose hours at a time you get so engrossed in the activity, but you look at the clock and think, God, it was just that breakfast, and it’s lunchtime already. Now, it might have been a while since you lost felt that building was working your current job or occupation. And that is where our guest comes in. He provides his life changing method flow coaching to lead a highly successful and well rewarded life, doing what matters most to you. He believes as I do, but it can also transform any business into a happy, creative and passionate place. But inspirational people see how you enjoy yourself more, get more things done, and therefore have more free time. PSL? Yep. Okay, you can eat it time. But he wasn’t always on this path as he was once a bait banking litigation lawyer before building from scratch and running a successful international investment banking recruitment business. And in these last three years, he personally built over 200 Five 2.75 million in revenue even better, and juggled vatt tasked with the responsibility of running and managing a business. Nowadays, however, he no longer believes he has to be hard nosed to get things done. He is just as keen on adding value to his clients lives and businesses and of course enjoying himself too. He loves climbing a mountain or two can’t beat jumping on his bike, and even is a world record breaker. Now I’ve looked around for what he’s a world record breaker in and I couldn’t find it. So I’m fascinated to find out what it is. So when did you realise that the ability to immerse yourself in an activity is such the way to go? And does he see more and more people now looking for the same things in life? Well, let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up doors with the one and only Mr. Chris Randall. How are you Chris?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [2:48]
I’m very, very well. Thank you. How are you?

David Ralph [2:50]
I’m extremely well except for that crisp. That that fit that that whipping feeling it’s going through. I’m going to end up sounding like Barry White or something. Bye. The end of the day I can feel it. This is my livelihood. Chris, this is my voice. My voice is should be insured but maybe, I don’t know. 15 quid or something, but it’s valuable territory.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [3:11]
It’ll be the walrus of podcast love. I would lie. That is

David Ralph [3:15]
good, isn’t it? I haven’t been called the something of love for many, many years. Chris, you’re the first person to say that to me. Have we connected already?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [3:24]
I think I think we’re engaged. Yes. He had no, no, very quickly. Yeah,

David Ralph [3:29]
it happened very quickly. But hey, I’m at that age. I’m gonna take any opportunity I can get I really don’t mind. I use somebody that is somebody but as I say, open to opportunity because you see me when I was reading an introduction, I almost said he was a baking litigation lawyer, which would be fascinating. But you you’ve done a lot of things on the path to where you are now. How many of them looking back were right for you and how many of them were kind of cute us jobs that you fought. This looks good. On the resume.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [4:01]
Yeah, so great question. I mean, that being a solicitor and and the head on saying neither of those jobs were ones that I that Looking back, I could say wholeheartedly that Yeah, I really wanted to do that. And that was that was my chosen path. And I was going to love doing that. I kind of fell into law because a whole bunch of people whole bunch of friends at the time were doing it and it looked like they were going to learn a big chunk of money. And I thought it would make my parents very happy. So, so I kind of fell into that. And I’m not sure that anybody really wakes up one day and says, You know what, I’d really like to be a recruiter. I’d love to do that. So I kind of fell into that I was dreadful.

There’s so many people do so many people do.

Unknown Speaker [4:59]
And so

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [5:01]
Well, I’m really grateful for the, for the mistakes that I’ve made and their opportunity mistakes because if I hadn’t, if I hadn’t done the law if I hadn’t done the head dancing and then run the business, then I wouldn’t know what I do now. And if I didn’t know what to do now then I wouldn’t be able to pass it on to others. And I’m a big believer also that in accepting and accepting self, and that’s a part of who I am. My past is a part of who I am and it makes me who I am today so I’m grateful for everything that’s that’s that’s happened.

David Ralph [5:35]
So So did you not know because this is fascinating, because it happens time and time again and i i did it and literally everyone does it. When we have to get a job. We’ve gone through the education system, and moms and dads are now saying, right, we want you to pay housekeeping. You got to go and get a job. So when we do that, and off we go. Did you not know yourself at that stage or had you forgotten because it seems a true for the Chris Randall Now is probably closely linked to the little Chris Randall and is the bit in the middle, but becomes a bit murky.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [6:07]
Yep, absolutely. It’s some when we’re about when we first go into school, 556 years old, we’re full of creativity and, and, and self expression. And, you know, I’ve had a great education. I went to some great schools, I went to Grammar School, I’ve got loads of qualifications, I got back full of levels and a levels. But what I noticed is that the education system is it smashes the creativity out of kids? It seems it did. I felt it taught me how to how to answer an exam effectively. And so I’d very much lost sight of who I was. And I wasn’t aware of who I was when I left school. And when I was at university, I wasn’t aware of who I was. So when it came to choosing choosing a first career There I looked at I looked at as many people do, I looked at what I could do, okay, I can I looked at the job description, I say, I can do that I can do that, I can do that I can do that, and the money’s good, I’ll have a go at that. Whereas what I,

what I’ve done myself and what I help others to look at is

stop looking at what we can do and how to think about what we want to do. And then marry that to what we love doing ourselves. And you put the two together and you get the sweet spot of flow.

David Ralph [7:34]
So so your flow, let’s frame it for the audience so they know exactly what we’re talking about. You’re based in the City of London, you have people come to you or do you go to them

Unknown Speaker [7:47]
both both, whichever they prefer,

David Ralph [7:50]
and is it individual basis, or do you do corporate groups.

Unknown Speaker [7:55]
Again, it’s both and it’s

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [7:58]
helping individuals find their flow.

And I’m also helping get entire businesses into flow which after all, I just are all groups of people together. So it’s a it’s about an organisation operating where everybody operating in the organisation is fulfilling a role it’s that’s not only helping them to express themselves authentically but they love doing what they’re doing.

David Ralph [8:27]
And flow really comes from from my knowledge of it I kind of Buddhism principle where things just naturally occur at the right time when you fully emerged, immerse yourself in bear. Did you have another sort of location where it come from? Oh, is that right?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [8:47]
There’s there’s a fantastic book written about this by a man whose name I always struggled to pronounce it. He’s called Mikheil Six Sigma highly apologise to him if he’s listening

David Ralph [9:01]
You got that wrong? That was a fight. That was a terrible go, Chris. No, listen, I would have known if he was wrong. All right on that one. I’m sure

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [9:11]
that that’s that. That’s good. That’s good. And he wrote a book about flow. And yes, it does tie in with the principle of letting go and accepting the Buddhist principle of living in the present. Not worrying about the past it’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it not grasping for the future because the future tomorrow never never arrives. It’s always about today and accepting today. And when we accept today and we accept ourselves then then we start to notice all of the opportunities around us. So having read McCall’s amazing book. It suddenly hit me Ah, okay, right. Well, this is the coherent. This is the coherent banner under which are the work that I’m doing. Now make sense to brand under the underflow.

David Ralph [10:05]
So So you didn’t have you didn’t read the book and bingo. This is what I should be doing. You was already doing it beforehand.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [10:12]
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Or it’s that it’s that moment, which you may have experienced yourself. When you when you connect with something, you read something you go, Ah, that’s me, huh? Okay. Yeah. So so that that was really the situation.

David Ralph [10:25]
So So how did you get into flow? And then we’re going to, you know what, what was the moment when you when I’ve been doing all these kind of high end part knows business II things. And now I want to affect people’s lives because that’s a huge departure, isn’t it? But I see it time and time again. When people find their thing more often than not, it’s when they start to realise that they want to help people and provide a value. There’s a kind of nurturing that we all feel deep inside and some of us suppress it, but it seems to come out at weirdo. I suppose it’s the same thing that I’m doing now that the whole vibe of the show. Here is Cameron guys get off your backside. Come on, we’ll help you do it and we’re pulling you to your feet. And then we’re hand you over to Chris and he can help you for the next part. But my vibe is very much that the getting going more than anything else. So when did that first come to you?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [11:16]
It was it was around 2009. And

as often happens with these situations, I kind of hit rock bottom.

I’d made a lot of money had on sing, but I hated it. I was

myself personally, I just wasn’t happy with anything that I was doing. And I felt absolutely blocked, and I didn’t know what to do. And, and luckily I reached out and a very good friend. He’s a he’s a brilliant hypnotherapist, a guy called some Fortis mayor who is running a business called the free mind project. He helped me really find a pathway through What I felt was a completely desperate situation. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to help myself and I was really despairing of what I was able to do. And, and I guess it was, it was that moment of somebody just giving to me their help, to give, he didn’t give to get, he just gave to give. And, and that really struck a chord with me as to Wow. It was overwhelming emotionally to receive that, that level of support. And that, that unconditional support that, that I was able to do the work on myself, and then build the confidence to, as you say, get out there and do it. And it was when I was building that confidence that I realised that the best times that I experienced in my life or some of the best times I’ve experienced in my life was when I was on a pair of skis. Skiing down a mountain. In flow with the mountain and in flow with with myself and feeling effortless and putting a lot of effort in but really engaged and energised by that, by that the passion of the activity that I was doing. And I thought to myself, why can’t I bring this to, to my work? Why can’t I have some of this in the work that I’m doing as well? And that was the start of it. That was the start of okay, right? Well, I suddenly understood that to be really satisfied. What I needed was to figure out my purpose and a purpose needs I believe, to be doing something that’s in service to others. Not not in order to get something out of them, but simply for the pure pleasure of giving to them and trusting that that you’ll get back whatever you need.

David Ralph [13:48]
It is the thing that really is the key to all of us, isn’t it? I see this now, but for many, many years, I was in corporate land up in London, and I used to see people coming in but I thought They would Yes, money grabbers, they be down in the wine bars, they trying to get their big bonuses, blah, blah, blah. But since I’ve been doing this job, I see it from a different side. And I see now that people ultimately want to give back. And the more that they get once they get to the peak, that’s the only thing that I have left to do is give back. And so you felt that because in many ways, you were successful. You don’t a lot of money. You were doing a job, which many people would say Chris Randall, you’ve cracked it, you’re doing well for yourself. But you still didn’t have what you wanted in life. And you realise it was like looking down, you actually had to start giving things back to the world more than people moving upwards.

Unknown Speaker [14:42]
Yeah, exactly. It’s

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [14:45]
the realisation that owning stuff didn’t really matter. As I was negotiating multimillion dollar packages for investment bankers, and it wasn’t enough for them. They were they were Happy. So, okay, well if I’m, if I’m going to make a couple of million dollars a year, and I’m still I’m still not going to be happy, what’s the point in putting putting myself through all of that stuff to get the money? What’s actually what’s actually what do I actually really need. And what I really need in my life is to is to is to connect with people and help them help them be the best that they can be. It’s this the only standard that I hold myself up to. I don’t, I don’t try and compare myself to anybody in terms of money or in terms of success, or they’re doing it all I asked myself is just be the best that I can be today. And that’s, that’s all I need to for satisfaction. I don’t need a million quid in the bank.

David Ralph [15:49]
It was a huge decision, though, wasn’t it and there must have been people around you but go, Chris, Chris. Yeah, you having a breakdown, just go off for two weeks. Just have a rest and Did you have a wet?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [16:02]
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and the one that really sticks in my mind is that why don’t you get a proper job? And so very well, looking at this coaching stuff, but why don’t you go and get a proper job. And it kind of brings me back to what I was talking before about education. I look at big corporates as post Industrial Revolution factories. They don’t, they don’t. They don’t help people to harness the creativity, your ingenuity that’s inside of them. They simply say, sit in the box and do what we tell you and do it more efficiently than anybody’s done it before. And we’ll give you some tokens, which will allow you to get through the five days when you feel horrible doing what we’re telling you to do. So that you come back again for another five days. I actually take,

David Ralph [16:55]
though, Chris, I think that education is a Kumbaya out for corporates. So it’s basically that we, we, we push kids in at one end, and we push them out the other end, primed to go and get a job, a responsible job. But I also since looking at and talking to my kids, I feel that in many ways, school is boring. I say to my son, you know, what did you do today didn’t do anything, you must have done something you don’t four or five lessons, what was it? I can’t remember. And I thought, God what they’re doing as well. And it’s a failure of the education system. It’s not a failure the teachers as much, I think, but you’ve actually over five or six years or maybe longer than that. You’re programmed to know. I’ve got to get through five days of boredom, so that I can get my weekend so that when you go to work, so many people are in jobs that they hate, and they’re bored, but they tolerate it because they’ve been trained how to get through that and it’s once you actually break that down and you realise that now I don’t have to feel this way I can go to work and actually love it and I can enjoy it and all that kind of stuff. Many people go, Oh, no, that’s not a proper job. You know, you’ve got to be bored. You’ve got to feel like you’re justifying your time there. You’ve got to do all that kind of stuff. You’ve got to be pressurised. And I don’t believe that’s true anymore. And I think it goes all the way back to maybe when you first start going into senior school, I think that’s when it starts.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [18:19]
It’s I think it starts I think it starts even earlier than that. It’s some it’s about pretty I totally agree with what you said, it’s about producing efficient little modules that can fit into big corporate and and I and I’m, I’m all for helping people be as effective as possible. Not it’s not so much about efficiency. If you’re effective and you’re creating new ways of doing things you’re you’re bringing your own personal way of doing something to situation everyone will do it slightly differently and that’s okay. Doesn’t have to be standardised. And it’s, it’s, it’s you’ve touched on one of the key elements of flow as well which is added Which is purpose? Why am I doing this? So many people? I mean, I asked myself when when I was when I was a lawyer when I was a investment banking headhunter. Why am I doing this? And the only reason I could come up with was because it was going to make me some money. And that was it.

David Ralph [19:16]
He take the money out of the equation, is that something that people is that an easy route to finding your true passion when you’re willing to do it for no reward other than how it makes you feel?

Unknown Speaker [19:31]
It’s, um, so ask that question again.

David Ralph [19:34]
Well, if you’re doing something, it’s like when I started doing this show, I was I was prepared to just do this show for the love of doing the show. And I didn’t really care about the money at all. Is that a good way that people can look at it and go, yeah, I found my thing because I’m willing to jump out of bed and do it, even though there’s no reward at the beginning coming towards me.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [19:55]
That’s part of it. Yeah, that is part of it.

I do help people and businesses maximise the return they get from the business that they do but it but it’s more of it’s more about when we are in that sweet spot of I’m doing this because I simply love do it than the energy that we give off to others is not the energy of I want you to give me something because I’m giving you this. People naturally are attracted to those who are doing something that they love doing. You may have noticed this when you’re out and about is just people just generally are attracted to and intrigued and curious around people who are Wow, look at that person doing whatever they’re doing. Maybe they’re juggling in the park or maybe they’re skiing or, or painting or whatever it is. It’s Yeah, that person is not doing that to try to sell me something but at the same time, I’d like some of it please because there’s a is it big gap in most people’s lives of not being able to do something or or or assuming that they that they’re not allowed to do something that that’s really authentic and, and purposeful for themselves.

David Ralph [21:14]
Because we’ve got a friend who was on the show, and it’s the reason that you’re on the show now called, I’m Sophie Radcliffe, and you have to go back probably I think it’s 222 or something like that. I’m looking at it very, very quickly on the list somewhere along those lines. And Sophie is somebody that has found her thing in life, because she has blended her passions were infused gasm but she’s giving back to the world as well. You can see that there’s a drive from her to inspire the world to do things. And that seems to be that seems when the power actually happens when the free areas come together. Yeah, it was episode two to two god I’m one lane man how I remember these things. And can you see that in your own life, it’s only like two or three We elements I’ve come together and made flow coaching so important to people like like Sophie’s work.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [22:07]
There’s this, there’s really five elements to it that she that that is made flow coaching. appeal to both individuals and businesses. There’s there’s the element of purpose of really understanding why am I Why are we or why am I doing what I’m doing? And it’s not to make money, it’s to create a better world. Basically, for other people. There’s passion. It’s doing something that we feel passionate about doing. We care about it intensely. And we express that in the activity. It’s challenging ourselves to and and challenging and providing ourselves with a challenge that’s relative to our skill level. So it’s not beneath us and boring us. It’s not so far away, outside of our skill level that we just can’t do that aren’t going to give up. But it’s constantly challenging us. According to our skill level, and finally, there are rules and the rules are not imposed by somebody else. Their self imposed rules. They are okay, what are my targets? What are my goals? How do I, how do I modulate my behaviour, for example, and I firmly believe that when we put those five things together, that that’s the foundation of flow when we put those five things together. We’re totally absorbed and engaged in what we’re doing. We’re loving what we’re doing. We’re giving value to the world, and the world recognises the value that we’re giving to them and says, well only give you I can’t help myself but give you something back. It’s really really simple. If we if we deliver value to the world and and and ask for slightly less back then we’ll make a lot of money.

David Ralph [23:56]
It’s fascinating, isn’t it because I buy totally into this and I think I always have done. But I think it’s not until you’re surrounded by it on a daily basis that you kind of your inner compass of what’s right and wrong starts to point in the right direction somehow. And I think for many, many years, I didn’t really know what was right and wrong, because I didn’t allow myself enough time to reflect on it. But doing this show, you know, six times a day, I will be reflecting on my own life. And when you say things like that, you just think yeah, that is the way forward, isn’t it? That’s how all businesses should operate.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [24:33]
Yeah, yeah. But they don’t because they, they, they feel for whatever reason that they’re compelled to take short steps to making money. And there’s this bizarre bizarre acceptance that happiness is not it is not it is not an asset to a business. It because in the short term, I can always get somebody else do that job in the short term I can always do Make it happen by motivating people through fear. In the short term, we can always just cut costs and have a sale and we’ll get some punters who want, who want to buy what we’re selling. But if you want to make a business which is truly successful that you want to be surrounded by people who are all saying, Hey, I’m not turning up because I’ve got a contract which says, I work from nine till five, I’m turning up because I love doing this and you can’t keep me away. And I love doing it because I know why I’m doing it because it’s making such a huge difference to the world. And because I’m making such a huge difference in the world, they tend to value that really highly and I’m being paid well, but that’s not the main reason for me doing it. It’s

David Ralph [25:38]
I worked for a company for about three or four months around about the year 2000 and I got made redundant and so for a little while attempt and I just sort of went into companies and I worked and I worked for this advertising company down in Farringdon which he started the adverse side of London. And it was a lovely day. It was my first day And I got there. And I’ve been there about an hour and I didn’t know what I was doing. I was waiting for people to short. So show me the tasks and stuff. And the boss came in anyway. Come on, guys. It’s a lovely day. Let’s put it all on answer machine and we go over the park and we’re playing rounders or something. And we did, we went over there. And I kind of waited thinking, hang on, hang on, because I was tempting, I’m not gonna get paid for this, you know, is this gonna waste my time I’d rather be in there earning the money when doing this. And the onus or must have seen my face and he went to me. Now, don’t worry. He said, you know, just just come out. We’re gonna have a good time, you’ll get paid. This is what it’s all about. And we had a good time. And when I was going back, I said to him, you know, that’s really unusual. I’ve worked for companies all my life. I’ve never done that once. And he said, Well, it’s quite simple. He said, the more I give them, the more they give me back. And it proved the morale in the office was amazing. They were coming in on Saturdays and Sundays It was like a big family unit. And he just cracked it. He just knew That it was a small things it was allowing them to choose their time and be happy. That really got the productivity and that company went from strength to strength to strength and never known that before. And it was it was an eye opener for me.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [27:14]
Yeah, it’s that’s beautiful and and I’d love to help that not become the exception but to be the rule. You mentioned compass beforehand, is a compass that I use is that it’s a two question compass faced with any with any situation or faced with any challenge or any decision about war. So what should I do hear the two questions that I asked myself is, what’s the truth? And what would love do? And if we, and it sounds like he he was using that compass, whether he realised it or not, but the truth was that happy people in his business, we’re helping helping the business to be ready. festival and what would what does what does love do? Love says I’m going to support you guys because I understand that none of us are going to make it there unless we support each other to hold ourselves up there real real leaders understand that they never get there unless they’ve had people help them up and hold them up is the ones who in the short term and I’ve seen a lot of this in the investment banking industry who believe in the short term that what who has she believed that long term as well as who that stand on stamp on other people to get up there the more people who I put behind me and and put down and then I’ll the moral rise to the top that it’s not like that at all. It’s about understanding that others help us get up there.

David Ralph [28:45]
I spent many, many years working through corporate jobs, and I still meet people now right from my early days, and via was nice to me as possible. And I always knew that when my career was going in a certain way and I stepped away from Korea. So it’s a totally different ballgame now. But as it was going up and up and up, I always was the nicest person to the cleaner, the nicest person to the people in the stationary. We had Butler’s once in a investment bank that I worked in. And it’s really weird to have partners. But we would go in there and they would walk around in their sort of attire and bring food out to you with silver platters and stuff. It was funny if not being in Downton Abbey or whatever. And I used to go into the kitchens and I used to talk to them at lunchtime. And the guys I used to work with was saying, Why do you want to talk to them and I never saw I told them this, but I didn’t actually like the people I was sitting around with, because they were all in it for the big bucks and what’s a bonus and all that kind of stuff. And these guys were just doing their job as well as possible. But when they had like a banquet or whatever, and there was how much is left over. They used to come in and share it around with a staff and they would always walk in and offer it to me first even if I was at the farm. The the office and people used to say to me, you know, why do they always go to you first and I used to think you’re missing a trick. You’re missing a trick. I’m providing them value of I’m going in there and being nice to them and speaking to them and asking them about their day. And Ben, what are they doing? As you said, they are providing value back to me. And it’s it is really simple, isn’t it? So I’ve always made sure but I’ve done that. And I’ve never stepped on anyone because my career’s gonna go down. It’s got to go down, and I really don’t want to meet those people. But I’ve stepped in the back on the way back down, because it’s going to be an awful time. Yeah,

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [30:35]
yeah, exactly. Just when just when you get desperate and you need that person, that’s when they’re going to remember how, how, how they were treated. And if they were treated like a human being with respect and decency, then then they’ll be respectful and decent back.

David Ralph [30:49]
Absolutely. I’m gonna play some words now but really talks about finding your thing and maybe it’s the risky choice. Maybe it’s the thing that you do, that you really love, but you don’t think you can make an income out of it, but you still do it anybody This is Jim Carrey.

Jim Carrey [31:03]
My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. isn’t what you did, Chris. Yeah, totally.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [31:33]
I love that. I’ve heard you play that in on shows before and it never fails to make me feel tingly. Yeah, I failed it. I failed it other jobs and didn’t love them. I thought well, I’m I just Well, I might as well have a go at seeing how it’s gonna turn out doing something that I love doing. And then starting doing it and finding out What a treasure trove that it opened for me. I wanted to pass it on to others. And my my ambition, my my mission, as it were, would be for everybody in the country going to work on Monday morning, loving the work that they’re doing with a huge smile on their face. And I asked people would you like to live in a society where everybody who is doing the work they’re doing loves what they’re doing? Imagine what imagine being being part of that society. I think that would just be fantastic. Here, so that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. And it and sometimes it’s really tough. Let’s just be honest. There are times when, when running my business, and I’ve asked myself, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if it’s going to be a success. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to carry on what keeps me coming back to it is the experience that That I had toiling away giving everything that I had to businesses that I didn’t believe in and didn’t give me any purpose and didn’t give me any happiness. I remember that and say, well, there’s only one way to find out there really is only one way to find out do it. And that see, and it’s an if I, if I accept myself, wholeheartedly, if I love myself unconditionally, and it doesn’t matter to me if it doesn’t work out as successfully as I’d hoped, because I still hold myself hold myself so high, I still accept myself and it’s so much better to have a go at it. And find out is a lot of people talk about fear as something which is a barrier to doing things and for very many years, it was the same for me. I was too scared to do something. But now I finally understanding to understand that fear is is a part of me and I’m building a religion. Shit with fear. I’m curious around it. You touched on the world record breaking thing. Oh yeah. What was that? Yeah, it was a group of us. A group of 16 of us broke the world record for for the longest continuous game of five a side football. We played without a break for 46 and a half hours. That’s how the West way. Yeah, it was and we kicked off on a on a beautiful August evening and it was 32 degrees and nobody wants to be the first one to lose ago so we wouldn’t knock it after an hour. Not the cleverest thing to say. But it was about three weeks out from a very good friend of mine Terran Kent was putting it together and I helped him organise it and get we had to get referees and witnesses and all kinds of stuff that you don’t realise Nick goes on in World Record attempts. And it was tough and we and about three weeks out I suddenly realised I haven’t done any training. What So ever. I don’t know if I can do this. I got really scared. And I said to him, I’m, I don’t know if I can do this. But I also know and I accepted this with myself that there’s only one way to find out. I’m only going to find out one way and that’s by doing it. So being curious and and developing a curiosity around my fear has really helped me get in get stuck in and do things without fear of well, if it doesn’t work out as perfectly as I’d hoped it would do. If it does fail, then that’s okay because I will have learned something from it. And the next time that I do something, I can take that with

David Ralph [35:40]
me. I I’m surrounded by people breaking world records, and some of them are just bizarre, but that one seemed quite hard. So I applaud you for doing that. I saw one on the telly the other day. And I thought to myself, I could do that. What’s the world record for putting consecutive jumpers on it? One minute.

Unknown Speaker [36:03]
What is it 2627

David Ralph [36:05]
and 11. It was 11. You put one jumper and then you put another one over and you put another one over and it’s nothing. And there’s a lot of sort of records that when you hear them you think fast, doable. The other one I talked about a lot is the world record and the people who listen on this show, I’m still astonished that this isn’t more but anyway, how many Jaffa cakes? Can you eat in one minute?

Unknown Speaker [36:27]
Wow, okay.

Unknown Speaker [36:30]
What do you reckon?

Unknown Speaker [36:32]
In one, okay. How many is in a pocket?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [36:36]
It’s an hour probably about probably about three packets.

David Ralph [36:39]
That’s a very good question. And I’ve no one’s ever asked me that for the for that point. But so yeah, there must be I don’t know. 18 in a in a packet or something as in the packet.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [36:47]
Okay. Is it in the packet then? Want a second so 66

David Ralph [36:54]
what, six? I know. I know. That’s why you come on this show, Chris. Oh, yeah. You’re gonna be spending the rest of your day going around to people. Apparently the first one goes in. And it’s a bit sort of stodgy and then a second and sort of builds up. And the third one, you can’t get it down. Because Yeah, it’s building up in your mouth, you know, and it’s the swallowing and you can’t have water. So it’s just six, six. And when you say that, you think I could be a record breaker, I could break two records by lunchtime. But it is it’s that mentor belief on doing something. And the reason I’m telling you these stories, because I look at and go back is so doable. But on the other side, there are records that you think I couldn’t even start there. I don’t even know how I’m going to do that. And that they are there are people that achieved so much because they don’t believe but they still go on and do it.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [37:44]
It’s some, the belief. I think the belief has to be there. A belief has to be that it’s achievable. For me, it’s also combined with the with the Curiosity element, the whole point of doing it is to find out if I I can do it. If I knew that I could do it, what would be the point of doing it? Because I know I can do it. I’ve done it. So it’s that it’s the belief plus the curiosity and the acceptance that whatever, as long as I do my best, then that will have been enough and that and if the result flows then then fantastic. I’m aiming for the result.

David Ralph [38:21]
Are you gentle with yourself when you do fail by or do you beat yourself up and walk around, kicking straight kids and dogs and god knows what

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [38:29]
I use. I’ve had to I’ve had to train myself out of being really harsh with myself. I played hockey at University at a decent level and if I got it wrong, inverted commas then I would be shouting at myself really furious with myself. And now Yeah, I am more gentle because what I’m what I’m doing is I’m calming myself to be able to be aware of the learning, because it is learning all around us learning and success. There’s learning failure. If I miss that learning, then I really have failed. And mistakes are good. Again, it says there we come back to what we’re talking about the education system, well, why don’t we get kids to help them make mistakes to fail in a safe environment where they can do that, and learn from their mistakes. So that will create more create amazing human beings as a result of that. It’s kind of it’s kind of, also what I do with the work that I’m doing is providing a safe space to people, to for people to be authentic and say, I don’t know if I can do that. I’m not sure how I can do that. I don’t believe that’s me. I’ve made mistakes in the past, but Excuse me, I haven’t learned from them. So it’s giving people the space to do that as well to to ask those questions ready as well.

David Ralph [39:47]
Did you want a glass of water? You sound like you’ve been eating crisps?

Unknown Speaker [39:50]
I think you just passed me the process. Yeah.

David Ralph [39:54]
So how do people in corporate land when they’re doing a job that they don’t like? I Bed listeners. Can they get into that state of follow themselves? Or do they need to study it is it is a mindset thing or is there principles behind it that they can actually do at their desk?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [40:13]
It is it is something that each of us can do. And it and it’s a gradual excuse me, it’s a gradual process. So I’m not advocating that anybody suddenly throws up the resigns today and then says right now I want to be in flow tomorrow. It’s there are there are three questions ready to ask ourselves, first of all, what do I love doing? You just get a big piece of paper for and it doesn’t matter whether it’s to do with work or outside of work, it all counts just dump it all down there. What do I really love doing? and surprise yourself? keep a diary of when you’re doing something you know, I’m really love this. All right. Okay, put that down there. Secondly, asked us ask ourselves the question Where do I love being in terms of environment, and I don’t just mean outside or inside. But do I like beer? Do I love being around people? Do I love to work by myself? Do I like love a mix of it? All those kinds of elements? Where do I love being connect up the two? Because if we match what we love doing with the space and environment that we love being in, then we know that we’re, we’re fulfilling to have our needs there. And then ask ourselves the third question, which is actually really challenging to a lot of people. What am I truly great at? Not quite good, not okay at not, I can do, but I am great at this. Then we’ll build up a picture of that. And there’s all kinds of ways that I help people facilitate this as well build up a picture of what you love doing where you love being an alignment with who you are, what your greater what you’re intrinsically greater That then gives us the blueprint for flow. And what I do with people is I can do this themselves, you can build up a career DNA, I call it, which is this is me, this is me authentically myself, which means that I’m going to be working with purpose, I’m going to be working on activities that I feel passionate about. And it’s my rules and, and, and looking at any kind of job description, rather than saying, Yeah, I can do that I can do that I can do that interview the job description. If 70% or more of the job description fits your career DNA, there’s a good chance that you can be in flow in doing that role. If it’s less than 70% question if it’s less than 50%, don’t even consider it. Don’t even look at the money until the opportunity has matched up to what your personal career DNA needs are. And then you create that synergy. So people can start doing that today. They can start doing that for themselves. They don’t need anybody to help them with it, you just need three large pieces of paper a pen. And notice where they’re sent. Notice where you can join up the dots. I know just where things match up.

David Ralph [43:15]
And the dude, the hard question, as you said, is what am I truly greater? Well, obviously, when you’re doing that yourself, it’s very difficult, isn’t it? Should they be asking people should they be saying, you know, what, what do you think my talents are? What do you think that I bring to the table?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [43:32]
Great question. What I’ve noticed is that when we first when I first asked people, what do you think I’m great at more often than not, they’ll want to give me the answer that they believe that I want to hear. Right? Yeah. So if you can get through that, and get to the crux of what you actually believe I’m great at and give them permission to say they might, I don’t know. Or, or to come up with something which You weren’t expecting, then you’ll get great advice. Yeah, getting getting your peer group to help you with that question is fantastic. As long as you help them to get through the barrier, which is which most people fear, which is I want to be kind to this person, I want to give them something that they want to hear. And that the catch 22 of that is that, let’s say a lawyer doesn’t want to be a lawyer and ask their friends, what are you great at that their friends know their lawyer, they want to be kind to them. So you’re great at law, that doesn’t help them at all. What we’re getting what we’re getting down to is, let’s move away from from the from the end point. It’s not about whether you’re great at law or not. It’s about what you’re great at. You’re great understanding technical points, or you’re great at communicating in front of an audience, a judge a point or your Yeah, it’s these kinds of things dig underneath the surface. So when when listeners are putting down What do I love doing? Where do I love being what am i great at ask yourself or or why am I great at that? What is it about me intrinsically that makes me great at that.

David Ralph [45:15]
Does Chris Randall know what he’s great at now? Yes, yes. And have you gone through this process? Or is it something that you’ve you’ve just kind of picked up on?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [45:25]
Exactly. I’ve gone through it myself.

And everything that I pass on in my business is something that I’ve gone through myself. I wouldn’t ask anybody to do anything that I haven’t done myself.

David Ralph [45:37]
So So what’s what’s your number one thing, Chris, if you don’t mind me asking, Well, what are you great at?

Unknown Speaker [45:43]
Listening?

Unknown Speaker [45:44]
Hmm.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [45:46]
It’s so important in my business.

I get a lot of clients who asked me, What can you help me with? I know my answer is, I don’t know until I’ve heard from you what you need help with

David Ralph [46:00]
I realised that my talent is listening. And the years I was a trainer, and I was a very good trainer. And I fought at the time it was because I could think very quickly. But now, I realised that no, it’s actually that I can listen intently when I want to pick up on nuances. I do a certain amount of coaching myself if people want it. And quite often they will say to me, did I tell you about earlier? How did you pick up on it? And I think, well, you kind of said it in a roundabout way. And if you listen close enough, they answer their own questions more often than not, they just can’t hear themselves saying the answer. You listen and then you you pose it back to them. So I agree with it in business. Listening is one of the key skills which in my experience, so many people don’t master especially the people in upper management by will listen to you, and then instantly come back with an answer and quite often, it’s got Nothing to do with what you were saying anyway, is almost like it’s their programme to get their content out. Job done. Yeah. Yeah.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [47:09]
And I noticed, I noticed a lot of people

are so used to others not listening to them, that when they’re asked to share where they’re at or just to share what they’re feeling, they simply speed through and shout out where they’re at, because they don’t believe that anybody’s really listening to them. So they’ve got to get it out loud and quickly before people get disinterested. So what I like to do in businesses, I like to introduce what a client of mine is called I meetings where you get everybody in the business together, from the chief exec to the cleaners, literally, and you have people sit around in a circle and you each get a certain amount of time, whatever is practical, to share where you’re at. where you’re at personally where you’re at with your workload where you’re at with what you think is where you’re at in your relationship with the business. It’s a non judgmental space. There’s no recriminations. There’s full confidentiality that everybody agrees to. And everybody listens actively to what is being shared. Introduce mechanism so that nobody can interrupt. There’s no fear of interruption. If you want to spend your two minutes, three minutes sitting in silence, then that’s fine as well. It’s your time to use as you see fit. And, and there’s no coaching or fixing either. It’s just simply listening. And through introducing this process, bosses of businesses actually find out what’s really going on. The people in the team actually build a relationship, start to build a relationship with with management and everybody starts to work together more effectively. Everybody feels heard.

David Ralph [48:56]
I love and that that isn’t my experience in corporate land. at all

Unknown Speaker [49:03]
it’s not which is sad.

David Ralph [49:07]
You were you on now in your life would you say if we took you back to the the will young Chris and we said the similarities if you could go back in time and we said to you Chris, this is where you’re going to work towards Do you think it’s still a good thing to do? Do you think the young Chris would look at it and go Yeah, I quite fancy doing that.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [49:32]
I think the young Chris would would love the fact that it’s getting out and being with a whole load of people from different from different backgrounds and different companies and doing different things. I love to explore when I was a little kid I was always out my bike I got in real trouble with my parents once when I went out to to light and came back and the police were at home but And it’s just because there’s a group of us who decided to go and explore so so the little Chris would would probably not understand what on earth I’m doing right now but would totally get that it’s about connecting with people and sharing stuff with each other and and finding out and being curious and

and, and helping each other.

David Ralph [50:21]
So yeah, and you explore mentally now don’t you use that inquisitive little Chris is just the same now the fact that you you’re very intrigued about fear and overcoming it and you’re very intrigued with this and but that’s just another way of exploring, isn’t it?

Unknown Speaker [50:38]
Yeah, it’s

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [50:40]
it’s, for me, it’s always about looking inwards and then expressing that with action outwards. And I when I hear of people doing amazing things when they’re climbing mountains and and doing running and cycling and doing brilliant things, and What I notice is that the people who really accelerate that they’re always interested in how it relates to who they are. They’re always looking inwards and expressing it outward outwardly. And, and that’s that, for me is fascinating because the best relationship I want to have in my life is with myself. I spent so long not listening to myself. And I spent so long pushing down my own my own needs and not hearing my own needs. That that I’ve made a huge commitment that Now what I do is I listen to myself.

David Ralph [51:36]
And it’s, is that really a given for success? Because I kind of think it is I think all the people who are really doing their thing and rocking and rolling by actually their own best friends somehow. Hmm.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [51:51]
Yeah. I totally believe it’s, it’s that it’s absolutely essential for success. If you if your child if your child interested in understanding who you are? Then how can you expect anybody else to know who you are? And if they don’t know who you are, how can you expand trust you and help you get what you want go where you need to go. One of the most one of the best things I ever did was work out what I’m great at and what I’m not so great and, and I get somebody else to help me with the stuff that I’m not so great up. Because for everything that I’m not great at, there will be somebody for whom that represents what they love doing, and they will be great at it. And this is the work that I do with with bosses of businesses, especially startups, where people set up businesses, and as you know, the because you’ve set up your own business as well. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done as a lot of different hats and roles that one person or a small number of people need need to need to cover. And there comes a point when the boss of the business is maybe doing 1213 roles and is scared to let go of those because it’s their money on the line. Because if She doesn’t look after and control what’s going on in know, in all those different tasks, then it’s her money that’s going to be gone at the end of the day if it goes wrong. Whereas if we really know ourselves and say, You know what, there is somebody else who will be better at doing that than me and pass it over in a way, where suddenly you’re unlocking somebody else’s potential and passion, and giving them the space to, to to express who they are. You build a company that’s unstoppable.

David Ralph [53:29]
He breaks down the superhero syndrome, which we all struggle with, and they’re trying to do everything ourselves and actually, full circle takes you back to doing the things that you love, and doing the things that you’re good at and pushing everything else away to somebody else who can do those things and do it very well.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [53:45]
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, and as we touched on before, there’s only one way to find out and that’s to do it. If I if I have if I have a sense that I’m great at something, then I’m gonna go and test it out and try it and do it.

David Ralph [53:58]
Well, let’s play some words from A chap who has left his legacy, he was great at so many things. But he was also all for it. So many things. This was Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs [54:08]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.

David Ralph [54:43]
True words to you, Chris. Now Yeah,

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [54:45]
yes, absolutely. Absolutely. It reminds me of a quote that I’ve read before as well, which is if the path ahead appears clear, then it’s somebody else’s path.

David Ralph [54:58]
That’s brilliant in it. Wonderful.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [55:02]
And that trust that Steve Jobs talks about just trust.

If I, if I know myself if I if I am listening to my heart and I trust that my heart The heart is not stupid, the heart is intelligent, they’re their brain neurons that have been found in the heart and and in the gut. So we have our heart has intelligence, it knows a path ahead. That we may not be aware of trust it, go for it. Do what you feel passionate about. That’s a huge indicator. We live in a society where free expression of feelings is is sometimes I sentences sometimes push down. And, and feelings are so important in terms of indicators as to where your happiness and success is going to lie. Follow your feelings. I’m not advocating Hedden ism. But what I am saying is listen to those feelings and then and then and then have that information in the decision that you’re making it there will be parts of the body that are aching physically because they represent certain choices that we’ve made. If we’re not actually living authentically and following our true passions. It’s no it’s no coincidence that what do you do know? They would you know, when the what time and what day is, is that is the time when most heart attacks happen?

David Ralph [56:36]
Bow first thing in the morning would it be? Yeah, which day the week? I would say Monday.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [56:43]
Yep, exactly that Monday. 8:30am. Yeah,

David Ralph [56:48]
it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. You you’ve had your weekend. You will stress you got five days to go warm. you’re rushing for the train and all Yeah, I can see that. Totally.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [56:56]
Yeah, it’s the heart saying you know what? You’re not listening. When Doing this bang. I’m on strike.

So, so yeah, trust trust the heart trust your feelings. sounding a bit like Yoda, but it’s, it’s really important.

David Ralph [57:16]
Go and do it in Yoda voice Come on. Well, we’re both do Yoda voice

Unknown Speaker [57:20]
Really? Okay, well I’m three.

David Ralph [57:22]
Yeah, go now no you do not do after Well, what do you want to say? What’s the words? What Yoda voice are we going to do? feelings you must trust? Right feelings you must trust. Okay, you do it first. Oh, you’ve just done it

Unknown Speaker [57:32]
was just done.

David Ralph [57:34]
Okay. This is a performance

Unknown Speaker [57:38]
predicts you must trust.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [57:39]
That’s fantastic.

Unknown Speaker [57:41]
Was that much better?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [57:42]
Yes, that’s excellent.

David Ralph [57:44]
Do you know I knew he was gonna win that game. Chris. I lead you into it.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [57:50]
Well, there you go. Set your own rules. We play your game, you’re more likely to win

David Ralph [57:53]
for anybody who wants to do Yoda and he’s desperate to do Yoda start practising on Scooby Doo Throw Kermit into the mix. And the two come together is quite fascinating. But it’s not that fascinating, I suppose. At least 55 minute conversation. Hopefully you found nuggets of gold all the way through. And this isn’t the bit that you remember, but I’m sure it’s the bit that you’re going to start practising after you’ve listened to so so do Scooby and main probing Kermit, and then you’ll get Yoda. It’s perfect. Right? This is the bit of the show, but hopefully people will remember Chris, because this is what we call the Sermon on the mic. And this is when we send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you could go back in time and speak to the young Chris, what age would you choose and what advice would you give? Well, we’re going to find out because I’m going to play the theme tune when it fades you up. This is the Sermon on the mic.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [59:03]
So, I would go back to myself as a teenager.

And I would say, whatever happens wherever you find yourself, have the courage to be yourself. follow your passions. Have faith that you will make your living from following your heart and find this out for yourself, no matter what others say. Love yourself just as you are, and you’ll never have to worry what anyone else might think of you. All the world’s geniuses have been considered mad at some stage of their life. serve a purpose greater than yourself. Think Big. Ask what you can do for others, not with the intention that they give back in return, but because it’s the best thing for you to do for them. And because you love doing it. Challenge yourself to notice more about who you really are and more about the world you live in. Explore. Be curious, don’t be judgmental. be your best every day especially When no one else is looking, learn both from the mistakes you make and from the people you meet, connect with people engage openly with them and will listen to them. Most of what I’ve learned has come from listening to and observing other people. Be true to your own boundaries. Notice your own needs. Notice and be kind to others because they have their own boundaries and needs. Rest easy when rest is due and celebrate your life because you are a living, breathing miracle. And you’re perfect, just as you are.

David Ralph [1:00:32]
Chris, how can our audience connect with you, sir?

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [1:00:36]
They can connect with me via Twitter at flow kosher is a Facebook page. So it’s Facebook slash flow kosher. I’m on LinkedIn. They can send me an email. I love connecting with people. I love answering questions and engaging with people. So you can email me at hello at floki show.com and, yeah, please do get in touch.

David Ralph [1:01:04]
I’m sure you’re going to have many, many people get in contact it just to teach you how to do Yoda slightly better, it might. It might just be that. But thank you so much, Chris, for spending time with us today and joining up those dots. And please come back again when you have more dots to join up because I do believe that by joining up those dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. Chris Randall, thank you so much.

Flow Coacher Chris Randall [1:01:27]
Thank you so much. It’s been a real pleasure and a real treat. Really enjoyed it. Thank you.

Outro [1:01:33]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become. So he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.