Trevor Blake Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Podcast
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Introducing Trevor Blake
Trevor Blake is our guest today, on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business coaching podcast.
Trevor Blake is the author of Three Simple Steps, a masterclass publication that can show the majority of people how to escape their present situation, and reclaim their future.
And the author certainly knows a thing or two about reclaiming his future.
He openly admits he was not afforded the most luxurious of upbringings, in fact being born into a life of poverty.
But Trevor always had an inherent knack for seeing an opportunity to make money, and therefore change his situation.
Whether it was selling sweets to his classmates on the school bus, or developing multi-million pound businesses on a shoestring, his fingers crossed many areas of business with apparent ease.
How The Dots Joined Up For Trevor
His successes have been frequent, and financially lucrative leading him to a life that many would say was a dream existence.
But Trevor Blake is so much more than a wealthy businessman enjoying a life of hard earned luxuries.
His belief that life should not be a struggle and is one that should be enjoyed, has been one that unfortunately he has been unable to deliver to countless people he has encountered over the years.
People who are trapped, unable to realize the dreams that they hold in their hearts.
Well let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs with the one and only Trevor Blake.
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Trevor Blake such as:
How he desperately wants Liverpool Football Club to be champion’s once more!
How a gang of bullies forced him to hide out in a library and actually changed his life for the better!
How he loves to get emails from readers of his book “Three Simple Steps” who have awoken to their new future!
What the “Three Views” that psychiatrists speak about when they look at us are!
And lastly…..
How most companies are formed out of anger…such as Netflix whose boss was angry at getting a fine from Blockbusters, so set out to drive them out of business!
Books By Trevor Blake
How To Connect With Trevor Blake
Return To The Top Of Trevor Blake
If you enjoyed this episode with Trevor Blake why not check out other inspirational chat with Dorie Clark, Melissa Krivachek Dave Sanderson, and the amazing Niall Doherty
You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy
Audio Transcription Of Trevor Blake 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 [0:25]
Yes, who I am the host of Join Up Dots. And yeah, I’m in the back garden just behind a swing to the left hand side of the trampoline to give you bearings of where I’m sitting today. And I’ve got a guest today who really has got a storey, which is amazing. So let’s cut to the chase and introduce him. Our guest today is the author of three simple steps a master class publication that can show the majority of people how to escape their present situation and reclaim their future. And the author certainly knows a thing or two about reclaiming Hayes, he openly admits he was not afforded the most luxurious upbringings, in fact, being born into a life of poverty, but you always had an inherent knack for seeing an opportunity to make money and bear for changing situation. Whether it was selling sweets or candy to his classmates on the school bus, or developing multimillion pound businesses on a shoestring. His fingers crossed many areas of business with apparent ease. His successes have been frequent and financially lucrative leading him to a life that many would say he was a dream existence. But he’s so much more than a wealthy businessman enjoying a life of hard earned luxuries. He’s believed that life should not be a struggle, and he’s one that should be enjoyed has been one that unfortunately, he’s been unable to deliver to countless people he has encountered over the years, people who are trapped, unable to realise the dreams that they hold in their hearts. So we have an audience waiting to hear how they too can achieve a future they deserve. I’d like to introduce to the show, but one and only Trevor Blake, how are you today? Mr. Blake?
Trevor Blake [1:54]
I’m fine. Thanks, David. Thanks for that introduction.
David Ralph [1:56]
Your Life has it’s it’s a kind of rags to riches. But with hard work, it hasn’t been an easy path in any shape or form. But you certainly have gone from polar opposites, haven’t you?
Trevor Blake [2:10]
I mean, yeah, so yeah, I grew up in what I suppose today would call inner city, Liverpool. And then we were evicted for the third time, in my first seven years of life to North Wales. And I grew up in a derelict farmhouse in North Wales, from about the age of eight through two, when I left and joined the Navy at 17, or 18. So you know, it’s not the hardest of stuff, but it’s not the easiest either, I guess, is how I view it. And, you know, I just decided I didn’t want the sort of life that was mapped out for me at that time, I went to something different my, my choices at 18 were probably to work on a farm or work in the Forestry Commission. In fact, I was offered, the school counsellor said that I should go work in the local chicken packing factory where there is an apprenticeship, but I went a little bit more for my life than that I wanted to travel, I wouldn’t be successful, I wanted to, you know, see what life had to offer. So I found a way to get out of that trap. And I’ve had an amazing life of adventure and, and what other people would describe as the American dream as well.
David Ralph [3:06]
Whenever you’re sitting there having a roast dinner, and it’s a bit of chicken do something, oh, how my life could have been different.
Trevor Blake [3:13]
You know, funny, you should say that, I think that every single time I see a chicken, think of it, I still have that woman’s voice in my head. And she just she looked down a nose at me. And that was it for me that she she’s she looked me up and down and thought, Okay, this is the best his legs ever going to do. And I, you know, I, I think also see, you know, I still remember, I still see the image of her face. And I think that’s always a source of motivation for me.
David Ralph [3:34]
Yeah, it’s funny how so many of our childhood memories should be positive, because you know, it’s the time of our life where we should be free, and we should be running around, we should just be having no responsibilities. But a lot of them when we look back, certainly from my point of view, but teachers, they weren’t supportive at all, they many of them are lunatics to be honest. And who would throw bald rappers in big clouds at smoking and whatever, and really shouldn’t have been teachers? Do you think that woman when you look back on her was actually a good thing to have when when you look back on her? Was it a positive.in your life? But if she had said something different, your life possibly wouldn’t have gone way as I think
Trevor Blake [4:19]
so. But also, I think is how we observe those situations. I’m a great believer in Well, actually, I’m not a believer in positive thinking. But I’m a great believer in positive reaction. And I think it’s, you know, it’s how we react to situations it’s made that makes a difference. And, you know, some people in that situation could crumble and some people could do as they’re told, and my reaction probably born out of some arrogance that came from I don’t know, where just said, Well, I’m going to prove you wrong. And that’s what I put in my head. And, you know, for a lot of my business life, you know, whenever I started a business, nobody around me has said, Oh, good idea. Here’s some money. You know, most people have said, You’re crazy. You’re not qualified. You’ll never pull this off. And it’s been a, you know, sort of a journey of proving people wrong. Really.
David Ralph [4:59]
So you just a bloody minded individual. You.
Trevor Blake [5:03]
Yeah, yeah. I’ve been called other things, too. Yes.
David Ralph [5:07]
Because I’m the same thing.
Trevor Blake [5:09]
Yeah. belligerence, the most common use phrase for me,
David Ralph [5:12]
if somebody says to me, you can’t do that, that’s red rag to a bull for me. And even if I’ve got no idea how to do it, just so that I can go back and go, told you so. And I don’t know if it’s a good trait to have, really, but it’s something that I’ve always had. And I’ve always wanted to push myself just to prove other people wrong.
Trevor Blake [5:31]
Well, you know, I wish I wish this is video not audio, because I could show you I’m sat at my desk, and on the wall opposite me is a ceramic tile that I bought in Cornwall back in the button. 1992 Actually, my wife bought it for me and wrapped it up. And it says, told you so but there wasn’t enough room for the full word. So it’s actually to Lv us. Oh, and as a dolphin on the top, and I was feeling particularly down because things weren’t going the way I thought they were, they were going to go for my life. I was 30. And things hadn’t quite gone. You know, I thought at 30 I’d already be made, I would have made already. And she bought this ceramic tile, and she wrapped up and she says I’ll give you this when you’re 50 years old, and you’re a multimillionaire and you know, travelled all over the world with us never been unwrapped until I turned 50, which was a couple of years ago. And and I had at that time, I retired at 49. So I was sort of semi retired at 50. Because I’ve been doing other projects. And then it was just a great feeling to see I’d almost forgotten about it. And I wish I could show it to you actually.
David Ralph [6:24]
So if you go right back to inner city, Liverpool, what was your life like then because I know Liverpool and I know it quite well. And there’s some sort of well to do areas of it. And there’s there’s some that are still quite hard living areas, certainly around the Enfield area the football ground. So what was your childhood like?
Trevor Blake [6:46]
Well, where I grew up doesn’t exist anymore. It was everything was bulldozed and turned into a grain terminal in it was in Crosby Crosby’s can be quite posh, but also has some pretty rough areas. So my my first house or the first house I lived in, there was a three storey old captain’s house. And my dad lost his job yet again. And we couldn’t afford the rent. So we were evicted from that. And then we lived in a shop or just a barber shop. And there was a row of row sort of consumable shops and my dad had the bright idea of turning the shop into a furniture kind of store, which no one would buy furniture in a place like that. So that also failed. So we got evicted from that furniture shop. And you know, my memories are always in the storage now. So I remember good times and happy times I consider myself Liverpudlian, even though we moved out in Liverpool, you’re at a young age and I’m a big Liverpool fan. My wife used to be a season ticket holder there so and we whenever we get back, that’s the first thing we go and do. But it was a life in you know, playing in the streets. And it was rough and I one of my abiding memories is walking along and hearing somebody somebody cycling past me. And they spoke and they spoke very clearly. They said yes. And I realised I’ve never said the word Yes, I’d always say yeah, as a kid and I suddenly realised that there’s another world outside of the world I was living so I know, if I stayed in that environment, I my life would have turned out quite differently. But you know, like everything, you know, fortunate sometimes comes out of adversity and so we literally under the cover of darkness pack the back of our Bedford van and hit the you know, went for the hills in those days. So we drove out to North Wales and the van broke down and then a farmer told us to this derelict farmhouse and there we stayed. He said we could stay a week and we stayed there for for the rest of our days, really. But what made it particularly tough I think at that time was was not not long after we moved into a derelict farmhouse, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she was given six months to live. And it was, you know, as a terrible shock to little kids at the time. Yeah, but I remember that was the first time I saw what, um, you know, unshakeable belief looks like in someone’s eyes, because, you know, I was there when she told the doctor that that was not good enough, she needed more than six months. And I was also there, when I saw her looking out of the kitchen window and pointing at the sky and saying, you know, I’ll come when I’m good and ready, and I’m not coming into my children are grown up and safe. And I’ll make that decision. When she shoots us where I get a lot of my belligerence and determination from it in my business life is from watching how my mother fought against cancer for the next 14 years. And she she saw her dream achieved her dream was to, you know, pull off the the difficult task of being a good mother for three children in difficult circumstances and see them all safely leave the home and be normal and get decent jobs, which is what happened.
David Ralph [9:25]
And have you got children yourself, Trevor?
Trevor Blake [9:28]
No, my wife and I, a couple who tried for seven years to have children and didn’t work out. But my wife was born with a heart condition. And that’s always sort of played from that from that aspect. So we tried our hardest, but no, it didn’t work out for us. Because the
David Ralph [9:41]
reason I was asking that I was wondering, you know, if you did have children, would there be like, would you want to recreate that in the style of your own childhood, because certainly where I am at the moment, I’ve got five kids, some of them have sort of grown up now and sort of moved out. But I remember growing up in the 70s, when I used to just sort of run riot, really, and go up the woods and play in the park and on the field. And it was always, you know, when do we need to come home? Or when it’s dark, or when it’s tea time? And that was it, you just sort of went off? And my kids now it just seems Well, I had an argument with my wife tonight when my son had to just walk around the corner, and he’s 12. And she was saying, No, we’ve got to walk him around, and I was 12 years old God say you know what’s going to happen? Or you don’t know what’s going to happen? And I become very nostalgic for my childhood. So would you would you kind of like your kids to have the life that you’ve got now? Or do you think that it is good to have a life like you had so you can see the contrast?
Trevor Blake [10:41]
I think it’s I think it’s great to have the contrast to be honest with you. You know, being in America, everybody is lives in a car. Basically, nobody walks anywhere. And the consequences of that can be easily seen whenever you you see the average sized American, it’s unfortunate, it’s a bit of this identity lifestyle of being in America. You know, my neighbours, who are I have a whole near my neighbour is about half a mile away. And I have two horses and the girls come to play with the horses, which is really nice. But they drive here. They can hop, they could climb over the fence and walk it would take them five minutes. Yeah. But they get the car, which is a big effort and they drive around and then they play with the horses. It’s just a different culture mentality these days, I think. But it’s one thing that I try to encourage in three simple steps is getting back into nature and missing in nature. Because I know I would not have had the life that I’ve enjoyed. If I didn’t, if I didn’t have the connexion, I have with with through nature with the world, it’s a very important thing. So you know, I immerse myself in nature all the time. I have two dogs, two horses, and I’m out, you know, walking, and I’m looking at thousand words around the house. I walk in the woods trails as often as I can. I can’t imagine life any other way. But I think it’s because I started off in inner city, Liverpool, and then was sort of exposed to what was almost like The Chronicles of Narnia. Yeah, Northwest. And and that contrast was so dramatic that I could never go back. You know, we had no locks on our doors. We just opened the front door. And often I’d go first thing in the morning when I was a weekend on school holiday, you know, and like you said, I wouldn’t come back until the depths of the night and nobody worried about it. In those days.
David Ralph [12:09]
No one cared at all. And you didn’t have a mobile phone you just cleared off.
Trevor Blake [12:13]
Yeah, nobody, nobody worried at all.
You know, I would just come back. And sometimes I’d be late for tea, and I get in trouble for being late. But other than that there was never any other concern.
David Ralph [12:22]
No, it’s madness, how it’s changed. I don’t know why it’s changed money, but it has it will. looking looking at your world. The reason why I wanted you so much on this show is the the theme of the show is to inspire people that they can have the life that they want, whether they’re in a job that they don’t like, or in a situation that they don’t like, they have got the choices to take control themselves. And I was very taken with your I suppose strapline Our lives are not meant to be a struggle, but a joyful trip. Have you always believe that or have you become sort of more joyful as you become wealthier?
Trevor Blake [13:02]
No, I’ve always enjoyed that. And I’ve never, I’ve never pursued wealth, it’s always been a side effect of, of doing something with purpose, I believe. You know, says three simple steps is all about how you build that map to get from where you are, to where to where you, you would really like to go. And most people who have not encountered the three simple steps would say is, but you’ve got to fail 100 times before you can succeed. I’ve never done that, I’ve never found that to be something to to do at all, you know, I’ve built four companies, each one of them has been a success by whichever, whichever matrix you want to judge it by. And, you know, I do think life is meant to be a joy. But unfortunately, we let into our brains, other people’s opinions of our abilities and the media’s opinion opinions of the world that we live in, and our interaction with the world. And when we pay attention to that too much, it tends to change the way we make our decisions. And that’s where it all gets screwed up. So you know, one of my one of my mantras is to be very selective about what you allow into your brain. You know, because if you’re watching the TV, news headlines, it’s always sensationalist, it’s always negative, and it tells you that the sky is falling, and then you’re in a queue for a Starbucks coffee or something like that. And you talked to the guy behind you, and he’s got a great job offer, you’re unlikely to make the change because you think the sky is falling. Yeah. So I believe in a world that flows more freely, so that you have eyes wide open, and you’re able to, to notice opportunities that otherwise if you if you’ve got this, you know, grey cloud over your head, because the world’s collapsing, or your opinion that’s been given to you, the world is collapsing, then you tend not to notice those opportunities. But when your eyes are wide open, there’s opportunities everywhere. And that makes everything good joy, a joyful trip. So you know, if I had my time over again, I wouldn’t change the thing.
David Ralph [14:41]
I think that’s, that’s a key point to life, really, because the news is just, it just brings you down, doesn’t it, you open the newspaper, it brings you down. If you go to the back pages where my team set, it will bring me down. You know, you’re right at the moment, Liverpool, we’re doing very well at the moment. So you’re probably enjoying yourself. I have to say, this is going out in the first of June 2014. So by somebody might get this five years time and you’re in you’re in a championship or something.
Trevor Blake [15:10]
Yeah, I’m actually we’re pinching ourselves. So I think I’m in a dream, isn’t it? It’s been so long since Liverpool where we’re in a position to where at this time of year to still be fighting for something. So it’s, I’m having a good time. At the moment, I think they’re going to win it. I do think they’re gonna win it.
David Ralph [15:24]
But I stopped looking at the news maybe five years ago, and I had a moment I was on the train. And I open this newspaper. And the first storey was about a dad killing these kids. And I thought, Oh, this is terrible. And I went to the next page, and it was almost the same storey and by the time I got to the third, I thought, how is this benefiting me, and I closed the newspaper. And other than the sports pages. I haven’t, I haven’t watched the news or anything. And I now find but generally, as you say, I’m in a kind of positive world because I know no better. And if anything major does occur, you find out about it anyway, people just tell you
Trevor Blake [15:59]
what, you can’t avoid it. You go into a restaurant or or an airport. And as you know, the TV’s are on silent. But they’ve all got ticker tape going on. So you can’t avoid the headlines. And that’s fine. It’s the sensationalist nonsense that goes with it, they have to avoid I haven’t taken a newspaper in 20 years of any description. And I don’t think that it’s I think I know what’s going on the world as much as anybody knows, I never watched the news. I’m very, you know, I do follow independent journalism. I like Greg Palast and people like that, you know, they just give it an alternative view to what the media would tell you is going on in the world. And so, so it’s all about getting the balance, you know, between the, on the one hand, the propaganda that comes our way, and it’s it, there’s no more propaganda than then you can get in America, because the news outlets are all owned by big corporations. So it’s, you know, it’s just, there’s nothing evil about it. But you’ve got to be honest with yourself and say, it’s unlikely that they’re going to tell you the whole truth, if it’s going to affect them. Yeah. So they’re going to tell you their version of the truth. And you have to be aware of that. So then you have to, you have to seek out other versions, and then, and then you can form an opinion, which finally, is your own opinion, not somebody else’s. You know, I use a great, great example of how people’s opinions are formed by the media is really the royal family because my mother in law’s with me right now. And she’s, she’s, she likes the world family, but at different times, you know, depending on what the media impression she’s been given, she’s up against one and then for the that person, and then against another person or for that person. And I said to him, I’ve said to him many times, but you don’t know them. And he says, but I’m entitled to my opinion. I said, but you don’t know. So how can you have an opinion, but it’s not her opinion, it’s the media’s opinion. And the reason I can argue that is, when I was in the Royal Navy, I got exposed to the royal family, because I joined at the same time as Prince Andrew. And therefore, because he was there, I also got to meet the Queen Mother, the queen, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles at the time. And so I have an opinion that’s, that’s based upon my own direct observation face to face with these, these people. And it’s very different to the opinions that are provided by the Saatchi and Saatchi firm, which which, which, you know, are responsible for the royal family. And so I could so I believe my opinion is my own opinion. But I still can’t get through to my mother in law that even though she has strong opinions can never be heard one opinion, because all it all she knows is what’s come through the TV or the newspaper.
David Ralph [18:05]
I think I think that’s absolutely true. It is absolutely true. I wonder when an opinion does, you know, Can Can somebody in a cave that’s got no influences from the outside world have a truly original opinion?
Unknown Speaker [18:18]
Good question. I don’t know.
Trevor Blake [18:21]
opinion. They could have an opinion of the cave, I guess. But you know, they would have no awareness of what’s outside the cave.
David Ralph [18:28]
I wonder if you could take somebody from a cave, and actually make them more successful quicker, just because they have got no outside influences dictating those personal beliefs, as you say, but that kind of brainwash you over a period of time.
Trevor Blake [18:45]
Yeah, I mean, we all and you know, we all start the same way, we’re all born with 100 billion neurons, everyone has 100 billion neurons the day they come into the world, and, and under unpolluted at that point in time, but of course, neurons behave very much we now know that the for neuroscience that the the brain behave more like a muscle than we ever realised, and it seeks out experiences, it seeks out sensationalism, it seeks out fear, it seeks out love, and sex, all of these really strong emotional things. And when it finds one of them, it hooks onto it, and it wants more of the same. So if the naive brain is is shown something negative on its first, first time it comes out of the cave, if you like, and that does happen, because typically, our first experience has been smacked on the behind by a big hairy hand. Yeah, and you know, so. So it’s not a good start, you know, the brain tends to try and seek out all of these similar type of experiences. So I suppose if you took a naive brain and exposed it to something positive, it would then seek out, you know, repeated positive experiences. And you it would be an interesting experiment sounds like a German experiment, but it would be an interesting experiment that you could do with two children at the same time and see how they turned out differently.
David Ralph [19:48]
What makes you different. And, Trevor, you said that you weren’t a positive thinker, but you as a believer in positive reaction, what what makes you not brainwashed by negativity?
Trevor Blake [20:01]
I think it’s just life experiences. So, you know, when I was in the Royal Navy, I was involved in, in an event that I saw, I saw firsthand, and then when I came home on leave, everybody was telling me what had happened and what it was about. And it was, it was the complete opposite of what I had experienced. But their opinions were formed by the media, it’s, it’s that experience that makes you start to see things and think things differently. And I realised that the whole, you know, my whole family and friends and environment have been been deliberately manipulated into believing a certain thing was true. And I was there, and I saw firsthand because I was, you know, stepping over the bodies that it wasn’t true. So it’s, I think you have to have some experience like that to wake you up. And with three simple steps I keep talking about the book is if I’m plugging the book, but all my all my proceeds go to counselling, session development. So I’m not not plugging the book that the book sake. But the in three simple steps, I, you know, I’ve made some points about how propaganda can affect us. And in making those points, I think it has actually woken a few people, because I get I get emails from all over the world now about some of the aspects of this book. So you know, one of the things when people wake up, it’s like a weight lifted off your shoulders, because for the first time, you realise that the life you thought you had mapped out for yourself by other people, or by the media, or by whatever you believe the world is, that suddenly changes and you realise that your future is in your own control, and not in the hands of other people, that’s a very important moment. And, you know, I get emails from from all around the world, people have got the book in an airport and read, you know, read it on the trip back home, and then applied some of the steps. And it’s that very effect occurs to them. You know, their life just changes dramatically from that moment forward. And they never again, make it make decisions based on upon other people’s opinions of themselves or their lives and make decisions based on their own opinions of themselves. And that’s a really important time, that’s when you decide you can be anything you want to be.
David Ralph [21:53]
I mean, that time at the moment, every morning, for the first time in my life, really, I’ve always been an employer employee a storey, and I’ve always gone to work. And that’s what I’ve done just from the the age of 16 upwards. And I’m now 44. And it was Is this the first time in my life, as you say, I’ve woken up, and I’ve realised, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realise. But I do realise now that every action that I take is my own action, and it can build it to my own future. And what I’m working towards is very personal to me. But no one’s going to take that away from me. And it’s, it’s kind of upsets me somehow, but I haven’t seen that before. But I think I just wasn’t ready at that time to see that.
Trevor Blake [22:40]
Well, you know, for me, I woke up fairly early. And I’m very grateful I did but only because only because what we talked about before people were saying, okay, your life is going to go in this direction. I didn’t want that. At the same time. I was a, you know, a lot from Liverpool living in Wales, when when whales had a very strong movement to get the English out because they wanted home Wales, but also, they were they were they were angry that a lot of English families were moving into Wales and buying a weekend property that was putting prices up and the locals or the natives who want of a better word, you know, couldn’t afford the house. And so it was at a time when you saw put on the TV news. And you saw people burning down holiday homes. And of course that, you know, when you when kids see that on the news, teenagers see that they reenact that anger. And so I was I found myself in the middle of a war. In fact, when I was out because I was poor, and I was English and from Liverpool, and I was a target for the for the local gangs, the bullies, and it got quite severe at some points and you know, you know, knives and 12 ball shotguns, I mean, I don’t know that anybody would have wanted to kill me, but they would threaten me with them. And, you know, sometimes I fought back and sometimes I run away. And in the end, I just decided to get out of everybody’s way. So I used to hide out in the public library. And it’s the best thing that ever happened to me because at the back of the library where I knew my tormentors would never go, there was a shelf of autobiography biographies and autobiographies and I started reading them. And I I was just blown away by the lives of the successful self made men and women in history, who had been in even worse circumstances and overcome incredible adversities people, like people you don’t often hear about, like madam CJ Walker, who you’re born to slaves, pregnant of 14, then abandoned, abused by a husband so badly that a hair fell out, you know, at a time when she’s black and female. And her conditions are completely determined by the society, she wasn’t even allowed to own a knife and fork because they were considered. And she went from that to being America’s first female millionaire. And I was just blown away by the power of that. And that’s, that’s where I got my first sort of wake up call. But it doesn’t have to be this way. And you don’t have to listen to what people say your life is going to be like, you can make it what you want. And in all of those biographies, I started to notice the same patterns of behaviour, you know, the Fords, and Carnegie’s and all of them, they all had the same patterns of behaviour. And I thought, you know, if it worked with him, who am I to say, it’s not going to work for me. And so I started to apply. That’s the three steps, I started to apply those steps in my life. And I just went it just my life exploded into it. Just an amazing adventure,
David Ralph [25:03]
we’re going to come on to three simple steps, because I think the question that is going to be on everyone’s lips is okay, what are the three simple steps? When you talk about Carnegie, he was very influential in the the classic book thinking Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Have you have you read that book?
Trevor Blake [25:22]
Yes. And I do talk about it in face it was death, because it’s snake oil?
David Ralph [25:26]
That’s right. Absolutely. And they talk about 13 steps, and it’s the 13 traits of the successful person, the successful man. Have you got those same traits about Andrew Carnegie had, do you think?
Trevor Blake [25:40]
No, you know, when that book was published, Andrew Carnegie had been dead 17 years. So he wasn’t he wasn’t around to be able to, to, to, you know, affirm or deny what was written in that. And, you know, you have to, I think you always have to be careful with self, I’m not a fan of the cell phone movement. And I think positive thinking is a complete and utter illusion, because you thoughts happen so fast, you can’t step in front of them. And and you have to when you when you when you’re looking for advice from, you know, experts, or the self made men and women or, or some of these, some of these observers, these spectators like Napoleon Hill, you have to really cheque into their background. I mean, mean, do they have the credibility to tell you how to change your life, and Napoleon Hill is a classic snake oil salesman who failed at 25 different businesses. And I think the best way to some Napoleon Hill up is that he got married to probably a gold digger, I think, and she talked him into writing a book. And the title of the book was, you know how to how to find your find and keep your soulmate. And that book was published the day after they got divorced. And that sort of sums up the whole, that whole genre of that time. I mean, here’s a guy who never succeeded at anything, observed, a lot of people who are successful, puts this plan together. And for some reason, the book takes off. Now, Napoleon Hill died in poverty, he died, he died poor, and William Clement stone came in and bought the rights to his book back and formed the foundation and that in the future, there will be this foundation. But Napoleon Hill didn’t do anything to enact any of those things. So you think going to be really careful when you when you take some of this advice. You know, most self help books are written by people whose only claim to success is the fact that the book caught on for some reason. So you have to look into the background that they have success first, before they spoke about it. That’s the key thing. And, you know, three simple steps. I didn’t even think of writing this book until after I had sold, you know, two of my companies. My first company, I started with $200, I sold it for 100 and 5,000,002nd. Company, I started with $200, I sold it for 300 million, that gives you the credibility at that point is stand up and say, Look, this worked for me, I stole it from all these eSports successful men and women in history of work for them. So just give it a go. And that’s that’s basically the whole premise of the thing.
David Ralph [27:47]
Well, before we get to that, the theme of the actual show is loosely based around Steve Jobs speech back in 2005, when he talks about connecting the dots, I’m going to play it now. Because it it does seem to me that you’re you’re already highlighting some of those dots, the fact that the chicken woman at the very beginning, put you on a road, when the bullies pushed you into the library, when you sort of read the books and stuff. And so there seems to be a fascinating life plan that wasn’t planned at all that has led you bet, which really emphasises what he says. So I’m just going to play that now. And then I’m going to ask you what you think,
Steve Jobs [28:25]
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 leaves you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
David Ralph [29:00]
So do those words mean, more to you, Trevor ban, say the Napoleon Hill and the soft self help gurus out there?
Trevor Blake [29:09]
Well, absolutely, because because there’s a man who achieved great success. And it’s interesting that, you know, since his death, all these experts have come out who have a claim to you know, what it was about Steve Jobs that made him successful, and they, they can be fairly vindictive, when they talk about his character. And again, they they form their opinions based upon other books and videos and documentaries, not because they ever knew the guy, you know, but regardless, he was he was incredibly successful. And therefore you have to listen to what he has to say, because he has the credibility to tell you and my life has been exactly that you cannot possibly predict what happens in the future, or how things are going to work out in the future. You can only retrospectively look at how things matched out and then use that experience to start to trust your own intuition more for me, you know, he, he used a few different words of things that you might want to trust. For me the most impact the thing is to learn to trust your intuition and to develop that intuition. And Steve, one of the interesting things about all of those people who have come out of the woodwork and claim to claim to say why Steve Jobs was successful, etc, etc. They usually say something like, well, 95% of his life was down to micromanagement. And 5% of his life was a bit weird. You know, he used to meditate every day, but we’ll forgive him for that because it didn’t spoil a success. And that completely missed the point is the 5%. That makes all the difference. The fact that he he meditated every single morning is is a common feature a common behaviour in every biography of every self made man or woman I’ve ever read, and it also in my own life. You know, Henry Ford used to go back to his old derelict farm, sit on his old his dad’s old rocking chair, and just contemplate for 15 or 20 minutes every morning. We just wanted to get away from the madness far from the madding crowd. Carnegie did exactly the same thing. Madam CJ Walker used to sit in a tree. And when I read that when I was a kid, I thought, well, I’ve never meditated. I don’t even know how to meditate, but I need to do something. So I used to take myself up up the hills and sit under a tree for 20 minutes and do nothing but just sit there and think and I got some wonderful ideas that have helped, you know, helped. When I look back, I can say, Okay, I can see how those dots happened. Because I can see when I had that idea and how I reacted to that idea, and how that moved me from left to right, looking down eyes. But you know, but you still, you know, you still got to follow the advice and follow the behaviours of the successful people. So one of the things about Steve Jobs that I liked the most is that he meditated every morning. I do think claimed, he claimed also, that’s where all these good ideas came from, as well.
David Ralph [31:32]
Yeah, you know, because I going back to sort of Napoleon Hill and I take what you’re saying, you know, absolutely straight as you say it. But the thing that I got about that was, the more I think about things, the more generally the answer comes up. And I never used to do that. I used to just react to hassles and tribulations and things that were going on in my life. But once I actually started to think, every morning, when I’m brushing my teeth, I had to think and sometimes I don’t think anybody and then other times things just come into my head, I think, yes, that’s what I should be doing. And since I’ve been doing that, it’s almost like my life has become luckier, which kind of ties up to what you were saying. But it should be, you know, it shouldn’t be a struggle, it should be a parent ease, but it is what my life is nowhere near as much as it used to be. And my teeth are probably better as well.
Trevor Blake [32:24]
Well, and you know, a few years ago, a family member week. So we’re on the same path, we have the same same upbringing, same environment, same exposure, same opportunities, but we’ve lived very different lives. And family members said to me in a moment Alliance was all right for you, you sit on your throne on top of a hill and command the world to do your bidding. And I thought was the best compliment ever anyone ever paid me alone was never intended to be a compliment it was intended to be and and so you know, the inference was, well, you’re just a lucky bugger. And it’s not like that at all. It’s, it’s it’s using, its using tools and techniques that are available to everybody to to have better experiences. And so I like to take quiet time in the morning, 20 minutes every morning, same as same as Daniel Loeb, who’s worth 4 million and Ray balls, who’s worth, I don’t know, six and a half billion. Warren Buffett, who’s worth I forget the last count 60 billion or something like that. They all meditate every morning, if it works for them, who the hell am I say is not gonna work for me. So I do those things. And that’s where I get these brilliant ideas that seem to work. It’s what you know, there’s a second name, but vision something or other. He’s in Richard Branson’s inner sanctum and he goes on the speaking tour. He’s a successful businessman. And he talks about flow about getting into a state of flow. And he says the secret you know, is to be happy in the now and to have a plan for your future to have goals and dreams for the future. But to be very happy in the now and you get into a state of flow. And when you can, he also meditates every morning. And when you get into a state of flow, then suddenly, in his words, he says the glass ceiling disappears. And magic seems to happen all around you and everything seems to fall into place almost magically. How does that happen, but we don’t know. But you’ll never find out unless you’re willing to put in the work. In this case, the work is, you know, 20 minutes of quiet time every morning. You know, setting your goals. Having a strong mentality shield, not letting the world influence the way you think about yourself. Those are very simple things to do. They’re not easy, but they’re very simple things to do. And that changes everything.
David Ralph [34:15]
So somebody’s sitting on the train going to work. And I rushed to work, because I’ve got to be there a certain time. And they’ve got meetings powered up and they they’re not happy with their existence. I’m not going to say that I hate their existence, but they’re not happy where they’re listening to these are these daily shows because they want to find out how to reclaim their future. Is there? Are there some simple things on a the three steps really that they should be focusing in on? First of all, are those three steps your guide to them to actually say, this is my advice to how you can take action and get the life of your dreams?
Trevor Blake [34:53]
Yes, they are. And those are the people who needed the most, because they’re in quicksand. And some of them realise it, some of them don’t. And three simple steps are designed to be such so easy that you can just pick up the book and started straight away and see amazing benefits the next day is, you know, you don’t have to invest in anything, you don’t have to wear a purple kaftan and sit on a pointy rock for 20 years to get the message you can get it right there. And then Off you go. And you start and you know, the proof of the pudding is always in eating I have thousands of emails from the way people’s lives have changed as a result, because I’ve been teaching these steps for many years, of course, not just not just with the book. So So yeah, that’s absolutely but but you know, it’s not easy. So you know, you’re going to have to get up half an hour early than you do already. And take that quiet time that you’re going to have to do it because your life is at stake. And if your life at stake, surely you’d be willing to try anything.
David Ralph [35:38]
So what are the three simple steps for somebody out there sitting there thinking what I’m going to go and get this book by I want to know more about it before I hand over my money, what actually are the three simple steps.
Trevor Blake [35:51]
So the first one is all about mentality control mentality being our habitual reaction to outside stimulus, this is how we immediately react when something happens. So when someone says your crappy job, we are reacting in a particular way. And and so mentality control is about how you can start to be aware of that reaction and then change the reaction. So instead of being against stuff that happens in your life, then you can start to be for stuff that you want. It’s a very simple and subtle changes that, you know, Mother Teresa once said, when she was asked for her opinion on a particular battle, she said, you know, to the reporter, I am not against war, and for peace. And and you know, in that tiny little statement is is, you know, a wonderful philosophy and a very deep philosophy. And that’s what that’s what it’s, that’s what first step is all about. So before what you want, and not against what you don’t want to most people’s minds. And thoughts are always against what they don’t want, they don’t want more debt, they don’t want, they want to lose weight. So they don’t want to be who they are right now. They’re always thinking about what they don’t want. And when you think about what you don’t want, I’m afraid the only thing that happens is you get more of what you don’t want. So you have to train, train your mind, train your neural pathways to think in a different way. That’s step one, when you can do that, when you have control. Then the next thing I come across as that people say, Well, I’d love to start my own company, do my own thing, but I just don’t have any great winning ideas. And so step two, is about how you put yourself into in a position to have winning ideas all the time. It’s just a little technique that I stole off all the great people from history. And then after you’ve got those winning ideas, and now you’ve got mentality control, so no one can talk you out of it, you’re actually going to hold on to this and do something with it. And step three is about how you turn that winning idea into a real life experience. And it takes everything that anyone’s ever read or heard about goal setting and throws it into the what we call in America now the trash can. So just throw it all away because the way goal setting is taught by the Brian Tracy’s and Tony Robbins, this world is, in my opinion, absolute rubbish.
David Ralph [37:43]
I get a lot of people on these shows talking about vision boards, did you believe in vision boards?
Trevor Blake [37:49]
I haven’t, I’ve never had such a thing in my life. I do have I do have a whiteboard on which I write out my intentions for my life. But how I get to the intentions is the hardest step three, how do you end up with this intention? So so so you’ve, you’ve got to go through a mental programme before you can say, Okay, this is exactly where I intend to go with my life. And you know, the one thing that most people are never able to answer is, you know, if you if you stripped away the box that they’ve put themselves in, and then that box, there’s some good things and some bad things. You strip it away, suspend it so that nobody gets hurt. You have all the money you’ll ever need all the health you’ll ever need, and you’ll never hurt anybody in the process. What is it you would do? Most people can’t even answer that question. They don’t know what they want. And so first of all, you’ve already got to go backwards in time, you’ve got to strip away all that you’ve learned about yourself and all opinions that you forgive yourself over the years, and go back to almost that childlike mentality when when life was just one great big adventure, and everything was possible, you got to get yourself into that mindset. When you get yourself into that mindset, then you can start to find the true answers as to, you know, what, what would I really be if there were no impediments? And that’s the starting point. And you can’t if you can’t set goals and intentions or anything else, or the vision boards, or whatever it is, if you don’t know the answer to that, so you got to get there first. And that’s really where step three takes you find out who you really are in your core, and what you should be doing. And then how you can go from where you are to where you want to go, you know, without having to handing you notice and Stabler resignation note on your boss’s head or something like that.
David Ralph [39:19]
It’s his unique self, isn’t it?
Trevor Blake [39:23]
Everybody is I mean, that’s, that’s the thing that I mean, you know, I realised very, when I did this exercise, when I was in my, in my early 20s, I was in the Royal Navy and I was doing quite well. And probably a sensible, long term goal, well, short term goal would have been to get to left hand and a long term goal would have maybe one day, if everything goes well, and I get lucky to be a captain, you know, that was my my career path. And then I realised I didn’t want any of that when I did this exercise. And all I wanted to be was a writer. And and I had to find a way then because I was already in my 20s and I had a mortgage. So I had to find my way of Okay, how do I how do I now use this writing in my life so that I can, I can have all the dream and adventures that I want. And that’s how until I found a way to do that. The success of my companies is purely down to my abilities. As a creative writer, I don’t bother with forecasts and budgets and management by objectives and all of that complete corporate nonsense, you know, I draw pictures of the difference we’re going to make in people’s lives and get people’s ownership into a project that’s that’s far more powerful, and far more successful than then sitting people down and trying to make them make numbers, you know, so that so that I managed to use that in my life. So I hadn’t had, you know, great travel adventures, great business adventures, and then my own company’s adventures, all as a result that I embraced what it is that’s in my core, which is rising. That’s what that’s the one thing I do that, you know, time completely disappears when I right. And that’s what you have to find.
David Ralph [40:47]
How do people find that because at the moment, I believe, Trevor, I have found my path, I totally believe it. And for years and years, I was always a person that was be going, you can do this, you know, why can’t you do it, you’ve only got one life and take action and all that kind of stuff. And if you’ve got a crowd round base, certainly in pubs, I would go into 340, really. And I could just see people expanding in front of me like, yes, it’s possible, it’s possible. And now I’m doing this show, I have to rein that in, because I have to remember is the guests, that’s the most important part of this show is not myself. And I’d be saying the same thing all the time. Come on, guys, you can do it. You know, listen to Trevor, this is the advice that you want. But I’ve just found my path, kind of by default, I feel so how do people out there who really desperately trying to find it and just can’t see the wood for the trees? Is there? Is there a trick that they can use? Is it is it just mindset? Or is it just about trying enough things until you finally realise what it is you should be here for?
Trevor Blake [41:53]
No, it’s none of that none of those it’s a there’s a technique that you can use. But it requires stripping away the ego and the sort of opinion of environmental opinion of yourself has been formed by you know, every every your environment, the people in and influences around you. And so it’s quite a lengthy technique, it’s, you know, a couple of chapters of a book. So you have, you have to, you have to get away to a place on your own. And you have to, you have to understand some neuroscience. three simple steps as a scientific book, there’s a lot of neuroscience in it that explains why the way the brain works the way it does, and how you can unravel some of that, and start and start with fresh neurons and how you how you start all over again, like a kid. So you have to go through a process actually. And it’s sometimes you have to go through it several times. Most people who write to me say, you know, the first time they went through it, the answer scared them so much, they almost run away from it, and went back to their old life. And so you have to go through it time and time again until you finally get it and admit to yourself that this really is who I am. And now I have to now I have to take that and use it in some way. So it’s a lengthy process. And you know, because a lot of people who want to do this who want who want to change the life, you know, they’ve been living a particular life for 30 or 40 years. And so you can unravel it in a second. And it’s certainly not mindset. And you know, it’s certainly it’s certainly, it’s, it’s about going through a process that unravels all of those layers that you’ve put around yourself that make you think this is who I am, you know, psychologists would say the three views of ourselves is how we see ourselves. That’s how we think other people see us. And that’s how other people actually see us. Well, you have to unravel those layers to find out who you really are. And that’s the process, it takes quite a while. Because I
David Ralph [43:32]
I feel now as I’m doing more and more of these shows, and getting the similar conversations from people that if we’re being honest, we actually sort of know our path. But we’re not spending enough time looking back over our life, joining up the dots, and kind of looking for those times as you say that you was in flow when you enjoyed it, and you just naturally were good at something. And I think a lot of us chase the money by and chase the responsibility and find ourselves climbing up the career ladder, because we think that’s what should happen. But then when we get to the top, we’ve either got nowhere to go, or we’re on the wrong ladder. And if you look back over your life, there’s everyone’s got those moments happen. Like when they go, I’m really enjoyed that that was the best thing I ever did. And even can group those together, then surely that’s going to be a career for you.
Trevor Blake [44:23]
Yeah, I mean, if if career is what you want, yes, I think people have the potential to be much more than a career, or much more than a job ladder, you can be and do anything you want to be part of, you know, Steve Jobs and all the other people that we’ve we’ve mentioned briefly in this programme, you know, they all had one unique thing about them, too, they all had a sense of purpose. You know, no successful business person that I’ve ever met. And I include myself in that. And I also include the great, you know, really successful people like Richard Branson, he also says this in some of his lectures, no, no really successful business person started off trying to be a successful business person, or even doing what it is that they thought they loved. Usually people set out angry about something, they want to fix something that’s wrong, okay. Like the guy that’s built Netflix, okay. He was angry, because he got a $40, late charged from blockbuster, his anger turned into building Netflix and putting blockbuster out of business, I think. So, yeah. So most, most companies are started by Richard Branson and started because he has a student newsletter. But and it’s for the students who can’t even afford the records that he’s advertising in his magazine. So he set out to change that. And, of course, went on to change many of the things to you know, I started my first company, because I was I had a fantastic career in the pharmaceutical biotechnology industry, but but I was, I was put off by the fact that we stepped over people with rare diseases, because, you know, the, the low number of patients couldn’t justify the cost of developing a drug and the revenues and went high enough to be part of a portfolio, we were making decisions based on share price rather than science. And so I knew that was better way of doing that. So I started my first company, the world’s first and only, I think, at 100%, virtual pharmaceutical company, to develop drugs for rare diseases and make them accessible and available to anyone who could benefit from them never been done before. Everyone said it was impossible. But such was my anger at the situation. I found ways to to solve all that. And it was a very successful company. That’s that’s where I think, you know, I think I think there’s, there’s a big difference between the way people think you become successful, and how you actually become successful, you become successful because you got this incredible, powerful motivation, oftentimes caused by either wanting to prove someone wrong, or wanting to fix something that you think is wrong.
David Ralph [46:29]
I think you’re speaking about me, and I think you’re speaking about everyone out there, really, because it is it’s so fundamentally simple as you say, that, isn’t it?
Trevor Blake [46:38]
It’s simple, but never easy. Because you’ve got to be honest with yourself. And and I, you know, I do hear from people who say, you know, I’m trying to start my own company, I’ve tried to work out what I’m really good at. And I turned out to be really good at, let’s say, knitting. So I’m starting a knitting company, and I can almost predict that that company is going to fail, because there’s no there’s no source of motivation in that there’s no there’s there’s no drive no purpose. And what I was trying to get to is, you know, the Steve Jobs and the Richard Branson’s almost had this incredibly strong sense of purpose. And they never they didn’t set out to be billionaires, okay, they set out to do something. And the, the, when you do that, everything else falls into place naturally, as a result, so wealth, and the all of those material benefits come along naturally, you never have to strive for them, you never have to aim for the moment, I’ve never set a financial goal in my life. And you don’t have to, because you’ve got such a strong sense of purpose, that you this thing grows and expands. And naturally, when that happens with a company or an idea, you know, wealth and everything else comes along, you know, behind it, and you get to enjoy the trappings of success. But you know, I don’t I don’t think if you ever sit, if you ever set out to succeed, I think you’ll fail. I think you have to set out to achieve something, and then you’ll be able to taste success.
David Ralph [47:46]
I’d like to see you start a knitting company. I’ve got I’ve got that image in my head now. And I like the fact that you all your references are very British based out now you really haven’t lost the sort of the British element of you.
Trevor Blake [48:01]
No, because because, you know, it’s really interesting. The pioneering spirit is a Latin alive and well and never more accessible in America than it is today than it has been. But you know what, I don’t see it in Americans that much, because I think their life is quite comfortable. And they don’t they don’t seem to find that sort that desire or that as often as I come across immigrants from you know, I meet a lot of Russian immigrants. You know, they just have this real fire in their belly to make something of their lives and it’s there’s no worries in the world and in America, because, yeah, unlike England, or Britain, you know, if I was to stand up in Britain, as a, you know, poor kid from Liverpool and North Wales and say, You know what, I’d like to be a successful business person, then people will probably laugh at me. And it’s that British that Eddie Izzard thing, you know, come on, son, you British tone it down. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen in America. So you can stand up and say, I’m going to do this and people say good, go do it. And then if you even if you fail at it, they’ll say well, good, good on you for trying. It’s a very different colours, nobody in the world than America to to you know, just become a pioneer. If you like something, I think it’s a little more difficult in Britain. And so that’s why I tend to seek out British successes because I gain more I gain more from their struggle and their and their success. Like I learned more from them perhaps than I do if I pick up a you know, an American success storey because they’re very common American success, storeys. There’s a lot of them.
David Ralph [49:17]
And we like the underdog, don’t we?
Trevor Blake [49:20]
Yes, we did. Were you trying to Liverpool fan? We’ve been underdogs for quite a few
David Ralph [49:23]
years. Yeah, I don’t, I don’t know why we do that anyway. But what I want to do it just at the end of the show, before I say farewell to you, this is the last part of the show. And it’s a part that we call the Sermon on the mic. And this is when I put a little theme tune and when step away, and in that moment of the music playing, you can whisk back in time, and to have a one on one with your younger self. And you can choose any age you want. It could be the little kid running around with scabby knees and the Welsh countryside. It could be anyone you want, but it’s going to be yourself. So what kind of advice would you give Trevor’s I’m going to play the music now. I’m going to be totally quiet. This issue. The sermon on the mic?
Outro [50:10]
We go with the best of the show.
Trevor Blake [50:28]
Well, for me, it’s it’s always an obvious one. And that is that it’s never too late. And there’s never a bad time to reinvent yourself. I’ve reinvented myself five times.
David Ralph [50:42]
That that is short, that is social. It really did take me by surprise when so. So your advice would be no matter how old you are, little Trevor, go for it and just just see what happens.
Trevor Blake [50:54]
Absolutely go for it right now. There’s never a bad time. And it’s never too late. I’ve get emails from people who are in the 80s who are starting their own businesses. And they also got emails from, you know, 12 year old girl and a 13 year old boy who were contemplating suicide who are now having very successful teenage lives, because they realised that the decisions they were making for the ending of the lives were based upon the world’s opinion of them.
David Ralph [51:19]
Personally statement to end the show, Trevor, it’s been an absolute delight to have you on the show today. You’ve been open, you’ve been generous, talkative, and really I could I could go into episodes 234 with you. As I say to all the guests, please come back in the future because the beauty of this show is where we’re continuing to build our history. We’re continuing to develop those dots. And I believe that but joining the dots and connecting our past as I said previously, we have the best opportunities to build our futures. Trevor Blake, thank you so much.
Trevor Blake [51:51]
Thank you, David.
Outro [51:53]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become so he’s put together and 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.
