Personal reflection

Well I made it! I am now 50 years old and very excited about what my future holds for me. I was born mid morning on 11th August 1958 to Arthur and Dorothy. I was to be the youngest of six children which in some ways is a nightmare and others a blessing. One of my favourite throw away lines to people who ask "Have you lived in Tadcaster all of your life?" is my answer (which is always the same) "Not yet!" because I haven't...not yet! Although I have reached a milestone, I see myself as just starting out on another adventure which is the second chapter in the life and works of Clive Gott. However, I can honestly say when I look in a mirror now I see a grown man who has every right to be proud of who he is and what he has achieved so far. Some of my achievements are absolutely due to my upbringing and some I can truly say are despite my upbringing; either way, I am pleased about who and where I am right now.

Leading up to this milestone, I have been pondering and researching into some of the things I have seen and lived through. 50 years is not a long time if you say it quickly but the amount of things that can happen in 50 years is absolutely astounding. When you think that the first manned flight by the Wright brothers took place on December 13th 1903 and, just sixty six years, later Neil Armstrong landed on the moon and Concord made it's inaugural flight, we can see how quickly we progress.

Music has been a big part of my life, not playing you understand, but certainly listening on one medium or another. My first experience was a small blue battery operated transistor radio that my brother brought home one day. I can remember the battery it took - it was huge. Then there was my other brother's portable record player. As I recall it was about the size of a large loaf of bread and the lid doubled up as a speaker. It would play one 'LP' or six 'singles' stacked on the centre pin. There followed a multitude of differing styles and sizes until, recently, I took delivery of my new 3G iphone which will play fifty million tracks held on a memory so small you could get five hundred of them on one pin head! Ok, so I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the gist. So, as I said, I have done some researching and here are just a few of the things that I have lived through in my short life...

1958

I was born

Gatwick airport opened

Elvis joined the army

Cliff was voted best new singer

1960

Ben Hur was released and won 11 Oscars - still a 'must watch film' today

Casius Clay won Olympic Gold in Rome aged 18

1961

Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space

The Beatles played the Cavern Club for the first time

1962

DECCA decided that the Beatles were not worth signing...DOH!!!

1963

The great train robbery took place - I vaguely recall seeing this on TV

JFK was assassinated in Dallas Texas

1964

I started school in September and Frank Ifield sat at number one with "I remember you"

Nelson Mandela wass jailed for being black

Sydney Poitier won an Oscar - the first black actor to do so

Beatlemania hit and they occupied the top 5 slots in the 'hit parade'

1965

Winston Churchill died - this was my first experience of a funeral and I recall being fascinated by the TV coverage of it

Beatles were awarded MBE's - these were later returned

1966

England won the world cup at Wembley beating Germany 4-2 in extra time - I watched the whole game on a black and white TV then went into the garden and won it again!

Star Trek boldly went where no man had gone before for the first time on US TV

1968

Martin Luther King was assassinated - I have no recollection of any media coverage of this

1969

This was a big year for me - I started Grammar School then broke my leg a few weeks later and had six weeks off

Credence Clearwater Revival sat at number 1 with "Bad moon rising"

Neil Armstrong walked on the moon 66 years after man flew for the first time

Concord took her maiden flight

1970

The Beatles officially split - they never played together again

Jimmy Hendrix died from an overdose

England didn't win the world cup again

1971

The first audio cassette (do you remember those) was released

1973

Britain joined the common market (EU); Ted Heath was covered in ink by a demonstrator - I recall seeing this on TV

Slade had the Christmas number 1 with "Merry Christmas Everybody" - still an iconic recording to this day

1974

This was another huge year for me; I left school in June, joined the Army in September and broke my back playing rugby on 12th December; my army career lasted just 3 months and 27 days

Professor Rubik designed his cube

The pocket calculator went on sale

1975

The first pop video was released - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Jaws was released on Boxing day

I 'became a man' on the same day listening to Il-Dulce-Dubilo by Mike Oldfield

1977

I was married for the first time

Elvis Presley died in August

The first Star Wars film was released

Red Rum won his third Grand National

1979

I was beaten to a pulp in a nightclub while Pink Floyds "Another Brick in the Wall" played in the background

Maggie became prime minister

The first Sony Walkman became available

1980

John Lennon was shot in New York - I recall crying when I heard the news

1981

Shadapayourface kept Midge Ure off the number 1 slot

I played Packman for the first time

1982

I joined the fire brigade

"A town called Malice" was at number 1

I was married for the second time

The first ever CD was produced

1984

The first Band Aid concert aired and Bob swore big time on live TV

Ghandi was assassinated

I achieved my first of three entries in the Guinness book of darts world records

1986

Haleys Comet passed Earth - I didn't see it but heard a lot about it

England didn't win the world cup

I weighed in at 20 stones and 2 pounds in February and so started the great adventure

England didn't win the world cup but were robbed by "the hand of God"

I attended the fire at York Minster on 6th June giving me the distinction of being THE ONLY person ever to have helped to build the Minster (I was a stonemasons apprentice in 1976) and to help put it out

1987

Was part of a six man team of firemen who pulled a full sized barge the entire 147 mile length of the Leeds Liverpool canal - in total, we raised slightly less than £250,000 for burns units in several hospitals

1989

I completed my first London marathon in 3 hours 6 minutes and 22 seconds

The Berlin Wall came down

The whole world witnessed one brave student standing in front of a tank in Tiananman square

www server and browser was developed - how did we ever manage without it?

1990

I competed in the fire brigade world Triathlon championships in New Zealand placing 11th

The Gameboy was introduced by Nintendo - Oh how I recall the late nights!!!

Nelson Mandela was set free after 27 years in jail

The first episode of the Simpsons was screened

Margaret Thatcher resigned...where is she now when we need her?

1991

I completed my first of 4 Ironman triathlons in 12 hours and 6 minutes

Bryan Adams stayed at number one for 16 weeks from 13th July to 2nd November with "Everything I do"

1992

After six knee operations I left the fire brigade and went on to qualify as a fitness and aerobics instructor

The Queen admitted that 1992 has been an "Annus Horriblis"

I pulled out of the only race I failed to finish six miles from the end of the run in the Montreal Ironman

I DID finish the Nice long course triathlon and got myself on Eurosport TV coverage

1995

I returned to Montreal and finished that Ironman

1996

I entered my third marriage

Charles and Diana ended theirs

The spice girls told us what they really really want

1997

My dad left us on November 20th - he taught me more about dignity in his last four days than I had learned in the previous 39 years

I spoke in public to an audience for the first time

I completed my fourth and last ironman triathlon in 9 hours and 36 minutes

1998

I celebrated my 40th birthday on the Grand Canyon

Bill Clinton did for dry cleaners what Keith Richards did for JD

Frank Sinatra died aged 86 and, with him, my dream of ever seeing him perform live

England didn't win the world cup

1999

I started my own business with nothing more than a good idea and a bucket load of self-belief

On 9th August, I contemplated taking my own life but chose not to and decided, if I was staying, I had better make something of myself

2001

9/11 happened - enough said

Sara kicked my arse in the New York marathon

2002

The Queen celebrated 50 years and Charlie probably decided he would never get his head in that crown

England didn't win the world cup

2003

I-tune store opened

ENGLAND WON THE WORLD CUP (Rugby)

2004

I reached the peak of Kilimanjaro

My first book was published

2006

I completed the Marathon Des Sables, reputedly the hardest foot race in the world

In August I did 'a John Lennon' and spent almost two days in bed

England didn't win the world cup

2007

I climbed my highest peak to date when I summitted the 6962 metre peak of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina

On 27th June I suffered a mental and physical breakdown which I now refer to as my breakthrough

2008

I'm celebrating making it through those years and very much looking forward to enjoying 50 more

So there you have it. I think you will agree, I have packed a fair amount of stuff into the last fifty years. There have been ups and there have been downs but my truth is that, as I look at myself right now, I am happy with and proud of the man I am turning into. With that in mind I cannot say I regret anything I have done or experienced because each and every one of those things have made me the person I am today.

And the future promises to be just as eventful. I have so many goals to realise yet; so many places to visit and so many people still to meet. My one promise to myself, though, is to enjoy the next fifty years. I intend to live with gusto and enthusiasm. I will no doubt continue to upset a few people whilst inspire others. My commitment to myself is to live with authenticity and value the moment that I am in at any given time.

So off we go.

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Recommended reading, listening or watching

I have been doing some clearing out of my office shelves recently and you know what happens there don't you. A job that should take an hour takes all day because you keep sitting down and looking through old stuff. Well I have loads of old stuff, including about a dozen sets of audio tapes that I have accumulated over the years. They include stuff by Tony Robins, Brian Tracey and Zig Zigler as well as a few others. All of these were fantastic when I got them and to someone who is now where I was then they would also be fantastic. I also have a few training manuals including creative thinking and the like.

So here is the deal. If anyone would like to know what I have I would be happy to let you have a list of what is in my "let go of" boxes and you can have them for a donation if you think they will be of use to you. If you would like a list just drop me an email at clive@clivegott.com and I will send a list by return.

On another note my baby pulled one out of the bag for fathers day this year when she bought me CCR's greatest hits (ask your Dad). It brought back so many great memories and is providing me with hours of great steering wheel bongo moments. Give it a listen when you figure out what it is.

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What do I know now that I didn't know a month ago?

Identity theft can in fact have a very positive outcome - at least it did for me. I was fortunate that someone with quite low aspirations stole mine. All they bought in my name was a flat screen TV for £380 and a couple of other things to the total value of £425. If you want to know more about this drop me an email. Suffice to say, though, if you have a web site or Facebook page (or any other social website page) you might just have put enough information out in the public domain for it to happen to you.

The boffins have created an idiot proof piece of technology. The new 3G iphone is the easiest thing ever to get a grip of.

It's taken me 50 years to finally understand this one but sometimes what you are looking for is indeed right under your nose.

You can have more than one mid-life crisis. I feel another soft top coming on!!!

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Actionstep

When I reached the summit of Aconcagua last year I knew that I had worked hard. I didn't realise just how hard though until we had to turn round and come back down. Only then did I realise just how hard we had worked to reach that summit. Looking back on my life I now realise just how hard I have worked to be where I am and how much I deserve everything that I have achieved.

So I have a simple action step this time. I have had so much fun looking back over my yeas that I strongly recommend you give it a go.

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Achievements Inventory

I lived the first 50 years of my life in as full and honest way as I possible could given the information and abilities I had at any given time.

I removed myself from a situation that was causing me stress and pressure even though it meant cutting a holiday short. I am particularly proud of this one.

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Feedback

Well I certainly rattled a few cages last time with my "my truth" bit didn't I? Thanks to all who took the time to send me their truth. I received some people's truth about life in general and some people told me their truth about what they thought of my truth. The wonderful thing about it was that each and every one if us is right...according to our truth.

I didn't particularly agree with what some of you said although I would love to drink Guinness with one of you and discuss your truth. And in the old days (pre sensible) I would probably have offered one of you "thee and me outside now" for your opinion of me. But that's the beautiful thing about our own truth. I don't agree with a lot of thing people say to me and about me. However I respect the heck out of your right to say it as long as you say it with conviction and authenticity. So thank you all for taking the time to tell me your truth.

A few of you have asked how I have gone on with my 8's in 8 that I told you about last time? Well I didn't manage to get them all done, but then I think I knew hat when I started. What it did though was help me to focus on some of the things I wanted to get done. I wanted to lose 16 pounds in weight, I lost 12. I wanted to go to my gym 16 times, I managed 12. I wanted to watch 8 of m DVD collection I managed 6. What I am saying here is that although I didn't reach the targets I set I did achieve a lot more than I would have done if I hadn't set any targets at all. It's a bit like the old quote "aim for the moon and you will hit the stars, aim for the pavement and you will hit the gutter." I enjoyed it so much I'm going to do a 4's in 4 over August.

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This months adventure

This month John, Steve and I "went Ape". Some of you might recall that at the beginning of the year a few of us decided that we would arrange something that would take at least some of us out of our comfort zones. If you recall Paul took us to church and I suspect that Steve is going to make us sit through an opera later in the year. I still haven't decided what to throw at them yet. Paul couldn't make this one (he did make it later as you will see) as he was in Iran going ape in another way so it was just the three of us. John wanted to stretch his own comfort zone this time, particularly his wobble about heights and trees and stuff so decided that we would go into the woods and play in the forest, Dalby Forest to be precise. Go Ape is a brilliant half day out for anyone who wants to revisit their youth and become a kid again. Now after ten years in the fire brigade climbing up into high places doesn't hold much of a challenge for me.....but throwing yourself off them with only a piece of cloth around your nether regions between you and the ground did.

After a 40 minute instruction session we were let lose with the rest of the volunteers most of whom were infinitely younger than we were. Old big gob here (that's me by the way) said "let's go first, we don't want o be held up by these kids." Well we missed the boat on that one and ended up going last, and what a blessing it turned out to be. Those pesky kids were off climbing, zip sliding, swinging and generally making it all look very easy while the big boys at the back were making something of a meal of some of the challenges. Steve ended up travelling at about 50 miles an hour upside down on a zip line? John took an age doing a 'black' route and at one point I swear he was crying for his mum and I nearly parted company with the family jewels. All in all though it was probably one of the best uses of £25 that I can think of. If you are interested just Google Go Ape and see where your local one is. I will certainly be going back for another go!

STEVE LOOKS AT LIFE UPSIDE DOWN

JOHN WANTS HIS MUMMY

THERE GO THE FAMILY JEWELS

PAUL MAKES IT FOR THE FINAL PICTURE

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If...

Questions to stimulate conversation either in the office or over dinner.

Q1. IF you had the brass neck to ask for anything you wanted from someone who could help you get it what would you ask for?

Q2. IF you could have been involved in one historic event in the last 50 years what would it have been and what would you have done?

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