The Tutor Podcast

“Never go a day without making at least the smallest amount of progress” In this episode Neil discusses what some of the best things you can do whilst everyone is away for the Christmas holidays and you’re feeling a little low. KEY TAKEAWAYS If you are a bit like me and you feel a bit down because all of your friends are away and unavailable to play guitar together then it may be a good time to have some deep thoughts about who you want to be working with and where. Think about how you want to live and reflect on your past year but be grateful for the present time. Then think about the future and plan for next year, the challenges you may face and the journey you want to take. It’s easy to just avid all of the issues you may face but don’t leave them otherwise it’s likely for them to get worse. Start to work to make good things happen. The purpose of my business is so important to me but it needs to deliver its purpose. Now is a great time to sit down, make a list and start doing the things you need to do in order to move forward. BEST MOMENTS ‘Don’t just stick your head in the ground’ ‘What are your values?’ ‘The magic isn’t in the size of your actions but in the relentlessness of progress.’ ‘If you love what you do then you’ll never work a day in your life’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Atomic Habits – James Clear | Amazon https://amzn.to/37pfC7Z The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change – Charles Duhigg | Amazon https://amzn.to/2O75SYN Do More Great Work – Michael Bungay Stanier | Amazon https://amzn.to/2qlirXm The Tutor Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

I was having a coffee with my friend Katy last week – like me and you she’s a tutor, but she’s not currently tutoring anybody...her students have moved on and the phone has stopped ringing. I explained how I advertise and market my guitar teaching business and how customers found me – all the real-world stuff and the online, too. KEY TAKEAWAYS Out of sight is out of mind, and that’s one place we cannot afford to spend much time in. Step forward: increase the number of people who know you in a positive way: Every person has a network of contacts, the more people who know you positively, the more chance you have of being mentioned to their network. Your marketing system should provide you with a steady stream of students and clients at a cost far below their lifetime value to you and your business – preferably for free. As business people we understand that nobody is coming to the rescue, so we are in charge of our own destinies – and we make it happen for ourselves. Don’t be squeamish about marketing and advertising, because all it is is putting the right service (us) in front of the right people (our tribe/demographic) and giving them the chance to say yes to what they really want and need. BEST MOMENTS 'Book yourself Solid, observing your goals' 'You are your own USP' 'Pay the price – it’s a long game we’re in' VALUABLE RESOURCES Atomic Habits – James Clear | Amazon https://amzn.to/37pfC7Z The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change – Charles Duhigg | Amazon https://amzn.to/2O75SYN Do More Great Work – Michael Bungay Stanier | Amazon https://amzn.to/2qlirXm The Tutor Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

In this episode, Neil explains why the festive period is a double-edged sword for people in the tutoring industry. He discusses how you can make the most of your time during Christmas and the new years break! KEY TAKEAWAYS There are lots of tutors who moan about being poor and don’t have enough money; these are the people who usually shut shop over the Christmas holidays. When you close your business over Christmas and come back, you want your students to be excited to come back to your lessons. Some of your students may not come back though. You could just go part time rather than completely shut down. This can be handy as it gives you the extra time over Christmas but also allows you to keep your students on through to the new year. Don’t forget to remind your students 24 hours before their lesson after the new year. If you’re choosing to carry on over the Christmas break, then as your current students if they want extra bookings which many of mine do. The fill the gaps with students that you have on your waiting list. Gift cards for lessons are a great way to bring in extra income over the Christmas break. This is a great tool to bring more customers into your business too. BEST MOMENTS ‘A special bar humbug from me’ ‘Maintain as much momentum as you can’ ‘Enjoy the downtime, maximise the rest.’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Atomic Habits – James Clear | Amazon https://amzn.to/37pfC7Z The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change – Charles Duhigg | Amazon https://amzn.to/2O75SYN Do More Great Work – Michael Bungay Stanier | Amazon https://amzn.to/2qlirXm The Tutor Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

“Habits are probably THE one thing that separate successful people from unsuccessful people, because what you do – day-to-day – is who you are. The real test of a person is what they do consistently.” – Neil Cowmeadow In today’s episode of The Tutor Podcast, we dive deep in how to do a habit upgrade! No successful person is happy about being stuck on version 1.0, right? As much as possible, we want to improve every time to be the best version of ourselves someday. So, in line with this, Neil shares a few useful strategies on how you can build the machineries of success, aka the ecosystem of habits. No need to perfect things. What makes a difference is when you become purposeful and upgrade things incrementally! KEY TAKEAWAYS Don’t try to be perfect. According to Voltaire, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” You should be happy about how you improve continuously. Baby steps. Small changes add up and even compound one another, therefore bringing you much stable and fulfilling marginal gains. Build an ecosystem of habits—the machinery of success. Again, don’t aim to be perfect through and through. Start out a little, then tweak now and then. Replace worn-out parts, lubricate, upgrade, and maintain the machinery of success. Design the purpose (outcome, resources, location, and time). What outcome do you want? Where do you get the resources? Where will it happen? What will be the duration? When will it start? Identify and write down critical factors. What are the non-negotiable things when you will incorporate a new habit? What old or current habit do you have that you want a new habit be attached? Piggybacking – doing habits simultaneously Tailgating – doing habits sequentially Draw up a model week. Make a template. Designate slots for the non-negotiables (i.e. spending time with your family), for a technology detox, and for your habit blocks. In this way, you’re able to preserve your time and your availability is made aware to the surrounding people. See how it goes for a month or two. Change immediately the obvious mistakes. Always test your model plan. A person will always revert to their normal behaviour (habits) – reversion to the norm shows us who a person is, even who we are – habits are our norms, and we get to decide what they are - and we define ourselves. BEST MOMENTS “Whatever you are, wherever you are at the moment, start with what you got.” “Ask yourself, ‘If I wasn’t already doing this, would I do it now’?” “It’s easier to attach a new habit to something that’s already been a habit.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Atomic Habits – James Clear | Amazon https://amzn.to/37pfC7Z The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change – Charles Duhigg | Amazon https://amzn.to/2O75SYN Do More Great Work – Michael Bungay Stanier | Amazon https://amzn.to/2qlirXm The Tutor Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Today Neil talks about being unapologetic and identifying yourself as an entrepreneur. His tutoring business is all about infecting as many people as possible with his love affair with the guitar and making it as much fun for his students and himself as he can. This means he’s working when everyone else is playing and that can be a problem, particularly for personal relationships and achieving a social life or sometimes just a life! Being an entrepreneur is fundamentally different to what most people do and others can find it difficult to understand but what’s the point of doing less of what you love in order to do something you like less? There is great value and important advice for all entrepreneurs in this episode listen in now. KEY TAKEAWAYS Because it’s your business and you are responsible for your own success or failure, you have to put your commitment into your students and your business ahead of any social activity. You can’t be everywhere and do everything, you will have to make choices – and some of the people around you are not going to like your choices. If you work hard in your business and love every minute of it, a lot of the people around you won’t understand, because it’s so far away from how life is for them. It can be really tough to tell your wife, friends or your kids that you can’t do certain things because you’re working. In some circumstances it can cost you a relationship, strain family ties – but you have to do it, because your business shouldn’t take second place. Be discerning and selective about when you say “yes” and make “no” your default answer to anything which pulls you away from your vision, your business and your values. Entrepreneurs are different they are impatient and want things done they are more positive with more alpha behaviours. As an entrepreneur your energy is different, you have a different vibe and are from a different tribe. What matters is spending more time face-to-face with your own tribe: your students, mentees, collaborators and fellow entrepreneurs – the people who get you Take the time to be there for the people in your life who matter, when it matters – be discerning and remember your business has two main functions: To make money for you To allow you to live life on your own terms and manage your own time. BEST MOMENTS ‘Faces tell stories and entrepreneurs have different more positive wrinkles’ ‘Why are people so keen on holidays is it to escape an ordinary life? if you find your passion you won’t need a holiday’ ‘Remember the golden rule - if it’s not fun don’t do it’ ‘Dignity - I have zero tolerance for drunks. Having been one myself, I’m amazed to see people slosh down a load of booze and completely lose their dignity’ ‘That’s why work/life balance is a crock, and why you shouldn’t fall for that loser’s limp. VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] The Tutor Podcast Twitter

‘There are lots of opportunities around for us to make more and more money and the more we do it the easier it gets’ Neil is returning to the subject of money because how you think about money can have huge consequences for your business and your financial well-being. If your belief systems around money aren’t helping you then they are hurting you and if you don’t master what you think about money, success and wealth you’ll go with any ideas from any source. The money talk is a conversation we should all have with ourselves on a regular basis and in this episode Neil shares how that conversation should go if you want to make your money work for you and grow. KEY TAKEAWAYS Money is just a way of storing value and a great mechanism for exchanging value with very little effort and friction. Money is the by-product of excellence and the best way to get more money is to become more valuable and get paid what you are worth because people won’t give you money if you are not worth anything. If you haven’t already got one build yourself a money bucket and get started when that one’s up and running successfully then start another and fill it with more money. There are basic rules to getting wealthy and like any sport, if you don’t know the rules you can’t take part in the game successfully or effectively. There are lots of opportunities around for us to make more and more money and the more we do it the easier it gets Bad debt is what you owe to pay for liabilities such as a car. Good debt is what you owe to purchase money-making assets such as a mortgage on a rental property. Good debt is a debt that costs you less than the income it permits you to generate. Understand the difference between good and bad debt and put it to work for you. Embrace the tax system – if you learn how the system works you can learn how to minimise how much you pay legally. Don’t take money advice from someone who hasn’t got any money! Get around people who have money and it will rub off on you. Value money and you’ll attract more to you, make a conscious choice to have or not have money. When you have money use it for good by your own standards. The money game is fascinating and fun. If you do it right the odds are in your favour if you blunder in uneducated the odds are against you but if you don’t get in the game you are at massive risk and cannot possibly win. BEST MOMENTS ‘Set up a savings bank account and begin today’ ‘It’s much easier than bartering and let’s face it you can’t put a pig in your wallet!’ ‘Money in itself is neutral a resource that can be used for good or bad, it only amplifies who you are’ ‘The nicest people I’ve ever met have all been wealthy people whilst at the other end of the social scale the skint people tend to be a lot less pleasant’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] The Tutor Podcast Twitter

Neil explain how using WonderVerbs can boost your teaching to another level. In this episode Neil shares how intertwines WonderVerbs into his teaching and how you can too. Listen to this episode to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS The best way to include WonderVerbs into your teaching is to download them in PDF form, print them out then weave them into your lessons. You can find them on Neilcowmeadow.com Always add to your verbs so that you don’t become stagnant. It’s always good to see how your students respond to new powerful words too. Create different, better and stickier sentences so that they capture, intrigue and motivate your students. Mucking about with language and stories can help when teaching as it keeps your lessons interesting. BEST MOMENTS ‘Conger pictures and intrigue your students.’ ‘Create sentences that revolve around your wonder words’. ‘Stumbling is a necessary stage.’ ‘Don’t let your words be dull.’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com www.Neilcowmeadow.com/free ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] The Tutor Podcast Twitter

Effective communication isn’t a one-way street. Listening is as much a part of effective communication as speaking, but what’s the best way to really listen to what’s being said? If you’re in the business of tutoring, then it’s especially important to hear what’s being said and understand what’s going on, as by doing so we can decide on the best way of instructing our students. In this special episode, Neil shares some of his wisdom on the best ways of spotting potential communication blocks, and how to deal with them. KEY TAKEAWAYS Compliant responders work with you. They want to say yes, so go with it. Polar responders go against what you’re saying and often argue against what you’re suggesting. By dropping your breath and allowing for pauses, you’ll force your student to mentally concentrate harder, as well as relax. By adding the word “yet” to a statement of defeat such as “I can’t do that”, you’ll coerce them into mentally believing that any limitations are temporary. Tricky procedures or difficult processes can always be surmounted by gradual improvement. You can make your way around any obstacle if you go slow enough. Sometimes all that’s needed is a change of mental interpretation. If a student believes their fingers are slow and heavy, ask them to imagine that they’re swift and nimble. It’s a technique that often produces instant results. BEST MOMENTS ’Surely they can’t mess THAT up!’ ‘It’s all useful information’ ‘You can eat an elephant eventually if you slice it up thin enough’ ’Their words are windows to their minds' VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Weave these three strands into your tutoring and your self to become more persuasive and get people to trust you more. In this episode Neil explains what these 3 strands are and how you can apply them to your life. KEY TAKEAWAYS It’s not all necessarily about the knowledge you know that makes you a good teacher but it’s the way you communicate it across. ETHOS: Establish yourself as credible before anything else. You can do this in the form of the way you physically dress, the terminology you use or your surroundings. CAREOS: Display your ethos everywhere and show you’ve mastered the skill before you teach it. PATHOS: This is any form of emotional response. As you weave in Pathos to your story you grab the attention of the audience. Sharing your emotional highs and lows makes you come across as more human. LOGOS: This is any tangible research that supports your ideas. You can use statistics, data or facts. Until the audience knows your credible they wont believe in what you’re saying so use this to gain their trust. If you don’t have Ethos your audience will be asking themselves why they should listen to you. Without Pathos your delivery will be dry and without Logos, your audience will think you’re just spouting off about your opinions. BEST MOMENTS ‘Tell stories within the framework of the persuasion, known as rhetoric’ ‘You only need 3 things, like a tripod needs 3 legs’ ‘Layer it in as you go without making you look like an egotistic idiot’ ‘Show your audience that what you’re showing matters’. VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] The Tutor Podcast Twitter

‘Your whole life gets to be a whole lot more fun when you decide what’s normal for you’ This absorbing episode explores what normal is and why we should all be able to choose and take control of our own normal in life. By definition tutors and entrepreneurs have chosen to walk a different path, a path of their own and this podcast is an invaluable insight into how we can calibrate and regulate normality to stay happy and healthy. KEY TAKEAWAYS Normal is mostly perceptual, Philosophers and psychologists wrangle about what’s real versus what is subjective and objective but they agree that how we respond to, and interpret anything that is done to us impacts on well-being and mental health. Normal is what happens most of the time it’s how we’d ordinarily behave and ordinarily think. We moderate all the external stimuli through our beliefs and behaviours and this interpretation is manifested in the way we respond and behave. We always have a choice and unless we exercise that choice today will just be yesterday repeating itself. Decide on your own personal normality, how to do it and how to create a better reality out of that better normality. Visualise in detail your perfect day and over time repeat and refine it clarifying in your mind what you ultimately want and then take action. When you set up a trajectory for your life each small action makes a difference and if you keep doing it, it becomes a habit, your normality. Those small changes build into a different way of moving through the world and as you change your business will change with you. Over the course of a lifetime the change is huge, just keep on recalibrating normality every day. We all create our own lives and decide what normal looks, sounds, feels and smells like for us and it's vital to take control of your own normal. BEST MOMENTS ‘Luck as got nothing to do with it I get to do what I love every day because I chose it’ ‘I like most people grew up learning to fit in and accept things the way they were, to go with the flow, not make waves or stand out from the crowd’ ‘You can’t fly like an eagle when you roost with turkeys’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] The Tutor Podcast Twitter

Do the small things every day that will aggregate over time to a critical mass and boom! As someone with over 20 years, experience and expertise as a tutor, coach and business mentor Neil reflects on the reoccurring theme of being an overnight success. He explores how and why we perceive individuals as having always been successful and provides some great practical tips on how you can create a critical mass that will make the difference from the little things you do consistently every day. Listen in and find out more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Overnight success We tend to see how people are now and assume they are just that way when in reality everyone is constantly in transition and evolving year after year refining their approaches, developing and tweaking ideas. You only see the carefully managed image that someone chooses to show. You don’t see the history or the time it took to arrive at the present. Nobody is an overnight success; The little things It all takes time whatever you are involved in and there will be setbacks and disappointments along the way. Whether you are only just starting or planning to grow your business it takes time. If you put the work in and consistently focus on the day to day processes everyday things will move forward. Paying daily attention to the little things adds up over time. Goals The human mind doesn’t like vagueness it thrives on specifics and a short timeline can be setting you up to fail. Everyone overestimates what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in a decade. Having goals is a vital part of any business and thinking 10 to 15 years ahead is an effective time frame for your business vision - what you can imagine and what you can conceive looking forwards. We don’t notice the tiny changes as they occur but we see them when they achieve critical mass That single first student has become a booked solid schedule, your income exceeds what most people earn, your life and business fuse into a constant stream of fun and you are making a positive impact on people’s lives. This is when the realisation that you’ve achieved can make you feel like an overnight success. When it happens to you, enjoy it you’ve earned it, paid for it and deserve it because you did the little unseen daily things and put the time and achieved your critical mass, so party on! BEST MOMENTS ‘There are highly talented and skilled tutors who are scrapping around for clients because they have not set any goals’ ‘Some of us will carefully plan our businesses but some wont’ ‘They lurch from crisis to crisis in a perpetual state on emergency and stress but I know that paying daily attention to the little things adds up over time VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] The Tutor Podcast Twitter

In today's episode, Neil discusses how he schedules his lessons and why he isn't keen on taking lots of breaks during the teaching day. "Maybe I’ll ring a bell in your mind, maybe you’ll think differently and have a different approach – either way, take whatever is useful from here and do let me know your thoughts and ideas."KEY TAKEAWAYS First of all, I confess to not liking breaks very much: I teach back-to-back lessons, usually in blocks of 4 or 5 hours. A couple of my tutoring friends think I’m working too hard and should have a break between every lesson, but I can’t agree with them. There’s not much I like to do more than teaching, so I want to do it as much as I can, whenever I can, and as often as I can. That’s also why I don’t do holidays – because not doing something that’s incredibly rewarding and massive fun in order to do anything less fun just doesn’t make sense to me. I do limit my face-to-face teaching time to 50 hours a week, so I want to concentrate my 50 chargeable hours into highly productive blocks. Peak time for me is between 5pm and 10pm weekdays, so I usually book that period solid and don’t schedule a break for myself. I’ll book the rest of the day in booked-solid blocks, consolidating as many lessons as I can into each day. Breaks don’t pay the rent – let’s say you charge £50 an hour for your tuition – every 30 minute break costs you £25 – or to put it another way, your hourly rate drops to £40per hour. Breaks disturb my rhythm – I’m much happier as one lesson runs into the next, there’s a sort of momentum built up and my energy stays high when I’m teaching – breaks, on the other hand, are slumps in my energy, so I have to regain that momentum every time I take a break. To me it’s like driving in stop-go traffic, accelerating from rest and working up through the gears uses more petrol than cruising at a steady 60mph on the motorway. Breaks break my state – When I’m teaching I’m at my best – alert, interested, enthusiastic, funny, caring and committed: this is how I love to feel and how I love to move through the world. Every unnecessary break I take moves me out of that state and is a less enjoyable experience. Teaching is bliss – it is something I love to do - I’m in flow, most of the time – Mihaili Czikzhentmihaili – peak state. Time distortion: hours fly by in a pleasurable state for me – I project that and my students pick up on it, too. I believe it makes me a more effective teacher, too. VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

‘Most of the time our emotions manage us, we don’t manage them’ In this episode, Neil explores how our emotional state impacts on our responses and how this, in turn, influences how we are perceived. This is a fascinating look at how our emotions work and what we can do to be in control of our emotions and use them as a positive resource. Listen in and find out how you can be in control positively. KEY TAKEAWAYS What are emotions? They are unregulated responses to stimuli and come from the mid part of your brain. Emotions are fast responses and they can be so powerful that they completely take over. This can be dangerous if the response is anger because this emotion blocks out any regulating thought. Emotions are generally just triggered by the beliefs you hold in your mind. A belief is a decision you’ve made once based on the information you had at the time you can change your beliefs based on having different or better information. Your predominant emotional state usually defines your perceived personality; Depressed people spend more time feeling low about things whilst optimists spend more time looking at the positive. Everyone’s personality is essentially driven by emotional states and you get to decide the state you are in. Master your emotions You’ve got to master your emotions or they will master you. What goes on around you is essentially neutral and how you respond is crucial. Whatever happens, the first thing to do is take a pause, – say nothing, do nothing notice the emotional spike within as you begin to respond ask yourself is this a helpful response? If it is not, imagine the best response and recognise when it begins to occur in you. There are events every day in tutoring and you can choose to respond positively every time. Develop a teaching state Developing a separate teaching state of mind can be very helpful, ask yourself the question; What would be the very best version of me do? Keep your problems out of the teaching space Whatever your personal worries or challenges you must not bring them into your teaching space. They are your student, not your counsellor and if you are a mess you will lose your position of authority If you display any negative emotions it is bad for business. Whatever happens – pause and think about what the best response is, and use it You can come to terms with lots of challenges in this way and the more you do it the better you get at it. We all experience emotions so it makes sense to be in control and manage them positively The forces that are already driving you are either adversaries or resources for you to use. BEST MOMENTS ‘Things going on in the world are not about you, leave your ego at the door and respond to whatever is coming to you in your own chosen way’ ‘Decide how you want to respond and apply that to everything that happens’ ‘It's important to understand that people often invent bullshit stories and fake reasons, this is a way of protecting themselves and their own egos’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

When you’re in business yourself it’s easy to get sucked into doing the same day to day things. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil explains the best and most effective way, that he’s found, to work in your business and not on your business. KEY TAKEAWAYS Become invisible for a day or two every month, get off of the grid and eliminate all of the distractions like phone and emails. I find that at home it’s harder to do thins and completely get away so I like to be completely away somewhere else in a different location. Clear a whole page in your diary and go into ‘total lockdown mode.’ As soon as it’s in your diary then commit to it. Ensure you have a plan. Book a venue where you can sit and get stuff done. Order food and drinks at specific times and plan when you will take breaks so that you know exactly how your day is mapped out. Structuring the day will help you to stay on course and get the work of great value to you done. Getting away from your usual surroundings can also help to clear your thinking which will bring new ideas to mind. Having a different place to work in can take the emotion out of the business. The location of where you go away should be far enough that you can just pop back home to do something. If You really can’t get out or away from your normal place of working, then hiding your car around the corner can be a good method of stopping people from distracting me. Make a habit of doing this every month so that you can get the really important work done. BEST MOMENTS ‘Being busy can blindside us to working on instead of working in our business.’ ‘It’s great to be wrong about stuff because being wrong gives you an update on your thinking and how you can do better. ‘If It’s really important, you will hear about it’ ‘You’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to think when you’re away from your desk’. ‘Don’t be a busy fool’. VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] Twitter: @Tutorpodcast

‘Get started, the difference between 0 and 1 is all the difference in the world, make that difference and then it’s just scaling-up’ It’s the time of year when things are changing, schools start a new year - new students begin, schedules are reorganised and it’s time to maximise revenues. This is a good time to start working on your tutoring business so where do you begin? Neil is talking about how his own journey started and has some great advice about how you can get started as a tutor and create a business that will give you the life you want. KEY TAKEAWAYS Having a Mentor When you are beginning anything its key to find a mentor, someone who has been there and knows the way, they will hold you accountable, support and guide you. Learn everyday Look at those around you in tutoring who are doing well, what are they doing? Take a proven model and use it, adapting it to suit you. Which wider business models work well? keep notes and use them in your business. Read or listen to business and finance books and podcasts regularly. Where to begin Begin your business by designing it around your own wants and needs. The purpose of your business is to give you the life you want so you must know what this is, be selfish. Construct your perfect day in detail and use this as a basis to allocate time to your important activities first. What is your unique selling proposition (USP)? why are you special? Finding students There is no point in being brilliant if no one knows about you. You must tell everyone what you are doing and that you are the best tutor for them. Develop your elevator pitch and let everyone know what you do. Marketing Harness the power of social media to get yourself known. Get into local sales groups and discussion boards, where people are asking each other where can I find….? You must have an online presence; it is a non-negotiable. Post content that is subject-specific as this will enable search engines to find you. Be Professional Work on your business as well as in it. As a business make sure you keep records of sales, expenses and mileage. Register with HMRC, set up a business bank account and monitor your progress. Always think like a business person, be efficient and make the best use of your time. My whole business revolves around me, what I love to do on my terms. Get started – because that’s the difference that makes all the difference. BEST MOMENTS ‘I love mentoring, and I want to help even more people get paid for doing what they love’ ‘The more people you help the more your life gets better’ ‘Get the biggest benefit out for the smallest input in’ ‘What is it you are truly fabulous at?’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Now is the best time. Now is ALWAYS the best time. Let yourself be seen and heard. How can you offer your service to the right people if they don’t know who to approach? You got to find your clients if you want to be big as a private tutor. Neil says that since the school summer holiday is coming up, make the best out of this break to market your services. Holidays are a perfect time to talk to parents about how you can give better than what their kids’ school offers. Seize the opportunities now! Get seen, get hired, get paid. Start tuning in to The Tutor Podcast to learn more. KEY TAKEAWAYS School summer holidays serve as a rest for students and educators alike. For the UK, there’s a peak demand for travel, traffic jams, and inflated prices. Is the timetable for schools still applicable with the education provided in the present? Neil believes that learning should be perpetual and that the school calendars should be re-evaluated. Private tutors should take advantage of these times. Most parents are dissatisfied with how their kids receive their education these days. They’re looking for tutors that can provide better education compared to what the school offers, and they’re prepared to pay them well to do this. Double down on your marketing. “The job of marketing is to make the product or service more visible to potential customers and to capture their attention – and ultimately occupy mind space.” Make your brand and service you offer visible through signages, banners, clothing merchandises, etc. Talk to people and let them do the spreading of the news about you. BEST MOMENTS “I’m bewildered that education system has not moved with the times.” “Being a tutor is the best thing that you can do with your skills and knowledge.” “Do whatever you can to be seen and get noticed.” “You have to get yourself seen and found.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

There’s a certain satisfaction in taking the train - safely, confidently delivering you to your destination without the hassles of traffic while generally providing you with a pleasant landscape along the way. In Neil’s opinion, that’s how life should be - we get on at a predetermined destination and move through our day automatically, or “running on rails”. Often in business we find ourselves becoming overwhelmed by our daily tasks, which gradually encroach upon our lives until we find ourselves overtaken and overwhelmed. This can lead to less free time and a steadily dissatisfied home life. We need to remember that our work lives, too, need to be “running on rails”. By following Neil’s practical tips, you can make sure your work life runs on rails, and by doing so, make life that little bit more pleasant. KEY TAKEAWAYS Waking Time - Set your wake up time for the same each morning, but make sure it’s not too early. Get the sleep you need! Morning Routine - Whether it’s exercise, meditation, journalling, or even the steps you take in order to feel fresh for the day, treat it like routine. And make sure you dress the part. Big Tasks Time - There has to be a set time each day for the nitty-gritty of work, that period of the day in which you get things done, and take care of the “big dogs”, the tasks that absolutely have to be overcome. Learning Time - Devote a portion of each day ti improving yourself somehow, whether by reading, watching documentaries, or listening to podcasts. Self-improvement is the key to lasting happiness. Work Time - When you work, work your hardest! Meal Times - Take scheduled stops to refuel. Nap Times - Naps can completely refresh your day, provide you with a burst of energy, and improve your daily outlook. Stop Times - Know when to go home and stick to it! You don’t have to achieve everything in a single day. Remember that you should always finish when you’re done, not when it’s done! Leisure Time - Mark your holidays on a calendar. It gives you something to aim for. Remember that work fits around you and your family, not the other way around. Bed Time - Have a set bed time and stick to it. Set an alarm if you need to, but make your way to bed at that predetermined time each night. Have a bed time routine, too. Fill in your journal, turn off your screens, repeat any mantras or self-hypnosis techniques you may use. BEST MOMENTS ‘I’ll probably grow out of it eventually… one day…' ‘Lay a track that will take you from where you are to where you want to go every single day’ ‘I visualise a four man bobsleigh team’ ‘I will not slob around the house in a manky onesie looking like a bag of crap’ ‘If you’re not learning, then what business do you have in being a teacher?’ ‘One single idea can be worth a fortune' 'Finish when you’re done, not when it’s done' VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

‘Why is doubt universal and what can we do about it? In this episode, Neil tackles the demons of doubt, universally experienced by us all. He explains why self-doubt is his kryptonite and what he does to proactively banish the doubts. If you want to build your life of choice, happiness and wealth then doubt and fear must be overcome, listen in and find out how. KEY TAKEAWAYS Ask anyone who works for themselves, any entrepreneur and they’ll tell you about the demons of self-doubt. For some, the feelings are so intense it results in them never starting their own business even though it may be what they truly desire. Even if you are successful the doubt still lurks, it is always going to be there in varying aspects of your business. Why does everyone have self-doubt? It’s an integral aspect of the human psyche and although it may not be possible to eliminate it, we can take steps to manage it. An important rule to remember is that whatever has precedence has dominance, whatever you were, you will continue to believe yourself to be. Until you can alter your sense of identity and sense of self to that of a confident tutor and successful entrepreneur you will continue to experience self-doubt. In order to banish doubt, you need to be emotionally secure and have evidence that you are good at what you do. What can we do about doubt? It’s vital to take a proactive approach in the fight against self-doubt Work on your identity, your identity is the deepest level of self, defining who you are. Begin using an affirmation and repeat it every day, saying it with conviction. Your unconscious mind will respond to this. Make the affirmation part of your daily journal writing. In doing this you reprocess and reabsorb the message. An elevator pitch is also an affirmation when you are asked what you do your response can communicate to others and affirm to you what you are and what you do. Create a money mantra based on how much you want to earn each year and write it down repeating every day the amount and why you are worth it. A memory book needs to be kept up to date and records all the good things about your work, testimonials, reviews and thankyous. These all form evidence that will chase away the doubts. The aim is to create a wall of evidence which doubt cannot overcome. You should be building it every day. Doubt and its counterpart fear are trying to keep you in the same place. You must build your life of choice, happiness, wealth and opportunity in the business you have chosen and exert your positive influence on students, clients and anyone who knows you. BEST MOMENTS ‘Whatever you believe yourself to be now will try to stay the same’ ‘Let’s get into the ring with the doubts and give them a good thrashing’ Take action and bring it into reality’ ‘When you begin a tutoring business there will be many challenges to overcome’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In today’s day and age, we can find it difficult to separate ourselves from our mobile phones, some may even suffer from anxiety and withdrawal symptoms, scientists are now referring to this a Nomophobia. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil shares his helpful tips on how he distances himself away his mobile phone, allowing us to focus on ourselves, our relationships and our business’. ‘This is the most challenging thing and the most rewarding thing you will do’ KEY TAKEAWAYS Text messages and emails can be damaging to business and relationships as it is easy for people to miscommunicate and misinterpret what the other person is saying. Even if you don’t respond to a message because you are too busy, some people may think you are ignoring them and take it personally. Your phone emits radiation. It operates on the same frequency as your microwave, Neil explains how frequently using your mobile phone is slow cooking your brain. Try to avoid using your phone before falling asleep, your brain will always reprocess and overthink about the last thing you saw before you fall asleep, if you experience some late night drama on social media, this can seriously affect your night’s sleep. Don’t text and drive, don’t be that moron. Every time you’re paying attention to your phone, you’re not paying attention to anything else. Phone can be damaging for your productivity, recent studies show that it can take up to 23 minutes for you to regain focus after a distraction, think about how many notification you get everyday… hide your phone away Don’t be afraid to be a pain in the arse to get hold of, turn off your notifications or just turn it off and crack on with your business. BEST MOMENTS ‘Remember your phone is supposed to be a tool, don’t let it use you.’ ‘However crap you think you are, the chances are nobody else has noticed, they’re too busy thinking about their own stuff to worry about you’ ‘If they’re paying for your time, let’s give them 100% of our attention’ ‘Your mobile phone will devastate your productivity’‘reclaim your time, maybe even reclaim your life’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

‘Do it now, do it before you need it, because sooner or later you will need it’ Here to help you as always, if you’re already in the business, and to egg you on if you think you’d like to be in this business, in this episode Neil talks about how to specialise and diversify to survive successfully in these changing times. He shares his expertise and experience of developing multiple streams of income to de-risk his life and provides comprehensive advice on how you can do it too. KEY TAKEAWAYS We live in changing times; Technology and artificial intelligence will make many jobs obsolete. Society is changing and people are becoming more insular and passive in their interactions, they are ‘Spectators on the touchlines of life’. Our businesses are affected by the demographic, an aging population and the economic climate, factors over which we have no control. What are you going to do when your skills are not relevant anymore? Have a plan A (what you are doing currently), a plan B and a plan C. You must keep learning and upskilling - it’s all about long term survival. De-risk your life Don’t be ordinary – become exceptional at what you do and then people won’t be able to do without you. Minimise your downtime, work as hard as you can throughout the workday. Charge top dollar for your services because you are worth it. Develop other products around what you do. Always search for potential add-ons that you can build upon. Multiple skills lower your exposure to risk. Make a decision to divide your time and resources. Begin by allocating 20% of resources to the next project. When your first and second streams of income are systemised, you can move to add another income stream. How to diversify Look at what you do currently and how you can generate passive income from these activities such as products and licensing. There are always opportunities out there for new businesses, joint ventures, parallel businesses. Changes Stuff happens and your life can change in a heartbeat. If you only have one skill, one income stream or the limitations of your own time you are at risk. The only certainty we have is that things will change. It’s vital to become the master within your own optimised business and diversify looking for other things you can do when you can't do the job you are currently doing. BEST MOMENTS ‘Above all else – give yourself the freedom to choose’ ‘I’m passionate about growing your business beyond doing a few guitar lessons’ ‘Your best protection is to be extremely good at what you do’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil covers how to start having an opportunity mind-set and how you can use it to benefit your life, whether that’s starting your own business or improving your life. KEY TAKEAWAYS Ask yourself what’s good about this? Where’s the opportunity in it? Then ask what’s next? It’s a good starting base for finding opportunities. Nobody can do the learning for us and we’ve got to find the opportunities ourselves. It’s about your mind-set. The mind-set of opportunity allows us to dream a little bigger, teach a little better and help a little more. Through practise we can get better and better. When your mind-set becomes thinking in this way, you will be able to see that there’s opportunity everywhere. Always be looking for opportunity because if you’re not then the likeliness of you finding nothing is high. BEST MOMENTS ‘We don’t learn entrepreneurship at school.’ ‘Often we’re building on no knowledge of the journey we’re on.’ ‘If we survive we must carry on learning.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Neil discusses the importance of mental rehearsal and how you can use it to help your students, or yourself, to improve the way you play or teach. Listen to this episode to find out how you can use mental rehearsal to improve the way you teach your students and how you can use it to enable them to improve their skills too. KEY TAKEAWAYS Mental rehearsal is a vital component of what I do, and try to get my students to do, day to day. Everyone should be using this and encouraging to do this because practising in the mind allows you to practise perfectly without any mistakes, unlike if you were to practise in real life. Mental rehearsal presents very low resistance to the idea of practising and can be done anywhere at any time. How do you teach your students to mentally rehearse? Get them to visualise themselves playing perfectly with excellent technique and control. Get them to see themselves looking happy and enjoying playing. Ask them how they can see themselves moving when they play. Tweak this vision until it’s perfect, the nature, quality and movement. Make the image really colourful, bright and bold. Use the piece of the music that they’re working on at the moment. Have the student zoom in and out of the image to see what they’re doing with each hand when mentally rehearsing. When the mental rehearsal is over, the lessons and learnings from the mental movie can be taken away for when they practise in real life. Don’t believe what the artists are doing in any instrumental music video is how to play the song, most of the time the music is pre recorded then lip sank. This could even be therapeutic and relaxing. The more you do it, the more vivid you will be able to remember make the mental movie real. You can apply mental rehearsal to teaching too, it doesn’t’ just have to be for students. BEST MOMENTS ‘When you practise mentally, it can be perfect every time.’ ‘Shape the movie to what they want.’ ‘Go from Third person to First person.’ ‘They should do it as often as they can whenever they like’ ‘Play back the music that they’re learning.’ ‘Best time for mental rehearsal is just before bed.’ We, and our students, can become better versions of ourselves in our minds.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

"Well, what do I mean by 'care excessively'?" In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil gets to the point of why we as tutors should not only care, but argues that we should care excessively. Join Neil as he touches on the psychology of the Presenting Problem and why it is important for your tutoring business! KEY TAKEAWAYS I think it’s a great by-product of being a tutor that we are held in very high regard and are trusted by our students. So, what should we, as tutors, do when a student asks questions or raises issues which are outside of what we were hired to teach?Should we simply ask the student to focus on the task at hand, or allow them to be curious and do our best to help them? In medicine, therapy and hypnosis there’s something called The Presenting Problem – it’s the reason the client or patient booked the session. But here’s the thing – the presenting problem is usually just the surface level of what they really want. On a deeper level, there’s something else entirely. Now, if I confine myself to only discussing and dogmatically insisting that ALL we ever speak about is the Problem – two bad things will happen: Bad Thing #1 – lessons will be really boring and client turnover will be high. That’s bad for business and for my mental health! It also breaks my first Secret Golden Rule – “Don’t do anything that isn’t fun” Bad Thing #2 – I might never get beyond the Presenting Problem of their guitar playing and understand the person sitting across the room from me. Listen in and make sure you get in touch with Neil and let him know your thoughts. ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

What is teaching all about? Teaching all about leaving a legacy in the hearts, minds and souls of all of your students. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil gives you an insight on how he records his legacy and the importance of doing so. KEY TAKEAWAYS All coached and tutors should have one. What is an encyclopaedia of applied fantasticness? It’s my memory book where I keep a personal record of the people I’ve enjoyed teaching and coaching. It’s for the notes, cards and photos etc… that I’ve received from all of my students and clients. Being a tutor is such a privilege and so much better than any other job I’ve ever done. I look at my encyclopaedia of applied fantasticness when I’m feeling down to remind myself of the brilliant students I’ve worked with and taught and how I’ve impacted their lives in a positive way. That nagging feeling of unreality, being a fraud and impostor syndrome fades when I look at my encyclopaedia of applied fantasticness. If you haven’t already got one, start one. It’s memories of great times you’ve had with students and proof of you not being an impostor for when you get that feeling. BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s hard to believe that by sharing my life long love affair of guitar has had such a massive impact on peoples lives.’ ‘Keep calm and have an awesome day.’ ‘Have a fantastic day.’ ‘You’ll leave a legacy of fantasticness.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Neil discusses his top tips on how to keep positive especially when you come across problems or challenges that you may face within general life. It’s important not to take life problems and challenges personally because we’re all human and have 1 life to life so there’s no point wasting time and energy feeling negatively about life’s hiccups. Listen in to find out more… KEY TAKEAWAYS Things do go wrong. All problems and challenges are part of life; you’ve got to get over it. Problems are not personal. Consider whether you have control over these problems/issues. If you do have control over them then it means you have the option to change it, if so then roll your sleeves up! If you can’t change them then don’t waste time and energy on trying to change them. Ask yourself what the worst way you could respond to these problems is then think of better responses you could choose. Then ask which is the one that would lead to the best success? Find the opportunity within the problems. In every situation of change, there is an opportunity. If your plans don’t work out, then just make another plan. Make a plan which now reflects the events, circumstances and changes that are going on around you. Bring your plan up to date. It’s a chance to refine your thinking and adapt and respond to the changes that are inevitable within business. When people let you down, accept that some people just won't make the cut. Ask yourself are you expecting too much of people. When people let you down they’re showing you who really they are. They’ll give you clarity which is a good thing. When you do have to get rid of people from your life then just remember they were taking up space for other really great people. You will change but if your work is in line with your values then it will be a positive thing. How we feel minute to minute it’s up to us. It’s how you choose to feel about situations and how you come back from them. BEST MOMENTS ‘Things will go wrong.’ ‘Stuff happens but you need to deal with reality.’ ‘Divert your energy to change your view of the problem’ ‘If you’re not looking for opportunity then it will pass you by so ask yourself where’s the good in this or what’s the positives.’ ‘Always remember to find out what’s good in any situation.’ ‘remember to say revolute on your direction but stay flexible with the route on which you get there.’ ‘When things change around you then adapt to the change. Make use of the change.’ ‘The sooner you spot a duffer, the sooner you spot a tosser, the better.’ ‘Be prepared to loose people on the way.’ ‘Never be afraid to loose a tosser and if you do need to then do it as fast as you can.’ ‘Count your blessings.’ ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

The last thing you want while building your tower of success is to see it crumble down. It’s important that you create and solidify a master plan. It serves as the map while you are on your journey towards your goal. A master plan doesn’t have to be sternly followed; it is flexible depending on the current milestones you’re receiving and the better opportunities that come. Neil also shares today his own master plan for his tutor business. The most important thing is that you contribute value to others along the way. Discover where you should start and why should do it in this episode of The Tutor Podcast. KEY TAKEAWAYS Have a plan. That’s always the first step. Once you have a plan, everything will fall right into their proper place. It gets ingrained in your mind that you got something you need to do. Once you wake up, the immediate thought is about how to execute the planning bit by bit. It’s easier to look for opportunities when you know where you’re going. You set an eye on things that will help you achieve your goal smoothly. Contributing value to others is what you should priorities if you’re looking into starting a business, not wealth. The money will follow when you do great at serving others. According to Neil, honesty is the key value that business should uphold, and behind this, fun, understanding support, and flexibility follow. It’s important to write down what you stand for so you can go back to them if you’re losing focus and feeling lost. Neil’s 3 Biggest Annual Priorities: Deliver unique message to students and listeners. Increase visibility. Understand the marketplace. If there are tasks that need to be delegated to others so you can concentrate on more important tasks for the business, do it. It’s most likely that other people are far better at doing some jobs than you. Know where you need to focus. BEST MOMENTS “The reason that you must have a plan is it constrains your thinking – it forces you to keep on track.” “Amateurs dabble and stumble one from one week to next. They’re very reactive to external conditions. They tend to jump from things to other things.” “Focus on the most important things. Build a business in which you can create more value.” “My business’ mission is to change how the world plays the guitar and to create happier and more fulfilled human beings.” “With a little bit of repetition and the right inputs, you don’t need the mythical quality of talent.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil discusses the best ways to deal with customers who are price whores or special request clients. These two types of clients are often ones that are best avoided. Neil also covers alternative routes that you could take if you don’t necessarily want to turn the opportunity of a new client down. Listen in to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS In my experience there are only 2 types of customers. Your dream type of customers (which we looked at in episode 10) who are you’re looking to aim your services at. The other type of customer is ‘the rest’ which is everyone who isn’t necessarily your perfect match. There are 2 types of people who I choose not to deal with. Price whores and special request people. Price whores are looking for the cheapest price and best deals only. Special request people tend to be prima-donnas who often think they’re more special in some way so expect special treatments. They often make demands rather than requests and are most likely going to be a real pain in the arse. Stand your ground with your price whores and special cases. If you yield and give a special discount to a price whore, then you are dishonouring your current students and what they’re paying you. Ask questions to price whores to ensure they’re only looking for a cheap price. E.g. You can have good or cheap. Not both. Which would you like? The people with special demands tend to be entitled and cancel last minute. They often don’t do the work after they go home. The often think that they will become great just because they’ve paid for a tutor. So get paid upfront. Have your prefect week written down and then put a price on it. Anything that takes you away from your perfect week then ensure the rewards are substantial so it’s worth taking time off of your perfect week in order to make it happen. BEST MOMENTS “Golden rule number 2 is DDWT – Don’t deal with tossers. (As discussed in episode 3)” “Until the person on the phone becomes a student, they are a stranger.” “Your current customers deserve your loyalty.” “You’ve got to do the drills to get the skills.” “Never negotiate on price. There shouldn’t be a need to settle for less.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In this episode of The Tutor Podcast Neil covers what utilisation and compliance are and how they are linked. He also explains how these can be used to enhance your tutoring and get the best outs=comes for your students. KEY TAKEAWAYS Certainty is a sense that I know exactly what I’m doing. Convey that certainty to your students so they know that you’re really good at what you do. The Milgram study showed that people are more likely to comply to an authority figure. Utilisation ties into the idea of certainty because if we’re constantly being surprised by things, we undermined ourselves as being experts. “Resistance is created by a lack of clarity” which I believe translates to “the student will fear failure if the teacher is uncertain of a successful outcome for the student”. A person who completely certain of themselves is infinitely more convincing of a person who is doubtful of a successful outcome. Use language that conveys certainty. BEST MOMENTS “Authority is one of the biggest drivers of compliant behaviour” “Utilisation is the idea of everything being expected and there are no surprises” “There’s no need to be perfect out of the box.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected] https://twitter.com/tutorpodcast

‘We can get hurt by it and learn to fear rejection or we can learn from it and recognise it’s a natural consequence of being in the tutoring business’ Neil tackles rejection and explores the varied situations in which tutors can be rejected and the ways in which you can learn and adapt if you understand the rejection and respond in positive ways that are focused on developing your business and moving forward. If you want to understand why sometimes be rejected is the best way forward then tune in now! KEY TAKEAWAYS Everyone suffers from rejection and how you respond to it is a choice. It can knock your confidence but it’s important to look at the reasons and understand it is not personal. If your values are not aligned with the potential client then it can be better to not work together. You should consider this more long-term view when you respond to the rejection. It important to look for patterns, it is possible you are repeatedly doing something that is leading to rejection. Rejection is an invaluable opportunity to learn and adapt, what you are doing to effectively meet the needs of your clients. There are a range of situations as a tutor where rejection is possible; The no show students – it’s important to set yourself the rule of not dealing with these types of people. Students who quit - Students priorities are not the same as those of the tutor, asking and finding out why they are quitting establishes communication that can help to ensure the student knows they can return later. Not getting hired by a new prospect – this can be due to a mismatch in values and approaches between you and the client. Not getting hired by parents- this is often influenced by schedules and the logistics of getting the student to you at the required time. Not getting hired by institutions – these form only one possible income stream and there are costs involved in whatever you are doing if you are working for schools your time for other revenue streams is limited. Telephone tyre-kickers – these are price driven commodity consumers; you must value the service and expertise you offer. If you are able to eliminate these individuals at the telephone stage then you can save valuable time further on in the process. Email enquiries that don’t get back to you – sending a communication to clarify why they didn’t follow through with the booking can provide helpful feedback. If you’re in the game there is a price to pay and rejection is part of it, it is the way in which we respond, learn and adapt that is vital for any business moving forward. BEST MOMENTS ‘I will keep the door open for the future unless I have decided I don’t want to work with the individual due to the DDWT’ ‘Rejection is usually not personal, none of us is universally appealing ‘ ‘I like to do it my way as it produces better results than grade-based work’ ‘I teach them to love making music and be creative’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Losing your big ego can make a difference in how you handle your business and how you can influence people. So, in this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil teaches you how to keep your ego at a healthy level. As a guitar teacher himself, he’s had experience handling rowdy students. Even though all you want is to make sure they put their best foot forward, you can’t compel them to do everything. So, what you should do is focus on how you can attract their interest and engage them to learn at their own will. Discover more tips from Neil when you tune in! KEY TAKEAWAYS Remember to understand that students have other aspects of their life that they’re also developing as they grow, not just learning lessons. They have relationships they need to nurture, classes/work have to attend to, and other passions that they pursue. Most of the time, enforcing compliance in your students will make them hate and resent you. And, that’s the last thing you want to do as a teacher. You have to encourage interest every time, so you won’t have to require them to do anything. Let go of your ego and focus entirely on your students. There’s a significant difference in how your business and your school will run if you don’t let your ego run things. BEST MOMENTS “I was not the most important in the teaching room or in the business; the student is the most important in the teaching room or in the business.” “A big realization for me was that I have no power over the student, all I can do is influence things.” “I will never use the words of ‘compulsion’ and ‘compulsory’ with my students.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

‘I have used anything and everything to help students overcome their resistance and I'm always keen to try new things’ Neil explains how you can use the Autonomiser to help lower resistance, generate more enthusiasm or overcoming a fear or hesitation This technique is very successful and will be a useful addition to any tutors teaching toolbox listen in to find out more KEY TAKEAWAYS To work successfully with a student, you need engage with their emotions. When a student is working outside their comfort zone for the first time it can be very challenging. This techniques is somewhat obscure but works really well. The source of this technique is the sports psychology program that was in place in the Eastern bloc countries to develop athletes in the 1970s and 1980s when these countries dominated world sport. When a student is working outside their comfort zone for the first time it can be very challenging Ask the student to rate how much they want to do the new activity Follow the rating ask them to explain why they didn’t rate it lower. In explaining and through verbalising alongside the careful use of soft questioning the student will achieve clarity and begin to lose their objections. This process should be repeated until the student rates highly wanting to undertake the activity and the barriers are removed. BEST MOMENTS ‘It’s all about their values’ ‘It took him from terrified and silent for 40 years to singing for the first time with a huge smile’ ‘This is quick and dirty technique for lowering resistance’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com Red Gold book by Grigori Raiport, not currently in print ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

062 Other Peoples Messes DESCRIPTION A lot of students pay good money for tutors who don’t give good advice, give angry interactions, teach music the students don’t want to play and make it clear that the student is last priority. So what can you do about it when taking on new students that have been through this? KEY TAKEAWAYS Be grateful – Every time you require a new student; you require a new revenue stream so be grateful for new clients. You get accurate information on your competition – You’re essentially lifting up the covers and get to know what your competitors are doing, for example, the methods they’re using. So listen to your students. Be nice and gentle on the teacher that they used to have, even if they’ve been taught terrible technique – Focus on the student Take care of the position and technique by always explaining why these are used. Never shout at the student – you can’t be angry at a student for not knowing what they don’t know how to do. The better you teach the student, the better they’ll market you. BEST MOMENTS “Don’t claim that you’re better than the previous teacher, just explain that your approach is different.” “Don’t slag off the old teacher because Karma will get you back” “Never shout at the student” “There are crap tutors out there, so thank the lucky stars that you get the opportunity to do a much better job for the student.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

‘I use it every single day, in every single lesson with every single person I meet’ In this episode, Neil explains how NLP can be an invaluable tool in a tutor’s teaching toolbox. He shares how you can direct attention and lower conscious barriers to achieve accelerated learning and better lessons. Listen in to find out why learning to use hypnosis can improve your tutor sessions for both you, the tutor, and the learner. KEY TAKEAWAYS An awareness of trance makes teaching quicker and a whole lot more fun What is trance? Trance states and hypnosis are in essence the bypass of critical faculty by the direction of attention and recruitment of unconscious resources in order to better access the potential of the unconscious mind and the innate resources of the subject. How do you use hypnosis to make your teaching and lessons better? Start with yourself. Whatever state you are in will influence the state of your students. If you are excited and curious they will become excited and curious mirroring you. Hypnosis is effective and easy to learn Hypnosis is completely ethical as a teaching tool if your intentions are ethical Like any other tool, it is neutral in character, it can only amplify what you bring to it If you are not yet using it as part of your teaching tool kit then you should be. BEST MOMENTS ‘No magic just directed attention and the lowering of conscious barriers’ ‘Not sure at the moment if I am a hypnotist who teaches guitar or a guitar teacher who uses hypnosis’ ‘They don’t cluck like chickens they just get better’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In episode 59 we covered that everything these days is going digital because they’re fast, flexible and cheap. In this episode, we will be discussing the importance of backing up your data and how you can do this. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everything is heading in a digital direction, more and more products are becoming digital. Digital products are fast, flexible and cheap but can have downfalls such as hackers, viruses and the vulnerability to break down. Data is the lifeblood of your business. People don’t realise the value of your data. If you lose it all, you lose all of your customer contact details, schedules, plans and more. You’ll have to rebuild everything again which will have massive indirect and direct costs. Updates can be set to automatically. Ensure they are as viruses can mutate. Be paranoid about suspicious emails and back everything up. I use the cloud to back up all of my data so they’re safely stored. I also use 2 backups drives (One onsite and one offsite) which are both 1 terabyte, password protected, and updated every few weeks. Great for backing up large files such as video. In addition, I keep offsite archives which is an offsite back up of all of my accountancy data. I update this annually after I finish all of my accounts for the year just-in-case HMRC need anything. Get into the habit of backing up your data. Set your calendar to remind you of a regular back update so you don’t lose all of those years of information. BEST MOMENTS “Don’t think if it happens to me, think when it happens to me” “A little bit of investment in good security across all of your devices and the small effort of keeping up to date is well worth it.” “Be suspicious of emails with attachments and links in them especially from unknown senders” “Remember you must keep your records for 60 years, from the end of the last company financial year that they relate to.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

Have you ever wondered what’s best pen and paper or digital? In this episode, Neil shares why writing stuff down using pen and paper is important for us all. He explains how our ideas and memories can be captured with flair and revisited with ease. If you want to ensure that your teaching flow is not disrupted and those creative moments are not lost listen in. KEY TAKEAWAYS I'm a massive fan of paper and pen but am also a huge advocate of all things digital. The key is to choose the right medium for the situation. Research suggests that writing things down compels us to reprocess our thoughts and understanding. The very act of forming words and handling a pen causes our brains to engage different motor groups, so more of your brain is firing off when you are processing your thoughts and getting them down on paper. We need to crystallise the ideas we have, and it is vital to be able to bring them together into some sort of order. Starting to write things down helps us to put ideas in order. Emotions can be difficult to convey but writing them down allows you to bring them to together and organise them and in doing so better understand them. Paper can be BIG, tiny screens will keep your thoughts small. You can work on a very large scale with any paper extending it physically as your ideas are extended and shaped around a particular challenge. Paper documents such as journals and photos document our journeys through life holding our ideas, thoughts and memories. A scrapbook of the positive things you have achieved is a great way to remind yourself of all you have achieved and the difference you have made to others. They remind us of the people we have known and the ways in which we have helped and guided them. I love writing and the right pen, ink and paper is very seductive. It only takes seconds to jot down a spark of an idea without disrupting the lesson and there is something tactile about leaving written records for others in the future. BEST MOMENTS ‘I’m able to put restless ideas in order and sort the relationships between ideas’ ‘You can drag those seething emotions out, put them on paper and examine them’ ‘When I write things down on paper it makes me seem mercurial’ ‘When you are writing the ideas are being woven into the way you already think’ VALUABLE RESOURCES The Tutor Podcast Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

“There are some people out there who just won’t get it. Frankly, I am not talking to them; They’re a bunch of miserable sods!” In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, your host Neil Cowmeadow is going to be sharing his two top tips for staying positive – both as an entrepreneur and as a human being. Recognise how lucky you are to get up each day! Neil lets you know a few strange but positive movements and methods to further amplify good vibrations and positivity each morning (which will start your day right!) KEY TAKEAWAYS Here’s what Neil does – When I wake up - Go “yesssssss!!!! I’m not dead...that means it’s going to be a very fantastic day today” Get straight out of bed and stand up in the Victory pose. If that’s too full-on, do the WonderWoman. Ted talks Amy Cuddy Power Poses Maybe put on some uplifting music and dance around. Congratulate yourself for not being dead yet Mankind has been around for 300,000 years – 109.5 million days...and you won today! If you can do this, You’ve beaten the odds again The lottery jackpot runs at 45 million to 1 against! So every day you do something that’s more than twice as unlikely as winning the lottery jackpot – you lucky bastard! Grin like a maniac – my term (endorsed by Aaron, the technical guy who edits TTP). Do it because the fastest way to change your mood is to change your physiology Think of a victory you’ve had Hear what you heard, see what you saw, feel how you felt assume the position and hold it, intensify it, more colour more volume, make the pictures bigger now hold that pose and try to feel bad.... notice you can’t do it? Now think of one of your failures... Hear what you heard, see what you saw, feel how you felt assume the position and hold it, intensify it, more colour more volume, make the pictures bigger now hold that pose and try to feel good.... notice that you can’t do it now resume that victorious stance and try to stay feeling bad notice you can’t do it? Still, think that life is hard, do you? Think you have no choice over how you feel? Do it – and I want to hear about it “I promise you this: if you adopt this mindset and grin like a maniac, you will feel differently about life and about yourself.“ VALUABLE RESOURCES Ted Talks; Amy Cuddy Power Poses ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

The best way to make the eyes and the ears of your students glued to you is to confidently tell the best story you could ever make. In this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil talks about the importance of storytelling in teaching. As educators, teachers, and coaches, we want that, as much as possible, we provide the most fun and productive learning experience for our students. Discover why creating stories produces the instant magic of attracting and engaging your target audience. Neil also talks about the generic structure of the world’s greatest novels, his own teaching experience, why Star Wars is a big hit and many more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Stories help us to make sense of the world. There are written and spoken histories, myths, and folklore that have been passed on for hundreds of years. They haven’t died and have continued to be retold because they are story-based. Stories are a storehouse of information and wisdom. We listen to told stories, learn the lesson from them, and contemplate about how related our experiences. Stories help your ideas be interesting and sound familiar to your audience. The easiest and most effective way to sell your idea is to slip it in a story. Stories got the flow and easily links your ideas together. When we start telling the story, the listener anticipates for what’s next. There’s a generic story structure which powers the majority of the world’s greatest stories, according to Joseph Campbell’s work in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. Across cultures, the story is the same: The departure – the future hero is compelled to, or chooses to, leave their normal world The initiation – the future hero is tested and changed in some way; often discovering who they really are and what is most important to them. The return – once changed, the Hero returns to their Normal world, bringing back to it their discoveries. BEST MOMENTS “Sneaking your message or content in a story package is a great way of putting it under the radar of students and friends. I think it’s very important that we are creating, finding, borrowing, and using stories because they’re great resources for our business.” “I love to use stories to encapsulate the big ideas of my guitar teaching system and the way I develop it. It’s a sticky way to bring a lot of ideas to life, to make the small, technical details more memorable and fun for my students.” “There are stories everywhere. In life, every message or idea can be made more memorable when it’s wrapped in the right story.” VALUABLE RESOURCES The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell Star Wars ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

What happens when we reach the end of our tutoring career? Today on The Tutor Podcast, Neil discusses the exit strategies you can take when it’s already time. Neil realised that the clock is ticking and soon, there will come a time that he’ll be very old to teach. So, what do we do when the music stops? What do we do when we don’t want to teach anymore? Learn today where you can get more opportunities and more options outside tutoring when you tune in. KEY TAKEAWAYS Exit Strategies: Have one Don’t think “it’ll be all right” because nobody is coming to the rescue Social security is already bankrupt in the US and Britain is following suit Define your own retirement Don’t rely on benefits What options do we have? Retain the business Stay on as owner Avoid practical work – unless it’s a top-level service You’ll need staff Create a succession plan Sell the business The business cannot be just you or me Tangible and bigger than one person Systems, IP, Premises Create systems: Franchise-able, McDonalds model Train / mentor Get paid royalties Earn commissions Create IP Books, Music, Teaching tools, Licenses and royalties Diversify Invest outside your business Properties, equities, new & existing businesses Create a passive income Don’t rely on anything based on projected capital growth and draw-downs / refinancing – you have no control over the market BEST MOMENTS “Nobody’s coming to the rescue. The old idea that the state pension will keep you in comfort after you made your contribution is broken and obsolete.” “We have to think about diversification. Invest in a business.” “Opportunities are everywhere, so keep listening and keep thinking about what you want to do. Always do your homework where you’re investing.” “Have an exit strategy. Start thinking and start planning – then get busy doing, because nobody is coming to the rescue.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

Welcome to The Tutor Podcast! Today, your host Neil Cowmeadow talks about what happens when we reach the end of our tutoring career; • Am I Too old?• Am I Bored?• Changes to my Economics?• Changes in my Circumstances? Traditionally, pensions were the way to go, but Neil explains why he thinks it’s a model that isn’t worth pursuing. In episode #040, Neil goes on a deep dive on pensions so go back and listen for more Pension Info! KEY TAKEAWAYS: What we do need to look at though are Exit Strategies: • “I’m a guitar teacher, get me out of here” – or, what to do when the music stops.• Have one• Don’t think “it’ll be all right” because nobody is coming to the rescue• Social security is already bankrupt in the US and Britain is following suit• Define your own retirement• Don’t rely on benefits What options do we have?• Retain the business* stay on as owner* avoid practical work – unless it’s a top-level service* you’ll need staff* create a succession plan• Sell the business * The business cannot be just you or me * Tangible and bigger than one person * Systems * IP * Premises• Create systems:* Franchise-able* McDonalds model* Train / mentor * Get paid royalties* Earn commissions• Create IP* Books* Music* Teaching tools* Licenses and royalties• Diversify* Invest outside your business& create a passive income* Don’t rely on anything based on projected capital growth and draw-downs / refinancing – you have no control over the market* Opportunities are everywhere, so listen... * Do your homework – due diligence is a pain, but losing your investment is much worse.• Remember – it’s up to you. Start thinking and start planning – then get busy doing VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

This is the third show in a 3 part mini-series exploring language. In the last 2 shows, we’ve examined the VAKOG Model of language – visual, auditory, Kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory – along with pacing and leading language structures. These language tools can be a part of your language toolbox helping you to ensure that all your students achieve through effective tutoring and coaching. Todays’ episode explores questioning and how to generate productive responses, listen in now to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS Greeting clients The language you use when you greet your clients sets a powerful frame around you. Your job is to infuse your students with energy, interest and curiosity. You can be; Outrageous Flamboyant Fabulous Dazzling Scintillating You must never be just fine or just alright and this must be conveyed through the language you use. Greet your students in a way that promotes positive anticipation of what will come in the lesson. Asking effective and powerful questions Only ask questions that you know the answers to. If you are observing something in a student from their psychology, facial expression or body language then you can ask questions that allow them to acknowledge what you have already seen. Go for questions that have yes answers. compliance is part of the learning process. If you ask questions that promote ‘no’ answers then it is more likely that a situation with friction will occur. You can soften questions so that it does not feel like an interrogation. This is done by asking questions such as ‘I’m curious about...’ ‘That’s fascinating – how do you do that?’ ‘How might we change that to make it a little better?’ ‘Can we run a little thought experiment?’ Tag questions can be used to hang on the end of a statement. These are questions such as; Isn’t it? Wouldn’t you? Can you not? Can’t you? 3 magic questions ‘What’s good about this?’ This points your student in the right direction to find a positive outcome. They might need to hunt around to find the positive but in looking for the positive any negative is lessened. ‘And before that?’ This is about working with the student to work backwards from their ultimate goal. It sets a path in the students mind about how to work towards their big goal. It can help them to see there is a structured approach. It makes clear it is a step by step process that has to be moved through successfully to reach the goal. ‘And what else?’ Asking what else after a student has a moment of insight or solves a problem encourages them to seek out more ideas. If you are capable of having one great idea you can have others. The word is….but Students are always waiting for you to use the but word If you use the word ‘but’ following a positive statement everything before the word is lost. It is a careless syntax. The word but is an absolute liability, remove it from your vocabulary BEST MOMENTS ‘You can feel good for no good reason what so ever’ ‘This got me a reputation for being very an interesting if a slightly odd person’ ‘They saw me as someone off the wall and outside the system ‘ ‘A long pause can compel the student to complete the question’ 'If you are capable of having one great idea, the chances are there’s another one snuggled in behind it’ ‘When you are asking for a response ask about feelings. It is less invasive than other forms of questioning ‘ ‘You’re framing yourself and the lesson in an energetic and positive way’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In this episode Neil explores pacing, leading language and complex equivalence structures. He provides in-depth examples to demonstrate how you can make these techniques work successfully, ensuring that your students achieve the best possible outcomes. If you want to add these language techniques to your teaching language toolbox listen in now KEY TAKEAWAYS Pacing, leading language and complex equivalence structures These are really easy patterns to learn and to add to your teaching toolkit and can be used to influence your students in the direction that is most beneficial to them. Pacing and leading language Pacing and leading is a language pattern that utilises something that is true and provable – this is the pace part of the pattern – to suggest that the desired response will occur with a student or client. If you provide a comment such as ‘being here on time shows you’re ready’ then the student finds it easy to relax and the idea that being on time makes you ready is plausible. If you follow up with a few questions, you can then use another pace and lead pattern. Chaining paces and leads together, adding humour, and setting up the next thing you want the student to do bypasses their nerves and uncertainty. To use the pace and lead pattern, link provable facts to desirable & beneficial responses or actions with words. Pace what is already happening, then make what you want to happen the inescapable result of what is already happening. Just add phrases such as “leads you to...causes you to...means that...makes you feel...makes you notice Complex Equivalence Complex Equivalence is another form of pacing and leading, but with a more direct form. You state the pace, the thing you want them to understand or do and make a comment that positions something with a quality you want them to have. E.g. ‘that’s a fantastic black paint job on your guitar, and black is the colour most favoured by confident, charismatic and creative people’ As tutors, teachers and coaches our job is to lead our students and clients to the very best outcome for them; and it’s a lot easier when we use unconnected but true, statements to slip past their defences. BEST MOMENTS ‘These are really easy patterns to learn and to add to your teaching toolkit, and can be used to influence your students in the direction that is most beneficial to them’ ‘If we cannot effectively communicate our ideas to our students and clients we are unlikely to be effective tutors or coaches’ ‘It’s easy for students to comply with the instruction because it seems a natural progression’ ‘Because I am an expert guitarist and they will accept my authority, and this will lead them to do what I have suggested’ ‘Everything is a mind game, and the more skilled we are at the “mind-stuff”, the better teachers we can become” VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

There’s a better way on how you could tutor, teach, or coach someone… You just have to choose the right teaching language. So, in this episode of The Tutor Podcast, Neil introduces you to the VAKOG Model of language to be effective in teaching. VAKOG stands for visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory which all make use of our senses. There could be a primary way that you use or it could be a combination of two or more of them. It depends on what you think could better influence your students. Discover also why you should be always receptive also of what are your students’ learning language so you’d know how to contribute more value to them. Make sure to catch the next parts of The Teaching Language Toolbox special of the podcast! KEY TAKEAWAYS VAKOG is a core belief in NLP that language reflects the thoughts and way of understanding of people, and knowing this is incredibly useful when you are teaching. VAKOG is an acronym for visual auditory kinaesthetic olfactory and gustatory – the senses of sight, sound, movement and balance, smell, and taste. These are the ways people perceive the world, and NLP refers to them as representational systems. Understanding how people represent the world to themselves is a doorway to better teaching and greater influence. We are going to use their point of view to reduce what they have to process, by eliminating the need for them to convert what we’ve said into terms they prefer. Visual – pictures, colours, images Auditory – sound, noises, music Kinaesthetic – movement, feelings, hot/cold Olfactory – smells Gustatory – taste For guitar players, their best learning ways are kinaesthetic and auditory. You have to consider if you’re teaching one-on-one or a group. Maybe, you’ll have to consider visuals at first when you’re teaching a group. BEST MOMENTS “Whichever system you notice is being used, lean more heavily on that system and your messages will get across more quickly, more easily, and will be better understood.” “Listen to the visual cues inside language because that’s the common thing you’ll come across.” “Listen to the actual words that people use and they’ll tell you exactly how you speak to them.” ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected]

In this episode, Neil provides not only the detail but also the psychology around how and why you need to care about your appearance. He explains what you can do to maximise your appeal and ensure that the all-important first impression is a good one. KEY TAKEAWAYS First impressions You are judged largely on your appearance in the first 4 seconds of an encounter with someone. You should aim to look the best you can whoever you are. Presenting yourself in the best possible way will maximise your earning ability and make you more authoritative and sales worthy. Presenting yourself properly will also increase your credibility with others. Your physical appearance matters This isn’t fair but as you can’t control this you need influence how you are perceived. It is proven that people are more attracted to those who are well turned out and are physically attractive. A positive appeal Focus on maximising your appeal to ensure the first impression is a positive one. Whatever you are doing make sure you are well turned out. The idea that gets into the persons' mind first will always have prima facie over anything else. It can be changed over time but it takes a long time. Adopt a dress code for yourself and then ensure you follow it consistently. This will mean choosing clothing that positions you as an authority and trusted source of information in your area of expertise. Special points for women The size of a woman's bust is an influence on the way she is perceived. Women with medium sized busts are considered likeable and have greater personal appeal than those with larger or smaller busts. Special points for men Long hair will put you at a disadvantage and you need to ensure your clothes fit properly. Anything unusual will cost you sales and it has been demonstrated that facial hair is not positive. BEST MOMENTS ‘Use your body language and make sure to keep your hands ways from your hair’ ‘Pause look in the mirror and ask yourself does that person look like a credible expert in the field? If they don’t go away and change something’ ‘The change in the dynamic and energy when I meet new people is noticeable’ ‘No joggers, no baggy tee shirts, no crazy hats’ ‘People’s attention can be on your hands so they need to look presentable’ ‘Don’t wear shorts guys!’ ‘Keep on top of things’ ‘However shallow it might be, you are more attractive if your height to weight ratio is correct’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

How can you build your profile, customer base, reputation and business – without spending a fortune on advertising that might or might not work? Statistics say 50% of advertising works and 50% does not, In this episode Neil takes us through the right approach to building your profile, listen in to find out more KEY TAKEAWAYS Get noticed You must have a profile, this is non-negotiable as no customers means you have no business. If you have more customers and more demand you can put your prices up. Dealing with the fear For all sorts of reasons being seen in public can be stressful. It’s important to be aware that this is natural. You’ve got to get your face out there to be known about. Perfectionism Perfectionism is a great lie. Every day you will use something imperfect. Once something is perfect it can’t grow any further and this is an endpoint. Perfectionism can’t survive in the world as its always changing. Be yourself There is nobody like you in the world. You are not trying to be like everyone else, amplify you’re your own traits to your advantage. Get seen and get met You are in the business of communication education and people. You must be visible repeatedly. Try to maximise the number of people who know you in a positive way. Multiple Signage I use various social media platforms, have a podcast series and am part of a mastermind business group. If you can get on radio or television it positions you as an expert in your field. Digital Real estate All social media platforms can be linked to your website. Using keywords, you can increase search optimisation. Make sure your content has keywords alongside your podcast, blog and video testimonials Branding This is key to the way you are perceived consistently. It is an association with the tribe who identify with you. The most important element is consistency across all products and platforms. Marketing strategy You must have one and it must be consistent this applies even if you work alone. Then you are ready when you do begin to build a team. Your image This matters immensely you need to be different enough to stand out but not so different that you are perceived as weird. Perception is everything People are going to judge you. You should present the best possible version of yourself. You are the real deal, the genuine article. You can create an image around yourself that gives you the best possible chance of being perceived positively. BEST MOMENTS ‘Don’t let haters get in your way’ 'Don’t let security get in the way’ ‘Don’t wait for it to be perfect’ ‘I am now joyously imperfect’ 'I’m passionate in my belief that anyone can play’ ‘When people are looking for a guitar teacher I want them to think of me’ ‘It can all be done organically’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Email: [email protected]

In this episode, Neil tackles the issue of ‘getting the buggers to practice’. In an online poll, it is identified as the challenge that stands between students achieving what they want to achieve and is the biggest source of frustration for their teachers. Listen in to hear about some practical tips and strategies that will work for all your students. KEY TAKEAWAYS If someone is paying me money to come and spend time with me, to learn what I know, to get what they want, why are they not doing the thing that will bring them success? Students don’t like being given orders, they see the practice as grey and boring. I restructure the language and with younger students insist they don’t practise at all. This will result in a push back as they will want to do the opposite. I will ask students to ‘explore this, muck about with this’ Identifying the motivator for students will enable you to get them to comply with what you want. There are two kinds of motivation; Motivation towards something Motivation away from something Away from gets you moving in the short term but try to work out what the student really wants, and then try to put in any small action that moves you in the right direction towards their goal. I look at the long-term picture for students. I am trying to grow a love affair between them and the instrument. One of the most compelling things you can do to gain compliance is to encourage a student to do what they want to do. Give them content that is interesting and exciting to play. Notice what is working for them and reframe it in a positive way, being flexible in your approach. Try to make it interesting and inviting for the student. BEST MOMENTS ‘I want them to do what they want to do’ ‘We have to work on building trust’ ‘Do everything you can to lower the resistance’ ‘Slice it up – the thinner the slice the easier it is to get compliance’ ‘Ask them to do things in very short bursts’ ‘The more often a human being returns to an activity the more impact it has on progress’ ‘If you push too hard you will just get ‘turn and churn’ and that’s not good for business’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

THINK LIKE A BUSINESS PERSON Neil takes us through the key points that all tutors need to follow to make sure your tutoring operates successfully as a business. The points are an invaluable checklist for any tutor, listen in to find out more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Developing your business mindset is key but in tutoring, the business side is usually a poor second to the technical skills and knowledge of what we all teach and do. Profit is not a dirty word - there is nothing wrong with making money from your passion and art. Spend time with others who are making money as these are people who you can aspire to. Get serious about your business – give the same amount of precedence to your business as you give to your area of expertise. It’s not serious – it’s a game, it’s not personal but know the rules of the game and a playful mindset will see you through and keep you positive. Everything is a test – if everything is working for you, you’re getting it right if not test a different business model or different advertising Keep learning – work harder on yourself than on your business it’s the hallmark of greatness. If you look through history, continuing to develop skills and knowledge is a feature of everyone who is successful. Develop routines – lots of teachers have a chaotic approach but a routine is a more professional approach to your business. Build systems - set the time aside to build some systems, a crib sheet for doing the banking, a system for cleaning up the teaching space. The more systems you have the less you have to carry around in your head. Know your numbers - you must know the revenue, costs and profits for your business. If you are not monitoring them how will you know how to improve? When you work, work hard - extract the most from your time because it can be very well-paid hard work or ok paid hard work. Play as hard as you work - I work long hours but I love what I do. Celebrate life – if you’re getting paid for doing what you love – you’re one of the luckiest people alive... BEST MOMENTS ‘I don’t want to guess about my business’ ‘The time not face to face with students is a drag on my time’ ‘Find time to read, to keep your knowledge up to date’ ‘Every guitarist has a bag of tricks’ ‘I will work for 7 or 8 hours a day across the same time slots, that’s my routine a daily routine is key’ ‘Keep testing it’s a neutral process’ ‘Get your business head on you can do it’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Email: [email protected]

In today’s episodes, Neil dives into the joys of scheduling and why scheduling is essential in both your tutoring business and in life. If you’re looking to impose order on the chaos, plan your activities and make your business fun. This episode is for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why is schedule important? If what you do is chaotic, you're going to be out of order, up to the range and stressed. For you to succeed in life you need to have a schedule in your life and as a result, everything will go as planned. Use a schedule to impose order on the chaos. We need enough order to keep things sort of predictable, so we have a sense of control and that’s why we need scheduling in our day to day activities. Scheduling helps you to work in a good environment; this should allow you to control your interaction. Scheduling helps you to be you because when you schedule correctly, you will be able to do the things you want to do in the right time and will have a lot of time to spend with yourself and even your friends and family. If it’s not fun you should not do it. Scheduling will help you plan your money and invest it in the right manner hence helping you to build your own business where you will be able to work from home, hence no booking appointments, damaging things, not wearing the car out while travelling from home to your workplace, not burning gas and not spending time in traffic and this should lower your overheads. You’re not spending money repairing a car so much, you’re not putting as much gas in the tank, you do not have to buy food while at work and that should make you more profitable. Scheduling helps you to do small jobs around the business. With scheduling, you are able to plan yourself and have things done very fast. Make what you do fun because if you make it fun, it will entertain a lot of people and you will make a lot of money from people by just entertaining them. Make it fun for your customers, it'll be fun for you and you'll stop working, you'll just hang out with your friends and do what you do and get paid for it. Aim to keep it fun, keep it entertaining, it then becomes for your customers more of a leisure activity. BEST MOMENTS “Everything you do is going to be a personal choice.” “If it’s not fun you should not do it.” “You can't put a price on your time” “Time is the most important and most limited resource we all have.” VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions-ebook/dp/B01M2YRARG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 http://www.neilcowmeadow.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD [email protected]

In this episode, Neil explains how an enquiry call can finish with confirmed tuition and payment if you follow a set operating procedure. This step by step approach can help anyone who is a tutor successfully navigate the enquiry call and gain new clients. Listen in now to make sure your next tuition enquiry is a new client for you. KEY TAKEAWAYS Having a standard operating procedure is useful to ensure everything required is dealt with during the initial enquiry call. Every enquiry call has an aim – the aim for an enquiry call is that the caller books and confirms first lesson at the current rate for the tuition by the end of the call. Answer the phone with a smile, people can hear a smile on the phone and respond in a much more positive way. Taking notes during the call is key to ensuring you have all the information necessary. You are aiming to capture specific communication information. Use the caller’s name at every opportunity and echo their words back to them throughout the conversation. Ask questions that have the answer yes, these are referred to as ‘yes set questions’ and are refining questions which move the enquirer closer to saying yes. Once payment has been made the call is completed. An immediate follow up via text and email with specific details, confirm both the payment and lesson schedule. Sending a reminder 24 hours and 2 hours prior to the lesson will position you as an expert and professional. BEST MOMENTS ‘People can hear a smile on the phone’ ‘Echo it straight back to them – fabulously powerful technique’ ‘Start to close small and often’ ‘Try to remove the agony of choice’ ‘Having a set procedure is so much better’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com The Tutor Podcast series ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Email

COURAGE - WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT This episode helps us all to acknowledge fear and then push past it to achieve our goals. Neil puts fear into perspective and explains how we all have the courage to move onwards and upwards when we take action. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everyone can face fear, especially when tackling something new or more complex. Overcoming the fear and moving forward will confirm the benefits of doing something new and show that the fear was unfounded. Fear is often experienced when you; Break new ground Launch a new product Adopt a new approach Step up and take action Lay yourself open to the judgement of other people Do anything that moves you from your current state to a higher state... Fear and Courage Fear is what malevolently stands between you and I and what we want. Courage is not the absence of fear - Courage is the ability to act, even in the face of fear. A strong will or sufficient motivation can provoke you to take action despite your fear. Facing down your fear or – better still – harnessing it to your service is what courage is all about. Dealing with the dread and liberating yourself from fear requires courage. Taking the action that the fear is trying to divert you from is courage. So, what are you waiting for?! Your greatest fear shouldn’t be writing that book, starting that business or asking for that date. No! Your greatest fear should be that the clock is ticking and that your life is shortening at an alarming rate. When your time approaches, you should be able to look back on your life and marvel at how much you got done, in spite of all the adversity and fear. The only person whose consent you need is yourself: give yourself permission. Accountability Tell someone what you are going to do – preferably someone who will consistently hold you to account if you don’t take action. Consider posting your intentions into your social media groups or timelines, publicly commit to delivering the book/product or opening the business on a certain date: then make sure you live up to it and deliver. Hire a coach – preferably a really expensive coach – to hold you accountable. Your coach’s fees should hurt a little – or a lot - enough that you’re going to take action or else have to resign yourself to just throwing that money away. Whatever it takes – commit yourself, preferably publicly, financially and irrevocably to action. Whether it’s the Pull of your mission or the Push away from a significant loss, find out what gets you moving. Sooner or later, someone will take that action: shouldn’t that someone be you? Fear can live with everything apart from consistent action in the direction of your goals and dreams. Fear is checking if you’re serious and eliminating your competition, handle the fear and you handle life. BEST MOMENTS ‘Fear imprisons us and then waits for us to die’ ‘So, what are you waiting for?’ ‘The only thing stopping you is you’ ‘Maybe we should put our own fears into some kind of perspective’ ‘The secret is to acknowledge the fear, thank it for offering its opinion, then tell it to take a hike as you march towards your fate’ ‘Don’t wait until your work is perfect – it’ll never be perfect. Perfection is sterile and produces nothing until it begins to decay’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do www.Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! CONTACT METHOD Email: [email protected]

To ensure that your student gets the best learning experience, the educators – tutors, teachers, lecturers, etc. – should be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. So, in today’s episode of The Tutor Podcast, I talk to a good friend of mine, John Cassidy-Rice, about the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and how it can improve the way we communicate and teach our students. NLP techniques can help enhance every student’s performance. Even John himself, who has dyslexia, shares that he benefitted from NLP. Aside from personal stories, John also shares the top 3 NLP-based key strategies that tutors can use. Don’t also forget to check out his NLP courses after you listen to this episode! KEY TAKEAWAYS What is NLP? It stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Neuro refers to all 5 senses, Linguistic refers to the languages and gestures, and Programming refers to putting them both together to produce positive results. John runs an NLP training company that offers a 2-day introductory course which can help you change your beliefs and learn how to communicate with yourself and others. John says NLP helped him with his dyslexia. Of course, there are still challenges with communicating, reading and writing but, he was able to do more. John has published 4 books as of lately. Top 3 NLP-based Key Strategies According to John Salience x Repetition = Learning Update your identity of who you see yourself as. Reframe: ‘how we think’, not ‘what we think.’ BEST MOMENTS “What is the difference that makes the difference?” – John “NLP form has been a toolbox… a go-to toolbox where I can unpick not only how I think, how I play and how the other people play, but how my students limit themselves in the way that they think about music, about playing and about their own abilities.” – Neil “Anything that can hold you back can actually be your strength at the same time.” – John “Change your thinking; change your response.” – John VALUABLE RESOURCES Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) com Unlock The Power Of Stories: Change Your Story Change Your Life by John Cassidy-Rice David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell Neil Cowmeadow - Weird Things Guitarists Do Neilcowmeadow.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years of experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS! ABOUT THE GUEST John Cassidy-Rice is an NLP Master Trainer. He runs Training Excellence, a company that focuses on the human approach of training. He helps organisations and other companies improve leadership and communication among the people. John has also published 4 books. He recently released his latest book, Unlock The Power of Stories: Change Your Story, Change Your Life. CONTACT METHOD Neil Cowmeadow [email protected] John Cassidy- Rice Training Excellence - NLP Courses [email protected] NLP Podcast