NickHoupt: 0:03

What if etiquette wasn't about being proper but being present? In this deeply thoughtful and insightful episode, I sit down with Dr. Philip Sykes, founder of the British School of Excellence, to talk about emotional intelligence, connection, and the lost art of manners that truly matter. With decades of global experience in hospitality, leadership, and human development, Dr. Sykes shares why etiquette isn't surface level, It's the foundation for building trust, leading with empathy and creating a life of deeper impact. We explore how emotional intelligence is one of the most powerful tools for mental wellness, how presence and listening can transform relationships and why personal growth always begins from the inside out. Dr. Sykes also shares the six core pillars of his life's work and the powerful influence of his parents, faith, and hospitality roots that helped shape his purpose. If you've ever felt like something was missing in the way people show up at home, at work, or in public, this episode will remind you that who you are matters much more than what you do. So take a breath, open your heart, and settle in. This is Life Well Balanced with Dr. Philip Sykes and me, your host, Nick Halp.

Unknown: 1:33

Life Well Balanced

NickHoupt: 1:35

Well, let's dive in. You and I met randomly through Facebook and a coffee maker, and then we just hit it off. And I want to acknowledge you for the person that you are, because ever since the day we met, you've always been a wonderful person. Anytime we talk to each other, anytime we met with each other, you can tell that you lead with intention, and that really shows in everything that you do. So I want to acknowledge you for that and just being an awesome human being.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 2:32

Oh, thank you. It really makes me get goosebumps all over. It's a because I know where that comes from deep down in

NickHoupt: 2:37

your heart. So thank you. Thank you. So let's start with, I'm coming up with this new thing called the who, what, and why. And let's dive into, and this is a big question, but let's dive into who inspired you or helped you through getting to where you are today? What kind of experiences made that happen? And why did you decide to come into the realm of the British school of excellence and the man that you are that's sitting here in front of us today it makes

Dr.PhilipSykes: 3:13

me actually quite emotional because if I think back to a very privileged upbringing in a sense grew up in South Africa my father came from the United Kingdom into South Africa in about 64 and met my mum and they I'm the I'm the eldest of four four children and And my mum also came from that so-called well-to-do English Scottish background. And from as far back as I can remember, my mum and dad were fastidious about the importance of the way you connect with people. In other words, respect and manners and etiquette and that sort of thing. And so that was really the foundation from a home life. And then on top of that, I know for a fact, my dad was a corporate man. He was not an entrepreneur. He had a very good career in the corporate world, but He put all four of us through very good schooling and education. So again, giving us a very solid platform, but that required us everything in life does. You use the word sacrifices. It's part of life. I don't look at it as a sacrifice to work hard and have the, we, Nick, you and I have got kids and be able to put them through the best education we can afford to put them through because that is something that no one can ever take away from them. And so having been given this really insightful upbringing, the schools that we were privileged to go to definitely were very much about manners make it the man or woman and that for me was just hand in glove and so it was very much part of our DNA it wasn't even none of what you see is an effort it's not an effort this is something we were brought up with we were taught and having left school to my mum and dad sort of I don't know if it was horror or dismay but I took a year off and travelled so my first job was cleaning tables at the Hard Rock Cafe in London, the first original Hard Rock Cafe back in 1987 and that was an amazing opportunity. I was a busboy and from there went back to Africa, well did a ski season, went back to Africa and I joined an amazing restaurant and this was definitely a very pivotal moment in my journey in life. The restaurant was one of the top 10 restaurants in South Africa known as the Colony Restaurant. Unfortunately it's not there today. The The two owners were a couple. One of them slept this world and one is 85. But the restaurant itself really gave me hands-on direction on guidance of that specific attention to detail and how to connect on a very personable level with people when it comes to the explanation of things. So, for example, Nick, if you came into the restaurant with your wife, it would very much be understanding Firstly, what would you care to start off with as far as an aperitivo goes? Your drinks will be brought out to you very quickly. Then we would explain the menu, find out what your palate was looking for, all of those little bits of attention to detail. And that really was an amazing platform. At that same time, I then joined hotel school. And hotel school was another layer in this journey. So the why definitely stems from back then, because I've just seen how it's opened doors all through my life. I've just seen... Whether it be building rapport with people, friendships, whether it be starting businesses, whether it be relationships as in your loved ones and that sort of thing. It really has been an amazing

NickHoupt: 6:49

platform. That's great. And I was going to touch on the hospitality aspect and everything too. But before we get into that, what is the British School of Excellence? What do you do? What do you offer? How does your business impact the world like you do? Great question.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 7:08

Originally, we were formed as the British School of Etiquette back in 2013. And as you can appreciate, Nick, what would you say, and I'm going to ask you a question, what would you say to the word etiquette or manners? Well, not necessarily manners. When the word etiquette strikes you, what

NickHoupt: 7:24

are you thinking? So at first, Stephen and I were talking about that, and we were talking about which fork to use or being very proper.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 7:32

Yeah. And there is absolutely a very strong element of that. because we don't want to sit dining with people who sort of don't know really how to behave or handle themselves at the table we really don't we don't want to surround ourselves with people who make us feel uncomfortable so I want to take a deeper dive into that the British School of Excellence was very much formed about togetherness and to understanding that we are one race and that's the human race and it is so much deeper than what people perceive it to be etiquette and manners and oh yes I must be careful my P's and Q's and it's got zero to do with that really at the end of the day it does so I'm contradicting myself but I really want people to understand this is a really dynamic amazing ingredient and I call it the power of etiquette and manners and I as I mentioned to you earlier with my start in life I've seen doors open wherever I've wherever I walk wherever I go not just for me but for people who incorporate this as part of it's a lifestyle choice this is not something like you woke up this morning so I better put my best foot forward you know I'm connecting with a boss or I'm seeing a client and then you flop down like a rag doll and into behaving badly and treating people poorly because they've got nothing in it for you. This is about finding consistency in who you are. How are you showing up for yourself every single day? really pushed us into transitioning the name into the British School of Excellence. Etiquette is still the bedrock. Manners are still the bedrock. EQ, emotional intelligence. So I look at that as a sphere. I look at them, they go hand in hand. It's a circle. And I know for a fact that if you've got good emotional intelligence, it's almost near impossible to have bad etiquette and manners. And etiquette and manners and emotional intelligence about respecting people. So there's six pillars that this organization was founded on. And in no particular order. The first one is very much in a world where you can be absolutely anything you want to be, be kind. The second one is very much about the ability to put people at ease in a very short space of time. Put people at that feeling of feeling comfortable in your presence. Make them feel that they belong, that they deserve your attention and time. The third one is very much having that what can I do for you attitude. How can I serve you? How can I support you? Is there anything that I can do for you? The fourth one is very much about if we all do that random act of goodness or kindness on a daily basis, I truly believe that we can set the world in the right direction. And the fifth one is, I've mentioned earlier, there's one race and that's the human race. We need to put the past very much behind us, focus very much on now and the future, because the future is all we have. We can't relive yesterday, we can't change what happened yesterday, but the future is something we have an absolute opportunity to make good and make and create this incredible influence which leads us me to the sixth pillar and that is the ability to guide and steer people like shepherds we are shepherds in this world and it's very much like fire we can cook on it we can keep ourselves warm we can protect ourselves or we can burn a house down or destroy so it's that power of amazing influence you can either take people down the right route or down the wrong route and those are the real six core pillars behind this organization and in a nutshell it's about building incredible And in turn, you will build great businesses. You have better relationships. Everything around you is that much better.

NickHoupt: 10:57

You had mentioned emotional intelligence. Can you dive a little deeper on that for someone that's listening and they may not understand fully what emotional intelligence is? Can you tell them what that is?

Dr.PhilipSykes: 11:27

that we can work on ourselves. So it doesn't matter what's ever happened to you in the past. If you were told that you were no good for nothing, if you told that you're just X, Y, and Z, if you were brought up in a sense of negativity and people around you putting you down, you can shift your mindset through the power of emotional intelligence. And they go down through such things as social skills. How do we handle our emotions? How do we go down the route? And empathy is one of the biggest key drivers behind our EQ. We can build, if you're not an empathetic person, we can learn to be more empathetic and bring empathy to the forefront of our being and of who we are as human beings. It's about the ability to really understand that we need to learn to accept change and that we need to learn to work on ourselves to build that side of our lives from an emotional perspective, an inner perspective that we can now take on board and start to better ourselves through the power of emotional intelligence.

NickHoupt: 12:25

Yeah, everything's an inside job, Right. 100%. I completely agree with that. Now, you were saying that you rebranded in 2021, correct? Is that when you did that? And so let's talk about that a little bit. You rebranded in 2021 to broaden your focus into the emotional intelligence, life skills, and service training. What is the overlap between the etiquette and the emotional intelligence? We kind of touched on it, but where do they meet each other? Everything

Dr.PhilipSykes: 12:54

about your emotional intelligence holds... so much water as do manners and etiquette because your manners and your etiquette is about, so if you think about manners is respecting people, emotional intelligence is assessing how other people are feeling and how can we lean into that, how can I serve you. Manners are about not just taking your perspective but being polite and courteous and looking at other people's points of view, their perspective. Manners are your pleases and your thank yous. Manners are the way you speak to people, how you address people, how you are bringing in your tonality because manners is about consideration for other people and consideration for yourself it starts with us just as you said Nick and if you treat people in a certain way the likelihood of them even in the beginning if they don't treat you with the niceties they're going to say there's something special about this individual there's a way about them there's a polish about them there's an air about them and this is not arrogance by the way you know we need more substance in this world than arrogance there are too many arrogant people out there with zero a substance, that's for sure. And coming from a country like the UK, and I've seen it around the world, we get a lot of arrogance with very little substance. And this is exactly in the etiquette of those rules of engagement. If I come to your beautiful country, which I'm now settling into this incredible country, the United States of America, I can't expect to come in here with my South African British background and say, well, we do it this way in England, why don't you do it this way in the US? That's not the key and the pointer. The etiquette is understanding what are the connections and the of engagement in this country and it's a multicultural country so it's not just looking at the US it's looking at the cultures within the US same with any country so for example if you were going to the UAE the United Arab Emirates you and your wife were going on holiday do your homework because you don't just arrive there no disrespect as people often look at Americans as being loud and brash that's the nature so let's understand that that may not be acceptable in that specific environment what clothing would your wife have to wear you know how would you connect and greet people with respect? Would you shake a woman's hand? No, you wouldn't. So these are all aspects of rules of connection and engagement. And when we discover and understand the power and importance behind showing that respect and showing that we care, oh my word, you start to see relationships elevate to another level. And that's part of your emotional intelligence, that it just goes hand in hand. Your EQ is everything and more of what manners and etiquette are. I feel like

NickHoupt: 15:27

what I've noticed is when you see those people that are leading with connection and from connection and service, their success in business and in life are way up here as compared to other people just because they're there to give and connect and want the best for that other person without expecting anything in return, right? 100%.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 15:51

And I can't even begin to elaborate or just almost dine out on that exact poignant comment and positioning you put there because I just want to share this with everybody in the world it's not what have you got to offer me what can I do for you attitude is the key to everything and I'm telling you right now whether you think I'm completely goo goo gaga airy fairy the universe has the most powerful way of serving you in return and that just goes down to a little connection over a coffee machine that you and I I could have picked up the coffee machine and said hi bye Thank you so much. But no, we connected. There was such an amazing immediate rapport. There was genuine interest in one another and there was no agenda. Right. We didn't know if we were going to see each other again or not. Absolutely. I mean, yeah. I mean, meeting to exchange something I bought on Facebook Marketplace, you having to drop the new home animal, beautiful home major pet at the vet and blah, blah, blah. That was a connection. Okay. And timing as well. I'm a big believer in timing is everything.

NickHoupt: 16:59

Yeah.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 16:59

There is

NickHoupt: 16:59

no coincidence, right? I

Dr.PhilipSykes: 17:01

don't

NickHoupt: 17:01

believe so. I agree. I agree. You had touched on the hospitality industry and working as a bus boy and then in the service industry. Let's touch on that now. I feel like ever since COVID happened, the service industry has gone downhill. Do you see that? Do you see where there's one, no connection, the, the, what's the word I'm looking for? Customer service is just out the window. Do you want

Dr.PhilipSykes: 17:33

to touch on that a little bit? thing is being in a hermit and sitting on top of the hill all good and well but by you've got to learn to understand how to connect and greet people if someone happens to pay you a visit when they meet you at the top of the hill and this is exactly something and that word hospitality I would love everyone out there to understand the importance of hospitality many many years ago I'm going to detract ever so slightly many years ago I was very fortunate to be flown to this gorgeous island called Mauritius it's off the African coast it's a it's it's one of those beautiful islands where people holiday a lot and it's very multicultural and meant to be one of the most wonderful islands to live in the world as far as safety and culture is getting on. But my point was, we were delivering some coaching and training for Barclays Bank. Now, Barclays has been around for many generations and decades. The moment I thought about the project, because with Barclays, it's a bank, right? So bank, it's transactional, it's boom, boom. But if you think about it back in the day, I know around my parents when we were growing up there was a rapport you knew who your bank manager was you had a connection you could sit in front of them back in those days must really fire up a ciggy with them and have a Barney might even offer you a nip of something those days are out the window and they have been long ago but every single business focuses on the wrong area in the sense of they look at how can we sell more how can we you know make more money how can we do but they lose the element of understanding their customer, their client, their guest. Look at everyone as a guest. And so we looked at this and we launched a program for Barclays called Hospitality and Banking. And that was a very key defining moment for me and for the organization because hospitality should be delivered in everything we do. If you go to the dentist, you don't wake up one morning and say, yeah, I'm going to the dentist. You think, well, crumbs, I've got to go to the dentist. I'm be a hint of nerves kicking in. You don't want someone drilling. You've got all these things to think about. So when you walk through that door, if they treat you with open arms and make you feel comfortable and understand how you're doing and ask after your little one and how things are going and they knew it was your daughter's birthday and they really showed genuine interest in Nick and they understood elements about you and they sat you down with a warm cup of chamomile tea or whatever it might be, it's going to put you at ease the moment you walk through that door. That is hospitality intelligence. And one size does not fit one. I'm sorry, one size does not fit all. One size fits one. So this is what we rolled out with the hospitality and banking at Barclays. They had to reignite their whole team because they all got complacent. And so going back to your original question, hospitality, if I had any guidance or steering for anybody out there who've got teenagers or youngsters, send them out to go and do a upfront, close and personal with people. But going back to what you brought up, and I detract a lot of the time going off piece here, we have lost that connection with people, especially around the restaurant, hotel sector. You go out, it's all become matter of fact. There's no attention to detail. There's no real rapport building. It's very much, they're order takers. They're not experience makers. That's the

NickHoupt: 21:22

difference. I like that. Order takers, not experience makers. Because I I had a vacation business years ago and it was all about the experience. And anytime I put events together and things like that too, or I'm training new people, I say we give an experience because people will remember the experience. Absolutely. And that Simon Sinek video, the TED talk he did, he said, and I said this the other day to someone too, he said, people don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it. And I think that's a great, great point that people need to keep in the back of their mind. Now, with the hospitality industry and everyone that's in that industry, do you feel that it's a leadership thing? Do you think that leaders aren't being trained on how to bring those experiences or that connection to those employees that are the boots on the ground, basically? Do you think that falls under the leadership aspect of everything? 100%

Dr.PhilipSykes: 22:30

yes. I might contradict myself slightly, but 100% yes. It's about leadership. Now, for me, leadership is about embracing people. This goes back to your emotional intelligence. We want to grow people. We don't want to walk around like a sergeant major, scolding people and putting them down and make them feel awkward or, oh, crumbs, I'm going to work. I better be careful of Nick because he's very strict and he's tiring to work for. We're on this earth here today, gone tomorrow. You Nobody promises tomorrow. So it starts with our leadership. Having said that, what type of people are we bringing into our organization? Are they high in emotional intelligence or are they just very good at their academic background and they're good at their managerial skills, but they're not great leaders? They're not great. people builders they're not they're not growing and helping people i would hands down over and above anything take someone on board for their emotional quotient their eq way over and above their skill set and their background in the sense of academia or qualifications because at the end of the day you can coach and train people to become a better chef or a better server or yeah what a better sommelier but you can't necessarily give them that edge of building their EQ. It takes time. And some people are hard as rocks. They don't understand the power and importance behind it. You know, with all due respect, and this goes back to what you were talking about earlier, it's inner self. But if you've grown up in an environment with parents who've treated you in a certain way or behaved in a certain way, and that could be negative or positive, unfortunately, it's monkey see, monkey do. The apple never falls far from the tree. We have to make a choice that no matter what has happened to us in our upbringing and growing up and the experiences, good or bad, on our journey. And no one, by the way, for any of our listeners out there, don't ever look at anyone and think they've ever had plain sailing. No one in this world has plain sailing. Whether it be the most wealthy, most fortunate people that look fortunate, it's far from, the journey is never straightforward. We can make it that much better by working on ourselves, but we will still have those knocks and bumps. But when we do have those knocks and bumps, hopefully we're better equipped to handle those knocks and bumps than we might have been way back when, when we were a little bit wet and green behind the ears. But yeah, going back to your original question, absolutely. It's down to people who steer the ship. They need to grow and build amazing human beings, give them their time, give them the coaching and training, hold their hands and support them through the training, the coaching and continue to coach and

NickHoupt: 25:11

train. And that ties in to the mental wellness and mental health that we do here. Because when you're growing up and getting all of that negativity and not working on yourself and everything, it plays a major role in your mental wellness and your mental health. And I wanted to bring up with etiquette and mental wellness, a lot of people think that etiquette's a surface level behavior. And how does practicing proper etiquette contribute to a deeper mental wellness and a more positive mental health? What an amazing

Dr.PhilipSykes: 25:45

question. Well, firstly, when it comes to mental health and I have to look at it mental wealth because our health is wealth and without our health you know Nick the two biggest gifts we have in this world are our health and time and when you understand the importance of a lifestyle choice as in how am I showing up every day for myself and therefore other people because if you show up badly for yourself it's not exactly you're going to be showing up on a on your A game for other people. So you've got to show up in your A game and we've got to find tools to mentally prepare ourselves to take our best foot and put that forward. So through the power of etiquette and manners and your emotional intelligence, every day we can find a routine and a rhythm to mentally prepare ourselves. So one of the things that I bring into the coaching and training from the word go, and this doesn't matter whether it's a six-year-old, an older person that's walked through the door on our Train the Trainer program, was 74. The first thing I get people to write down on this journey is, and I get them, and it's a note to their self, is I am my brand. And we go in, we dig deeper into that. So they have to write that down. The second thing I get them to write down is that I would like to be the person that I would like to meet. Oh, that's good. Okay. So who do I want to meet and how do I want to behave? Vice versa. I need to be that person that I would like to meet. Okay. We don't want to meet angry, aggressive, horrible people. The third one is one person, one opportunity can change our life for the rest of our life. How? Why? Or because I showed up, because I made an effort. I went above and beyond. I said yes to something. I just showed up. I looked the part. I went out there and I offered to support somebody that wasn't even in my remit, whatever it might be. And then I get them to sort of write down that I am the change because every single one of us have the ability to make a change in this world. And we never know who's looking up to us we never know who we're silently mentoring we never know I aspire to be like Nick one day I aspire to be like Mary one day or Philip one day and this is something that I get through to them and the final thing that I share with them on these four sentences is nothing's ever achieved unless truly first imagined okay so going back to your original question again is we can mentally 150% prepare ourselves to show up with good etiquette manners good EQ and for me one of the cornerstones of this journey is gratitude so this morning when I wake up I write down three things every morning that I'm grateful for maybe it's four things I mean we can write down an arm's length but to keep it short and to the point three or four things I then go through and ask myself what's going to make today really great I write that down and this was coming here today being foreign part of Jacksonville never been this neck of the woods seeing you again connecting with all of us and being able to have the privilege to host hopefully pass out some incredible guidance steering. And this comes from upbringing. This is not book learned. This is I read, I study, I listen to podcasts. I absolutely feed my brain all the time. But I'm always looking to see what else I can do better. And that gratitude journey is what can I do? What would make today great? I then write down an affirmation to myself about myself. I'm blessed and I'm fortunate to go out there and make a change in this world. That's my affirmation for the day. Then the evening I will write down three things that I was really truly grateful for that happened for me today it could have been someone recommended a book it could be the walk that I had on the beach whatever that might be and then I ask myself one final question before I shut my eyes tonight what could I have done today to make today that much would have made today that much better and for me it is and actually Nick I carry a stone in my pocket it's it's my gratitude stone I've had this I went through um a marriage breakup back in 2008 uh Married to an amazing woman. We had kids. And the moment kids came along, she became very attached and very focused on the children. And I felt very left alone and on the back seat. And it knocked me for a six. So we separated as amicably as possible. But I went through staring down, yeah, I mean, into the abyss sometimes. And I was living in southwest London, running a huge amount. And the one day I stopped in the middle of this beautiful park in southwest London, which park and i just said i want to stop feeling like this and i i really felt so lost and empty and i I've always been a person who's gone on prayer and gratitude but I really stopped and I said to myself you know Philip you've got to stop thinking and looking down that negativity route and looking into that abyss what what you need to focus on is all the most incredible things you you have in your life and I had my two daughters I had a roof over my head at that stage I was partnering and working with my brothers in in in the property world and I could pour myself a cup of water anytime you know I could make myself a plate of food any and I had this in my hand I had my health and I And I looked and I said, gee, man, look what I've got versus what I didn't have. And my marriage had fallen down. And at that point, I looked into a little stream that I hadn't stopped by and I picked that stone out of there. And that's been my gratitude stone ever since. You've had that stone since 2008? Correct. And the next time I see you, I'm going to both gift you a stone. Perfect. Because this is power. This is a rock. And I cannot begin to explain to people that anyone out there struggling, no matter what it might be with, understand it starts with what you have in your life right now. on what you don't have. It starts with gratitude. It starts with, you know, you wake up in the morning, you can put your two feet on the floor and stretch and say, hey, I'm alive today. I might not be feeling great, but I'm alive. And I'm going to try my utmost to make one or two things better than they were yesterday. And you start chipping away slowly and giving yourself small

NickHoupt: 31:48

bite-sized challenges. I was listening to something the other day and he was talking about gratitude because I'm a big proponent of gratitude. There's my wife and her friend and another friend of mine we have a text group and we don't do it every day but every so often the phone will ding and it's someone with five things they're grateful for ten things they're grateful for and then it starts a chain reaction of all of us going in and saying what we're grateful for and there's the saying you can't be mad and grateful at the same time and I think that a lot of people too they look at it as I don't have anything to be grateful for because they're looking at it like this big major thing that they have to be grateful for when it's the breeze on my face or you said pouring yourself a glass of water. I was thinking about that the other day too. And I'm like, man, there's people that can't do this or can't hop in the shower and be in the shower like for 15 minutes. And I think there's a stigma of a lot of people don't fully understand that there's so much to be grateful for, especially living in the United States and where we are right now, because this is such an abundant country. 100%. And so one thing we were talking about too, when we were saying the emotional intelligence and being grateful, how do you feel that ties in with your stress and anxiety? Oh, it's got everything

Dr.PhilipSykes: 33:26

to do with your stress and anxiety. When we deliver the coaching and training, again, it doesn't matter what age, one of the areas, so we share with people, so we actually put flesh on the bone in giving people the understanding of what etiquette manners are truly about. This is not just... A list of rules of do's and don'ts. It's far from that. Yes, you must say please and thank you. That's not negotiable. For me, it's the same thing as when I wake up in the morning, my son will greet me. Hi, Dad, good morning. How did you sleep? Vice versa, not a grunt. It's just not negotiable. It's showing respect for people. A server comes to the table. What would you care to order? May I have the chicken? Where's the please? May I please have the chicken? The small stuff. Small? things are huge but going back to to what you were sharing there is or asking is for me I really truly wholeheartedly get people to understand that for example do not allow your mood to dictate your manners easier said than done right someone upsets you and you fly off the handle because some you know and this is this so how do you do that oh my word what tools do you have Slow down. And this is something in breathing, learning to breathe, learning to compartmentalize things. Nick, I've got a million things to do today, darling. What do we need to do? And you say to yourself, darling, do we have a million things to do? Actually, if we break it down, it's only three things. So, you know, change your words, change your life as well. Everything we do has a reaction. Everything we do is going to influence us in one way or the other. So how we are using our words correctly, using the correct language that we need to embrace in our journey, language skills, polished language skills. We can take a deep dive into all those areas there because that's just scratching the surface. But I hope I've answered the question

NickHoupt: 35:55

there. Yeah. I like what you said, change your wording, change your life. If I'm someone listening and I feel that maybe my self-talk could improve everything I'm saying to myself, how I'm speaking to other people, what is some of the wording that they should start implementing? And for those people that are listening out there, you don't have to implement all this stuff at one time, right? You can start shifting the words you use on a daily, hourly basis. So what's some of those words that people can tell themselves or some positive words that they can say to other people?

Dr.PhilipSykes: 36:34

Yeah, that's a brilliant question. For example, I know traffic tends to be a very, very, very And I have been quite surprised at how the driving does take place in this neck of the woods. Driving here comes up on every episode. Yeah, I mean, it really is. It's not for the faint-hearted. People always say the Italians drive great, but I've never seen, with all due respect, driving as bad as I have in this country. People don't stay right and pass left. They move and shift in all different directions, but we're not here to talk about that. Fun fact, though, you are in the worst state of drivers. I heard so. I heard so. And it really is quite, it's nerve wracking, put it that way. And you can't multitask. And that's one thing I want to say while we're on air. People stop texting and talking on your phone while you're driving. It doesn't, as human beings, if you think you can multitask, we cannot. I know for a fact we cannot. It's proven. We can multitask, but not at a high level. We can do two things at once. I can talk to you on the phone and make myself a cup of tea. But with all due respect, am I being fully present while I'm talking to Nick? No. I'm not. I'm focusing actually on my teacup and clinking, clanking, and there's noise going through the earpiece to you. So I'm not being respectful. I'm not being situationally aware. There's so many aspects of this. As you can see, I think as we're unraveling here, there's so many exceptional moving parts to this journey. And it is a journey, Nick. Every day is an opportunity to improve. But what people can do is just change your words. For example, it's cold weather and I can guarantee I'm going to get the flu. Well, you're going to get the flu. No, it's going to get cold. I'm going to wrap up warmly and I'm going to stay healthy and fit during the winter season or you know it's just my luck I never get a good parking yes my luck's changing I'm going to find a great parking just start to shift your words think about the positive approach and I'm not trying to build all eternal optimists it's not this is not the point the point is if you think about it you know where do you want to be in five years from now and if you look at what you're saying about your life right this moment you can pretty much then predict where you might be in five years Oh, it's just my luck. I never get a promotion. Oh, what am I doing wrong that I can't get a better job? Well, what do you need to do right to find a better job? And we have these choices. And this is the scary thing in this world. People do what they've always done and they're always going to do what they've always done. And it's about making that change. A small change leads to big, big, big breakthroughs. And it's just the same as me saying to you, Nick, start doing press-ups. Oh, Philip, I can't do 10 press-ups. Start with one.

NickHoupt: 39:14

By

Dr.PhilipSykes: 39:15

the end of the 10 days, you're doing 10 press-ups. By the end of the year, you're doing three sets of 20, 30, 40 press-ups. It's chip, chip away and the chunks fall off. We don't go in with a sledgehammer. So if people out there listening to this amazing opportunity to, and by the way, this is the most incredible education that you're delivering, Nick, to bring in amazing, and I can blow my own trump because I truly feel blessed that I can impart this amazing knowledge and the people you've had on the past and people who have on the future, people have got free access to this and donate to the cause because this is a cause that is educating us. Get off your social media. You know, going back to mental health and wellbeing, the biggest travesty in this world is people are addicted to their mobile phones and they are glued onto other people's lives and how other people are so-called living. And it's not like that. It's not the real world. The real world is get off your phone and implement coaching and training, implement growth subjects that will elevate you to another level. They will start to open doors

NickHoupt: 40:17

for you. Yeah, I heard someone say before too that with social media, everyone's comparing themselves to everyone else's highlight reel. And you had mentioned presence. And so let's talk about that because with the busy world that we're living in, how can someone make sure they remain present in everything they do. I know we all get busy and I catch myself not fully focusing with someone or on the phone and doing something else. But what are some tips that you can give people on remaining fully present, which ultimately leads to that connection, which then leads to a better life, right?

Dr.PhilipSykes: 41:01

A million percent. Nick, that's a deep question because firstly, we need to learn to ask permission. Okay. We need to learn to become exceptionally good listeners. Everyone Oh, I listen. We hear, but we don't listen properly. So being exceptionally present or having presence intelligence, you've got to set the moment. Or if you're prepared to answer a telephone call, even though you weren't expecting it, that's your choice. So if you answer that phone call and you say, Hi, Philip, it's Nick. How are you? And I say to you, and I check in with you, Nick, do you have a moment? And you've given me, Philip, absolutely, I've got 10 minutes. You're now giving me permission to talk to you. if that makes sense. So therefore you should be present when I'm connecting with you, not multitasking, not click, click, click, clicking away. If you've offered me that value of your incredible time and I'm speaking to you, we need to shut off everything else around us, everything else around us and be fully present in that moment. It's like you and I are here. We're not, I don't care where my phone is. I don't, the world could be imploding around us, explode. I'm here with you. I'm, Heeding every moment and opportunity I can to watch your body language, to listen to what you're asking me, for me to be able to connect with you is the best possible way I can connect with you. The best possible way. Because you're going to get a far better answer from me if I'm personally fully present. And it couples with situational awareness. What's going on around us? You know, what is distracting us? What is, or are we situationally aware of where we're standing, for example? You know, So it's all these aspects of, you mentioned the introduction to a gentleman who talks about your, is it your physical, what is the physical? Physical intelligence. Physical intelligence. Again, these are all leading into one another. And it is an intelligence. That's all it is, is about being very clear on where you are as an individual. So asking permission and being able to connect with people at the right time in order to make a proper impact with that individual in order to get a better answer or in order to get a better decision because if you're busy at your desk Nick and one of your personal assistants walks in and says Nick I've got blah blah blah and starts going off at you and you're in the middle of planning a project how much are you going to take in on that you're most really going to end up saying I don't have time for that right now and it's a brilliant idea they haven't checked in with you Nick do you have a moment Mike Mary John I need to 15 minutes to finish my proposal here and then we'll have a coffee and I'll be all yours and I'll be totally present. That was, I was

NickHoupt: 43:49

going to ask you how you set that boundary of boundaries. Okay. That was going to be my next question was how does someone do that? So I like the 15 minutes or however long it takes and then I'll be with you. Now, would someone have to say the full thing of, Hey, I'm busy right now. Give me 15 minutes and then you'll have my full attention. Let's talk about that. Saying something like that as compared to, not right now, how does that affect the other person? Not right now is

Dr.PhilipSykes: 44:22

you basically already emitting negativity. You're showing disrespect. Even though you might have already, it could be your wife. Not right now. If Kerry spoke to me like that, I would take offense to that because, again, Nick, this goes into tonality. We communicate with people literally 93% which is actually non-verbal only 7% is a spoken word 55% is our body language and how you present yourself all the aspects of how the body language communicates and then there's 38% tonality so not right now is basically not a slap on the face but it's just like leave me alone or the stronger terms used off as opposed to Mary look right now is not a good time. You're giving them a small explanation. People go, why do I have to explain myself? You're not. You're just putting that other person at ease and say, Mary, not a good time. Just got to finish the proposal in 15 minutes and I'm going to grab a coffee in 20 minutes. We can sit at the boardroom table, come to my desk and we'll have a coffee and I'm all yours. That gives that person that feeling of ease around you that you respect them and that you want to listen to them. You're not just fobbing it off because how many of us feel fobbed off? And I truly believe this guy's back to leadership that when you are that you asked me that incredible question earlier when you're in a position of leadership you must listen to what everyone else has got to offer you as input because you might have someone in a position in let's use a restaurant or hotel doing what we might look as a menial job but actually it's a main job and it could be an area of having to keep a certain part of the hotel spic and span but they found a better way to do something they must be able to voice their experience and their ability to feel part of a growing team. Feeling included and heard. Feeling is everything, Nick. There's that amazing quote. I mentioned to you earlier, kindness. Whatever we want to be in this world, an engineer, just be kind. All you have to do in life is be kind. It doesn't take a huge amount of effort to be kind, but unfortunately it seems to be a massive effort for many people. That's number one. Maya Angelou has got this, which I know you've heard, and Hopefully our audience have heard this. And if you haven't, people will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. They will never forget how you made them feel. And that for me, it's all about feeling and emotion.

NickHoupt: 46:55

Now, when you're going through life and it's busy and hectic and you're traveling and you have so much going on, how do you check in with yourself? What do you do to bring yourself back into that presence and maybe your speech changes and you're kind of scatterbrained a little bit, are there any practices or anything that you can give our listeners that they can utilize to check back in and help them slow down and be more present and talk to themselves a little better? Absolutely. Firstly, be

Dr.PhilipSykes: 47:28

quick to apologize. We're human beings. We are not. If anyone out there thinks I'm a perfectionist, we're not perfectionists. Be near perfect with your job. You need to deliver 100%. But as human beings, we make mistakes. We've got to try and be better than we were yesterday. So self-talk is very important. Preparation is fundamental. Preparation is, for me, preparing is going to help you 90% of the time. We're going to get something out of the blue, and we do need to learn to, as you mentioned, slow down, use the six-second rule. Just pause. Sometimes you might need 20 minutes in a situation. Sometimes you might need to take a walk around the block because of something's blown up in your face so to speak but if you act you're going to get a reaction if we slow down and then act you're going to hopefully get a better reaction and again on that note I go back to being quick to apologize because you mentioned if you sort of say not right now I'm sorry I didn't mean it didn't mean to come out that way I'm just under a lot of pressure then that person won't take that much offense but if I said not right now that's all crumbs what have I done wrong what next in a bad mood no he's not a bad mood he's just very preoccupied with this project but you didn't mean to for it come out like that but you're so in the zone that that is your automatic innate sort of reaction to that and and again nick let's go into your subconscious a thousand times more powerful than your conscious so your subconscious is that filing cabinet in life and from the moment we are born until we're seven eight years old we learn more in that space of time through visual through hearing through energy education than we will ever learn in the rest for the rest of our lives so that if you've been spoken to in a certain way and you're so-called used to being spoken that certain way hey then you're going to continue speaking to people that way and that's not acceptable if it's if it's brash to the point it's it's abrupt it's it's questioning someone all of those sort of that you know so for example and i want to sort of lean into this if you got home and you said to your wife why are we having fish tonight for dinner how do you think she might react well

NickHoupt: 49:40

she

Dr.PhilipSykes: 49:40

would

NickHoupt: 49:40

react being upset if she was cooking fish and i came in absolutely questioning why she was doing something for me

Dr.PhilipSykes: 49:49

absolutely why that big word why it's a good word but let's use it very carefully and use tonality but darling wow it looks fantastic where did you get the fish from you same question or similar sort of question or may i ask darling why fish tonight i went down to the fishmonger this morning nick i couldn't resist so again how we possess in questioning it's about slowing down it's exactly if I ask you a question and it gets the hair up in your back and you think I'm attacking you you could snap back at me or you could slow that down and actually work the situation into something more positive more dynamic and this is an art it's something that takes a lot of practice you have to check in with yourself and realize where you're slipping up so you asked me that point in question about emotional intelligence we don't and we can't work on every aspect of our emotional intelligence so for example under managing stress, for example, do any of us work well under stress or are we able to work well when we're feeling stressed? Some people brush it off and get on with it and then worry about that because they've taught themselves to do that. A lot of people have that in their mind. They're stressed. They're taking their eye off the ball at work. So what tool can we incorporate there to try and be better in tune when we are stressed to work at a higher performance? And there are tools to do that so you take one element of your EQ and start working on it and you chip away at a time and then you start to keep sorry then you start to keep an emotional management diary on how I handled that situation much better with Nick than I did the time before and so we but you've got to make the decision in order to want to be able to do this it doesn't come naturally

NickHoupt: 51:31

I think that I I need to work on that with my wife because I'm always full go you have volume and it's let's get this done and this and this and that and then where i grew up in pittsburgh and most people that i come across are like well we're right to the point and a lot of people up north are like we're from up north so we're right to the point and my wife is the opposite and so when i come in like that she has mentioned it's not what you're saying it's how you're saying it to me and i think that uh that a lot of us need to just take that six seconds i really like that i'm going to start implementing that and working on putting that into my practices. But when it comes to being polite and having proper etiquette, what is the difference between being too polite and being a pushover or a doormat?

Dr.PhilipSykes: 52:32

Oh, I love this. So a lot of people think, oh, being polite, you become a pushover because you're always just saying yes and you're conforming. Actually, manners give you the power and the tools to tell someone to disappear and make them look forward to the journey, if that makes sense.

NickHoupt: 52:47

Can

Dr.PhilipSykes: 52:47

you go further on that? Yeah, sure. So in other words, take a long walk off a short pier and that person actually looks forward to the journey. Because with the ability of polished language skills, as in the way you use your language, it doesn't matter what language you speak, but in the choice of words you use, you can tell someone to disappear in such a way that you're being polite, but you're telling someone, get out of my face, basically. Disappear. Get off. But you're doing it in such a dynamic way because you're saying, you know, Nick, actually the way you just spoke to me, I'm not going to put up with that. Thank you very much. And going forward, it made me feel like I'm nothing to you. And I've worked with you for the last five years. And right now, I don't feel appreciated. I haven't got aggressive with you. I haven't sworn at you. I haven't. And hopefully you wouldn't feel that I've been rude. I'm just putting it out there on how I feel. And I'm being emotionally clear on where I sit with and how I'm feeding with you at this point right now. So in other words, I'm keeping my polish. I haven't dipped and started having to feel I have to shout and swear and try and get my point across that way. So when you incorporate good manners, you can really get your message across in a very dynamic and very, very on point way. Being very strategic in what you're saying. And can be very direct as well. It doesn't make you a pushover on any level. For example, if someone says to you, for example, we don't have a table for you, sir. I made a reservation. Yeah, but we gave the table away. Okay, how dare you give the table? That's not going to get me anywhere. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. So in that particular situation, and we see this the world over, I booked a table and they start throwing their toys out the cot it's not going to get you anywhere Nick it's not you know I want to see the manager well the manager is not going to abracadabra and magic a table or a chair for you so the way you handle that situation is going to get you a lot further and inevitably you may actually end up getting a table maybe it's 15 late 15 20 minutes later than the than the book the booking that you supposedly had and at that same time because you've handled it so beautifully they've asked you to go and sit at the bar area there's a menu and may we offer you a drink or on the house while we wait for a table. You can turn things around in the most dynamic way with the power of etiquette and manners.

NickHoupt: 55:20

Yeah, I've seen firsthand too where someone approached someone in the service industry a certain way and it was like they got nowhere and ended up paying double for the item that they were getting fixed that was made incorrectly. And I was looking and just thinking to myself if they handled that a little bit differently I guarantee you they would have gotten a free drink instead of paying twice as much for the one that they were just yelling about yeah

Dr.PhilipSykes: 55:53

completely it's extraordinary and this is you know if there's hopefully many golden nuggets from today's conversation but just everyone in this world learn to slow down whatever it is that we're doing slow down be respectful and be situationally aware of what's going on around you imagine in itself will start to get you to wake up. Because the moment you start to address that and you position yourself in whatever the position is, you will start to see how you can conduct yourself in a far better light. I truly know it works. Everything I share with you, Nick, I wholeheartedly live, eat, breathe, and sleep. And just going back to gratitude, you know, you talk about it. People say, oh, what's there to be grateful for? To be a bit graphic, you know, as you get older, you might need to go to the, as you call it, the restroom, the bar in the middle of the night to take a leak. I get up, go and have my wee and then get back into my bed. And I'm going, yeah, baby, I've got a duvet above me. And by the way, I'm sleeping on a blow up mattress right now. And I'm not complaining. I've got a blow up mattress and I'm getting under a duvet. And I am so grateful for that because let me tell you, you know, I know in this beautiful country that is so-called first world, in many first world countries around the world, there is poverty and there are deprived people. Don't even look toward Africa because we support the most incredible foundation in Uganda called Push Child Foundation. And you want to see happy children and they've got zero. They might get a slice of watermelon to eat for the day.

NickHoupt: 57:25

They

Dr.PhilipSykes: 57:27

are orphans. A five-year-old is taking care of their two-year-old brother because both parents have died. So, you know, at the end of the day, we can absolutely find tools to make us grateful. I don't care what anyone says we've one moment just our help is to be grateful for it really and truly is the fact you can afford a Starbucks coffee that is gratitude

NickHoupt: 57:51

yeah man we could we could talk about gratitude all day and I have so many more questions I have a full portion of questions about parenting and family on here that I didn't even get to so we'll have to have you come back because I want to be respectful of everyone's time and everything and I have so many questions I didn't even ask because we were just shooting off the cuff with everything. We have to do episode two. We'll have to have you back. So with us being the Life Well Balanced podcast, we talk about mental health and we talk about what a balanced life truly looks like. So for you, being a father and a husband and a business owner, what is your definition of a life well balanced?

Dr.PhilipSykes: 58:36

That's an amazing question, Nick. I suppose you ask someone that when they're 20, it's going to be a very different answer. I'm going to be 57 this year. One of the things for me, Life Well Balanced, is very much for the privilege to focus on family. And I know we all work exceptionally hard, and I'm not saying work ever comes first, but that goes back to your original question about preparation and knowing that I'm putting time aside. And when I say time aside, I don't have my phone in my hand. I don't have any distractions. I'm putting time aside for me, my family, my son, my family. And that is quality time. So a life-well balance is definitely the input with family. And I'm very much an advocate of this. How do children spell love? They spell it T-I-M-E, time. It's not about the possessions. It's not about the gifts. And the other thing that I'm fastidious about, spend half as much money on your kids and twice as much time with them. So life-well balance is very much making... And it's not making an effort. It mustn't be an effort. You need... And you must make quality, wonderful time and be very present and be very clear on what you're going to do in that quality time. Because it's not about, well, I'm taking time off to spend time with my family. Have you got a plan? Are you going to do something? Whether it be a board game, card game, walking on the beach, going for a ride on your bicycle, whatever it might be. So that for me is very much the crux. And again, I am passionate about what I do. So I do, I know for a fact, I spend too many hours working, but I do find too balance that. So for example, especially with school holidays right now, I'm spending as much time with my son as well. He goes to day camp, otherwise Kerry and I are running our own businesses. It'd be like trying to herd feral cats, which would be a blessing if we were in that position of being able to spend each day and every day because money were no object. Unfortunately, we're not in that situation, but there's no complaint there. But when he gets back from camp at a certain time, then down tools and it's quality time. And then dinner together, we pray around the dinner table we ask each other what was good about your day what was challenging about your day and what you're looking forward to fundamental conversation there's no digital anywhere near us it's proper conversation and then we'll read and then Harley will go to sleep and then I will go back to my computer and do some extra work and follow up so a life will balance it starts with a family and then putting positioning your work around that now I'm fortunate that I'm an entrepreneur I'm my own boss but I do have to hit deadlines with my colleagues, with students, with companies that I'm working for. And a life well-balanced is also maintaining your mental health, your health in general, and that falls under the major umbrella. Because again, without our health, then we don't have that beautiful family time. So a life well-balanced is about nurturing yourself and filling your love cup first. Because if your love cup's not full, if your energy cup's not full, how do you expect to then give beautiful energy and love to the people around you?

Unknown: 1:01:38

Mm-hmm.

NickHoupt: 1:01:39

Man, that was beautifully put. So we do this... At the end, we do a speed round and we call it balanced or unbalanced. Yes. So I'll ask you if something's balanced or unbalanced. You answer whether it is balanced or unbalanced. If you want to elaborate more, feel free. If we want to just keep running through it, that's fine too. So let's jump into it. You ready? Go. So balanced or unbalanced, choosing family dinner over a high profile speaking opportunity.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:02:09

Ooh, Nick, you're throwing a curve ball

NickHoupt: 1:02:10

in my

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:02:12

direction. Family dinner. Depends how important the family dinner is. That's for sure. Look, we have family dinner every night and I know some families don't have the privilege. If I didn't have that privilege, I'd most probably do the family dinner over the public speaking engagement. Again, I'm not running a nonprofit. We're running an organization that we do need to generate revenue. So I'd have to take my six second rule and mull that one over and check in with the family members to see what's going on.

NickHoupt: 1:02:41

Okay. Balanced or unbalanced, investing in Balanced, definitely. I would put there, I

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:02:54

lean into unbalanced there because, yeah, I mean, perfection, as I mentioned earlier, we must strive to be better than we were yesterday. And that's where, yeah, anyone who wants to reckon they're trying to esteem to being a perfectionist, just be damn good at whatever you do. One of my quotes actually is, Whatever you do in this world, make it count.

NickHoupt: 1:03:18

We had our CEO, Dr. Desh, with Balanced Wellbeing here, and that's what he said too. He said, it's just to be the best that you can be in everything that you do. Absolutely. Absolutely. Balanced or unbalanced, correcting your child's manners in front of other people. You can do it subtly.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:03:39

Now, there's a great point, and I know we're going to have another episode. When it comes to children, The moment you embarrass them in front of other people, that unfortunately gets filed in their filing cabinet. And if it happens one too many times, that then starts to become a challenge for the child. And so I would definitely re-engage with my children, my son behind the scenes off the back of that. So fortunately, if we start off on the right footing with our children, you may not have to get to that, cross that bridge. But if we're now starting to implement, and this is the beautiful thing about the power of etiquette and manners, it doesn't matter your upbringing. Honestly, I've worked with people from squatter camps to people who've grown up in places of parents who have had no guidance or steering for their kids, and people have shifted their lives through the power of etiquette, manners, and emotional intelligence. So this is inclusive. It's not exclusive. So yes, I think you absolutely, that's a great question. Unbalance. It's not the right

NickHoupt: 1:04:43

thing to do. Bell, Balanced or unbalanced, prioritizing personal presence over proper etiquette.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:05:14

called Arsenal and Arsenal in French and Arsenal is a storage box for ammunition I want people to look at themselves building their own little arsenal and you putting these amazing tools these are not tips or tricks tips or tricks you can find on there these are quintessential life skills these are core and anyone who calls this we need soft skills in this world I can't stand that word there's nothing soft about these skills these are hard

NickHoupt: 1:05:40

core life skills balanced or unbalanced striving for external respect over inner peace. I would go inner peace every day of the week. Making time for your personal passions outside of family and work. Balanced. Absolutely has to be balanced. Coming on the Life Well

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:06:01

Balanced podcast. Yeah, I had to think twice about that. No, I just said yes, Nick. I didn't even know, you know, for me, and this is another thing I want people to understand, the power of yes. You know, say yes and figure it out. That's what Richard Branson said many years ago. Say yes and then figure it out. And, you know, this for me has been an absolute privilege to, yeah, the coffee machine brought us together, you know, my desire for a nice cup of coffee and you not having enough time to make nice coffee. It led us to meet and this has just been an absolute joy and I'm very grateful for this amazing opportunity. So more than balance, it's balanced off the

NickHoupt: 1:06:41

Richter scale. Perfect. Thank you. Well, the pleasure has been all mine. This will definitely have to do an episode two because there was just so much stuff that I didn't get to ask you. But thank you so much for your time and congratulations on all of your success. And I just truly appreciate you coming here with us. Oh, thank you, Nick. And thanks so

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:07:00

much to this amazing, amazing producer. Yeah, perfect. So

NickHoupt: 1:07:05

where can people find you? Thank you very much for that question.

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:07:10

Well, firstly, we are going to be officially launching the British School of Excellence in to the U.S. market with me spending hopefully the majority of my time now in the U.S. And I've been, I felt so welcomed. We very much are a global organization. If anyone's looking for us, it's thebritishschoolofexcellence.com. We do have an incredible Facebook. We have Instagram, YouTube. We've got all the social channels and those can be connected with from our website. And I love conversations. Our team loves conversations. We love having phone calls or Zoom calls. We're here to guide and steer. And one thing I can honestly say and openly say, I hate that word honestly say, we should always be honest, openly say is that when you walk through the doors of the British School of Excellence, the doors remain open.

NickHoupt: 1:07:59

Now, is there anything that we didn't go over that you would like to share with our listeners?

Dr.PhilipSykes: 1:08:05

Wonderful question. Thanks, Nick. In November, we are actually going to launch our in-person Train the Trainer here in Jacksonville. Awesome. And the dates are on the website and that is five days of intense coaching and training for anyone who wants to literally build themselves to a high high level for those people who want to go out there and deliver the coaching and training in this arena in this area and we are an accredited organization we are globally recognized and we have international certification it is a certified program and that's five intense days which will be the first one that we're delivering in the USA we've always delivered them out of the UK live in person and we deliver them online as well we've got our Zoom one in September it's no different apart from I love that in person interaction it's beautiful the energy but the Zoom is as powerful and the accreditations the certifications qualifications are all very much the same but that is coming up there's a train the trainer online in Zoom in September so anyone in the world can dial in and Zoom Zoom starts around, we tend to try and position around the hours that we've got with a different audience. Just to give you an understanding, Nick, last, in June, we actually had live in London and I had an amazing woman, this shows dedication, how committed people are to our organization. A woman was waking up at 1.30 a.m. in the morning in California to dial in to spend seven hours for five days with us in London via Zoom. That's commitment. And she runs the most incredible charity out in California. She's got a team of 20 people working for her and she came on board to learn how to take on all these tools, the coaching side of it, the deep dive into this mindset, the confidence that we give people the tools to elevate to so that she can implement it into her organization. So there's huge commitment from people all over the world. We have the most incredible alumni platform. So you're not just walking through the doors of the British School of Excellence, you're opening yourself up to a global exposure. Awesome. Awesome. Oh, and one other thing. I'm actually doing a retreat on the 18th and 19th of September up in New Jersey. It's going to be announced on our website. I don't have the details here right now. It's a two-day event. The first day is with my work colleague, Dr. Jacqueline from USA Global TV and Radio, which incidentally, I'd love to get you on as my guest. And she's going to be doing the most incredible three-hour program of setting boundaries and asking permission. Oh, perfect. And the following day, I'm going to be delivering the importance and the power of social etiquette and taking a deep dive into the power of etiquette and manners on the Friday awesome thank you music