Video - Robert Craven interviews Mark Wilkinson - Life Remixed
VIDEO: 48:00 mins
AUTHOR: Robert Craven and Mark Wilkinson
In this GYDA Talks, Robert talks to Mark Wilkinson. Mark is a multiple business owner, coach, speaker and published author. Originally, music was Mark’s life as an international house music DJ and record producer. He was resident DJ at the famed Ministry of Sound in London, played music in 65 different countries, and achieved a UK Top 10 hit!
At 33 years of age, Mark collapsed with an incurable disease. It was the start of a hellish experience as his body froze up over the next 18 months resulting in him being unable to walk. He was in constant agony and lived on painkillers. His loss of health and financial setbacks eventually led to bankruptcy, depression, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts. On a detox in Scotland, Mark was given a DVD of The Secret. In it, he learned from Bob Proctor that disease is two words: dis-ease. This brand-new information completely opened Mark’s mind to new ways of thinking, feeling, and being. He began to study philosophy and personal development to detoxify and cure his body, eventually completing four marathons.
After hitting rock bottom, Mark took positive action, overcame his health issues, and re-educated himself in a new career in construction health and safety. He worked at the London Olympic Stadium for the 2012 Games and then at London Heathrow Airport as HSE Manager overseeing their entire commercial construction portfolio. He next became Head of HSE at a division of a residential home developer having overall HSE responsibility on a 90-acre, £1 billion project.
During this time, Mark Wilkinson was introduced to the UK’s largest landlord and self-made millionaire, Kevin Green, and completed his Kevin Green Wealth (KGW) property wealth coaching programme. As a result, Mark was asked to join the KGW coaching team to share his knowledge of business, property investing, and wealth management.
In 2018, Mark set up his own Health and Safety consultancy, which meant he could also focus on his various property businesses and develop as a coach and speaker. Mark Wilkinson’s debut book Life Remixed™ launched in February 2021. The book tells the story of his roller coaster life as a DJ, how he lost everything, and how he remixed his life. Mark is now a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management (FInstLM) and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Safety and Health (CMIOSH). He holds an NVQ7 Master’s in Strategic Management and Leadership (MPhil) and plans to study next for a PhD in Directional Leadership. He is also an E-Colors practitioner and coach.
Robert and Mark discuss:
Mark’s history – living the dream
The point that Mark’s body said No
The mental toll of illness
The DVD the Secret – Bob Proctor
Taking action, a purpose, vision and goals
Bankruptcy, coming back from hitting bottom
Add value, give service, entrepreneurs
Mindset shift to running businesses
Having multiple sources of income
Kevin Green – You must have products and services
Keep learning, repetition is everything
Invest in yourself
What separates a successful from an unsuccessful business?
Dedicating time to mindset
Why should people buy Mark’s book?
Finding purpose – to bring joy, knowledge, inspire and create
Be happy in the moment
What’s next for Mark
Mark’s pearls of wisdom
For more information about Mark, please visit:
Transcription:
Robert Craven 01:19
Hello, and welcome to GYDA talks. I have a real treat today. I've got a gentleman by the name of Mark Wilkinson with me. And Mark has written a book called A Life remix. And this is the hero story from the highs of the highs to the lows of the lows to the highs of the highs and I'm really excited. So without further ado, Hello, Mark. It's great to have you with us.
Mark Wilkinson 01:41
Robert , thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it.
Robert Craven 01:44
It's gonna be an interesting conversation because this is a story of sex, drugs and rock and roll to quote the song. But actually on a more serious note, it's also a conversation about how you make stuff happen. But it's also a story about what do you do? What do you do when you're down on your uppers? Give us some kind of backstory, Mark, for people who don't know you.
Mark Wilkinson 02:10
Yes, so I was a resident DJ Ministry of Sound when I was 25 years of age, I worked in flying records for five years before that in Kensington Market. I was always loved music from a young age. And I started drinking alcohol at 14. And then things just could have continued from there. And I got more and more into addictions as well as partying and having a good time. I travelled to 65 countries to DJ. I had a record in a top 10. We did a remix of Lou Reed and David Berry satellite of love in 2004. So I was pretty cool. And travelled all over the globe.
Robert Craven 02:46
Drugs cocktail.
Mark Wilkinson 02:49
Quite. And I had a great time. You know, I had a great, great time it was amazing fun. Until one day it wasn't and, you know, had a physical collapse. And that's when things started to start to take hold.
Robert Craven 03:01
So if he's okay by you, I mean, anyone who enjoys this conversation, go and look at the book because t the book is a laid bare piece. So, I mean, did you just hit a brick wall? Or did was it sort of slowly coming? Or how did that happen?
Mark Wilkinson 03:25
Yeah, so it wasn't the actual physical collapse was no real warning of that. It just my leg just gave away one day and I was walking through my flat in central London, I was 33 and things. My body just sort of stopped working. I had thinking back on it. And I've documented this in the book, Thinking back on it, there were stomach cramps, there were problems. My body was, I think trying to tell me that there was inflammation and there was problems going on. But I wasn't really listening at that time. I just I did keep looking for solutions. But I ended up on the floor that day. And then for the following 18 months after that, my body just froze up. It consequently or the other way around, basically ended up feeling like I was on fire like my joints are on fire but and you couldn't really touch me or anything like that. And yet, I was frozen in time if I stay too long in one position. You know, I couldn't sleep for more than two or three hours I couldn't get out of a car couldn't stand up. I couldn't move around. Yeah, I was shuffling everywhere I was. It was you know, mentally that took its toll hugely, of course as well.
Robert Craven 04:25
So it's fascinating. So you've gone from being the man with the movies, the man with the tunes all the way down to the bottom stuff, presumably you're not. You're getting no income you can't work and so on and so forth. So, does that point, does this judge come in sitting on your shoulder and start with the I told you, you're useless or you didn't? I always knew you're going to end up or is there a kind of a sage thing? There is a way out of this. For every negative, there's a positive what happens in your mindset?
Mark Wilkinson 05:06
I wasn't that self aware at that moment, to be honest, I was at the front, I was DJing, I was travelling the globe, I was having the young man's dream and doing all this great stuff, making a living, by the way out of music, which would have only been my second choice after being a footballer, and I was a crap footballer. So, you know, I made money out of music. And, and I loved it. I mean, what a way to live. But I wasn't self aware enough at that time. And I certainly didn't get my head around what was happening to me in any way, shape, or form, all I was looking for was some sort of solution, or something that I could get my head around to be like, Okay, I need to understand. I need to understand exactly what is going on in my life. But I wanted a doctor to diagnose me, that's what I really wanted. For 18 months of agony mentally and physically, I wanted a doctor to diagnose me, and I just, I couldn't find a doctor there was that I went to so many and no doctor could actually, you know, give me an answer to this. And so mentally, to answer your question, mentally, I went down and down and down and down, down because I was like, well, this life isn't worth living. This body doesn't work anymore. I'm 33 - 34 years of age. Is this it?
Robert Craven 06:22
Okay, so the hero's journey always kind of comes all the way down, and then something triggers or something sparks. I mean, that's how the story is meant to go. I mean, was there a spark? Or was it a slow gradual realisation? Or did you meet someone? How do you come back up? Because there is a good story.
Mark Wilkinson 06:52
Redemption tale, of course, because I'm still here. So that's good. But this is a redemption story, because I definitely went through a very, very dark period there. You know, a lot of my greatest fears came true, essentially, you know, would I not be enough? Would I not be able to earn enough with my music not last week, that, you know, all these great fears, you know, with my health, keep going, you know, all this kind of stuff. And all my greatest fears basically came true. But during that 18 months of pain, I was still reaching for some help. And I'd been on because of the stomach problems earlier in life. I'd been on a few detoxes up to Scotland, and I met this guy, his couple, actually, Brian and Annalise Miller, and they're like, angels, incredible people, you know, looking after the body, but obviously helping the mind as well. And Brian definitely knew that, you know, he had some answers. I think he, you know, he's quite, he's like Yoda to my Luke Skywalker, if you like. And I think he kind of understood, I think he kind of understood what I needed. And he definitely understood what I needed. And he gave me a DVD of the secret as it was at the time, you know, on a disk, and it gave me this DVD. And he said, like, we'll go and watch that son, you know, and I was like, alright, so I went and watched it. I gave it back to him afterwards. So when he cheers, he went, No, no. He said, Go and watch that again. That was twice in one day, okay, or I didn't have anything else to do at that moment. So I won't go in. So I went and watched it twice in one day tried to give it back to him again. No, he said you need to watch it 100 times. Okay. What I didn't know what you didn't tell me or what I didn't know at the time was repetition is mastery. And the more you repeat something, you know, mentally as well as physically, you can actually like you know, start to learn what was going on and in that secret in that film, at that moment, there was a beautiful I mean, Bob Proctor Massey Sharma for both since recommended and endorsed life remix. They both said it there, but Bob particularly said, This eases two words, and you must hyphenate that word at disease . And you cannot have a disease if you're mentally and physically at ease. And I was like this is brand new information. I haven't heard this before and the doctors telling me I've got an incurable disease a few months before and now this guy is telling me it's a disease and actually I am responsible for it and I can potentially fix it. Okay, I need to know more about this rubber.
Robert Craven 09:14
Okay, so people listening are immediately gonna go what is Robert Craven doing talking to someone who's talking about the secret because I have made comments on the secret. I have one main real objection to it. And this could be a very short interview, you could just turn me off but I hopefully not. And that is you know, I remember meeting this woman at an event I didn't Catterick and she came rushing up to me. And she goes, Ah, I've read the secret and I'm gonna be a multi multi millionaire. And here's a picture of the Ferrari I'm going to buy. My husband and I went right. Okay, keep going to bless it. All I've got to do is visualise and it'll happen. And I said well, what you doing and she was part of some pyramid scheme where she was. In my humble opinion, I think she was just going to lose her money and she was being ripped off. And she said, No, no, no, you don't understand. I've read the book, all I need to visualise. And this will come true. If I believe enough, it will come true. So my hippie shit detector goes off regular and says, I'm sorry. Yeah. I was polite to her. But that's what I struggle with the secret. So put me right, please.
Mark Wilkinson 10:37
Okay, so there's two things there. I mean, one, you must have a visualisation, you must have the end goal in mind, you must know where your destination is, and what you want to achieve. The thing that's missing from the secret in that respect is that you have to take some massive action, you have to do something. Yeah, you know, the good bit about it is you must believe first and the Law of Attraction is working, whether you know it or understand it or not, you know, there's universal laws, like the law of gravity that work in that we understand that keeps us on the ground, right. But the law of attraction is something we can't necessarily see. But at the end of the day, it's working, whether we understand it or not. So you've got to take some massive action. And clearly, you can't just say I'm gonna have this Ferrari, and it's gonna turn up tomorrow. That's not quite how it works unless you win the lottery. But the point is that you've got to take like progressive action and keep going and keep going and keep going. The other thing that people get wrong about this is there is also another universal law that says forced negates. If you try and force something to happen, and you keep forcing, I see it a lot. I'm a positive thinker, I'm a positive thinker, I'm going to think positive, I'm going to think positive is going to be alright, I'm going to keep going. You're trying to force something at all times, it makes it negative think of anything, try someone tries force you to do something, Robert, you're lucky enough for that. The force negates so you don't need to force anything, but you do need to have a belief you do need to have a purpose and vision and goals. And you do need to make progressive action, big action towards those goals. But the more you believe first, the more it's going to happen.
Robert Craven 12:05
Okay, so I'm totally up with start with the end in mind. I mean, people are so tired of hearing me say that I'm totally up for take massive action. That's what the bottom of virtually every newsletter is, take massive action. You know, don't piss around, you know, like, just take massive action if you want this to happen, so I'm really excited about that. So let's keep going because you've got a limited amount of time. So you're down, down, down. CD, some hope you're still down on your uppers I mean how do you get from there to you now have this really impressive CV and you know there are billion pound contracts quoted and so on and so forth. So how did that turn around and what I want to get to eventually in this conversation is about what we can take out of your story. What are the secrets of success? What is it that you've discovered about how long can grow a business?
Mark Wilkinson 13:14
Yeah, so I climbed myself out of that. I mean, I had a bankruptcy off the back of the DC so that was tough times my 30s were not covered in glory and yet actually they were looking back they were the best moments ever happened to me because they made me change direction change course. And I've put all of this in life remix so yes, the early part of life remix is about this is what how much fun it was and this is all the stuff I did then this is how bad it got for me because I wasn't following some basic sort of universal laws and instructions and then after that, here's how I fixed it and here's how anyone can fix it it's not I'm not some genius who's come up with something that is literally this is you follow these instructions and these laws these universal laws you will tap into certain things in the world and make things happen so I got myself at ease number one I got myself at ease and guess what the disease left my body right that's number one. So health yes tick right. Okay. I also learned to be happy for no reason I don't need a reason to be happy I'm just here you know enjoying life and giving out what you put out is what you get back right. So if you want to be a successful person put success out there. I always leave other people with the impression of increase. So every single meeting I go into I let I make sure that they feel that was good and what can I get from that because as in what can they get from it because if I give them the impression of increase that will come back to me it comes back to me tenfold so you know I do every single meeting this this call you know I want to leave all your viewers and listeners with an impression of increases something they've learned and gone wow okay. So at ease impression of increase adds value, always add value. Always give service I asked so many people, so many people say how'd you earn money like I woke up to work. And if I was an entrepreneur, they go, Well, you know, I've set up a company, I've set up a company, and I spend, like, you know, 80 hours a week working, I'm like, you've set up a job, right? That's what you've made yourself a job well done. Okay? That's brilliant. Yeah, entrepreneurial skills, well, then you've made yourself a job, because that's great, because you're not working for anyone else, apart from your clients. So wonderful. However, making a business and making multiple businesses and multiple sources of income is a completely different thing. And it's a mindset shift. And you well know, Robert, you've written lots of business books, and recommended by Richard Branson, and all sorts you well know how to create business, you know, add value give service, where can you add that, you know, people are ruled by money, so much of the time, they're ruled by money, you know, that could their bank balance or go, I haven't got enough money to do that, you know, forget that. You know, it's all from within start believing, start feeling good, start to visualise and start picturing and then take action towards how you're going to add value, how you're going to give service, and money will come from every single location when you start to do that.
Robert Craven 16:06
I was really happy with you until that last line. So, we're all on journeys. I'm looking at the moment and kind of a personal development course, which has been really made me rethink my approach to, you know, to my rational versus my emotional self. And I agree with everything you say, the bit I struggle with is, and it will come as if that's enough, because I see lots of people who I think they probably argue they're doing most of what you're saying, which is, they're adding value, they're helping their clients. So being good for the staff, they think they've got a great proposition, they think their product and their services is above average, they have passion, they have a vision. And yet, it doesn't quite fire on all cylinders. And one conclusion might be from your, from what you were saying there that is not coming together, because they've not got something right within that be at ease with yourself be of general value. So I mean, how do you address people today? Mark, I'm doing all the good stuff. But the business is still floundering. We've got bailiffs on the door, and other clients just cancelled on us. How do you resolve that?
Mark Wilkinson 17:44
Well, first of all, I'd say give it time, it's about the energy that you put out, if you're putting out positive energy. Robert, you and I have 17 hours a day we're awake, right? We have 17 hours a day, roughly, maybe 16, maybe 18. But we have a certain amount of time are awake, right? I bring my energy to those hours that I'm awake consistently throughout the day. And every single time I do that, people give you know, they give me money, they pay me money, you know, all my clients are satisfied. I make sure everybody's looked after I've got all my consultants around me. I've got everything that I think and this is an important point. It's an important point. People get impatient. Now, I've read thinking Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, probably another 100 times. He studied 500 millionaires for 25 years. And I suggest that anyone who's listening this listening to this or watching this reads that book over and over and over and over and over again until they pass away in happy in life winner 100 Whatever. But what I would say is it first of all, you got to give it time. And one of those things that's in there is that input impatience is a form of fear. You start getting impatient, you've got some fear within you that there is not enough. And I've got news for you.
Robert Craven 19:02
So I had a friend of mine, Adam. I've written a book with Adam. Adam came up with this great quote, or story told me which is good news, bad news, who knows? You know, and then suddenly I heard the story from Tony Robbins which is the the stallion and then I had the same story again from a guy called coach Shahzad Shiraz has that same story, which is, you know, something happens and and you think, oh, no, that's really bad. But actually, there's always a twist and there's always a good side to it. And the question is when something bad happens, you know, even if it's shocking, like losing your business or something. You got the choice of saying, beating yourself up, you know, the old judge gonna use this totally, you've never met You know, who do you think you were thought you could run a business? Or the wow, this is going to make me work even harder. Oh, wow. As a result of that, I now know what I need to do next. And it's that good news, bad news, you know?
Mark Wilkinson 20:13
Okay, so I'll come back on a couple of those. There is no good or bad unless our thinking makes it so. Yeah. So I at the time, incurable disease and bankruptcy, very, very bad, okay. Because that's the way I was thinking up in hindsight, very, very good. Because they taught me a new way to live in a state is my neighbor's ham. He's sorted me out. The other thing and I love this, I've worked with many coaches, working with some of the world's finest coaches has really worked for me, including Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, Kevin Green here in the UK, and so many more. What have you learned? That's the question, isn't it? What have you learned what you know? So you see, something's really bad has happened, as you know, a disaster ultimate disaster. No, no, no. What have you actually learned?
Robert Craven 21:07
I think there's also a thing about part, that whole negative judgey thing is, it's your old brain kicking in defending you in case there's a lion or a tiger. And that's bad news, most of that bad news, it's fantastic to have that warning a bit like you put your hand on an iron and you go, but you don't keep paying on the iron. You know, you don't keep it on you go, the warning system says Back off, or be prepared, it's something might be dangerous, you back off. And I think what happens is we almost kind of what it's like, in many people in this COVID experience, we almost choose to wallow in what's wrong, and convince ourselves that it's wrong, and fail to see the opportunity. Now, I'm not a great, you know, positive junkie, because I think, you know, there are times when you need to step back and understand what's going on and so on and so forth. But on the other hand, there is something about a mentality that always feels more comfortable in your life, very tough. My people are really hard cash flow doesn't look good. clients aren't buying what we do. And in which case you probably right, you know, as opposed to the clients are just left us okay, why the clients left us they said it was poor service. They said we were taken too long. They said it wasn't frictionless. They didn't feel that we were Responding promptly enough or given them result. That's your bit then mark, isn't it? What can we learn from that?
Mark Wilkinson 22:59
Great Debate. I love it. I mean, there's a couple of things that jumped out at me what you were talking about, right? First of all, observation is power. Judgment is weakness. Okay,
Robert Craven 23:07
I'll just do that one more slowly. Observation.
Mark Wilkinson 23:13
Yeah, judgement is weakness. Now, how much time that we waste in our lives judging ourselves and other people? Against what, against the belief systems that have been ingrained in us for 1000s of years through generations? What's the point? You know, I've learned to get into a place of absolute love and total acceptance of what's going on. You know, observation is power. Judgement is weakness was a real beauty for me. There's some others Comparison is the thief of joy. Absolute brilliant.
Robert Craven 23:41
That one in the book.
Mark Wilkinson 23:45
That's the good one, right? And here's another one, what anyone else thinks of you is none of your business. Right? It's none of your business what anyone else thinks forgetting. Right? It's just about you and your journey. You cannot have a positive, happy, healthy, wealthy life without a positive mindset. And the positive mindset, by the way, starts in your thoughts. It also goes in your subconscious and your feelings and therefore comes out and your actions, and you must train that and it's an important thing that I coach, I work with people, you train that reaction to become habitual. And when it becomes habitual, you then look for the opportunity in every single crisis, and what you're saying and what people really must work on. Especially entrepreneurs, multiple sources of income. Because if you've got one client, or two clients and one bit and use it and you think that that's okay, if that client disappears, because they're not happy for any reason, then you're back in the stuck, right? So multiple sources of income you must grow. I've been doing this for 12 years. I've been doing it for 12 years since I was bankrupt. Life remixes come out at a time when the world is now looking to get over a huge crisis. But there's people out there with anxiety, doubt and fear. Don't worry, there's people out there with, you know, money and career change. There's people out there, I hope, not too many with depression and disease and divorce and stuff like that. But there's all of these things. And I've covered it in life remix, I've felt most of them at some point in my life. And all of these things I've learned. I'm like, Look, follow these instructions, which people aren't. So people have told me and I've gone yeah, all right. I mean, I'm all in. I'm up for it. And Bob Proctor said to me, a very vital moment. He said, You always at working try mine. And I said to him, yeah, okay. I said, I've got nothing to lose. I literally had nothing to lose. I went fine. Teach me. And today, I'm happy, healthy, wealthy, married businesses. Everything's good.
Robert Craven 25:40
Yeah, it's interesting. Yesterday, we just had the news, the roof needs replacing. And I was thinking, thank God, all my money is in beitler, thank God, because it becomes almost like, you know, once every 10 years, you're gonna have a big bill, and this is gonna be a big bill. It's like I think probably a year ago, I would have really ground my teeth about it full blown. And it actually was okay, I've now got some choices. I can sell it, I can keep it I can rent it out. Again, I can leave it as is how do I feel about that? And there was a different mindsets, partly because I wasn't quite so emotionally engaged with it. But also, so you're saying about multiple income streams. Totally agree. You know, we've got a couple of clients who just had all their eggs in one basket of hotels and catering. I was on the board have a chain of cocktail bars, you have traded like a month in the last year. You've know, there's 12 - 13 bars and 190 staff. You know, I think COVID has said you know, just be careful, and it's been really interesting.
Mark Wilkinson 27:07
It's really interesting. And I learned this 12 years ago, I learned this to go through my own crisis. I had all my eggs in the music basket. Okay, I was DJing. I was record producing, I was re-mixing, I had a studio, I was doing all this stuff. I was doing all this stuff. I had all my eggs in the music basket. And then guess what? Along came the internet and people stopped paying for music very much at the time. Then, and then along came the credit crunch in 2008 - 2009 and people stopped going out. And that was my business plan gone, right? What do I do, and I found myself 38 years of age signing on for six months and living in my mom's spare room after being in 20 for 20 years of DJing. And it was a shock. It was an absolute shock. I was like what is going on here. But I learned so many things, multiple sources of income from Bob Proctor, Kevin Green, Kevin Green beat my business coach here in the UK, who is also very close to Richard Branson. He says you must have products and you must have services. You know, you've got to have products and services. You can't just hope this is going to work. It doesn't work that way.
Robert Craven 28:12
My dad's best friend, this would have been 20 - 30 years ago, run a Christmas cracker factory. And his nightmare, his recurring nightmare was that the Labour government would get in and they'd abolish Christmas. Anything. Okay, so people listening and watching, they're running businesses, I imagine because a lot of the people that I know are because they run agencies and they do a lot of digital stuff for quite, quite binary. They're quite logical, irrational, I'd say it's a word they put numbers together. But they're also young minded. So they kind of have a bit of a they're not totally binary in that sense. But they're trying to run businesses, they're trying to run better businesses with all the typical ways of employing 15, 20, 30, 50 People all the usual stuff, which is you know, I guess things are always thinking about is how can I get more better customers are always thinking are we really different from anyone else? How are we different we're everything's a bit commoditized they're thinking you know, how can I to get on top of this blinking people issue that's going on? How can I run more of a machine and also there they've been hoodwinked by triple your profits in the next 10 days with the six super secrets type stuff. So I guess my question to you is now switching to more the business thing of what do you think are the kind of the nuts and bolts of growing a business is there a recipe that tips what's your kind of view on it? How to grow a business?
Mark Wilkinson 30:01
I love the fact you said trying a couple of times throughout that, you know, people to try. Try and try. Exactly, yeah. Listen, I'm a Star Wars fan as you might be able to tell. And Yoda says no, he's at all do not do or do not, there is no try. Right, that's number one. And the other thing I would say is what I found to be very effective on a personal level is calm down, the more the calmer I am. And then the actual thing is calm down speed up. Because the calmer you are, the more you attract to you. And the more you get more customers and things like that if you're more agitated, or if you get into a situation where you might be desperate, and it's like, you know, bottom lines go in and you get worried, you're gonna be in trouble. The other thing I would say is here is that, of course, it's about your reach. It's about your reach into your business into your customers. And the thing is, is that every single business is run by a leader. And that leader is completely unique. There is not another person identical to them on the planet. In our 6 billion people. There's no one else like me, right. And so you know, I would say now, particularly with the technology, we've gotten the way we can reach people, and we can reach out to people. I was advised some six months ago, when I started to market my book they were like, right, see and be seen, be live, go on there. Talk to people talk about your product, talk about the value, you can add, talk about the service you can provide. And it will be from your energy. And if you're successful business operate, or even if you're struggling business operator, start to think that way. You know, and by the way, it's not just about a secret. I've got books all around me Rich Dad, Poor Dad As a Man Thinketh Think and Grow Rich, feel the fear and do it anyway. It's not about the money Happy for No Reason, life remixed. I mean, there's books everywhere, it's all your books, Rob, you know, it's like, there's so many things that people can learn and study, and I just repetition is mastery. I kept learning, kept learning, kept learning. And the more I learned, by the way, I didn't just learn it. And then put the book down and go, that was nice. I learned it. And then I tried it. And I thought if it works, I'll keep doing it. And honestly, it's kept working. And that's how I've come to write this book. Because I believe that there's value that can be added to people's lives, even with like you said, just before we came onto it, even with just one little quote, or one little piece of information or the remix opportunities that I put at the end of every chapter, you know, there's something in there for just about anybody to get some value from it and then bring it into not just their business life. But of course we're here to talk about business, but also into their personal lives and their personal relationships. Because everything you know, your personal love relationships in your personal life. That's your foundation. You get that right, and then you can fly.
Robert Craven 32:47
But the problem is, you know, on a Friday night with a glass of wine in your hand or not or a glass of elderflower cordial. You go on the internet, how can I grow my business? Yeah. You know, everyone is offering 10 ways to earn a six figure income with these five secrets. There are silver, bloody squirrels, Silver Bullet bangles everywhere. Just do this and you will become richer than your wildest dreams.
Mark Wilkinson 33:29
Look at the source. The advice I always followed was find someone who's living the way you would like to live and then copy them.
Robert Craven 33:44
That's a nice way of looking at it. I guess my point is for these characters they're looking for a quick fix often we're looking for a quick fix wouldn't it be nice if there's a silver bullet wouldn't be nice if I one of the things on the course I'm on at the moment is beware of people who say I'll be happy when because when never come you know when you've got the Porsche when you've got the house.
Mark Wilkinson 34:11
Be happy now. You know, Rob, you know this. Anything you want in your life, anything of note that is worthy comes from commitment.
Robert Craven 34:22
I'm not disputing that I'm just thinking about what the message is. What was the message to people who are trying to grow their business trying? Yes, I know. You're doing their level best to grow their business and they're struggling and they work really hard. I agree with you. You know, when we talked last time I said I don't work Friday. They don't work Thursday afternoon. I don't Wednesday mornings. And I find that one you work like it's the day before you go on holiday more. And secondly you at 20 Everything's You just do stuff that's really important. And of course, what happens on a Friday is I go for a long walk with the dog, and boom, bang, bang, all the great ideas come into my mind, which are, which made me more effective. And I find, as you were saying, the less you use less, you slam your foot down on the gas, you know, the faster you go. But I'm wondering whether people will believe you, if you say, less is more, I wonder if people believe you, if they say, look, the way I got to where I am now is by focusing and slowing down. I'm just trying to get a sense of what people can take away from that conversation?
Mark Wilkinson 35:44
I mean, the first thing I'd say I'd asked that person these questions, if they're working really, really hard, and you're on a treadmill, and they're like, working harder, harder, faster, faster. Eventually, you won't get to keep doing that. But you know, you know, are you happy? First and foremost, are you happy with your current results? Have you created the life that you would really love to live? You know, and invariably, Rob, most of the answers come back to those when I ask people, these sort of, you know, soul searching kinds of questions, invariably, they come back as well, no. And I'm like, Okay, fine. So when would now be a good time to make some changes. And as a business leader, and as many of your listeners and the viewers will be business leaders and people that run businesses, you've used the word struggling? If they're struggling, the first thing to do is to reach out for some self development. And anyone who rejects self development, I find interesting, because why would you do that? It's about you. It's about you. Right? And, and guess what? I'm not, I'm not perfect. Rob, I'm guessing you're not perfect. We could not. One of my friends said to me once every single day is a school day, you know how much time you actually committing to your self development and your business development? Don't look for a quick fix. Don't look for someone on the internet who's trying to sell you something ridiculous. You know, go see someone when you can go and see someone speak who's actually living the life that the way you would like to live, or go and go on a free webinar and have a look and see what's going on for free and find out and see if you connect with someone, if you connect with them, let them help you and let them guide you. You know, investing in yourself is the ultimate self love. And so many people don't do it.
Robert Craven 37:27
Yeah. So I mean, firstly, I'm not disagreeing with anything you say. I'm just curious. Do you think there's something that separates successful businesses run successful businesses?
Mark Wilkinson 37:44
Mindset.
Robert Craven 37:46
Perfect, page one, grow digital agency. Chapter one mindset, I couldn't agree with you more, finishes that conversation.
Mark Wilkinson 38:00
How much time do we teach kids at school? About mindset? How much time do we dedicate to our children and our grandchildren? Whoever do it? How much time do we dedicate it to their mindset, to the value that they can add to humanity? Listen, school, you know, law school does its job, I love teachers that will make but Scott the school curriculum is literally get up. Remember as much as you can pass an exam, and then go out and get a job which by the way, the word got the word job stands for just over broke. Because that is where you do it for the rest of your life. We don't teach children how to be confident how to add value, how to give service, how to be successful in relationships, how to be a positive mindset, how to programme these positive thoughts, these positive emotions and any positive actions. We don't teach them that. And I find that you know, now that I've done all this for the last 15 to 17 years, I keep studying, keep studying, keep studying the whole thing of life, we mix these, it works. But it starts with you It starts with this individual.
Robert Craven 39:08
I showed you earlier on I don't I wrote a book called checking strategy. And it's not a plug it's this is an observation. And what we discovered was that we dropped that book into an incredibly busy marketplace. unbelievably busy there because you've got all the names you've mentioned before Bob Proctor, Stephen Covey, Tony Robbins, they're all with their huge master sales campaigns in a huge brand. And that's cool. And I've always said that books struggled to make to get the traction we'd hoped for and there are reasons for that maybe we weren't committed enough bla bla bla bla bla bla bla, that I'm interested in your book. How do you think you book is different from all the best sellers? What I mean, in a way, I'm just saying, why should people buy your book, when they could go to one of the big names?
Mark Wilkinson 40:12
Well, I think all those big names started somewhere. You know, they all started with a little book somewhere, and I put it out. And when I hope you like it. And if you like it, then great. And if you know, and then obviously, they connected to more people. And if you look at Tony Robbins career, he started when he started, but in CDs, there was infomercials, there was, you know, this guy was omitted that and still is for 30 to 40 years, or however long he's been doing it. So you know, again, commitment, right? You can't just, I can't just expect to put out one book and go on a go buy this book, and it's going to solve your Yeah, but I can say, look, buy this book, because it will be an eye opener for you. And the reason that most people I find are connected with me at the moment is because I come from a music background. And so many people, they love music, they love the uplift of music, music is a mood change is a game changer. They love it. And so, but here's the reality of being an international touring as I was DJ, I wasn't in a band, but as international touring DJ, here's the reality of it, which was amazing fun, until it wasn't. And then these are all the ways I fixed it to become a successful business operator, I still do my Saturday night Dj Mix, and I still enjoy it on my online now. And it's you know, it is what it is. And we will do life remix parties will also do life remix seminars, you know. But that's just the beauty of going forward and helping people. And, you know, one of the things we haven't really, really touched on is about the purpose of life is the life of purpose. One of the things I teach is obviously about finding that purpose. You know, if someone's struggling with a business or struggling in some way, perhaps they're not completely connected to their purpose of why they're doing it. My multiple sources of income are all tied to my purpose. And I'll articulate it for you because I like it. My purpose is to bring joy, to bring knowledge to inspire, and create. Those four things are my purpose, I wake up every single morning. And I think to myself, right, I'm first of all grateful to be ungrateful for no pain. Second of all, how are we going to bring the joy today? How am I going to share some knowledge, which is what we're doing, I hope? How am I going to inspire some people? How are we going to create something, and all four of those things? That's my purpose. And as long as I'm doing it, I'm living my life on purpose. And when you live your life on purpose, you don't struggle. Why would you struggle? I wake up every morning, wherever I am in the world I'm just like, great. Let's go.That other day.
Robert Craven 42:44
I think the answer that is, again, on your shoulder, you've got this hyper achiever or this hyper rational, this, or this Stickler, or whatever it is all going to be happy to. And I'll tell you with you that once you let go of that judge, once you let go, the judge is like, this is good.
Mark Wilkinson 43:15
For me that was ego when I was younger, that was my ego. My ego was kept saying to me, Well, you could do more, you can be a better DJ, you know, and let's be honest, I was a good DJ, I did well, I wasn't Fatboy Slim or Carl Cox. I did okay, it was fine. I've resident Ministry of Sound. I did all this stuff. My ego was there. And I used to get women that way. And all that, you know, it's all about my ego, me, me, me, me. And I learned, I learned the hard way that it's not about me at all. It's about the value and me living to my purpose, but then the value in the service I can provide
Robert Craven 43:49
Fast Company did a survey for about 10 years ago asking people when is enough enough. So this is quite interesting. And then we need to start wrapping up and they asked beggars and paupers in the street living on cardboard, and they asked people who had three or four Lear jets. when is enough enough, everybody from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich. So if we're going to talk about money, they all said a third more than I have now. Because a third more for the beggar would mean they got a night in a hostel. And a third more for the guy with a 50 foot yacht would mean they'd be able to get a 70 foot yacht and, and of course, it's not about the money. It's not about the money. But it's really interesting that there's that discomfort about where we are now for so many people and as long as they want a third more. They're always you know, so the Rolling Stones who want to play in front of a million people at one time rather than half a million or they'll want to sell 2 million copies or and as long as they're on that trap of achieved And they're always going to be discontent with history turning around things like got lovely kids, and we do nice stuff.
Mark Wilkinson 45:06
Here's the secret to this right? They happy now. Yeah, because that's the important bit. But also, this is important as well, this satisfaction is a creative state. Because if you're dissatisfied, you're actually going to create more things. You know, you're going to keep creating and keep creating and keep creating. And guess what money is just that energy money comes back to you because of the service you provide for what you create. So if you're dissatisfied, that's okay, an element of dissatisfaction. But you've got to be happy in the moment is right here right now. I'm happy.
Robert Craven 45:40
Good. So let's wind up with two questions. First one is what next for you? Because obviously, the book is a springboard for lots of stuff. And the second question I'd love would be your kind of recommendations, your pearls of wisdom, your golden nuggets you'd like to share.
Mark Wilkinson 45:59
Thank you. That's really cool. Book Two, will have to be sorted out quicker than book one because this was 50 years in the making 10 years to 10 years, the idea one. That's gonna be a challenge. But yeah, I'm looking forward to him. But two will definitely follow hot on the heels much quicker than him is not going to be a decade. We're going to be doing some online seminars, so remix your life with Mark Wilkinson completely free for people just to come and join. So we're gonna start doing those in the coming weeks. And then of course, there'll be coaching, I do business coaching with Kevin Green as well, which I love to do. So there's all of that. And the pearl of wisdom that I would really love to share is actually one of the remix opportunities at the end of chapter one. And it says, I say, if you knew the power of a negative thought you would never end up you would never allow another one to spend very long in your mind.
Robert Craven 47:01
That's lovely. I really like that. It's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you. I love the energy. Actually, I love the intent. And also I love the action that you're going to create because it's a really engaging way of looking at the world as a really engaging philosophy and I think everyone's gonna take a load out of that. So thank you very much, Mark Wilkinson.
Mark Wilkinson 47:47
Been a pleasure. Thank you.