An internationally-recognised personal development guru is set to meet Derby shoppers and give them a free five-minute consultation on how to avoid the traditional New Year’s resolution failure.
Kul Mahay will set up stall in award-winning coffee shop BEAR, in Iron Gate, to help visitors understand how they can stick to their new year’s resolutions.
In the scaled-down version of his hugely popular ‘Ignite Your Inner Potential’ transformation conference, the former police superintendent will explain how it’s possible to lose weight, give up alcohol or get that dream job. Kul will also hand out copies of his book, ‘Smash the Habit’ in 2020 while bhangra dancers will bring their energetic dancing to the popular coffee shop.
Every year, a third of Brits make New Year’s resolutions – but very few actually keep them. According to YouGov research, just 27% of those who made resolutions for 2019 managed to keep them.
Young Brits – those between the ages of 18-24 – are by far the most likely to be making resolutions for 2020. By contrast, only 15% of people in the UK over the age of 65 will make resolutions.
January 12 is the day when, according to further research, most people have given up on their new year resolutions. Kul believes that the reason most people fail is simply because they don’t have the right mindset to succeed or that there plans and strategies for transformation are not clear enough.
Kul, who spent more than 30 years with Derbyshire Constabulary, has already worked his magic on Derby woman Sarah Nixon, who overcame anxiety and set up her own successful Mexican takeaway in Victoria Street, El Contador, and Zaheer Shah; who lost more than five stone, reversed her diabetes and bagged herself a new business with Kul’s help.
“I don’t believe in new year’s resolutions. They are very often shallow,” said Kul, “I believe that everyone should set powerful, intentional growth as we approach the new year.
“I’ve set thousands of new year’s resolutions in my time and I tell people to avoid them; make firm goals which are really, really well thought through.
“I always use the analogy of going to the gym when talking to my clients. Let’s assume that you want a buff body in 2020. You work out really hard for three or four days on the trot, giving yourself little time to rest.
“The following week, you work out again and give yourself an extra day off. You do that for a couple of weeks but then your body starts crying out, you’re fatigued; it’s just not used to working so hard and pretty soon, you find that you’re struggling to keep that resolution.
“The only way that you’re going to get that buff body is by working consistently at the gym – maybe not working quite as hard – but working consistently to a good level.”
Kul suggests having one main goal in 2020 and breaking it down can have a more successful outcome.
“I have my big goal, where I want to be in, say five years’ time, and break it down into little bits; smaller, achievable goals that I can really focus on,” he said.
“If we set the one big goal, something which we really, really want, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. When that happens, the body’s natural reaction is to go into ‘fight or flight’ mode; we either run away from our goal or we simply freeze on the spot.
“It’s not necessarily a healthy thing to do, which is why I advise on starting small.
“Every year I set myself 21 goals to achieve throughout the year and I’m lucky to have surpassed my 21 goals for 2019. That comes from pure discipline; sometimes discipline can be the most basic thing. Start small.”
The new year will be a busy one for Kul.
He is about to release a trailer for an inspirational film with a former high-level criminal, Stephen Gillen, while the pair are in talks with Carnaby Films International, who produced iconic films, such as ‘The Rise of the Foot Soldier’ to make a movie about their lives.
Next year also sees Kul launch his Ignite Your Inner Potential Leadership Academy in Derby, providing a single spot where companies can send their staff for in-depth leadership development in association with Derby Conference Centre.
First up, though, is his annual Ignite Your Inner Potential conference at the Riverside Centre, on January 11, which is expected to attract 400 people from all over the world to Derby.
“Derby is my home and I’m very much looking forward to welcoming so many people from around the country to the city,” he said.
“Last year’s event attracted more than 300 people; a real mix of successful business owners and groups of police officers to families and everyday folk.
“The event is for anyone who wants to make a change in 2020. It has always been a dream of mine to create a ripple effect of realistic optimism across the UK.”
Tickets for the Ignite Your Inner Potential event are now on sale. Details: www.kulmahay.com/events.
A post-conference get-together will be held at BEAR, in Iron Gate, afterwards.
