Part 2: Are you sick of negative comments about your ambitions? Geoff Thompson went from floor sweeper to film maker. We reveal how.

Geoff with film extra and fellow martial arts instructor Lea Welsford on the set of “Pink”

You followed through on your dream of becoming a writer. Why do you think so many people like the journalists at The Telegraph, don’t end up pursuing their dream job?

I’ve seen lots of my friends who want to be screen writers who end up working other jobs because they have to cover their mortgage, and they lose their way. I discovered a lot of them have this idea only certain people can be successful. It’s not true. It’s just how much you want it.

My book “Elephant and The Twig” is an inspiring book about what you can achieve and “Shapeshifter” is a serious book about how much do you want to achieve it. It’s good to cut through layers of consciousness with people in a nice way and say “look YOU can do it AND have it all”

I think success asks everything. But it doesn’t tend to take everything. There are doors you have to go through, commitments you have to make and some sacrifices. So that book is saying are you prepared to pay the price? Most people aren’t. But rather than say “I’m not prepared to pay the price” they’ll say “it’s a closed door and people like me can’t get in, or I didn’t get my lucky break”. It’s just weak excuses.

Geoff with a copy of SUBvert magazine essential reading

So you think they’re making up excuses to cover their fear?

Exactly. I scare the shit out of them. One of my students on a scriptwriting course, came up to me and was trying to tell me how tough it is at University. Success doesn’t come on its own you’ve got to keep at it and keep pushing. The common thing people always say is “I don’t have the time” and I say, “well actually you have. You just haven’t got the will!”

I tell all my students “you get the same 24 hours as the President of the United States or the Prime Minister, as Cassius Clay or Muhammad Ali. Whatever it is you’re doing, you get 24 hours. It’s what you do with it. Your 24 hours are filled with something even if it’s filled with nothing. What you have to decide is what you want to fill it with”.

A scene from Geoff’s film “Clubbed”. The doormen marking their territory

Geoff, previously we talked about fear, another common condition which tends to hinders people is stress. Why do you think so many people are stressed today?

There weren’t as many neurological stresses years ago. Every time you look around now, there are things which trigger stress. Bright lights, loud noises, lots of traffic, pollution, aggression and violence on the news. We are surrounded by lots of stimulus. People are more infused with adrenalin, because it doesn’t find a behavioral release. The body innately knows it’s caustic. If it doesn’t find a behavioral release, cortisol attacks the internal smooth muscles, like the heart, lungs and intestines. It travels to the brain and kills your neurotransmitters.

A scene from Geoff’s film “Clubbed”

Stress is a killer. Even little things like a car horn or watching a violent film will trigger the adrenals. There’s lots and lots of ripe stuff out there. People are walking around in a predatory state most of the time. The body knows it needs to find a release for it. So it tries to find any kind of outlet. And the digestion system closes down temporarily. That’s why there’s so much irritable bowl or problems with digestion.

What can people do to combat stress in their daily lives?

Meditation or yoga calms everything down, changing your physiology back to where it should be. Understanding how your body works is beneficial too. You have to recognize that you don’t need to be stressed. Start making a conscious effort to think about what you read, and what you watch on television. So you’re not triggering your body all the time.

Geoff was polled the number one martial arts instructor in the world

Currently, most people’s physiology is stuck in fight or flight, and of course, that promotes all sorts of illnesses. Specifically cancer. Mainly because the immune system closes down during this process. If you think back to when we were living in caves. The body was designed to prepare you, for when you encountered a saber tooth tiger. You had the option of stay and fight or run away, and it would have lasted for seconds. But today we’re marinating in it all day. So our immune system is on, then it’s off, and then on again. The door is open so lots of illnesses can get in.

It’s imperative you find a way to physically release that stress. The wrong food, or too much of one type of food, acts as a stressor and will trigger the adrenals. People are constantly wired, and they take it out on whoever is around at the time. It’s good to step outside of all that and think. “I’ll go do some exercise that will get rid of my stress. I’ll change my perception of the world, so it doesn’t have to be stressful. I’ll do some yoga and meditation to change my physiology back”.

Scene from Geoffs film “Pink” just before a fight erupts. Photo by Mark Allen

What about diet. How important do you think it is to eat healthy food?

It’s just about moderation. I’ve practiced different things from complete abstinence, right through to the other side, where I eat whatever I want. I think the best thing is abstaining from EXCESS. Having discipline. You can indulge now and again, but don’t eat what you haven’t earned. I don’t have anything which is really bad for me. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink alcohol. I do like a cake sometimes, and a curry once a week. But I train every day and I keep myself in great shape.

Geoff doing martial arts

Why do you think, even though people know what they should be doing, they often do the opposite?

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff said that people have no self control. He talks about the fact that we think we’re free. However, we’re controlled by the opinions imposed on us by others. Someone says your work is good you feel great. Someone says your work is terrible you have a shit day. He talked about self sovereignty. Controlling the self, so you become immune to the slings and arrows, of internal and external phenomena. Only then can you call yourself a true individual.

Photo montage from Geoff’s film “Clubbed”

How do you gain this control of yourself?

Gandhi believed that if you could control the palette, all other senses fall into line. Once you govern your senses, you gain self control. You literally control the world. This is a man that changed the course of history on that simple philosophy.

People are out there looking for huge philosophies. But really there’s only one thing to do, and that’s to master yourself. For example; being in control of what you eat, drink, listen to, read and watch on television. We become what we allow to influence us. I’m very careful about what I take in, who I speak to, certainly what I read. I don’t read tabloids or porn magazines. It’s not a moral or ethical judgment, it’s just about what is good for me. It’s about controlling my senses.

Geoff Thompson reading SUBvert magazine. Keeping his mind healthy and happy

You mention tabloids. Do you think people have become indifferent to the messages from the media? And the powerful effect it has over them?

The fourth fuel of the brain is information. People have an idea about physical food, and may think, ‘this is good for me and that isn’t’. But that’s not the most important thing we ingest. What’s more essential, is the information we take in. Information feeds the brain literally. I think people are being force fed junk everyday, almost every minute, and we don’t realize it.

When you have information it becomes a physical part of your brain. The brain takes it in. These neurons fire back and forth. If you receive the same information enough times, it leaves an indent. A groove in your brain. That’s how it works. So what you’re taking in every day, becomes your reality. It’s unconscious conditioning.

Behind the scenes on the set of “Pink”. The director Michael B Clifford briefs the stunt man Peter Pedrero

It’s about stepping aside from that and thinking “is this having the effect on me that I really want?” And then you start choosing your own information. There is a plethora of it out there. Library’s are full of great information and everyone has access to them.

What do you think are the main barriers to people believing they can be successful?

You look at people like Leonardo Da Vinci. One of the reasons he was so successful, was because he didn’t know the concept of limitation. Most people have a formal education and they’re told ‘these are the possibilities’. Leonardo didn’t have this type of education. So he came out with all these amazing ideas; the parachute, the helicopter, submarine. He was a mathematician, sculptor, writer, gymnast, weight lifter. He had this amazing polarity of intellect and physicality. He was doing it because he wasn’t taught any restrictions.

How often do we really think about what we allow to influence us?

Leonardo also recognized that most people were scuppered by uncertainty and ambiguity. No one really knows what’s going to happen, if they’re going to be successful or not. He recognized in order to be successful, he needed to develop a high tolerance to both. He became massively successful because he said, “life would be pretty plain and dull if there was no uncertainty”.

Thanks Geoff that’s definitely given us a lot of food for thought.

So, ambitious readers, just like a plant needs specific conditions to flourish and bear fruit. So do you. Those television programs, those magazines and books, are they positive influences? Or are they having a negative effect on your mood and attitude? The food you’re putting into your body, is it nourishing you? Is it giving you the strength and energy you need?

Tell us in the comments if you’ve had any success giving up negative influences in your life already? Or tell us what changes you plan to make to ensure your mind and body are in tip top condition.

Interview by Angel

Co editor Justine Gardiner

Links

www.geoffthompson.com

Photography Kaush Bharti www.informosa.net/photography