This week I’ve been running around managing one of the other businesses I’m associated with http://www.gfeu.eu/
It’s an Association, which certifies food products claiming to be Gluten free and tests them to a very high specification, before acrediting them if they meet our standards (5 parts in a million for those interesed). If a Restaurant or a hotel carries this badge, then you can be sure that they’re very serious indeed about offering a menu item for celiacs’ – people with gluten intolerance, and that they’ve taken plenty of precautions to ensure that their customers’ health is taken care of. This is a very serious problem for celiacs and therefore those attaining this accreditation are a fairly small elite group of food providers.
I’m not celiac myself, and I fell into this world largely by accident. Furthermore, it wasn’t one of those opportunities I was particularly excited about initially.
But the more I focused upon it, and the more I listened to the concerns of celiacs and other people following a gluten free diet, the more I begun to realize just how welcome an association of this type would be, particularly in the UK and Europe.
I came into this sector via another company I’m involved with which grows, harvests and mills oats, which are ‘certified organic’, ‘certified gluten free’ and ‘genetically modified (GM) free’! We then package, market and distribute them around the world.
I was very attracted to this company since it fell into my personal blue print of serving not only alternative cultures and lifestyles (hippies et al), but also a more modern urban individual growing up today with new eco-friendly principles.
I think that this philanthropic attitude to business combined with my personal purpose on this earth excites me and keeps me smiling. It gives me such an exciting feeling whenever I awake each morning that I feel blessed and inspired to do the next right thing.
And why not?
Consider some of my other business’s – I founded a sucessful chain of facilities for drug and alcohol addiction treatment, including drug and alcohol detoxification and spiritual based recovery programmes, which has gone on to produce the highest recorded success rates in the UK (and therefore Europe). It is just about to open its 10th site in the UK and it grows and touches the lives of many people and their families afflicted with addictive disease.
I also operate a company called Sober Services which works on a one to one basis with clients needing to break their debilitating patterns for a short while until they can find their feet – either through Sober Transportation, Sober escorting / companions, Sober Coaching or life Coaching, smoking cessation, and various other variations on this theme, with the some ambition to help other people improve the quality of their lives.
Then there’s my latest company – Sober Events, a collaboration with one of my old friends from my long and memorable past (you’ll hear about him / them in my forthcoming book) which will provide a safe atmosphere with laughter and music for those of us wishing to socialize without the presence of alcohol or drugs providing the perfect environment for us to network and build our group of friends – a very good thing indeed, I’m sure you’ll agree. It’s all built around what people want and aimed at helping them achieve their own goals, which include fun and fellowship.
And finally there’s my book project – the very title “It’s not about me!” should give you a clue that ultimately whatever I do needs to have a purpose or reason, and to fit into my personal mission that the world doesn’t revolve specifically around me; but that it actually brings quality and joy to other people – “bringing harmony to the world through laughter and love”.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it’s really important that we find our missions in life and that we feel fullfilled by attempting to complete them, or even just live by them. So go out into the world and improve the quality of your own life by improving the quality of everyone elses.
Well, this is my mission, anyways.
See? It ain’t about me!
So, please do go to the www.askiananything.com page and register your questions about this is any other topics that you believe I could help you with.
I’m happy to answer anything you may wish to know.
