Neil tackles the hot topic of the moment, the dreaded inflation. It is the true enemy of savings and the economy in general, but is it all bad?

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

•  Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Often referred to as the ‘cost of living’.
• Vast quantities of currency being dumped into the economy by our Government helped create inflation. 
• If you have your savings in an account with interest that does not surpass the inflation level, your savings, in real buying terms, will be decreasing in value.
• The value of any debt you have will be halved and if that debt is financing income producing assets such as rental income you are reasonably protected from inflation.

 

BEST MOMENTS

‘Generally speaking, governments and central banks aim to control inflation, but they’re often the greatest causes of it. For example, when the supply of money outpaces economic growth.’

‘Inflation is bad news for savers, and the higher the rebate of inflation the worse it is. This leads to glib little phrases like ‘cash is trash’’

‘So as an investor and a business person I like inflation, as a private individual I dislike it a great deal.’

 

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

www.Neilcowmeadow.com

 

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

 

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

Neil talks about teaching mature students in this episode. Many of Neils students are fully grown adults of three kinds, absolute novices, lifelong players and people that used to play but quit in order to pursue other priorities. What problems do they present and how can you overcome them?

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The non players may think it’s all talent, but its all about skill and work at the end of the  day. They present with no learnt bad habits. 
• Current players appear frustrated and stuck on a plateau. Old techniques are holding them back. It usually relates to the fundamentals of technique.
• Former players usually approach you as an expert that can provide their teenage dream. They have engrained feelings of failure and frustration but they enter into the student role believing that things are possible.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Each one of these groups has their own special set of problems and I see my job is to get them past their problem, their blockage and it really all boils down to how they think and what they believe.’ 

‘So they end up struggling with self doubt and they ask themselves ‘is this as good as I’m gonna get? Is this a far as I can go?’ Or ‘What am I missing?’’

‘I can usually read them so well they think I’m psychic. It’s taken decades of study, a lot of money and a lot of time invested in building that skill base.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

In this episode Neil explains the value of time. How do we value, use and sell our time in our teaching and coaching businesses?  

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You are never going to have enough time to do everything you want. Choose tasks that have the highest value to you to make your time count.
• If you are spending too much time working in your business, you may not be spending enough time working on your business.

Make investments that can make money for you in the background with little or no intervention from you.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Its very interesting to nip back and have a look at what I was thinking four years ago to what I’m thinking now.’

‘Working in the business is face to face with your customers, with your students. Working on your business is figuring out how to make more money out of what you do in less time.’

‘Anything that you can hire out consider adding that to your business.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

Time Boxing is a simple and useful time management technique that Neil utilises to keep his tutoring business running chaos free. With this method you will not waste time, and subsequently, money.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Use paper so you can see it all in front of you without having to open software or be distracted by social media alerts.
• In your diary spaces have two columns, one for notes and the other half hour increments with three columns ; Plan A, B and C.
• Plan A is the game plan for the day. For each allocated time and task, draw a horizontal line in that section. Include meals and breaks.
• Plan B is the backup plans when plan A’s aren’t possible and are blocked by circumstance.
• Plan C column, usually blank due to plan A and B failing being remote, is for this eventuality.
• Have start and end times for activities and as you use the method more often you will become more knowledgable in how long tasks take and this diary is there to be referred to as a record of your time use.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Paper is the real deal. It will always tell you the truth and will always be straight and honest with you.’

‘I do this at the start of every weekend as part of my week ahead preview and also have a look at it at the end of every day.’

‘Let’s say, my plan is to get up and cycle to the gym do the workout and come home. But I get up and we’ve had a snowfall overnight. Maybe my bikes got a technical problem or something unexpected comes up that prevents plan A from happening. So, maybe plan B is to drive to the gym.’

‘The whole point is to always have start and end times for your activities. Now I find that his focuses you terribly well and it always has a properly thought through, ahead of time , automatic go to plan just in case.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

Neil talks about the value of routine when built into the function of you and your business. What sort of routines are beneficial to your business in standardising your methods and improving your mindset day to day? Consistency is key.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A routine is something that you perform the same way every time you action a task. Once established they become habit and can come in the form of written, formalised instructions to staff on official operating procedure. They can be checklists to be completed for things such as signup or new tenancy agreements.
• Schedule the day ahead before it starts. Be prepared ahead of time to give the right impression and make the best of your time. 
• From the first greeting to saying goodbye at the end of the session, having a routine with your client can give a good, professional impression and put them at ease. If you standardise your language you can also effectively communicate.
• Make a habit of asking your client if they got what they needed from your session. Routine feedback keeps them and you on track. Keep relevant notes so that next session you know where you left off and the improvement can continue with as little time wasted on recaps as possible.
• Back office routines are important in day to day operation. Accounting and record keeping kept to routine can stop those tasks piling up. Regular marketing will keep the clients rolling in. 
• Make self improvement routine. Self development keeps you ahead of the curve.

BEST MOMENTS

‘They’re actually your yardstick for the standard of performance that you’ve are going to accept from the people you employ and from yourself.’

‘I honestly ask myself “how did I do today? Was I the sort of person I wanted to be today?”’

‘Your language is a big chunk of how your going to communicate with your clients. Make sure it’s appropriate. Make sure it’s interesting. Make sure it’s correct.’ 

‘Stupid people wish they knew what the answer was but the clever people ask the question.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

Don’t wing it! Think long term, and think big. Neil talks about how thinking 5, 10, or 15 years ahead with your plan can result in better long term results and how a solid overview can bring clarity to an otherwise muddled and random business. 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Consider a strategy in terms of how lucrative and engaging it can be over years rather than in the short term.
• Try to think a few moves ahead with your business and anticipate rather than react.
• Weigh up the long term effects of your actions and the costs of short term decisions.

 

BEST MOMENTS

‘Big picture thinking and the long run is really the ability to look beyond today, to 3, 5, 10 or more years down the line, as though you are looking down from a high point perhaps onto everything that you are doing in that future reality.’

‘I showed him my epic budgeted business plan which pretty accurately modelled the first ten years of the property journey along with my guitar teaching business.’

‘My old boss told me this and I thought it was a crock. Not listening to his advice back then cost me at least ten years of progress based on that singular insight.’

 

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

 

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

 

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

A simple idea. If what you are currently doing is not producing the results you want, change it. Disrupt it. Trying another method has got to be better than continuing with a system that does not work. Disruption makes good sense. Break the pattern.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Instead of asking “how do I succeed?” ask “how do I screw up?” Chances are your already doing some of these things. Identify the things you need to change. 
• Your present normal is just an ongoing trial. If the trial isn’t working, trial something else.
• Observe the people around you. Around 85% of people are unhappy in their jobs. Their normal isn’t working, don’t do those things.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It’s a great idea. On many levels it’s a great, great idea to disrupt yourself, to muck things about, bugger yourself up a bit, especially if your everyday normal isn’t working for you.’ 

‘What would I need to do to ensure I was unsuccessful in my business? What would I need to do to guarantee I was a failure in my health? What would I need to do to guarantee I never accumulate wealth? What would I need to do to remain frustrated in my creative endeavours?’

‘If the TV washes you everyday in depressing bad news and fear soaked propaganda, wouldn’t it make sense to eliminate the TV from your life?’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

Neil details his teaching method to keep his students engaged, entertained and inspired. Borrowed from a method found in Christopher McDougall's 2009 best-selling book, "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.", Neil has adapted it to his own guitar teaching and added in his own ingredient that guarantees a return student ; fun. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Easy. Use simple ideas, shapes and forms that regenerate and repeat themselves. Keep things familiar and comfortable and eschew complexity for accessibility and ease.

Light. Minimise physical effort. Position and comfort is key. Understand biomechanically correct technique. 

Smooth. Use a natural, soft style to lead towards a subtle mellifluous sound.

Fast. After initial stages of easy routines learned to an automatic level the student will be able to achieve more speed. 

Fun. The underpinning of all of this. Use jokes and playfulness. Be relaxed, informal, encouraging and supportive. Use language that is fun. ‘Have a play around’ instead of ‘Go and practice’. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘The idea originated with McDougall’s running coach, a guy called Eric Orton. He got Chris running a 50 mile trail race in spite of his busted up legs and a string of running injuries.’ 

‘Cause if it ain’t fun the student won’t want to do it and I’ll get fed up with teaching it because I get fed up with doing anything that isn’t fun. There are better ways to spend my time and better ways for them to spend their time. Is that true or is it just true?’

‘You end up with sore fingers as well. The whole ‘playing ‘til your fingers bleed’ is just moronic. It’s a cliché propagated by idiots and drongos.’

‘However heinous an error, a misunderstanding actually is, I will try and figure out how it’s a good thing. If they make a mistake, they’ve just figured out a cool way to not do something.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

Neil discusses the self doubt that plagues us with a special episode created for his friend, a retired science teacher, the best teacher during his time as a school guitar tutor. As great a teacher as she is she still struggles to believe in herself as a private tutor. There is one lesson Neil teaches that can quieten the doubts and make tutoring a comfortable place to be, DDWT.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Part of the job you have when you are running your own business is making sure that you only work with the right people. 
• Invariably an undesirable will remove themselves from you by just their own nature. When asked to follow rules, instructions or consequences, they walk.
• Fire your worst customers. There is no amount of money that’s worth being that miserable for. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘Her inner voice says nasty things to her. Like “people wont like you”, “nobody will want you”, “no one will need you”, “they’ll say your too expensive, that you’re not worth the money”, “they’ll bugger you about and they won’t show up for lessons and that’s because you’re not good enough.”’ 

‘As you know I boil this down to a rule, DDWT, which stands for ‘DON’T DEAL WITH TOSSERS’. And the tossers always self select themselves off the schedule.’

‘You take someone who makes you miserable and you replace them with someone who makes you feel fantastic. And you get payed more money for it.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected] 

 

Neil introduces a traditional sport training model, one that can be applied to a number of teaching applications including Neil’s guitar tutoring business. SAID is an acronym for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand and can be used by you in your teaching, mentoring or leadership role. 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• If you are not conscious of how you train you will get any old result. The body and mind will only produce the most suitable changes in response to a given stimulus. If a student is convinced the training will be difficult, it will be. 
• When learning guitar students tend to use force but they can be trained to play gently and precisely.
• Explain the desired outcome, how it will affect them, and the mechanism and techniques you will use to create it.

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you teach anything which demands core skills, or if you’re a coach I think this is a very useful idea to drop into your mental melting pot.’ 

‘Almost nobody in over 23 years teaching guitar now, nobody really trained to be gentle, smooth, elegant or precise.’

‘It’s wise to assume nobody has the basics. I’ve never met anybody in 23 years teaching who has.’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Tutor Podcast

 www.Neilcowmeadow.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]