Latest / Never Too Late to Dream / E4: I'll Find a Way to Go On with Keith Blakemore-Noble

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E4: I'll Find a Way to Go On with Keith Blakemore-Noble · Never Too Late to Dream

0:03
Caroline Buist: Welcome to Never Too Late to Dream, the podcast
0:06
for anyone who's ever shelved a dream, talked themselves out of
0:10
one, or let fear, doubt, or life itself get in the way. Every
0:15
episode, I'll be talking to real people, late bloomers, slow
0:19
burners, and plot twisters who dared to pursue their dreams
0:24
later than supposed to. We're talking about the messy middle,
0:29
the wobbles, the moments of what the hell am I doing, and the
0:33
extraordinary things that happen when you keep going anyway.
0:37
Because here's the thing: there's no expiry date on a
0:40
dream. The world's full of people who found their groove in
0:44
their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond, and they've got stories worth
0:49
hearing. Each guest will share their dream, what stopped them,
0:54
how they got unstuck, and what they'd say to anyone still
0:57
waiting in the wings. And I'll also be asking everyone what
1:01
their dreams theme song is, because every good story
1:04
deserves a soundtrack, doesn't it?
1:07
Hello and welcome to episode four of Never Too Late to Dream.
1:12
I'm your host Caroline Buist, and today I'm absolutely
1:16
delighted to be joined by Keith Blakemore-Noble. Keith is a
1:21
coach, speaker, and best-selling author of several books,
1:25
including Dare to Dream, which is very apt for this podcast.
1:29
Welcome, Keith. How are you doing today?
1:32
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Thank you, Caroline. I am doing
1:33
fantastically as always. Thank you, are you good yourself.
1:36
Caroline Buist: Yeah, very well. Thank you. So, before I get to
1:39
your story, can you tell our listeners a little bit more
1:43
about you and what you do?
1:45
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Ah, yes, that's a good question, isn't
1:47
it? What what do I do? Well, these days I tend to work with
1:53
with overachievers, which is basically anyone who sets
1:56
themselves higher standards than most, often without even
1:59
realising it, and they tend to do more than most, which has its
2:04
upsides, but it also has its downsides. Things that can hold
2:09
you back, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, all of these
2:14
sorts of things. So, I work with people who are high achievers,
2:19
help them to get out of their head, help them to clear out all
2:23
the stuff that's stopping them from being who they truly can
2:27
be. So they basically fall back in love with what they do with
2:30
that day one enthusiasm.
2:33
Caroline Buist: Great. So, was that something that you'd always
2:36
wanted to do? Was that your dream, or was there something
2:41
else that you'd always wanted to do?
2:43
Keith Blakemore-Noble: It's an interesting question. The reason
2:46
I say that is I'd completely forgotten until my sister
2:52
reminded me about this. When I was maybe early early teens,
2:57
apparently I became fascinated with hypnosis, and I used to go
3:01
around telling telling everyone, "I'm going to find out how
3:04
hypnosis works. I'm going to become a hypnotist." And then I
3:07
completely forgot about all of that for many, many, many years.
3:11
And now hypnosis is one of the tools which I use to help people
3:14
make these changes. So yeah, I guess it was probably always sat
3:18
there in the background, even though I wasn't aware of it for
3:22
a long time,
3:23
Caroline Buist: Where do you think the motivation came from
3:27
to pursue that dream?
3:29
Keith Blakemore-Noble: I kind of fell into it. I was going to say
3:34
I fell into it by accident, but I suspect it probably wasn't an
3:37
accident. I suspect deep in my unconscious, it sort of went
3:42
right. Now it's time for us to do this thing that we've always
3:44
wanted to do. I worked in IT for 20 plus years, did really well
3:51
in IT, but I was painfully shy. I had what I now know is social
3:57
anxiety, social phobia. I was terrified of even the thought of
4:01
speaking with strangers, which was why IT was a brilliant
4:06
career because you tended not to speak with people. It was all
4:08
done behind the computer screen. After a while, I rose to a level
4:14
in my career that to progress further, it's more about who you
4:19
know rather than what you know, and that's no bad thing, because
4:22
when you're at that level, if someone's taking you on, they're
4:24
going to want to know that you're a safe pair of hands for
4:28
what they want, because it's quite a high level. But I used
4:32
to avoid any of these seminars and conferences, all these
4:36
places where you would connect with people. I used to avoid
4:39
them because I used to see with dread on the agenda, first item
4:44
registration and coffee. It's like, oh, I've got to talk to,
4:47
people. You know what? I'll skip this one. And until one day
4:53
things came to a head when I got persuaded to go to a Christmas
4:59
party thinking, I know these people. I've been chatting with
5:02
them over the computer for ages. How hard can it be? Turned out
5:06
very hard. I had a massive panic attack, fled the building, and
5:11
at that point I decided, you know what, you can't go on like
5:14
this. You have to change. Something has to change. And
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very shortly after that, I got pretty much dragged to a
5:25
personal development seminar. Dragged there by a friend. It
5:29
was a free event, free weekend event where they sell you into
5:32
their trainings on the back of it. Which is fair enough. It's a
5:36
workable business model. It's fair enough. It's not like
5:38
you're being conned or anything. So I went to the event. I
5:41
thought, "Oh, this stuff's good. They take you through a couple
5:44
of exercises. You get to feel what it's like, and I could feel
5:47
myself making changes. And I thought, I'm gonna sign up for
5:51
this. And me being me signed up for the whole package. I'm gonna
5:55
sign up for this learn these tools to sort myself out. So I
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ended up becoming certified right up to train the trainer
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level in NLP, hypnosis, stage speaking, all of these tools.
6:09
Used them to sort myself out. Found I really enjoyed it. Found
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I was good at it. Told some friends what I'd done, and they
6:16
would say, "Oh, can that help me with this? Can that help me with
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that? Absolutely! Come on, let's do it. Found I was really
6:22
enjoying it, and because was in IT for 20 years, I was starting
6:27
to get a bit fed up of it. And also, things were changing.
6:31
Outsourcing and offshoring was becoming a big thing. It's like
6:34
I just don't like this anymore. It would be nice to change and
6:39
do the coaching as a career, but high-paid IT job, all the
6:44
outgoings that go with it. I couldn't afford the pay cut, and
6:47
then a magnificent stroke of luck. My position was made
6:50
redundant. I was given a big wheelbarrow full of cash and
6:54
asked never to come back. And I thought, if ever I was looking
6:58
for a sign, this is it. And I didn't even think about looking
7:01
for another IT job. I just went right, set myself up. I'm in
7:05
coaching now, and that was 16 years ago. Still doing it ever
7:12
since.
7:12
Caroline Buist: Still going, brilliant. Now I'm a huge music
7:17
lover, so I have to ask you this question: If your dream had a
7:22
theme song, what would it be, and why?
7:25
Keith Blakemore-Noble: I love that question. I love music.
7:27
Really, really do love music. One of my hobbies is playing
7:32
music on my keyboards and stuff. And there's one song that pretty
7:37
much since the day I first heard it has really stood out for me.
7:42
It's always been almost since as I say, the very first day I
7:46
heard it, been my favourite song, been my theme song, which
7:50
has seen me through the bad times and through the good
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times. So I figure what better song to have as my dream theme
8:00
song as well, the theme song for my dream, and that is by a band
8:03
called Queen, and the song is "The Show Must Go On.
8:07
Caroline Buist: Ah, brilliant! That's one of the songs I
8:10
feature in my book, actually. So, why did you choose that
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particular song?
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Keith Blakemore-Noble: I picked that song. I mean, I love the
8:18
tune itself, but many of the lyrics, they speak to basically
8:25
just that whole person. Whatever is happening, I'm going to find
8:28
a way through this. I'll face it with a grin. I'm never giving
8:34
in. On with the show. Even the bits like outside the dawn is
8:41
breaking. Inside in the dark, I'm aiming to be free, and that
8:45
whole my smile still stays on. So it's that sort of whatever's
8:50
happening. I'm just gonna find a way to get through. I'll top the
8:55
bill. I'll overkill. I have to find the will to carry on, and
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all of that just for me really sums up my entire approach to
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living my life. All the stuff that I've gone through. It's
9:07
like, well, yeah, I have to find a way through it. I'm not going
9:10
to let people know that I'm going through tough times at the
9:14
moment. I'll keep smiling, keep finding a way through. Whatever
9:18
happens, I will find that way through because the show must go
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on.
9:22
Caroline Buist: Brilliant, love that, Keith. So you alluded to
9:25
this earlier, but a question I normally ask is, what stopped
9:30
you from pursuing your dream? You mean you answered that in
9:34
terms of confidence? Was that the main challenge that you had?
9:39
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Yeah. So lack of confidence, painfully
9:42
shy, social anxiety, social phobia, all of that sort of
9:47
really limited me because one one of the things 'd fancied
9:53
being was a performer in some way, but again with all of these
9:59
fears and so on. No way! I could have gone on stage. Now that
10:03
I've conquered that, I have actually done stage stuff. I've
10:05
appeared in local theatre. Absolutely love it. From time to
10:09
time, I do hypnosis stage shows as well, with a bit of magic and
10:13
a bit of hypnosis. Absolutely love doing that.
10:16
Caroline Buist: To get people to hop on one leg, stuff like that,
10:18
you mean?
10:19
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Yeah, exactly. But also just being on
10:22
stage talking about this stuff, speaking in front of people,
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absolutely love all of that stuff.
10:28
Caroline Buist: And what do you think has really helped you to
10:31
get unstuck and get through all of the challenges that you've
10:35
had?
10:35
Keith Blakemore-Noble: It was the tools, the NLP, particularly
10:38
the NLP tools, it started actually in that personal
10:42
development seminar, and that loosened up my my fear of
10:46
talking to strangers. And then going through, I went through
10:51
all the NLP hypnosis coaching, etc. training, and as you go
10:55
through that, obviously you learn the techniques, and you
11:00
then practice the techniques on each other. So you're learning
11:04
the stuff, but you're also effectively getting a whole load
11:09
of therapy and coaching included in it, which is really helpful.
11:13
But all of that just helping me to blast through that barrier of
11:18
being afraid of speaking with strangers. Although I did find
11:23
something really interesting about that, which has factored
11:27
into the way that I work with people, and that was I conquered
11:32
the fear of speaking with strangers. So yeah, great, I can
11:36
speak to strangers now. So I would go up to someone, and it's
11:41
like I have no idea what to do now. See, I'd never developed
11:45
the ability to say all these things, so that was another
11:50
journey to go on. Which that factors in with how I work with
11:54
people. It's not just remove those barriers, but it's also
11:59
helped you learn those things that you would have learned if
12:03
you hadn't had the barriers, so that you can go ahead and and
12:08
really unleash yourself.
12:09
Caroline Buist: I really like asking this question. What
12:12
advice would you give your younger self?
12:15
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Now, whenever I hear that question,
12:19
my immediate thought is, I wouldn't give my younger self
12:24
any advice for two reasons. One, I know my younger self; he
12:28
wouldn't listen to me, so it would be a waste. And two, if I
12:34
did give my younger self advice, that would change how life went,
12:41
which would change the outcome. So I wouldn't be where I am now.
12:46
I might be somewhere better. Might be somewhere worse. You
12:49
never know. From that perspective, I wouldn't give my
12:54
younger self advice. I don't think. But if somebody, the age
13:00
of my younger self now were to come up to me and ask for
13:03
advice. So, same question, but changing it slightly
13:06
differently, I guess. The advice I'd give would be to think about
13:17
what's important. You think about what you really want to
13:20
do. Think about what's stopping you from doing it, and then find
13:26
a way that works for you to overcome that. Whether that is
13:32
go and see someone about it, whether it's what I did, I ended
13:36
up learning the tools because it's just what I do, or or
13:40
whether it's just reading up about it, reading books about
13:44
it, whatever, just realise that the things that are holding you
13:48
back, they're not permanent. They're not set in stone. You
13:52
face those problems at the moment. You have those
13:54
limitations. You weren't born with them. They're ones that you
13:58
learned along the way, which means you can, with the right
14:03
guidance and input, you can change them. So life doesn't
14:06
have to be whatever it looks like at the moment. There is a
14:09
better way, you can change it. And the really cool thing is
14:13
that the stronger those fears that you have, that just means
14:17
you're really good at doing whatever it is your mind has
14:20
decided you need to do, which means with the right guidance,
14:24
if you can overcome whatever you'd learned that taught you to
14:28
be scared, and instead learn a more powerful way, because
14:33
you're really good at doing the fear, you will ace doing the
14:36
positive stuff. So paradoxically, the stronger your
14:39
fears, the greater your potential to do really well when
14:45
you overcome them.
14:46
Caroline Buist: That's a really interesting way to look at it.
14:49
I've never really thought of looking at it that way before.
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So, with the benefit of hindsight, is there anything
14:55
you'd do differently if you went back?
14:58
Keith Blakemore-Noble: I would really love to have found out
14:58
Caroline Buist: And another question I like to
15:01
about these tools 20, 30, years earlier than I did. I think that
15:07
life would undoubtedly have been very, very different, very
15:10
Keith Blakemore-Noble: to contribute rather than a oh, I'm
15:12
different.
16:56
here, but I need so much more before I'm successful. It's more
16:59
of a hey, I am successful. Let's see if we can push it a bit
17:03
further, create a bit more of this, so that I can enjoy it
17:07
more, and I can help other people enjoy it more as as a
17:11
result.
17:12
Caroline Buist: Definitely. So, where do you see yourself in the
17:15
future? Do you have any new dreams that you'd like to
17:18
pursue?
17:19
Keith Blakemore-Noble: But one thing I'd love to do is around
17:23
the world cruise. That is on the bucket list. Continue with what
17:29
I'm doing. I'd like to to grow things. I'd like to start up
17:34
again training people in these tools. I used to do that a bit
17:41
in years gone by. I was about to resurrect that, then COVID came
17:45
along, and that kind of put paid to everything. So it would be
17:48
nice to start building that side up again, so that I can help
17:53
more people to help more people, if you see what I mean, and get
17:57
back into again. COVID kind of killed this off the live events,
18:03
live speaking, live talks, all those sorts of things. That
18:06
would be nice. And as you mentioned in the intro, I've
18:09
written several books. I'm writing another one at the
18:11
moment. All of them are non-fiction books. When I was a
18:18
kid, when I was still at school, I had three dreams. I wanted to
18:20
be a hypnotist, a performer, or an author. Hey, I've kind of hit
18:26
all three. That's cool. But I wanted to be a fiction author,
18:30
and so I guess if I had one big thing that I would still love to
18:36
achieve would be to publish fiction, which I have to say, I
18:43
think is a lot harder to do than to write nonfiction. I think
18:51
it's because when you're writing nonfiction, you're basically
18:53
you've lived through it and you're now putting it down on
18:56
paper. When you're writing fiction, you've got to create it
18:59
all first.
19:00
Caroline Buist: Yeah, because it's all coming from your
19:02
imagination, isn't it?
19:03
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Yeah, I think that will probably be a
19:07
big thing that I start doing when I retire in years to come.
19:10
That would give me a chance to really focus on writing fiction.
19:15
Caroline Buist: Why wait though Keith? Why wait?
19:18
Keith Blakemore-Noble: Because right now I haven't got the
19:20
mental bandwidth to do that justice and do what I'm doing
19:24
now justice. It's a lesson that's taken me probably far too
19:29
long, well, far longer than it should have done to realise and
19:31
fully appreciate that whole thing about you can't go left
19:35
and right at the same time. A phrase I love and I use this
19:40
with clients as well, and it's one I really should have sussed
19:43
out myself sooner. If you put your mind to it, you can do
19:48
anything, but you can't do everything. So you can't do it
19:52
all at once. So right now it serves me more doing what I'm
19:56
doing, and then once I retire from this. Then I can move into
20:01
fiction because I can then just devote my whole headspace to
20:05
that. Doesn't mean I'm not coming up with ideas because I
20:09
have a few ideas, jot them down here and there, and so on. So I
20:12
can still come up with the ideas and then at that point go right.
20:15
Let's bring them all together and let's do this as our
20:19
project.
20:20
Caroline Buist: Sounds good. So, what would you say to somebody
20:23
who's put their dream in the back burner?
20:26
Keith Blakemore-Noble: I would ask them first of all: Are you
20:29
happy with what you're doing at the moment? Because if you are
20:32
really happy with how things are, even with your dream on the
20:35
back burner, if you're happy with how things are at the
20:37
moment, then maybe continue for now because there's no point in
20:43
getting rid of what you're enjoying to pursue something
20:46
else. Always bear it in mind as it's an option that you can take
20:50
up at some stage. If you're not so happy with where things are
20:56
at the moment, if it's more sort of an existence rather than
20:59
living a full life, then I would suggest to them think about what
21:09
that dream is. Think about why that dream appeals to you. What
21:15
do you like about it? What would fulfilling that dream mean for
21:19
you and for those around you? Why is that important? Get
21:21
really clear about that, and then figure out. Well, what do I
21:27
need to do? What are the steps I need to do to enable me to start
21:32
living that dream? Because it doesn't have to be an instant
21:34
change. You don't have to go right. Stopping everything I'm
21:37
doing now. I'm now doing that. You can gradually transition.
21:40
You can, and sometimes people say, "Oh, yeah, but it would
21:45
maybe take me five years to get to the stage of being able to do
21:48
that. You know what? Those five years are going to pass anyway.
21:53
The worst thing you could do is in five years' time go, "Oh, I
21:58
wish I'd started five years ago. I'd be doing it now. No. never
22:04
too late to change. I mean, I had a major career change going
22:10
from IT into what I do now, and that was a massive career change
22:15
in my 40s. And yeah, it's never too late, but don't leave it
22:24
later than you need to leave it. The time will pass anyway. If
22:27
you think it'll take a long time to get in a position to do that,
22:31
start now. As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree is
22:35
30 years ago. The second best time is now.
22:38
Caroline Buist: Love that, Keith. So finally, how can
22:41
listeners find out more about you and what you do?
22:44
Keith Blakemore-Noble: They can check out the website, which is
22:48
keithblakemorenoble.com. All one word, no hyphens or anything.
22:53
KeithBlakeMoreNoble.com. Find out more on the website, or they
22:57
can check me out on whatever their preferred social media
23:00
platform is. I'm lucky. I have, as far as I'm aware, my name is
23:07
unique. I do not believe there are any other Keith
23:10
Blakemore-Nobles on the planet. If there are, the search engines
23:14
don't know about them. So if you go onto any of the platforms,
23:17
Keith Blakemore-Noble or @ Keith Blakemore-Noble is my handle,
23:22
username, whatever you call it on most of the platforms, or
23:26
search me on your favourite internet search engine and
23:30
whatever comes up good or bad, it's me. So yeah, check me out
23:36
and drop me a message. Let's have a chat.
23:40
Caroline Buist: Brilliant. Thanks so much for being my
23:42
guest today, Keith. It's been an absolute pleasure.
23:46
Keith Blakemore-Noble: My pleasure as well. Thank you so
23:47
much for having me on. I've thoroughly enjoyed it, Caroline.
23:50
Thank you very much.
23:52
Caroline Buist: Well, that's it for episode four. Next month,
23:54
I'll be joined by Paul Smith. Don't forget to subscribe
23:59
wherever you get your podcasts, and if you like what you hear,
24:03
please rate, share, and leave us a nice review. And finally,
24:08
don't forget, it's never too late to dream. It really isn't.