Last week one of my friends was taken into hospital with a tumour in his head. Another was rushed into hospital with ongoing issues. And then last night, I heard that Clive Gott (www.clivegott.com), professional speaker and adventurer, had died suddenly at home.
I didn’t know Clive particularly well but I had seen him speak and had shared a beer with him on a couple of occasions. He was a straight speaking Yorkshire man who told it like it was, lived live to the max and believed in making every day count. His talks were from the heart and pulled no punches. His was one of the few blogs that I read. Not for work, not to learn anything in particular but just because I enjoyed what he had to say about love, life and the universe. I didn’t always agree with Clive but I always loved his passion, his energy and his commitment.
I also admired the way that he had created the life that he wanted and wasn’t scared of sharing his beliefs, ideals and learnings with others.
Clive was a man who will leave a massive legacy of people who were motivated or inspired by seeing him speak, people who had the pleasure of his abundance in their lives and just people who he met along the way and made a difference to. Many people will remember different things about Clive and that is the beauty of life and of being a speaker however when I think about Clive I think of the following messages and they are so powerful that I wanted to share them with you…
- Grab life by the throat and take action.
Clive believed in doing stuff. He didn’t sit on his ass and watch life pass him by. Clive travelled extensively, climbed huge mountains and took part in ultra-races. He spoke at events, wrote books, kept his blog and socialized. What do you need to do to “take life by throat and say, “I’m not over yet”?
- Live every moment.
Clive lived every moment. “Cruise control”, “going through the motions”, “drifting” were not words that you would associate with him. Whatever he was doing whether it was speaking, golfing, drinking or talking he lived in the moment and gave it his all. What could you achieve if you lived 100% in the moment and gave your all to everything that you do?
- Pay it forward.
One of Clive’s habits was that of paying it forward, that is to do or give something to another without wish for reciprocation. His aim, to make the world a better place. What do you do for others? What can you do to help others? How can you help your clients, colleagues and friends to achieve more in their businesses and their lives without hope or expectation?
- Be true to yourself.
As Polonius said to Laertes in Hamlet, “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” There’s no point doing things if they don’t mean anything to you. There’s no point living someone else’s life for someone else. If you want to achieve true greatness, whether in sales, in business or in any other walk of life, you have to be true to yourself.
As I am writing this, the snow has started to come down. I have to drive 300 miles later on for a gig tomorrow. And then I have to drive back. Am I going to get in the car, thinking about what a long way it is and how tiring it will be or am I going to drive down glad to be alive, focused on how I can make a difference and what I can do to grab life by the throat?
What do you think?
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Absolutely Clive in a nutshell the perfect tribute.
Well said Gav, a sad loss. We should all speak more…….
Andy
Always a time for reflection- but most of us forget too quickly.
I never met Clive but what a great tribute
Someone very close to me recently reminded me that “life is for living”.
For me that single phrase sums up the first half of this tribute.
Sounds like a good man who will be missed.
Fantastic tribute Gavin. I was one of those inspired and touched by Clive’s insatiable appetite for life and self belief. He became a fantastic mentor safter I set up my own business. I only spoke to him last week and its his last words of “Hayley, pick a lane and stick with it because you already believe you can!” RIP Clive, my life is much richer for knowing you
What a fabulous memory Hayley and what a great thought that he will live on through your actions and your life.
A fitting tribute to a great guy,
Ben
“Carpe jugulum” as Terry Pratchett says.
I saw Clive do an evening for the Mastery Gym a few years back – very funny man.
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Gavin, thanks for honouring Clive, a genuine good guy, and adding some sage wisdom of your own here. You can’t help but smile, and I suspect that wherever he is, Clive is smiling, too.