The Force Awakens – in a Croydon coffee shop. By Scholar Neil Searle

The stars gloriously aligned this weekend allowing me to watch the next chapter in the heroic tale revolving around a powerful ability called The Force. The original Stars Wars movies blew my tiny Cornish mind back in the 80s and although from the trailer this one looked to be faithful to the style and characters I hold dear from my childhood, I hadn’t really been on a countdown of rabid anticipation in any way. I just wanted to see it, at the cinema, at some point and preferably without any spoilers. Strange then its opening weekend I was free – joy! With little real conviction over the last few weeks I had somehow managed to have ticked off every name on the Christmas gift list and even though my wife had too, she had an end of year do on the Friday night rendering Saturday morning a slow get ready before meeting a friend for a catch-up in the afternoon. Boom! My chance. I even went 3D. Earlier in the week I’d had my best coach session so far, and on Monday I was going to have my end of year review, so having a few things I needed to ponder over I thought I’ll stay out and take my notes with me – that’s three note books and plenty of scribbles on extra pieces of crumpled paper slotted in. Coming up to the end of 2015, the Marketing Academy and the people involved have given so much. It has been all that I thought it would be and more. Each part of the programme stands alone as a solid learning experience you just don’t get in real life, but it’s when you pull it all together (the operative word being “you” there) then that’s when you drive deep understanding to change. I’ve had nine Mentor sessions, two Lunch & Learns, five days of Boot Camp, five Coaching sessions and four Faculty days + time to get to know 29 massively positive and inspiring people in my fellow scholars. Many things have resonated with me that I’ve used and have talked about with family, friends and in the office. But sat there in the window seat of the coffee shop in Croydon watching the world go by, I felt I made a massive step forward in my journey, in understanding and forming my identity, finding my flow and what feeds my energy. Things came together. The small glimpses and off-the-cuff remarks, favourite quotes and answers, models and structures, all the weird and wonderful stuff I’d picked up. I found myself back to “the reasonable voice of unreasonableness” that my first mentor had mentioned, as well as being reminded I’ll be in a nursing home one day from another mentor. I understood more about why I had asked the questions I did and why I wanted that answer, rather than the answer itself. Equally the meaning of those words I had said in my free flowing thoughts that my coach pulled out. With my coach I’ve coined the term “remarkable moments” and now exploring what it means to me, I had one. I’ll carry on defining my leadership and learning, adding and building. Keeping check on any limiting beliefs. I’ll be thinking of what I stand for, my brand and those other testing questions that now the answers don’t appear to be in galaxy far far away anymore. I tried to leave the shop five times, I had to stop and write more down. So apply. Apply to The Marketing Academy now. Give it all you’ve got. I don’t know what will resonate with you, or how you’ll piece things together, but I’m sure you’ll be on the path to having a powerful ability in 2016 if you do. Oh yeah – the film was great.