When I was a little boy growing up in East London, I remember Mr Carter, the headmaster, talking to us one day in assembly. He said we could achieve anything we wanted in life, as long as we wanted it enough. He reminded us that Noel Edmonds had been a pupil at our school, and he was now the breakfast presenter on Radio One.
At the time I thought that was one of the best jobs in the world. Being rather a literal child, I put my mind to being a breakfast presenter. In my life I’ve had two spells presenting breakfast shows on GLR (now BBC London) and one on a country music radio station in Wembley (best not to ask about that one, but it paid well!)
In all I’ve had nearly four years of getting up in the night and trying to sound chipper in the morning. Not easy for someone who according to my friends can be a bit grumpy in the mornings.
Anyway having watched Noel Edmonds reinvent himself a few times, I thought I would take a leaf out of my primary school’s most famous old boy and write down my ambitions. Noel is a big believer in verbalising your dreams so they will come true.
So here’s ten things I’d like to achieve in 2010, or at least before I die. (I’m not sure if they come true if you put too long a deadline on them, but I’ve always been a realist. )
TEN THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN 2010 BY JEREMY NICHOLAS
1. To appear as a guest host on BBC Television’s Have I Got News For You.
2. To speak at the National Speakers Association convention in the USA or the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa.
3. To be appointed the main stadium announcer at the London 2012 Olympics.
4. To be a guest on Radio 5Live’s Fighting Talk programme.
5. To review the newspapers on Sky News.
6. To do some kind of journalism- written, TV or radio at the football World Cup in South Africa in June and July.
7. To present a show on a UK radio station as a fill-in host.
8. To produce and present my own podcast on media skills and humorous stories from around the world.
9. To set up my own mastermind group for professional speakers in the London area.
10. To write my second book- Talking Toolbox- full of great tools to help get your message across.
11. To become a fellow of the Professional Speakers Association. (hang on I thought there was meant to be ten ambitions?)
12. To have my name on the side of a bus. (OK you need to stop now, it’s meant to be ten, and everyone has seen that picture of the toy bus that you posted earlier, so it’s not even funny).
13. To stop talking to myself. (OK then, bye)
So those are my ambitions for 2010. If you can help any of them come true, please contact me.
You can email me at jem@jeremynicholas.co.uk
Follow me on twitter at Jeremy_Nicholas
