Dorothy Biney

Full transcript: Dorothy Biney on London Real

0:01 I’m here with Dorothy Biney, recent graduate of the Life Accelerator. Dorothy, tell us about you. Where are you from? What do you do? Give us… Okay. Born in London to Ghanaian parents, so I’m an Afro-Brit. Studied and educated myself in London. Basically, I’m a dentist by profession. Studied dentistry in Whitechapel, East London, and worked in the NHS for over 17 years, like, yeah. I qualified in 1995 and worked in various practices throughout the country.

0:35 And 5 years ago just embarked on a journey of self-discovery. I stopped practicing and did some traveling, did some trainings, and really just took some time out for myself, just to re-evaluate my life and to look at the direction that I wanted my life to go into. I love traveling, so I always tried to sort of get away each year and go to a new sort of destination, and also love learning and education, so I always try to sort of learn something new, especially in the field of personal development and human behavior.

1:08 And so, yeah, that’s pretty much me. I’m one of four daughters, and so, yeah, the house is always full of women. What kind of challenges were you facing when you decided to join the Life Accelerator in December? What was going on internally, externally? In a nutshell, I was stuck. Yeah, I was really stuck. The energy in my life just wasn’t moving in certain directions. I lacked focus, I lacked clarity, and was really feeling quite frustrated.

1:43 And so, yeah, I was just found myself like a dog chasing its tail, going round and round in circles, and so it was that sort of state of not knowing what to do, but having ideas but not knowing how to formulate them. And so, yeah, I was frustrated and I was stuck, basically, before I sort of joined the accelerator program. Okay, and why London Real? I started watching you guys a few years ago actually, and like was sort of dip in, dip out, and was really quite inspired by the interviews, and got little nuggets of information from different people.

2:15 And so I always had London Real on the back burner, and it was just really timely. I’m a great believer in time and sort of divine timing. Things happen when they’re supposed to. And so when I sort of saw the London Real sort of ad for the accelerator, it sort of ticked all the boxes in terms of what I was looking for, and I have sort of done trainings before, but this was something different. I felt that something else resonated within me in terms of what you described that the course was going to be, and so that’s what attracted me to sort of sign up.

2:54 Okay, and when you had to make that final decision in December, where you’re like, am I going to do this or not do this, what was the thing that pushed you over the edge and said, okay, I’m going to go for it? My only sort of anxieties or fears that I had was that I was broke, and I thought to myself, how am I going to pay for this course? And so that was the only thing that was standing in the way, and I thought, I just have to do it, and I thought myself, I need to approach you, and the worst thing you could say to me was no. Luckily you didn’t say no, and you called me up on a weekend, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

3:24 And so, yeah, it was only the financial aspect of it. That was the only barrier. But having sort of, you know, sort of watched what was going to be on offer, I thought, this is a no-brainer. I really need to do something like this. And so, yeah, that was the only thing that was sort of holding me back.

3:42 Okay, what do you first remember when the course started? First week, second week, you jump in, there’s the Facebook group, we’re asking you to upload videos. What are some of the things that you remember about that first period? Oh my goodness, I was like, whoa, because I’m not a big Facebook person or on social media, and so the interaction on sort of Facebook, I thought, ooh, you know, I’m not too sure about this, but I just went with it. I went with it.

4:06 And so I was really inspired and motivated by the size of the group, the fact that it was international, the fact that it included people of all different walks of life, people who were successful business people, who had families, who were studying, were academics, and it just reached out to everybody. And I thought to myself, wow, we’re all on this journey, and there’s a common theme. In order to want to better ourselves, we’re all here.

4:30 And so I felt that common bond with members, everybody in the group basically. I could connect to some facet of their personality I saw in myself, and so that was really sort of quite encouraging. What was the first kind of win you had where you were like, okay, wow, something’s working here, or something feels like it’s the right thing for me to do? What was that first one? I think the first module was the one that was had the greatest impact on my life in terms of the mindset.

5:08 Because, as I said before, my mind was all over the place, and so I found that as a result of the practices I had more focus and clarity, and the most precious thing was that I was sleeping better. Yeah. And oh my goodness, the contrast between how I used to sleep and what my sleep patterns like now is just so vast. And so I thought, something is actually working right now.

5:32 And the fact that I’ve continued to sleep better because I’m incorporating the practices is just such a blessing. I think some people, they need to do this just to cure their insomnia, because they need to just get all of their issues sort of in check, and that will greatly impact the quality of their sleep. Why do you think you’re sleeping better? Well, because of the meditation practices that I do. I just calm myself down before I sleep, and the gratitude, and it’s actually offloading issues that are in your subconscious before you go to bed, so that when you are sleeping you’re just in a better frame of mind.

6:11 There’s not all that mind chatter going on in your mind. And also from doing certain practices throughout the Life Accelerator, I’m finding that, you know, I’m not eating so much, not eating the bad things that would cause me to be, you know, up at night, and also I’m exercising.

6:34 And so it’s a general feeling of holistic well-being that I feel that I’ve really sort of gained, which is helping me, and also I’m less worried and fretful about my future, because that was the main thing that was keeping me awake at night. Like, what am I going to do, and how am I going to figure things out? But I think that now I’ve got a bit more, a lot more clarity, a lot more focused, and so that anxiety that was keeping me awake at night is starting to be eradicated.

7:00 What’s your biggest takeaway from the whole course? Like, the big thing that you got from it that maybe you could, other people could learn from. Is it not having that anxiety about the future, just knowing that you’re going to figure it out? It’s a combination of things. It’s being able to have a plan. Yeah. Sometimes you can just coast through life, but you need to have direction and focus, and often you might need to just zoom out and just be still and just get everything in order before you can go forward.

7:42 And so I would encourage people to take time out for themselves, to really work on themselves, and just to figure out, you know, what’s going on inside, internally. And often it might be something that you thought that you’ve covered already, but by doing certain practices it comes to the surface and then you deal with it. And so I think you need to take time out before you want to sort of move forward, get yourself together.

8:06 What did you struggle with? What was the hardest module for you? I think actually it was the nutrition, because I’ve always been on some kind of diet, and I did try the intermittent fasting, and I can be a bit of a child when I’m hungry and when I’m tired, and so to R myself of food for like 3 hours was like such a big deal. But looking back on it, it was like, come on, you know, it’s only 3 hours until midday, then you can start eating.

8:39 But, yeah, it was a sort of a minor sort of challenge that I had. But I think throughout the 6 weeks it was the technological aspect of it, the uploading of the videos, I sort of struggled with, because my technology was failing me, and so I had to get creative in terms of how I uploaded things. Yeah.

9:05 What you did, yeah, you did New Year’s Eve this year. Who am I going to see on that live call? What’s Dorothy like, you know, in 10 months’ time? She’s enthusiastic about life, she’s vibrant, she’s full of energy, she has clarity and focus. Her body no longer carries any surplus weight or adipose tissue. Her business is thriving. She’s really, really connecting with people. Yeah, that’s another thing. She’s sociable, she’s out of the house, you know, she’s connecting with people. Her relationships are going well. Yeah, she’s in a romantic relationship, and financially she’s in a really strong place as well, ’cause her business is growing. She’s mastering her finances, and she’s just in a different place completely.

9:55 I want to meet that lady. And you said getting out of the house. I mean, last night you’re at a super focused group, 150 people, you’re making friends beforehand, you stay until the end, and in week one I was giving you a hard time. I’m like, Dorothy, we got to get you out of the house. I’m like, let’s get you out of the house in any way, shape or form. But you really seem very different from the woman I spoke to on the phone, and even that first week, you know, you do, you seem, yeah, very comfortable and enthusiastic.

10:19 Yeah, I think aspects of my old self are starting to come through again, and the new improved version is coming through. Yeah, because I no longer, it’s all about connecting. I was too much into myself, and I think, you know, we’ve all got gifts and skills that we need to share with the world, and so it’s no good you being a hermit in your cave. You have to get out there, connect and engage with people. And so, you know, no man’s an island, and so you need to be out there, and so I’ve really sort of got my mojo back.

10:57 Nice. If we walked outside and we bumped into someone on the sidewalk and it was the Dorothy that didn’t take this course, what she like? She would be like, well, get out of my way, basically. Not in a horrible way. She wouldn’t, she’d be too much into herself. Yeah, she’d be too much in her own little bubble and worrying about her own little problems to actually really care about anybody else.

11:20 Yeah. Okay, and not anymore with you. You just said, I want to be helping other people. That’s quite a powerful statement. Yeah, yeah, yeah, ’cause you need to take the focus off yourself, because I think it’s good to introspect and to reflect on your life, but at some point you need to sort of take that outward. You need to be in balance with your life, and so introspection, and also take it out as well. And so I think that everybody’s got a role to play in this life, and it’s up to you to figure out what it is, and then at some point just get on and do it.

11:53 And to someone watching us right now who’s just not sure, they’re thinking about maybe taking the course, maybe not, what do you say? I say do it. I say do it, really, because whatever stage you’re in at life, there’s always room for improvement. And so you could already have achieved, you know, success by society standards, but there’s always room to grow, and I think this course will actually give you what you need. I think for me, I went into it wanting something else but actually got something else that I actually needed at the time. And so, yeah, I can look back on it, think myself, okay, yeah, I get it, I get it.

12:27 Well, it’s been a lot of fun having you on this course. You know, you and I butted heads a couple times that first couple weeks, but it was all good, and I really appreciate you sticking with it, and again, those technology challenges and everything, but you really did stick with it. So you’re almost, you’re stubborn, but you’re also stubborn with continuing, you know.

12:51 So your stubborn is in your own ways, but you’re also stubborn enough to keep yourself going, and I’m super impressed, and I know we got lots of other stuff we’re going to do this year together, so I can’t wait to see you on New Year’s Eve. Thanks for being an amazing part of this energy, of this group, and I can’t wait for the future. No, thank you. Thank you for not kicking me out. All right, thanks so much. Oh, thank you, Brian. Cheers. Thank you.