Eric Thomas live at The Mermaid

What up what up what up!! Its ya boy....Ok I'll stop lol

On Saturday 27th April I had the opportunity to see my favorite motivational speaker (though he doesn't like that term) Eric Thomas live in the flesh! The experience was indescribable.

Last December Eric announced that he would be coming to do a tour in London and that tickets were on sale. I knew I could not afford to miss this opportunity so I made sure I bought my ticket. I can honestly say that was one of the best investments I had ever made.

I first discovered Eric when I saw his youtube video "Secrets to Success" while I was a student at university. I was literally in awe after watching it. Since then I subscribed to his YouTube Channel and followed him on twitter. Every Monday I look forward to his video's Thank God Its Monday (TGIM) . The way he is able to motivate people and change the way they look at life is just amazing. His words are able to touch you so much that you think to yourself "I need to change the way I live my life".

On the day of the event I was really excited, I got to the venue early and the queue was already looong! It made me realise the amount of people that Eric impacts. When I finally got into the auditorium I had my pen and notepad ready. When Eric came onto the stage everyone was excited and the energy was crazy. He spoke for about an hour but it didn't feel that long because his message was so captivating. I didn't want it to end, I wish he had more time to speak (coming from me that is saying alot because concentrating during uni lectures and church sermons that long is a real struggle for me lol). I was writing notes during the event as if I was in a university lecture. By the end I had pages of notes written down. One thing he said at the start was that by the end he wants us (the audience)  to leave as changed people. I can honestly say that he did accomplish that. At the end Eric received a standing ovation from the audience. His message was more deeper than that of his TGIM videos. There is no way you could have been at that event and his words didn't touch you in a certain way. I can't even put into words how I felt. Seriously I AM going to make the REST of my life the BEST of my life.

Here are a few quotes from the event:

"You are not where you want to be because you are not who you are supposed to be" 

"Stop looking at people and look within"

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have mastered you will never grow"

"Recycle your pain, allow it to take you to the next level and push you to greatness"

If you haven't seen any of Eric's video's I urge you to watch them!

I would like to thank Incipio academy for making this event happen, it was worth every penny and I would like to thank Eric for his inspirational messages. Next time Eric comes to London I will make sure all my family and friends attend!

Written by Dinah

Football Players Greed

Let me start of this article by stating that I am a huge football fan and I support Liverpool football club. I regularly watch football regardless of whether I am busy or not and I always ensure that I watch all of Liverpool’s matches. I have always been a strong football fan.

However, for quite some time now, there is one issue in football that has started to bother me. In fact this issue has irritated me for a while, but it has come to a stage where I am sickened by it. This issue is the greed element mired into footballing culture today. In the past, footballers were only paid a few hundred pounds per week. Players such as Bobby Moore received enough money to take care of themselves and their families. These players played solely because of the passion they had for football and not because of monetary reasons.

However, today, football has changed dramatically. Football players in the premiership earn a minimum of £10000 a week! The wage just quoted is the minimum amount for players who are mediocre at best. The majority of talented players earn in the excess of £40000 a week. Let’s take Theo Walcott as an example; up until recently he was earning £55000 a week. However he stalled on signing a new contract at Arsenal simply because he wanted a substantial increase in his wages. Arsenal then submitted to his demands of £100000 a week. This dear reader is absolutely shocking. How can human greed be so profane? One does not need to earn £10000 a week to make a living in the UK, it is simply absurd. Even Doctors, Fire-fighters, Lawyers and people serving in the army do not earn a fraction of what these players earn (not that I’m saying that they should be earning £10000 a week).

What do these players spend their money on? Well as someone who once worked at Chelsea and West Ham united football grounds, I can say that these players spend a portion of their wages on purchasing extravagant cars. The following are the type of cars they drive to their stadiums: Mercedes, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, BMWs, Rolls Royce and other brands. Furthermore, they also spend ridiculous sums of money on mansions whilst half of the rooms will forever remain unused. In addition, these players’ huge salaries attract females that attach themselves to players purely because they wish to live the rich and famous lifestyle. As a result of these football players gargantuan wages the wag culture in Britain is intensifying.

Many of will remember when Wayne Rooney stated in 2010 that he wanted to leave Manchester United. After Manchester united offered him a new contract worth a staggering £250000 a week he signed the contract instantaneously. This is one in a number of episodes which shows that todays football players are interested solely on money. Manchester City is an epitome of the greed engulfing football today. Manchester City who have wealthy owners have the ability to purchase any player of their choosing because they can afford to pay these players higher wages. Hence, in the world of football today, it is no coincidence that the average player lacks loyalty and is very unlikely to remain at one club. Gone are the days when money did not dictate who wins and who losses matches.

Considering how much money these football players earn, we are yet to hear of many players joining together to form charities to help the starving children in the world, or the masses of UK citizens who are struggling in the current economic crisis. Many players have allowed their natural greed instinct to take over their thinking, and as a result, they have become out of touch with the reality of the average citizen. A good example of this is Rio Ferdinand’s twitter exchange with a football fan. https://twitter.com/BBCSporf/status/286200987113373696 This shows that some football players are similar to some politicians and do not care about the masses, but they simply serve to maintain the current capitalist status quo of materialism, consumerism, individualism and as this article stresses: greed. Football players have successfully kept we the fans in constant awe in matches when it is we the working class who are funding these hoggish men. Even the fact that the average fan may be struggling financially and still manages to purchase expensive season tickets does not seem to affect the players. In fact, the players remain indifferent towards the average citizens struggles.

What can be done to stop this? I think that the F.A, or a greater body can meet and introduce a law which will lower players wages significantly. If this approach doesn’t work, and footballers wages can’t be lowered, then footballers should spend their money appropriately by setting up charities and giving at least 70% of their incomes towards charitable causes. Also, with lower wages, clubs can lower the ticket prices to fans which will enable more people to have a chance to attend football games.

Overall I still love football, but because of the direction football is heading in I have started to become disillusioned with it, and it may only be a matter of time before I stop watching it altogether unless there is a reform of the current policies.

Written by Aaron