How to tame tigers 

But this was not a lesson in animal domestication. Jim identified tigers as the things that hold us back from achieving our goals. The thing that stops us from coming up with a good idea or putting one into action. 

Jim asked the audience to ask themselves whether they are writing the story of their own lives or letting their tigers run it for them.

In his lively style, which included climbing on a chair to act out the difficulty of getting a horse to stop, he illustrated the story of how he had gone from being overweight and having never ridden a horse to qualify as a jockey.

He was a business speaker regularly appearing at events urging people to challenge their boundaries and tame tigers when a member of the audience set him the challenge of becoming a jockey within a year.

He set out the various challenges he faced and compared them to the range of tigers we face in everyday life to illustrate key points from the taming tigers programme including the need for:

• bold action
• heading in the direction you want to go
• understanding that time is our most precious resource.

Along the way, he said you would face obstacles ranging from self doubt to the people who mocked from the sidelines. The key was focus on the task in hand and remember that you have to be on the track to take action.  

Jim emphasised that the health service makes a real difference to peoples lives and in taking on their own tigers, delegates could make a real difference to the NHS.

Rules for taming tigers 

1. Act boldly today - time is limited.
2. Rewrite your rule book.
3. Head in the direction you want to go.
4. It's all in the mind.
5. The tools for taming tigers are all around you.
6. There is no safety in numbers.
7. Do something scary everyday.
8. Understand and control your time.
9. Create disciplines and do the basics brilliantly.
10. Never, ever give up.