In more than thirty years of working as a celebrity bodyguard, trainer,and renowned martial arts actor, producer and director, Richard Norton has traded banter with the likes of  Mick Jagger, James Taylor, and David Bowie.  He has exchanged blows with Jackie Chan and Chuck Norris.  And along the way has come to learn that true happiness is all about savouring and being in the moment.

In The Moment…With Hindsight rather than just being specifically about the life of Richard Norton, is about the wonderful, positive and powerful life lessons he has learnt whilst being in the presence of some of the world’s greatest musical artists and action movie stars.  Some of these lessons having been learnt in hindsight, while others have been discovered in the moment itself.

As Richard relates his journey, the core theme of the book is to stress the importance of being ‘in the moment’ and open to the possible life lessons being presented to us - lessons that can be implemented as a tool to enhance the joy of living - as opposed to just existing and being so caught up in our own heads with our past and future stories that we so often fail to see when these many life changing moments are presented to us.

While not a kiss and tell book, the numerous incidents that Richard recounts involving the varied celebrities he has worked for are insightful, profound and often funny.  For example, there’s the humorous incident when The Rolling Stones hotel floor was invaded by a group of drunk florists who were attending a convention and ended up trapped in a hotel elevator, and being entertained by Keith Richards; then there was the hardsip that Richard had to go through in training ABBA on Bondi Beach; whilst on a more serious note were the events that transpired during the funeral service of the late John Belushi, which Richard attended with his friend, singer James Taylor. 

The other element of the book is of course Richard’s extensive martial arts background and the philosophies behind these teachings that he applied with great success in his personal and professional life.  Richard shows how we can easily incorporate these same lessons into our lives at home and at work.

        Copyright © Richard Norton/Peter Jessop 2010-2011