Jul 23

Here is a list of 50 things I’ve achieved, which writing in itself, is an achievement! (Which is why that is point 50 on my list!) I came up with the idea of writing this list not to satisfy my ego and show to people “oooh look what I’ve done” but more as an exercise at looking at which areas in my life I have focussed and created a outcome as a result of dedicated and directed energy! In addition to that as I perused my list afterwards I realised that each of those items within the list required some different skill or mindset.

What I encourage you to do is write a list of your own and once you completed your list I recommend that you look over it and extract the skills and mindset tools you used to achieve each one and then look at how you can take those tools and apply them in areas of your life where you feel you’re stagnating. Go on, give it a go, and enjoy the results and let me know how you get on with your list…maybe even post it in the comments! ;-)

Oh and lastly, I encourage you to find 50. I promise that if you dig deep you will easily reach the 50 mark even if in the beginning you struggle!

1) I got rated very highly for an art project at school which in turn led me to meet the prime minister
2) I performed in the ‘Noah’s Ark’ opera at school as one of the main characters
3) I performed in a play called ‘Pedro’s Revenge’ as the evil gangster called ‘Rocadura’
4) I’ve run the JPMorgan Chase race 3 times and completed it faster each time
5) I managed to lose lots of weight and keep my weight consistent over the past 3 years
6) I taught myself how to juggle and developed a fast way of teaching others
7) I learned magic and performed a magic act in front of over 500 people
8 ) I performed magic in front of a large family gathering, completely unprepared, for over 2 hours with only a deck of cards
9) I got an award for indian dancing
10) I once went to Mt Snowdon and took a very difficult route and climbed it by myself
11) I’ve appeared on TV several times (always purely by accident)
12) To date I’ve written in the region of 360 blog posts…the equivalent to three books worth
13) I learned to meditate and was teaching others by the time I was 16
14) I’ve been awarded for my contribution and voluntary work
15) I have so far performed stand-up comedy three times and this Sunday will be my fourth
16) I completed my 100 days of wisdom project on this blog
17) I’ve had articles published
18) I’ve met great masters like Deepak Chopra, John DeMartini and Tony Robbins
19) I’ve read somewhere in the region of 100 books on personal development
20) I have my own radio show
21) I ran the bupa 10K race
22) I’ve run the half marathon (on the same day that I also performed stand-up comedy)
23) I been interviewed on Radio 5 about ‘The Secret’
24) I’ve now Life Coached several clients
25) I’ve done countless events at schools and worked with 100’s of children
26) I taught myself how to spin a basketball on my finger for over 2 minutes
27) I mastered the martial arts weapon Nun-Chukka (completely self taught)
28) I can do some seriously cool things with a deck of bicycle cards
29) I play badminton regularly and am now very good at it
30) I’ve played with the top badminton player in England
31) For the last year I’ve only used the stairs at work
32) I’ve sung in a choir
33) I’ve hosted the stage of a carnival
34) I got the top personality award at school
35) I got the best newcomer award at a job I had selling mobile phones
36) I’ve walked on fire…twice
37) I tried ‘fire-eating’
38) I’ve danced on stage in front of 12,000 people
39) I’ve managed to keep people off anti-depressents
40) I’ve tried various different vocations including musician management
41) I’ve raised loads of money for charity
42) I’ve jumped off a totem pole (luckily while harnassed) :-P
43) In the 10 years I’ve been driving I’ve driven the equivalent to 10 times around the world
44) I’ve DJ’d at a party
45) I’ve given talks
46) My shortest length of employment was 1.5 days (definitely quite an achievement…don’t ask!)
47) I can do about 250 kick-ups with a football
48) My tennis serve is 100MPH (had it measured) (and sometimes it even goes in! :lol: )
49) I can play table tennis with both hands (almost to an equal level)
50) I’ve written a list of 50 things I’ve achieved…in itself an achievement :-D

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Jun 19

24 hours in one day is a long time and there is so much that you can do with it. If you let it get repetitive every day will seem the same to you and you will get bored with life. Thats why I decided to create this list of 101 mini purposes or goals where you can pick and choose one to make the primary focus of your day. You will notice that the first 50 or so are quite random and more fun orientated whereas the last 50 or so are more specific in the area of personal development. I hope you get something out of this list and maybe even make one of your own! In fact create your own list and let me know when you have so we can link them all together so that people can get new ideas of goals they can keep throughout the day! :-D

1) Eat a little healthier
2) Smile more
3) Smile and talk to a complete stranger
4) Write a poem
5) Be a better listener
6) Try something completely new
7) Cut down on the junk food
8 ) Be more grateful for the food dished
9) Feel a bit better than yesterday
10 Help a stranger
11) Call an old friend and catch up
12) Stand tall in the face of adversity
13) Be a better driver
14) Write a song
15) Write a positive review of a product you like
16) Create a new TV show concept
17) Call a radio show and request a song
18) Enter a talent show
19) Start reading a new book
20) Start writing a book
21) Go for a drive with no destination in mind
22) Watch an old movie
23) Watch re-runs of your favourite TV shows
24) Go and see some famous works of art
25) Track down a lost friend and get in touch
26) Call a distant relative
27) Give some spare change to a beggar without thinking about what they might spend it on
28) Plan your strategy for becoming world famous
29) Start a trend
30) Create a cool new word that the young generation can catch onto
31) Organise a fantasy football tournament
32) Complete a crossword or soduku puzzle without help
33) Go old skool and write a letter to a pen-pal
34) Take a picture of something random and submit it to a photography competition
35) Make a fun video on your phone with your friends
36) Laugh for no reason
37) Poke some strangers on Facebook
38) Do some charity work
39) Raise some money for charity
40) Donate money to a random charity.
41) Do one ‘ARK’ (Act of Random Kindness)
42) Go explore a park
43) Get out the old photo albums and reminisce
44) Introduce someone who’s never see it to ‘The Secret’
45) Set yourself a challenge to double the money in your pocket by being savvy
46) Invent a new game
47) Play a board game instead of watching T.V.
48) Give someone a lift
49) Wear something you wouldn’t normally wear
50) Write an inspirational text message and send it onto friends
51) Wash your car
52) Focus on abundance for the whole day
53) Become more in-tune with people
54) Create a better rapport with people
55) Improve your attitude of gratitude
56) Remember that you have the power of choice at every step
57) Attract something simple like a sweet
58) Start a blog
59) Write a blog post
60) Let out pearls of wisdom you’ve been holding onto
61) Write to your favourite author or inspiration and say thank you
62) Shift your focus from the bad to the good
63) Focus on healing any minor ailments or injuries
64) Increase your sensory acuity
65) Give advice and guidance to those who need it
66) Ask yourself better questions
67) Pray
68) Meditate for brief moments throughout the day aka Minute Meditations
69) Practise following through on your decisions
70) Complete an unfinished project
71) Create some SOS’s (Simple Obvious Strategies) for enhancing your life
72) Focus on getting better at what you do
73) Practise being ‘in the moment’
74) Create a new way of doing a repetitive task
75) Look at a repetitive task in a new light
76) Listen to audio books throughout the day and at night
77) Apply your wisdom
78) Meditate in an open space like a park
79) Do some tai chi or yoga and allow people to join you if they wish
80) Get a book on NLP or EFT and learn it
81) Improve your memory and remember peoples names and other info
82) Find a good Life Coach and hire them
83) Start a new course or evening class
84) Learn to breathe more fully
85) Cook a healthy meal
86) Volunteer at a school and give some personal development tips to the students
87) Sort out your finances
88) Book some ‘you’ time
89) Be more charming and attractive to the opposite sex
90) Do a very challenging task e.g. walk on fire
91) Arrange a tournament of some kind
92) Get rid of clutter
93) Act more consciously
94) Appreciate the rain
95) Tackle something you fear head on
96) Overwrite a limiting belief with an empowering one
97) Anchor your positive emotions
98) Send out healing vibes to the whole world
99) Utilise the technology you have to do good
100) Get leverage on yourself to get into action
101) Write your own list of 101 mini goals/purposes for yourself.

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Jun 4
This entry is part 3 of 2 in the series accelerator tools

I had a wonderful response from my last article and decided to get inspired to write a follow up. These tools are things that we naturally do anyway but these articles are a way of bringing them to your attention so that you can do them more consciously and use them at will.

So I decided to get into my inspired state and see what else would come to me. That brings me straight onto my first part of my 3 advanced accelerator tools.

i) Inspired State - Flash moments of inspiration occur for us all but how often can you dictate when and where that moment of inspiration occurs for you? You may not always be in that state 24/7 but what you can do is esbalish your mechanism for getting yourself into that state frequently and at your own behest. Think back to a time when you were in an inspired state where ideas came to you easily and naturally. Now find the key elements of the process and replicate them here and now. Once you find those key elements you are in a position to get into that state at crucial moments for your life.

ii) Flow - Flow is when you get into the stream of doing without conscious thought being present. Your conscious awareness can even be elsewhere while your subconscious becomes the main driver. Time also ceases to have it’s place when you’re in your flow state. Your flow state in many ways is similar to dreaming. No one taught you how to dream. It’s just something which is inherent within all of us. The same goes for flow state and is the most natural feeling during any task or activity to be in; when everything just flows seemlessly. Think back to a time when you had such a moment and spot the pattern that got you into your flow state. If you can’t think of one think back a time possibly when you were revising for exams and you were so focussed that when you look up at the clock 4 hours and passed as if it was just an hour or so.

iii) Internal Wisdom - Internal wisdom differs from inspired state in that when in the inspired state you may often get a flash of inspiration while in flow relating to any random subject whereas connecting with your internal wisdom you ask a direct question and get a clear direct answer. Whether you’ve experienced this personal phenomenon before not; I assure you, everyone has access to a limitless supply of internal wisdom. Mostly, like the inspired state, you will get the most succinct answers when you are very centered and focussed.

I’m sure while reading this you felt a sense of familiarity and resonance with each of these zones and now it’s up to you to develop each one consciously and use them at will unconsciously.

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Jun 1
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series accelerator tools

As with anything in life you will reach pinnacle or plateau points where you feel like you can go no further. So it begs the question of how some people get further than others. How do some people get to be the best? If they got to that point why can’t you? Yes, of course, you need things like determination, confidence and self esteem but what specifically is it that takes us from one level of expertise to an even higher level of expertise?

There are 3 key things that you need or powers which you need to develop in order to get off the flats and be back on the incline to your desired point. It’s essential to have a clear idea of where you would like to get to but know that, no matter where you are right now, there is no reason that you cannot accelerate at the same rate as a child does when s/he is introduced to something new.

To boost yourself you need to boost your M.I.C. You may have guessed I happen to like my Acronyms! :lol: So what does M.I.C stand for?

i) Memory
ii) Imagination
iii) Concentration

i) Memory - If you suffer from a bad memory then it’s crucial you learn different ways of utilising your memory. I used to think that I had a bad memory. I used to say to people that I had trouble remembering names and faces and yet my memory for numbers was excellent. Why? What was it that separated numbers from names and faces? I’ve got to be honest, to this day I’m still not even quite sure what it was but I knew that I didn’t want to suffer the embarrassment of forgetting peoples names and even faces any more. What I did realise is that I wasn’t making enough of an effort to remember peoples names and now I find that since I started making more of an effort to do so that I can now remember 95% of the names of the people I meet; it’s now only the rare occasion now that I forget. I’ll leave you to find your own method or technique for improving your memory but it is an essential skill.

Your memory is key when it comes to learning. Sounds like an obvious statement I know but what people don’t realise with learning is that in order to change something that has up until now been a habit, you need your memory to intervene and take over. Let’s take a look at an example. You’ve been playing tennis for a year and you’ve hit a plateau and so you decide to hire a coach. Your coach is going to teach you new techniques. You need to memorise those techniques and then apply then. If you don’t remember to apply the new techniques frequently enough your old habits will continue to reign supreme and your new learning’s won’t be able to cut in and take over. You can only do that if you remember to apply the new teachings from your coach. Does that make sense?

Another example is in dealing with people. Let’s say you learn a great NLP technique for communicating with people. Unless you remember to apply it at the appropriate times, that technique is useless to you. I remember that when I was at the Brahma Kumaris they often to this as being “Yukti Yukt” which translated means applying the right technique at the right time.

ii) Imagination - I’m a firm believer that unless we employ creativity in our daily routine we become stale and lose momentum with life overall. Life in fact begins to lose its meaning to us. Repetition is important for certain skills we need to develop. Let’s say you’re a basketball player, the more times you throw the ball the hoop the better you are going to get at it. If something is not working you need to find a new way of doing it or having a new outlook upon it. To illustrate, take your job for example, there are certain aspects that are going to have repetition but it may get very boring to you unless you bring variety to it. Sometimes you can’t change what you do but you can change the way you look at what you do.

Invention and innovation are crucial to personal improvement. I was recently commuting on the tube and I just wasn’t in the mood to read a book as I often do and I didn’t want to waste that valuable time either. So I decided to use that time to meditate and I was shocked by the results. I found it so easy to meditate and the results were also that I had many new ideas flow to me during that time. So it was a change of outlook and activity that enabled me to have a whole new experience of something I do regularly i.e. traveling on the tube. The key here is not to allow yourself to get bored. If you feel bored start the engine of your imagination and see what you can conjure up for that free time!

iii) Concentration - I’m a Piscean and we’re renowned for being dreamers and procrastinating; I am no exception! :-P However what I realised what that when I did day-dream or drift off my concentration on my day-dream was exceptional! If people tried to distract me from my day-dream they’d have a tough time of it. So I realised it was not my concentration that lacked but rather what I was concentrating on. The final key here is learning to stay focus on something for extended periods of time despite any challenges you might face.

If we go back to the tennis example only this time you’re playing a grueling match which has been going on for hours. It’s neck and neck, both you and your partner are exhausted. The winner of the game will undoubtedly be the one that can maintain concentration or focus on the closing of the game and not let their focus wander onto how tired they are or even the thought of making mistakes on closing points.

It’s an easy skill to develop. I always thought that I didn’t have the ability to concentrate and yet I’ve been sat here for the last hour and a half straight through totally focused on this article. It’s easy to do once you get into the flow of what you’re doing by not letting those little thoughts that creep in take over.

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The 3 core skills are a simple way of accelerating your personal growth and skipping past your plateau.

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Feb 13

Here’s a small idea for you especially if this is something that you have never done before.

Find a young person and offer to take them under your wing. Offer to become a mentor to them. There are plenty of organisations out there that run such schemes. All you have to do is step forward and offer your time.

It easy to put yourself forward and it only takes a hour or two of your time every week. I’ve seen first hand and been someone who’s made a difference, in a young persons life, just by taking an interest and offering them not only the time, but also just being someone that listens to them. You don’t have to offer experience, advice or guidance. Just being there is enough and if you feel confident enough, then you can offer more in the ways of wisdom and leadership.

I’ve always said and I continue to maintain that this world would be an extremely different and a much better place if we just offered our time to the younger generation. You may think that they’re not ready to listen but you’ll be surprised by how much you can enhance the quality of a teenagers life by working with them on a one to one basis.

I’ve also always said that every single child on this planet is my child and I have a responsibility to them. I can’t necessarily reach all of them but even if I reach a few, a handfull, it will make all the difference to them in the world and to the world.

Mentoring is a gift. It gives the person you’re mentoring a sense of belonging, of being respected and acknowledged. They want to be listened to and they appreciate the time that is given to them. Not only does it give them something but the amount you get back is immeasurable. You’ll also feel a deep sense of personal empowerment which you will then be able to carry to over to other areas of your life. You’ll need to make a plan though. When you meet your mentee for the first couple of times find out where is it exactly that they need personal expansion. Use lots of open questions that being with: How, what, who, where or when to get them to talk and fully express themselves.

I was recently interviewing a young girl, she was only 15 and I was doing a mock interview with her as she was getting ready to go off and search for work experience. I didn’t know this beforehand but apparently this young lady had a phobia of school and yet she managed to draw the power from somewhere to turn up for that particular day. I interviewed her as if I was interviewing her for a real job. She did extremely well and at the end I gave her lots of encouragement but balanced with some useful constructive feedback. I only found out afterwards but apparently what I said to her really made an impact and she left the room beaming and went to her teachers elated as she felt like she’d done so well! All I did was spend five minutes at the end offering encouragment and advice and who knows how much of a difference those few short moments have made in that young girls life.

So what are you waiting for? Go now and find out if your local council runs an EBP (Education Business Partnership) or some other kind of mentoring scheme where you can give something back to others.

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Feb 1

It’s been over a year since I gave away my first business idea and I thought it about time to give away another one. This idea only occured to me recently after trying to pass my CCNA. I personally find, that reading material, that I don’t necessarily enjoy, truly painful to say the least and the CCNA was no exception! I found it rather agonising reading through the books and manuals and found it to be a poor use of time and highly frustrating! :oops:

Even though I created mind maps and I covered a lot of ground I think where I failed was lack of understanding with regards to the application of certain priciples of networking. I find that certain topics within the I.T. world, for example: subnetting, tend to have extremely long winded explanations where it truly isn’t necessary can could be explained with very simple analogies or illustrations.

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So this is my idea:

As far as I can see, there are very few, if any at all, I.T. audio books that can be used as study aids when people study for exams such as the CCNA. I.T. text books generally are about 400 - 700 pages long and as I mentioned previously, are dominated by truly long winded explanations and technical jargon, that can be replaced with very simple analogies and illustrations. So why not create simple MP3 I.T. audio book summaries or revision notes that people can listen to while also doing other activities e.g. running.

When creating the audio books, they don’t necessarily have to be the entirity of a text book from start to finish. They could easily be revision notes that people can listen to while they’re at work or as they’re going to sleep!

This whole area has yet to be tapped and would need thorough exploration and experimentation but I definitely feel that this has the potential to be a lucrative idea! In many ways it’s a paradox that the I.T. world, the industry at the leading edge of technology, has yet to catch up with the rest of the world with very a simple application of technology that already exists. It could even be used in conjunction with lab software that you might purchase

So there we have it! A very simple idea with limitless potential. I would love to be able to explore this idea further but it simply isn’t a passion of mine. But who knows, maybe this is something that you might love to do and try out? ;-)

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I.T. geeks are people too you know! :lol:

Related article: First give away business idea…

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Jan 22

This post was inspired through the recent work I’ve been doing on the radio and some of the articles I’ve been reading in the tabloids regarding certain celebrities. Now, I don’t always believe what I read, especially from the tabloids, but I do know that celebrities will face challenges, in a very different way, to you or I on a daily basis.

What separates them from us? In reality, nothing, but we’ve designed a culture where they’re treated so differently which often stems from one of two poor perceptual constructs: 1) The way they look. 2) How much money they have. What happens then is that a celebrity will often need to meet the high levels of expectations which are created for them. There are many other factors but these two, more often than not, shape our attitudes towards these unique individuals who are fulfilling their dreams and doing the thing that they love most!

They will often be judged in various ways but a common theme that I hear often is: “They have so much money, how can they have anything to be worried about or complain about anything or lack anything or not be happy?” That suggests to me that there are still people out there that believe that money will bring them all the happiness they desire when the reality is that money is only part of the equation; a very small part to boot! Only WITH the right mindset can money serve you as a tool for not only enhancing your life but enhancing the life of others.

Money and wealth are two totally separate things. Money is currency for exchanging goods and services but true wealth is an abundance in of everything in every area of your life. The thing that people often don’t realise about wealth is that you can be wealthy right now. The way to be wealthy is to firstly being grateful and secondly to share that energy with others. When you start to experience true wealth through gratitude money will follow naturally.

Some celebrities have an abundance of money but become lost in their way and then squander their money for things like: cosmetic surgery, alcohol and drugs; all the types of things that cause damage and destruction; rather than towards things that create, expand, grow and help others! Why does that happen? How can someone with the means to obtain or do anything they like choose to take that kind of path?

My best friend recently got back from India and was telling me about how far just a small sum like 7,000 rupees (or£80 approx) can go for an orphanage and yet for us it’s not uncommon to spend £80 just on a haircut which can go wrong and in turn we can feel sad, down, angry or depressed? Why?

A celebrity is someone who is, where they are, because they not only love what they do, but they also enjoy giving happiness to other people and they enjoy receiving that love and admiration back. They enter a world where they all eyes now focus upon them and for some people they can do no wrong but then suddenly, they might do something that, between everyday folk like us, is something perfectly normal, but because they’re in the limelight whatever it is they have done is completely taken out of context and then often the media come along and crucify them. How would that make you feel? To just make one small mistake and have that plastered across the newspapers the next day? In my mind it would take someone incredibly strong minded to overlook that kind of attention and only focus on the the good they do.

If we allow the countless number of voices on the outside and try and absorb the input it’s no surprise that we might end up getting dazed and overwhelmed! Have you ever been in a position where someone has said something about you that has set you off or got you angry or upset? Right, now multiply that a thousandfold If you were a celebrity, and a paper printed something about you that wasn’t necessarily true, or was taken way out of context? Most people read an article in a paper and they often within a week or two it’s forgotten about but for the celebrity the sting of it can potentially last a life time! Even just a few small bashings can permanently change their mindset if they listen to all those stories!

So what can the celebrity do to minimize or even totally negate the effects of the public humiliations, stories, or mistakes? Here are my suggestions and ideas so feel free to try them out, experient and remember these ideas aren’t just for celebrities, they apply to anyone and everyone no matter who you are and what you do!

1) Do more for others, especially children, maybe even anonymously! - It’s naturaly with your lifestyle that you’ll work hard and also play hard. In amongst all your activities set time aside every month for charitable work; something hands on and something you can personally get stuck into! Even just a few hours every month doing something that you enjoy and also helps others. Find something that you feel passionate about and do lots of that. There was one celebrity who recently go into looking after mis-treated horses and said that helped to turn her life around.

2) Make the voice inside stronger than all the voices on the outside - I remember recently reading an article about Kylie where she consults her inner voice before making any big decision. Some might say she’s crazy, I say she’s the smartest one of all! Everyone has an inner voice and you can choose to change that voice at will depending on what you need it for. If your inner voice is pounding your for making a silly mistake, turn it into a forgiving voice and then change it into a voice that helps you either change or turn it into something positive. There is also more you can do in terms of adjusting your mental imagery to enhance your performance too. Sports people do this all the time as they know that doing so will absolutely enhance their performance.

3) Become a mentor for upcoming celebrities. - If you spot talent offer to take them under your wing and share the experiences that you’ve gone through so it might better prepare them. They might get thrust into the limelight incredibly quickly and might not have had the time to adjust to the sudden change in their profile or status. Initially it will be exciting for them but after time the steam from the pressure can build and they can get to boiling point! Offer them your help and guidance which will be priceless to them; something that money cannot buy.

4) You can’t always do everything right and please everyone so don’t try! - If you do you’ll constantly be second guessing yourself and then you’ll start to feel even more lost. People will always think what they want to think and trying to shift their opinion of you and that is just going to exhaust you! The only thing you’ll ever have conscious control over is where you choose to focus your mental energy. If you always focus on the things that are bothering you then you’ll slowly but gradually start to experience inertia. If you focus on what you can do next and all the outcomes that you want to achieve you’ll begin to gain more momentum and start feeling more energised.

5) Take onboard my 5-a-day rule. - I’ve always said that to experience a more fulfilled and enjoyable existense there are 5 things that you need to incorporate into your routine every single day. These are things which are very simple and easy and including them takes very liittle time or effort. The five things are: i) Meditate, ii) Smile, iii) Laugh, iv) Give, v) Appreciate. So simple and yet so effective. Make time for these 5 things watch it transform your life for the better.

Related posts: 5-a-day

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Dec 18

Yesterday I did my first ever Stand-up comedy event which was for the charity: Children Walking Tall, which helps homeless children in India. I’m not quite sure exactly how much we raised but I do know that it was in the region of about £800.

I love stand-up comedy and it did cross my mind a few years ago to give it a try but I never gave it a second thought. I was coaching my friend Hyde who said he had always dreamed of doing stand-up and so I encouraged him to do an event! One day he asked me if I wanted to do a short set as part of a comedy night that he was arranging for charity. I jumped at the chance without actually thinking it through! Little did I realise how much work it was going to take! :-)

Last night was the big night, I was as nervous as I’d ever been about anything in my life and yet I was really excited too. I couldn’t wait to get up and do my set! I had butterflies like you can’t imagine but the crowd were amazing, really lively!

I was actually offered a 15 minute slot, so as I was planning and preparing my set, it gradually got longer and longer! By the time I had finished it, and polished it off, it was 25 minutes long, which included pauses for laughter. Even though that is bad practise it actually ended up being a good thing. One of the acts didn’t make it on time and had to be taken off the running so my extra 10 minutes filled up the time of the comedian who was missing.

As John Kinde over at Humor Power said to me, 15 minutes is a huge challenge for a first time gig but to just “learn from doing!”

So, I got up on stage managed to keep my voice steady, something I’ve always had trouble doing in front of large crowds, and deliver my opening gag with power….it totally worked! I had them rolling in the isles and got a huge applause for that gag and because I did, I totally relaxed and the rest came naturally!

As I mentioned in my previous article, I opted to include plenty of blue humour and it was the blue humour that got the most laughs although my opening line was a clean gag. There were gags in my set which people didn’t laugh at and also times where people laughed where I wasn’t expecting any. Toilet humour always gets good laughs and if you find a good niche with regards to toilet humour then you’re sure to get plenty of laughs. My toilet gag was about four minutes long in total and it got laughs the whole way through! If you’re doing club comedy and you have some good toilet humour, then use it! It’s sure to get laughs! A lot of the humour I incorporated was about me being fat and it got some great laughs and it even got some “awwwww’s” too. One person did say to me not to make so much fun of myself but to be honest, I don’t take myself or the humour that seriously, it was just there to make people laugh and not a true reflection of my opinion of myself.

In the future I do want to work on more clean humour but as John said to me, “it’s a much greater challenge”, and he ain’t lying! :-O

I did miss one or two of my main gags and on two occasions, I did need to pull out my keywords sheet of paper and have a quick glance but I did it in such a way that it got laughs too. I think people were forgiving for two reason: 1) Because it was for charity and 2) We told people in the beginning that we were amateurs and totally new to stand-up comedy!

I was totally overwhelmed with the feedback and the response at the end, I got so many compliments and most people just couldn’t believe that it was my first time as they said I looked like I’d been doing it for long while!

In the build up to the event, I was quite stressed as it took an immense amount of preparation and practise. I had spent a good 40 hours over the last 3 weeks rehearsing, re-writing, practising and watching dvd’s of other stand up comics (but that was an enjoyable part) studying their technique and humour. In particular my favourites are Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Russell Peters, Jimmy Carr, and Chris Rock. It was a huge time commitment. During that time I was telling myself that I would probably make this the only time I would do stand-up, but now that I’ve done it, I’ve caught the bug and I’m definitely going to do it again! The charity contacted me and definitely want our help to raise more money again by holding a similar event and I may even look into doing some paid gigs. My friend Hyde was approached last week and is doing more stand-up tonight as a warm up for a major comedian from Canada.

I’ve learned so much through this whole process and I wanted to share a few of those things that were not included in any of the books or websites I had read about doing stand-up. So if you feel like delving into the world of stand-up comedy and undertaking the monumental challenge that it is then here are my tips:

1) The more you practise and rehearse your routine, the more boring it becomes to you! After a while your jokes no longer seem funny to you and you start to question whether your material is any good. That isn’t a bad thing! When you lower your expections, naturally the chances of the opposite happening are higher. It’s like when you pick a card, you pick the 3 of hearts, and you’re asked to guess whether the next card is higher or lower than a 3, the chances are that it’s going to be higher…so when you don’t expect much, the return is always greater!

The temptation will be there to start re-writing your material…DON’T DO IT! If it was funny to you in the beginning, it’s still funny now, it’s just that you’ve become immune to them! There’s another bonus to that too in that you’re less likely to laugh at your own jokes on stage…and believe me, that’s a good thing! You can join in with the laughter once the audience start laughing…but laugh when they’re not and you’re in trouble!

2) One of the main challenges of doing a routine is memorising the wording, order and syntax of your gags. Mine was about 5 pages of A4 and I still had not remembered it with only 5 days to go! Here’s a good technique you can use to help remember your routine. Break down your routine into paragraphs, one gag per paragraph. Assign a key word to each paragraph, something that will trigger the gag in your head, keep a list of those words separately to your written material and as you start to remember your routine more and more from your script, keep the script out of site and just use the sheet with your keywords. Once you can do it with just your key words, try applying the pegging technique without the numbers but use the words and connect them with a story!

3) Don’t ask too many people about what they think of your gags. I asked one of my work colleagues what he thought of my opening gag and he wasn’t too impressed. It put doubts into my head and I nearly ended up taking that one out but I’m so glad I didn’t! Like I said it had them rolling in the isles! If it was funny in your head when you came up with it, chances are, a good portion of your audience are going to laugh at it! A better way to gauge your act is hold a rehearsal night and invite people around that are unlikely to be at the event and then do a full practise then. That is more likely to give you a clear indicator of what jokes are good and what are not.

I’m no expert, I just wanted to offer some of my learnings just incase you decide you want to give stand-up a go! :-)

A word of caution though…if, like me, you’re slow at getting jokes….then get faster broadband!! :lol: (One of the clean gags from my set!) ;)

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Oct 26

Self Consciousness - A different perspective.

Are we truly being selfish by serving ourselves or are we doing the world some good?

Self Consciousness = Universal Consciousness

Self consciousness by definition is being conscious of the self and ones own behaviour or be very aware of ones own presence drawing attention for whatever reason. Thinking back to a time when you were in a strange place for the first time and for some reason you felt out of place and you felt all eyes were one you because you were the “noob” so to speak! That is the type of self consciouness that is most referred to but I wanted to bring into your awareness a very different kind of self consciouness that breeds much inner power, inner harmony which in turn automatically fuels outer success.

To understand this concept, firstly think about your day. Did you take a walk anywhere? The air was quite heavy today and so you may have noticed the cold heavy air moreso than usual. Most days though you might not even pay attention to the air. But today you did. Now to you, just as normal, you walked from point A to point B, totally oblivious to the fact that you were not just walking as your day to day stigma might lead you believe. You were in fact swimming, in a current of particles and sub atomic particles, unaware that you’re intricately connected to and affecting your surroundings. You are in fact one and the same as everything you see around you only separated by mere awareness of the “self”.

Now you might say, “yes but I can’t see it or am not consciously aware of my interactions with these invisible forces.” Yes that is true, but every good scientist will tell you that just as a butterfly can cause a tornado, so to your beingness ripples and percolates through the universe like a runaway train. So your levels of self consciousness may only currently reside in the spectrum of local effects and repercussions but ultimately your beingness and actions stretch out futher than you may ever know!

Self consciouness is a good thing but where our current line of thinking goes only leads to answers with very limited scope. If the question that precedes self consciousness is one of “what can I do to improve upon yesterday” rather than “what will people think of me?” then you’ve been inspired into a new “level-oution” (my own made up word) :lol: of thinking. The questions may then expand into even further depth into the understanding that any level of self improvement overall, will, and ultimately does, benefit womankind!

When you enter this new realm suddely your thoughts go outward to the greater universal questions. No longer are you merely interested in just your family or your community but your being is saturated with an eager desire to know the intricate workings of the universe and how your actions, however tiny, have cosmic ramifications. Intertwinned with this is an unequivocal desire to help womankind reach the level of self consciousness that serves the greater universal community! It’s will no longer be sufficient to just reach a town or city and hence the formula:

Self Consciousness = Universal Consciousness

So you see, self consciouness when preceeded with a different directive question takes on a whole new meaning and form that can truly benefit humanity. When you catch yourself thinking self consciously find out what was the preceeding question and simply change the question!

A new dawn of self consciouness…

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Oct 1

My heart is sensitive and romantic and I believe that everyone in this world has that one special soul who they connect with. However recently, life has illuminated the reality of love, and essentially compartmentalised it into a ‘black and white’ order. I have been granted a brief look into the eyes of others around me, who see love as the manifestation of hormones, lust and desire. Where love has nothing to do with your heart or higher self’s purpose, but more of an indication of what other parts of the body are pulling you to do. The stark realisation of this fact aggrieves me; even though I have known it for years and am no stranger to its concept, I never the less find it a difficult and painful awareness to accept.

Have we as humans become so disconnected that even love has lost its mysterious potency? It has been handed over to our bodies and we are but slaves to its satisfaction.

The more I cling onto the thought that love is a beautiful, transformative, uplifting journey for your soul, the more I am forced to witness its corrupt expression.

However being a firm believer in the teachings of Abraham, I know that my thoughts are the powerful engines which shape my reality, therefore I understand that this moment in time serves me well to uphold my firm beliefs in love and what I REALLY want from the love of another.

Why should I bow down to an unnatural concept when my heart craves to experience the power of my creator through the love of another soul. Do I compromise my hearts calling for the sake of conforming to a lifestyle that is accepted by everyone else around me?

As I transmit my intention of love to others I am consistently made to feel guilty for asking for a love that is innocent and sweet, looked upon as though I have a warped, archaic perception of love. Have I always been the human dreaming of being the butterfly, who is now lost in the psychosis?

As you can see, my internal battle and quest to eliminate this loneliness brings pain, doubt and fear. However even though the world around me adopts such a view, I wish to live in my fantasy and hold on to my concept that this person who I fall in love with, will also have the view that love is a soul connection, and not just the result of chemicals and hormones surging around the body.

If this view is indeed a result of years of misconstrued understanding where the barrier between the dream world and real world has been breached, then I wish to allow this to grow within me. It gives me ‘hope’ and paints a picture of a world I ‘choose’ to live in, albeit a reverie.

So with this in mind, I allow the tears in my heart to dry and hold firm my views in the face of harsh truth and with god’s grace breathe in life and wait for the day when my fairy tale romance becomes my reality. I wish to be saturated in its magic, to bathe in its sweet aroma and to taste its intoxicating essence upon my lips!

Follow your dreams in the face of adversity – no matter what the cost!

Peace and Blessings – From a slightly broken heart, but i know i will heal! Kavi xxx

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Aug 15

StuHis passion is music (although he would argue it is chocolate!). His voice, so deliberate yet strategically subtle, gentle teasing you into submission for the message he brings. A winning combination to the lyrics, which are layered like a rich tapestry of life experience, higher learning, faith, goals and love. It’s like the poetic murmurings of a beautifully sung prayer – it touch’s your heart and leaves light in your soul!

Read the following in depth interview to uncover why this inspiring new artist is promoting the one thought “the human solution is a divine evolution” and why he has decided to donate his profits to a charity close to his heart.

So Stu, when and why did you start playing guitar, and when did you discover you had the talent to sing?

I asked for a guitar on my 16th birthday, as soon as I knew a few chords I started writing my own songs. A few months later I made my own studio by lashing together my ghetto blaster to my girlfriend’s dad’s stereo.
I knew I could sing as a child because I could imitate all the songs I liked, but I was v shy.

What are your fondest musical memories?

Playing my old Walt Disney record, yes vinyl! My favourite “I wanna be like you” over & over. Still know it word for word & every monkey noise.
Then my next favourite memory is when I was 17 & went to Dingwalls Jazz club on a Sunday afternoon. Giles Peterson was playing frenetic but musical 60’s bebop & two guys (I think maybe “brothers in Jazz”) were dancing, the floor just cleared for them. I can’t describe in words how I felt, the sound & the sight just moved me to tears as I stared, it was a v deep experience. They had such style, grace & physicality, the rhythm, joy & energy was shinning from them, the sound … it was a high that no drugs could come close too.
That experience got me into dancing, so I went every week to these Sunday afternoon jazz clubs, even on my own, it was so cool. Never packed & always full of interesting souls struttin n stepping, expressing their thing. You can see a person s soul through the eyes & how they move to rhythm.

So who are your influences?

The person who is the single biggest influence on me musically is my music teacher, Professor TV Gopalakrishnan, a master of Classical Indian music.

Who are your favorite musicians? Groups?

Musicians & influence is such an enormous question for me; so here goes. My musical training came from listening, first to the radio, with whatever caught my ear. As a young teenager I loved rock n roll, especially Little Richard, but the radio is so diverse & so my taste has always been diverse, but generally its Black music in its many forms. Growing older I could afford records: I loved the songs Prince did, up until about 90’s, loved hip hop beats, conscious lyrics of KRS1 & Chuck D, but the best flow was Big Daddy Kane. At that time you were either an indie kid or hip hop, I was the odd ball, I did like both, though I could only dance to hip hop. Indie songs, bands I appreciated. The breaks in hip hop got me into funk, JB being the obvious, but then the breaks began to get more obscure, jazz influenced & soon my record collection was well over 10,000; gospel, jazz, funk, soul etc.
No one name really stands out, but sooo many songs & artists have influenced me.

So how do you handle mistakes during a performance and do you ever get nervous before a performance?

Mistakes, if u don’t make a big deal of it, other people won’t either. When buskin on the underground I would actually be trying things out, writing, working ideas. True performance art ! the energy & vibe of all those people would become part of the creation. Busker’s do 2 hour slots, its all v official, sometimes for those 2 hours I’d work on 1 song, but people only hear 10 seconds of it so it cool. Any way if I didn’t make “mistakes” I wouldn’t get ideas. Of course I got nervous. The mind is such a trickster. Some days u listen to its crap more than others.

Do you work with other artists, If so who? and why?

Yeah, I got into doing my own stuff by working with others. My first single “Money” by Coco & the Bean, I did the rap for it. These guys did hip hop in their bedroom so this inspired me to do likewise. Currently I’m working with Sali, a Carnatic (south Indian classical) singer on an innovative dance track, also an RnB singer called Kavita, she’s great but keeps burping like Barney (Simpson’s) after a great vocal take.

Ha ha, very funny – I’ll get you back for that!
So, tell us about the REAL Stu?

Big question eh? I’m special, there’s no one quite like me. Then we are all unique & special so I guess I’m ordinarily special. I’m very blessed, I’ve had the opportunity to experience a “western” & “eastern” family life. I’m v healthy. Funny, well I laugh at myself. V positive, love life, especially people, but I think our potential is nowhere near reached. I’m also blessed with many talents, musical creations being the primary. But the more I witness people struggling with themselves, religion, God etc the more I realize that my most treasured blessing is having a direct communication with the divine. I always feel truly at ease with my personal faith & this actually also makes me feel at ease with any religious faith. Religious texts are words but the wisdom is woven between the words, interpretation depends on the heart & mind of the reader. The essence of love is universal, humanity is corrupted by ego. Music transcends all this political egotistical crap because its feeling comes not from words but the movement of notes. Like love it has its universal law. I study Carnatic music because the “laws” that define this music have evolved over thousands of years & its focus is more internal, it has more culture, not to say its better, but it has a different emphasis. It will be many more years before I will master this art but its influence will permeate into my creations.

Why do you want to record and release your own music?

I make one big assumption in life: if I like something, other people will also like it, not everyone, but then not everyone likes Thai red curry, but I do.
“I admit, this rhyme is not mine, it’s inspired, divine….” That’s a quote from “Beats n Love” but it reflects my music. I feel that my music will inspire other people, whether it’s a social or political comment or whether its lust or love, my tunes are varied, but whatever the message & emotion that combination of notes conveys, other people will share & appreciate hearing it.
I feel I have a “product” which is not eclectic, cliquey but has a wide appeal. I want to get “mass” appeal, that will mean more influence, power & of course money. With those ingredients I stand a chance of creating a school for deprived kids.

How do you describe your music to people?

It depends who I’m talking to. Music is a science, its full of maths, symmetry, structure, its incredibly beautiful. Its nature & nature is not as crazy & abstract as many people think. If you are not aware of the fundamentals of it, then how can it be discussed? If u wanna chat like a critic then its all about your perspective, your interpretation & feeling. Many people may share that feeling but not everyone so its not really a discussion.
My music is natural, so without trying it has a structure, symmetry, flow etc. its natural because its inspired: by the millions of songs, rhythms & nature, by life, energy & love.

Out of the songs that you have written so far, which one is your favorite and why?

“On my way” seems to be a big favorite, I like it cos its catchy & has a great positive message. Its not my personal favorite. My favorites are some of my earlier tracks which wont be released till I’m in a position of having a great studio & engineer to do them justice. The sound scape of them is amazing, I would spend sometimes up to 4 months on one track. Now I spend about 4 weeks.
What challenges have you had to face in order to pursue music?
Time has been the biggest challenge. I’ve needed a lot of time to be ready for this release. Physically, spiritually, mentally as well as musically. I’ve practiced yoga for 15 years, studied martial arts, Sufiism, Carnatic music, ayervedic medicine, dance, all to get a balance in my life. I trained to become a school teacher, its all part of the BIG plan, its starting to come together. My drive has pushed me through some v tough times, fate has continually pulled me along. I’m ready now.

Why have you decided to donate your profits to charity and why have you chosen this charity?

The Parry Charitable foundation is a small independent charity that provides a loving home for handicapped children. It’s standard of care is high & there is a big waiting list. Every penny from donation goes into helping the kids NOT on administration. ALL the workers are volunteer, most charities 70% of your donation goes into paying their admin costs.
I know this charity & sometimes work there myself, for these reasons I donate to them.
In the long term I want to set up my own school for deprived children. I’m a qualified school teacher, yoga teacher & scientist as well as many other “life” skills. From a young age I would talk to God. When I was 12 years old I received instructions to help deprived children. This goal is my purpose, music is the vehicle to propel me there.

OK, finally what does “the human solution is a divine evolution” really mean?

It’s from the track ‘On my way’….
Ok this small phrase has a big meaning, & rather like a sutra in yoga text, a surah in the Holy Qur’an or verse from the Holy bible its open to interpretation. Unlike those wonderful books of wisdom the writer is fortunately for me still around. So here’s the intended meaning: evolution; this word is kicking up a big fuss lately, in America some schools are refuting the scientific evidence & claiming the “literal” bible version of evolution. Well books of ancient wisdom such as the Old Testament were written with hidden meaning & depth that belies a superficial surface. The true value of the words lie in studying those hidden meanings. The Darwin theory of evolution & the scientific evidence is compatible with religion in fact it’s magnitude & beauty reinforces a divinity & creation. However this is not the platform for this debate & as I said before, interpretation is dependant on perspective. What’s important is that evolution is not HISTORICAL its continuous. We are still evolving & compared to the history of the world we have just climbed down from the trees. If you look at how we behave we are still as ruthless as we ever were as beasts. Capitalism is the law of the jungle but applied to the City. “Only the strong survive. “ Fortunately this is not the whole story. All over the world people are silently working, giving unconditional love to those who are in need or weaker. I believe that right now, historically, we are at a cross roads of evolution. Technology is changing our lives & the global communication phenomena can & is spreading a message of love. It’s mixed up with violence & sex but Its harder to get any more violent than we are, its impossible to take off any more clothes, but the message of love is limitless & individuals & groups everywhere are able to contribute & unify in a way even the hippies never dreamed off. I read in a Sufi book once (can’t remember which one, sorry). “When we act like animals we are worse than the animals but when we act like angels we are better than the angels.”
Its just a case of time. When will we choose the path of love?

Thank you to Stu for sharing his work with us and giving us the time for this interview, and thank YOU for reading the article.

Peace and Love

If you would like to know more about this artist, then please check out his website WWW.STUSOUNDS.COM

Special thanks to the designer of the website: Pj (www.websitedesignz.net) and Phil (www.macpips.com)

Article written by: Kavita Sohanta - I DO NOT burp in between songs! :)

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Jul 26

How often do you let those around you set the tone, pace and general feel of your life? Say at work for example, is the general tone and feel of the office or your department quite somber and does that mean that you too are that or in the process of becoming so? How about, for a change, you set the tone, pace and feel of your surrounding environment.

It doesn’t take much to be the one holding the reigns! All you’ve got to do is introduce some spice. Maybe start a little friendly competition of some sort of take some “creative inducing”, as opposed to stress relieving, toys to the office. My colleagues and I recently invested in a Gyro Powerball and we’ve created a little league to see who can get the highest score! If you’ve never seen one do a search on you tube and you’ll see! ;-) I also invested in a GeoMag set to get the creative juices flowing. There is so much you can do! So quit complaining, if you don’t like it change it to the way that you would like it to be and set the tone from now on!! :-D

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May 31
This entry is part 29 of 32 in the series 100 Days of Wisdom

Life is a journey, not a destination! C’mon, who’s heard that cliche before? I think we all have but how many of us practice it? Hands up how many of us get to a destination and feel a sense of slight disappointment once you’ve reached the destination? I know I have, but all through the journey I felt an immense sense of excitement but I always forgot to capture and appreciate that amazing feeling of anticipation and a wondrous uncertainty!

Remember each and every journey, savour it completely and fully! Acknowledge it, capture it, freeze the moment in time and soak in it’s wonderful aroma!! ;-)

Love the journey!

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May 29
This entry is part 27 of 32 in the series 100 Days of Wisdom

Boredom

Boredom is just a lack of creativity. If you ever find yourself with time in your day with nothing to do, how about expressing gratitude in having those precious moments to yourself? We always complain that we don’t have enough time to ourselves. I say that’s just an excuse! The truth is when we have too much on we bitch about it and when we don’t have enough on we bitch about that too!

Boredom is one of the strongest most obvious signals that you’re sending out to the universe that you’re not grateful for the amazing life that you have and immediately that creates resistance to allowing good to come to you.

At times when you’re bored it’s worth taking a moment or two and expressing your gratitude for having these moments in your life where you can spend it however you choose! Anytime you get the sense that you’re feeling bored, change it straight away and start giving gratitude in the moment for the moment!

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May 27