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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Apr 25

Have you asked yourself why you arrived here today to read this blog post?

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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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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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Jan 18

The internal dialogue that we have with ourselves is the force that guides our focus. Sometimes it’s not the questions we ask but tone with which we ask it.

If you were to ask yourself: “What else is left for me in this world to do?” with a tone of hopelessness then it’s unlikely that you’ll receive a good answer. If you were to change the tone of that question to one of energised inquiry you will be astounded with the results!

So next time you hear yourself asking a good question but the tone isn’t all it could be, change the tone of the question and ask the question again!

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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 19

I feel as if we’re entering a new paradigm. It doesn’t matter how much politicians try and fix all our problems, it seems like those problems only want to grow with the desire to fix. With a growing culture of “please fix this for me” it seems we are losing our way somewhat. The more we ask for others to fix for us the less gets fixed because we disempower ourselves by asking, “please can you do this for me”, or “what is the government doing to tackle this?” The onus is always put anywhere else but ourselves. Offering help and asking for it are not the same thing and they do not produce the same result.

Change won’t come tomorrow, but it can come within a generation. Just the other day I heard on the news that within a generation we will face a mass obesity crisis. That means that it can also remain the same within a generation or it can improve dramatically within a generation. Self empowerment is the only solution that I currently see to this problem and many others! It’s a cycle but it must begin somewhere so I choose that it will begin with me. I’ve made many mistakes, I myself am overweight, something that could have easily been avoided if my parents and guardians understood better how to communicate and empower me. It’s the sole reason I now have chosen this path that I have. If I can empower the children I work with and show them that there is another way then maybe they’ll be much better prepared to deal with the challenges that not only face us on a community based level, but a global community level, the level that affects not just humans, but every living creature on this planet.

The paradox is here is that the more selfish I become the more selfless I become. True self consciousness is where I understand that I’m not just this bag of bones but we are all intricately connected. Every little thing I do has a global impact. If I focus on myself to become a stronger, more focused, caring, loving, spiritual individual then in turn it puts me in a better position to help others and that in turn will create a massive domino affect that will impact 100’s if not 1000’s of people. In turn those people will then affect 100’s or thousands of people too and so begins the process of a change within a generation. If my desire is to better myself then maybe, just maybe it will rub off onto others!

I see so many people out there who have the tools but don’t know how to use them. Some people though, genuinely don’t have the tools. The source of change is firstly insight and then choice. Many people like myself who follow a similar path first came to it through insight, the old patterns and old ways were interrupted for whatever reason, it was like an alarm clock woke us up and after the insight we made a consciouse choice to first begin the change in ourselves then show others that there is another way. I’ll make it clear, I don’t think we should all be thinking the same or doing the same things but deep down, I know we all want change in one form or another, and change is the source of the new destination we’re sailing for!

I went to a talk not so long ago and one of the speakers, Roger Hamilton said that if we take matters into our own hands, begin the change process now, then eventually there will be little left for the government to do!

And so begins my 100 days of Vision series… ;)

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Jul 2

If you’re ever in a position where you’re having difficulty focusing yourself or you’re lacking clarity, ask yourself this question: - Am I in the present moment?

Fogginess comes from being drowning in thoughts about the past or future, returning to this moment is the simplest way of regaining your focus and clarity.

Anyone who’s seen the movie Peaceful Warrior will remember the three questions that Soc asks Dan at the end:

Where are you Dan? Here.
What time is it? Now
What are you? This moment

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May 5
This entry is part 3 of 32 in the series 100 Days of Wisdom

No day should be ordinary…just remember that you can make any day extraordinary just by doing a few simple things. If you feel the strain of repetition, break that cycle and throw something into new into the mix! What can you do that you’ve never done before or haven’t done in a long time? :)

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Apr 11

What is it that is thinking these thoughts?

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Feb 9

We live in a world where we’re surrounded by masses of technology, so much is expected of us, we have more responsibility than ever before, our time is precious and not only is more expected of us, we’re expecting more of ourselves. With all of this in mind, it’s no surprise that illness, both physical and mental, is prolific throughout society!

There is so much for us to juggle that often we just become bogged down and find that joy eludes us because all we can do is think about the next thing that we have to doing or the next event we have to be at. I’ve noticed though that many people use the term: “I’m busy” not because they have too much on their plate, but because the things that they do choose to undertake are badly managed and that is what causes the “BB syndrome” as I call it. (BB= Busy Bee) I’m completely guilty of it too! It almost became an excuse so that I could get out of doing things or seeing people just because I wanted a bit of time to myself.

When we get to that stage where we begin feeling overwhelmed, we try and find solutions, but because we’re used to living in a complex world with complex systems, we think that the solution must also be complex. And then what happens? Because the solution you’ve formulated is so complex, you end up giving up and going back to suffering from the BB syndrome. It’s easier that finding great management strategies, but if no action is taken, all your time and energy is gobbled up by churning over all the things that you have to attend to, rather than taking action.

I was in a situation quite recently where I wasn’t enjoying my job. It was really frustrating me as I love working in I.T. in general, but after I got promoted just over a year ago, things went downhill and I really started to feel quite depressed when I was at work. Ironically, I was finding that everyone else around me was busy and I had nothing to do which really frustrated me! Even though it gave me time to blog and do various other things it was still a bit soul destroying being in place where I earn my livelihood and finding no fulfillment in what I was doing.

I’d had enough! I was so frustrated and I just could handle it anymore. I was on the verge of quitting but first I asked myself, what can I do to turn this around? I tried a few things like getting more involved with some of the other teams, but that didn’t help. I tried making work for myself but that didn’t help. I tried all sorts of things but nothing was getting results. But then I came up with a relatively simple plan, I had no idea if it was going to work or not, but it was so simple that I new that trying it would be easy and hassle free. Deep down I knew I’d found the answer to turn my situation around, but I put that feeling aside and just tried it out.

I formulated a simple strategy for gaining greater fulfillment at work. It wasn’t a supremely complex 50 point plan or didn’t involve taking drastic or massive action, all it took was a simple goal, a very simple strategy that turned things around.

My strategy was simply this:

TO LEARN ONE NEW THING EVERY DAY! 8O Would I be able to manage it? :P

To clarify; it didn’t have to be anything technical, I didn’t have to learn the complete working of a particular piece of hardware, nope, nothing like that, I just wanted to learn the simple stuff every day. Recently we installed a brand new VOIP (Voice over I.P.) system and that was a huge project, of which, I only had a small part. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get my hands dirty in all area’s of the project, so I decided that whatever I do get involved in, I will make sure that I learn something new from it everyday.

One day, I had a real headache of a problem, A Cisco network switch kept crashing when we switched it on. At first, I thought it was faulty cable, so I changed all the cabling. That didn’t work! Then I thought it might be a faulty GBIC card (A fibre optic component of the network switch). I changed it, but that didn’t work. Then I thought that port itself was faulty so I plugged the GBIC into a different port, that also didn’t work! Then I thought the fibre uplink going in the port of the PASSPORT (A giant core network switch) was faulty so I plugged it into a different port, that still didn’t work!! I then thought: “There’s only one thing left that it can be!” That was that the Cisco switch itself must be faulty. I swapped that too and guess what? It still kept crashing!!! This whole process of elimination took me two days in total, by which time 90% of my hair had turned Grey, :P but I was not licked yet! I thought: “Let me plug each network cable into the switch one by one and see what happens?” I did that and found that one particular cable caused the switch to crash! BINGO! At least now I knew that it was something plugged into the switch that was causing the problem! (Something that I thought initially but dismissed!) It turned out that someone had double plugged one of the VOIP phone into the wall ports and that was causing a loop which shutting down the port on the PASSPORT! (I promise no more techical jargon from this point onwards! :lol:)

So, I learned something new, actually I learned two things: 1) To trust my gut, and 2) That if that happens to a network switch in the future to try that avenue first!

Even though it was a stressful couple of days, that simple strategy made me feel more relaxed less stressed and also gave me greater confidence for the future. It took my focus away from the stress of the problem and put it onto what was good about the problem.

So in a nutshell, my simple strategy became applied in two ways. At the beginning of my working day I ask myself: What new thing can I learn today? At the end of the day I ask myself: What did I learn today? This extremely simple strategy turned around my entire feeling with regards to my job to the point where I now actually look forward to getting to work everyday. I’m now enjoying my job much more, I feel much lighter at work and even though it’s much busier, I’m not feeling the stress of it.

There we have it, the greatest transformation can come from the most simple strategies. It doesn’t take a major change or a huge 50 point plan or jumping off a cliff to find a solution. All it takes is one SOS and you’ll find the world around you transform in your favour. So let me ask you, what area of your life are you struggling with and what is the most SOS that you can think of to turn your situation around?

Happy hunting! :)

The Secret DVD

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Jan 19

Someone put up a thread on Steve Pavlina’s forums regarding feeling tired, lazy and stressed all the time, it intrigued me and as I was in a similar boat a while back and so I thought I give my tips on how to get over that phase…Here are the tips I gave. (Go and read the thread first!) ;)

Some tips for you for someone who was in exactly the same boat recently.

1) If you can’t be bothered to read, just like me somtimes, get some audio books, put them on at night before you go to sleep. I don’t always feel the urge to read and so audio books on PD are a perfect solution. I listen to Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Steve and Erin, Neale Donald Walsch, Abraham Hicks, MP3 books on NLP etc…I find that having them on gets me to sleep quickly but fills my mind with some of the good stuff. :)

2) Eliminate coffee! The choice is yours, if you don’t want to, don’t have any after midday. I gave up coffee at the beginning of October and my quality sleep went, from a scale of 1 - 10 where 1 is bad, from about a 2, to probably at least an 8 or a 9.

3) At the moment your head hits the pillow, Set your intentional alarm clock. Say this intention out loud in your head - “I am going to sleep deep, and arise energised!” Say it a few times and make sure you say it with energy, passion, and feeling it!! I have been using that for the last month, didn’t have impact for the first few weeks but since the beginning of this week I’ve been waking up at 5.30am on the dot with little effort.

If you’re always tired you’re sleep isn’t deep enough and that usually comes down to high levels of caffeine in your system and probably stress.

4) Wake up to ascending music. Something uplifting, something that gives your spine a tingle!

5) If you have trouble setting your body clock to sleep early, stay awake an entire night, and go to bed early the next and arise early. That method has always done wonders for sorting out my sleeping pattern.

6) STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP. If you do that, all you’re doing is giving yourself incantations of failure. Even when you’ve failed, know that you’ve sown a seed of success and only focus on the true end result that you desire with Joy, excitement and fire!

I don’t know if this is any help to you but all of these things have truly benefited me immensely!

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Jan 15

I gave up a dream once and it was the biggest regret of my life and to this day, is still one of the few things I regret about my life. When I was at school, I absolutely loved drama and performing arts. Acting, singing and dancing around were my passion. I was pretty useless at everything academic and most other things but performing arts I adored!

When I was in Junior school, we had poetry reading competition. We had to a read a poem by Spike Milligan. The competition was that whoever read out the poem the best would read it out in front of the whole school and the parents and all the teachers too. It was a wonderful poem, I don’t remember it that well and but it was something to do with either catching a really big fish or being caterpillar that was getting bigger and bigger from eating so much! Anyway, we had a mini competition first, in front of just our class. We all had the opportunity to read. I read mine out in such a funny way with all the actions and emotions coupled with the poem that my teacher said I was the winner outright and I got to read it in front of the whole school!

Another time at Junior school, we were going to put on a play called Pedro’s Revenge. I auditioned for the Role of Rocadura, a gangsta who controlled the small town in Mexico. None of the other kids could do a rough Mexican accent like I could so I got given the part immediately! I remember that during the play I got to wear a Trilby hat and my older brothers pin stripe suit with gangster style shoes! I loved playing that role and to this day I still have some pictures of me in that play. I remember that there were also reporters there from the local papers and they wrote an article about the play and put us in the paper! :)

I did a few more plays at Junior school and even at secondary school too. When I got to college, as I had pretty much dropped out of high school an not completed many of my exams, I decided to retake drama at college too. While there I also did some productions as part of the drama club whilst retaking my drama exam.

The reason that I became such a high school dropout was because I was taught that the world was going to end very shortly, and I believed it! :lol: I was also taught that any big decision I was to undertake in my life should go through our spiritual elders and so I approached one the spiritual elders, I asked her, I want to become an actor and I want to do drama. She said to me: “No, that world is full of vice, go and do an office job.” Which is pretty much what I did. I believed her and I followed her advice, left my performing arts path and went to get a basic admin job.

Now as much as I’m sure she meant well, I wish that at that point in my life I had the courage to follow my own path. I know that that past can never be changed but what I do know for sure is that being on stage, acting, dancing is something very much that I’m yearning for. Just because I gave up on my dreams then it doesn’t mean that I cannot pursue them now!

It’s never too late to follow your dreams. If they truly mean that much to you, you will find a way! It doesn’t matter if you have 4 children, a mortgage, a high paid job that and is your only source of income, other commitments, whatever you think it is that is truly holding you back, is only your own lazy mind conjuring up reasons why those things cannot be done. There is ALWAYS a way. I can’t possibly go over all the ways in which you can get around all the challenges that you might be facing at this particular moment in your life. What I can do is tell you firstly that if you do have a dream and that you have been putting it off for whatever reasons, ask yourself firstly, is it truly your dream if so many excuses have been getting in the way? Is it something you truly want or is it just something you have nice thoughts about and “it would be nice if I could do it” etc. If that’s your only feeling towards it then maybe it’s not your dream and maybe you need to find a new dream.

I for one have many dreams and aspirations, not just the one. And in the course of discovering my dreams I have found some of the ones which were just “nice ideas associated with nice feelings” and separated them from the ones which have an extremely strong pull because I feel deep down within my soul that, that is what I want to do.

The way to separate those things that are “that would be nice” kind of things, from “I must achieve this no matter what” is a two step process which is as follows…

1) Get some quiet time and focus on you. When I say that what I mean is our focus is more often then not on thoughts of the things we have to do during the day, the people we have to email, the household chores that need to be done etc. Step away from those thoughts and bring them back to you. Remember that those things are not you, they are the things you’ve chosen, now who is the real you? What is your spirit, your core, your deepest feeling of being that you can come to? (This in itself, is a powerful regular practice you can adopt for many purposes and not just this.)

2) Once you have gotten to a position of getting closer to your core, ask yourself some rapid fire questions without thinking about the answer. Get a pen and paper handy and write the first thing that you feel like writing without thoughts getting in the way. As for the rapid fire questions, you can ask yourself some random questions to begin with e.g. what is my favorite colour? Do about 5 random questions and then throw in a more serious question related to your life into the mix. For greater effectiveness, do this process with a friend or someone you have a lot of trust in and have a good rapport with. A good way to tell if you’re answering from your core is to get the person who is asking you the questions to keep an eye on your eyes. If your eyes move before you’ve answered, you’ve thought about the answer. Look the person in the eye and answer as rapidly as you can without giving the question any conscious thought.

Don’t be afraid if your dreams change. It just means you’ve grown, expanded yourself and you want to explore something different. Whatever happens though, don’t abandon your dreams for one of the silly reasons that tend to permeate our lives these days, find some courage and get your quizzed with some rapid fire questions to find what out what experience your deep subconscious is yearning for.

Dream big :D

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Dec 14

If you have trouble waking up in the mornings, put a big sign up next to you bed with this question on it…

WOULD I PREFER TO JUST SLEEP AND DREAM, OR WOULD I RATHER CHOOSE TO GET UP AND LIVE THOSE DREAMS?

The Secret DVD

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Nov 21

Here are 5 powerful questions to wake up to, to shift your focus onto those things that make you feel more empowered and energised for the rest of the day. :)

1) What newness can I create within my day today? - Having some sort of newness and variety in your day is crucial for your happiness levels. The more new you do, try, experiment with, strangers you say hello to, etc etc, the more you feel re-vitalised. If you don’t have some form of newness in your day then you will find what will happen is that many of your days will feel the same. You will find yourself asking people what day it is because all your days are just a countdown to your death. You always naturally remember days that have variety and it is within that process of remembering that your body will release those chemicals which give you that good feeling all over. Not only is that great for your soul but it is fantastic for your physical well being too.

2) How can I make today better than yesterday? - Whether yesterday was a good day or a bad day, this question presupposes that today will be better. Naturally that assumption will be good for you on an unconscious level. You could even re-phrase this one to something like: “How can I improve on yesterday?” The end result with be the same. Truly think about this one and explore the numerous ways that you could better your daily experience, each day. If you exchanged some not so nice words between a friend or colleague perhaps, how can you remedy the relationship and make sure that that is the direction that it goes in from now on? Whatever score you gave yesterday, make it a higher one today. If you reach the peak of your scale upon which you measure your day…increase the scale. ;)

3) What new perceptions of the world can I see today? - It was Proust that said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new places, but having new eyes”. If you can change the way you look at things, then you have the key for creating your life exactly as you choose it to be. The quality of your life will be based on the quality of your perceptual experiences. If you see all things as bad, then that will be the quality of your experience. If you see the wonder and challenge within all things then that will be the quality of your experience. Ultimately, if you can see new places and have new eyes…you’re onto a real winner! :lol:

4) What must I achieve by the end of the day? - Have a simple goal for each day. These will be highly dependent on what you do or what you aspire to be but if you can create a simple goal for yourself each day, and achieve it, you will be creating habitual success for your life. Sure, there will be times when you won’t achieve your goals but having a small manageable one each day will give you the achievers and “go getters” mind set. If you’re in the process of writing a book, set yourself a target of how much you would like to get done. If you’re planning to go to the gym, in the morning decide what distance you will achieve when you go. Make it a record distance for you. If you have a backlog of work decide up front how much of that backlog you will clear with no exception. If you want a habit, this is a good one to have! ;)

5) What can I do for others today? - This one almost goes without saying. Every time you assist someone you are creating a ripple that bounces back to you to participate in your success. Even though you may be experiencing some hardship, even though you may be having a bad day, the quickest way to surpass your challenges is by assisting others. That doesn’t mean to say you should negate your challenges and hope they go away. No, by giving to others you are giving yourself power. That power can then be used in any way you wish and will especially come in handy when it comes to solving your life enigmas. The more you help others, without expecting anything in return, it will come back to you in ways you will probably never be able to fathom. How can you get out of the “expectation” mindset? Quite simply, as soon as you’ve assisted someone, move straight onto the next person you can assist. When you participate in their success, the Universe will participate in yours.

And there we have it; the 5 morning questions to have each day to shift your focus into the direction of constructive creation. :D

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Sep 19

Greener GrassI have many conversations with individuals on a daily basis and one of the common themes I encounter is the thought that, “if I was in a different place, I wouldn’t have any of these problems.” You may not have those exact same problems but you will continue to face challenges whatever your situation may be. Whether you see it now or not, challenges in life are the things that make us grow. Challenges will differ from pasture to pasture but will be there none the less.

The grass ALWAYS appears greener!

As much as your situation may seem tough and difficult, looking at the lives and situations of others will always be the quickest way of getting a trip the doc’s office and being prescribed some Prozac! As much as we may see the situation of another as cosy and something that we may desire, the reality is always different. I remember on countless occasions seeing someone and really desiring everything that the person had. But then I got to know them well and I realised that all was not as cosy as it seemed!

EVERYONE faces challenges. (Notice I call them challenges and not problems.) The word “problem” always invokes a feeling of depression, a feeling of loneliness, a feeling of anxiety. The word “challenge” invokes a very different feeling. It invokes a feeling of intense drive, a feeling of excitement, a feeling that a personal triumph is to come at the end of the challenge. Three different people have recently said almost the exact same thing to me, it was along the lines of, “My life seems to be standing still, everyone else around me is moving forward; they’re achieving so much and doing something exciting. I have nothing going for me.” etc etc.

First and foremost, you are amazing! Whatever may be going on in your life right now, as difficult as it may seem, as depressed as you maybe as tough things appear to be, let me tell you that appearances are very deceiving. The reason that appearances are deceptive is because appearances are based on perception and perceptions can be altered very easily. The first perception to change is problems into challenges. If you can find some way to change your perception of you current situation you will have found the secret to solving it. A solid question is the best way to go. Find a way of approaching the problem from a different angel, sorry, that was supposed to be angle, and the way is through the questions you ask yourself. If you ask yourself these questions, the inevitable result will be depression. Questions like:

1) Why is this happening to me?
2) Why do I always feel like this?
3) Why am I the only one that seems to feel like this?

Can you see the pattern there and what the resulting feelings and attitudes will be?

Focus your questions from a different angel, sorry, angle! :p

1) What can I do to turn this around?
2) How can I help others in the same situation?
3) How can I turn this situation into my strength?

Notice the pattern of feeling that these questions aim to create?

I know how tough it is, I too am facing many similar challenges on a daily basis, the only difference being the way I perceive the challenges ahead of me. Just today, I went to the hospital, I’m not sure what it is, whether it’s the way the doctors are trained, but every time I go to the hospital, I end up coming out depressed and today was no exception. The doc almost brought me to tears with the news he gave me and yet as soon as I left the hospital and got back to the car, I felt great! It’s only because the focus on the physical problem that I fell into that state of depression, as soon as I changed my focus I felt my usual ecstatic, happy self! That’s the difference; I have now created the habit of changing my focus to the angle that I choose. It is that which is the secret of being happier, healthier and being able to direct my life the way that I choose.

Change does not occur overnight but there must be conscious change. The way to that is to set reminders for yourself. Just as you set an alarm clock to wake up, set reminders around the house for the path you wish to take. Leave post it notes on your bathroom mirror, next to your bed, in your diary, or wherever else you think they would benefit you. Surround yourself with people that have similar goals to you. Immerse yourself in books that encourage positive change. There are so many resources on the internet that are free. Get some audio books that you can listen to in the background while doing your day to day activities. Stick them on your MP3 players and listen to them throughout the day!

Most importantly, stick with me kids and you’ll go far! :D :cool:

I actually wrote this post with 3 very special people in mind, I won’t use your real names, but Aloo, Fudge and Nimbu (my endearing nicknames for these wonderful friends of mine). Remember that I love you always. You are very special to me! I know things are not easy but I don’t believe in coincidence, I know that we’ve chosen to meet to enrich each other, to assist one another on this exciting journey called life. Mwah xxxxxxxxxxxxx :)

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Sep 11

Helping others to reach higher!When I was a young boy, I was a right lil’ terror!! I used to steal things off people, I used to hate having my picture taken so I used to cry and struggle and do anything to get out of having my it done. (oddly enough I now do anything to get in front of the camera!) :p Because I used to get bullied quite a lot I remember also trying to become a bully myself. It never worked of course and I think I got my ass kicked on several occasions.

The only time I remember being agressive in anyway though was when I group of boys tried to attack my girlfriend of that time. Even though I was faced with 6 huge year 11 boys who wanted to beat the crap out of me, the thought of them hurting my girlfriend gave me enough strength and conviction to stand up to them. I think because of the conviction that I felt, they all felt a little intimated and ultimately made the smart decision to leave us alone *flexes muscles* :D

I didn’t realise it at the time but after a while It dawned on me I had a strong desire to help other people and protect those who were, at the time, having difficulty protecting themselves. I didn’t want to take a persons power away from them, I wanted to empower them to help themselves. In some ways, this is a contradiction. How can you empower someone without, in some way, take away their own abilitiy to help themselves?

I realised that just giving advice to people was not enough, in fact, for me, giving advice was the quickest way of disempowering someone. Although I would always be there to listen, I didn’t want to just listen and not in someway be an inspiration for them. I also didn’t want to become the solution to the problem as that was a sure fire way being the antithesis to the solution.

It was on that note that I decided to come up with my top 5 tips for empowering people to act on their own to overcome whatever it is they want to overcome, to do whatever it is they want to do, to achieve whatever it is they want to achieve, to become whatever it is they want to become!

1) Be a good listener - This is probably one of the most obvious ones and yet one of the least used. Can you sit there and listen to someone while they go on and on about their problems? Despite the fact that I believe listening achieves only a small amount on it’s own. People have a need to feel as if they’re being heard. So give people the opportunity to speak their heart out first and then once they have gotton off their chest what it is they that they feel they need to, you can then decide, based on their situation, which of the following steps is best to take.

2) Share your stories - Share your stories of both success and failure! Failure in many ways is more important than the success. Make sure you reveal to them what it was that you learned from the failure. Triumph over adversity is always inspiring especially when that story invokes in people strong emotions because they can relate to that story! Be a good story teller! I’ve noticed that some people have an amazing gift of being able to relate their stories with good humour and at the same time uplift the audience. It’s something that I was never very good at but it’s something that I’m practising now. I look back on my life and find those stories of success and failure that gave rise to change within me.

3) Ask them simple and empowering questions - As a Life Coach, I look to tools such as NLP to give me new ideas on ways to approach a particular problem that someone is having. NLP is great way of getting people to change their perception of the problem. If someone comes to me and says to me, “I hate my job and I want a new job!” I would then ask them, “What actions do you need to undertake now to land yourself the job you desire?” Or “What is your ideal job and what do you need to do to get the job of your dreams?” I may then follow up with something like, “What would happen if you decided not to take action?” And so on. I drill into them to find out what that person is interested in, what gets them motivated, what they want out of life etc until we got them to a stage where they felt compelled to act of their own accord.

4) Get them off their butts and give them new eyes! - If you do some kind of volunteer work, invite them along! This serves one purpose and one purpose only, it’s helps put their problems into perspective! Especially if you’re working with disabled chidren, the elderly, or any group of people that needs extra care and attention, it will offer them a new fresh dimension of life that they previously may never have thought of. There are so many charities, organisations, groups etc that need assistance and support so even if you do not do any, encourage them to find something in their local community!

5) Help yourself - I left this one ’till last but in reality it is one of the most important aspects of helping other people. If you truly desire to help others, then first and foremost, help yourself! If you struggle to wake up every morning and you get depressed every other day then helping others is the last thing you probably want to do. You may end up passing on your depression and problems to the person you’re trying to help and then you’ll both end up in therapy for the better part of a month! :p If you, yourself, are not in a good, stable, and positive emotional state, then that’s the first thing you need to work on. Read powerful books. listen to uplifting music, surround yourself with positive and upbeat people. Don’t mask the problems, get to the root and close the chapter on them once and for all!

There is nothing better in this world then having a pure desire of helping others become more than any limitations that may have been placed on them or they may have placed on themselves. Remember that at every step, every individual has a choice as to which direction they decide to take their lives in so empower people and give them a glimpse into what benefits the power of choice will hold for them.

May the P.O.C. be with you! :D

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Jun 23

We all know how powerful questions can be coupled with a shift in perception. With this in mind I thought I would start a Power Q’s series to shift perceptions and perspectives and to aid in thinking outside the box. These Posts will be quite short and so here is my first one…

Ask yourself this:

Am I waiting for something to happen or am I making something happen?

:)

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