May 7
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Weight loss and Fitness

Do you want to make changes to the way you look? Are you fed up with being overweight and deep down inside worried about people really think about you? (Even though they may not be thinking anything but in your mind they are.) Are you fed up with getting to the top of the stairs and being exhausted? Are you tired of not feeling attractive to the opposite sex?

A while back I mentioned that I wanted to started posting a series based on weight loss, fitness training, exercise for overweight people who weren’t sure how to being the process of changing their physical state and for anyone else who wanted to begin a new chapter with their physical condition.

When I began my journey just over three years ago I was in terrible shape, and that is putting it mildly, however I know that there are people in much worse shape than I was. Starting a new regime is easy and sticking to it is only the beginning of the challenge. Initially the weight drop will be fast and easy but then that will slow and plateau. Then there will be motivation issues and other temptations to contend with.

Everyone once in a while feels the surge of energy to act and make changes but that doesn’t last long if preparations aren’t made to maintain the enthusiasm for undertaking a new personal project. There are ways to combat this and I’ll share more of those a little later on. Then there things that pop up out of the blue that will also hinder your progress such as injuries and they can at times be soul destroying as you’re making such good progress it is very often at those times that injuries occur, almost as a test to your resolve.

There are many methods of weight loss and I have friends who tried varied weight loss systems that involve eating bars and shakes for breakfast lunch and dinner. Some have had success and some have had temporary success and some have had no success because sticking to those programs involves enormous amounts of will power and resistance.

I’m going to be offering you my suggestions and principles that should hopefully make the slimming down fun, easy, and gradual. If you expect massive losses consistently you’re kidding yourself. This process can take months and sometimes even years however time will become irrelevant because you’ll be enjoying what you’re doing so it will become part of your overall lifestyle rather than just something you do for a few months and then eventually give up.

The keys here are variety, enjoyment sustainability and pleasure. If you incorporate these four keys slimming down does become a breeze; something that you don’t have to even think about and something that doesn’t make you feel guilty just because you happen to miss a day!

To begin with:

1) Most people would say start by creating a goal. I say forget that for now and just make a start. The more specific goal setting can come later but for now just make your goal to start exercising whilst having some fun!

2) Find something energetic that you ENJOY doing! It can be a sport, going to the gym, walking, swimming, running etc pretty much anything you like that you like! ;-) Start doing it on a regular basis!

3) However, here is something that is extremely important and it’s a mistake most people make when undertaking a new program like this. Many people exercise until they get tired and end up having that achy feeling for the next few days. When that happens they feel reluctant to continue exercising because they’ve anchored that feeling into their body. It doesn’t last but if that happens for the first few sessions it’s what beginners remember the most and it’s that feeling which then puts them off maintaining that program.

Here’s the key: Exercise to the point where you are enjoying the exercise and stop well before the point of feeling tired! Do this for the first few months! Yes, you heard me right, the first few months especially if right now you’re classed as being ‘overweight’. This has a few objectives: i) It Anchors the feeling of enjoying exercise. ii) It gives your body the time to get used to the exercise especially for your joints. iii) You won’t be put off the exercise because you won’t have the exhausted feeling that can come from vigorous exercise.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to find something you enjoy doing. Enjoyment is the best motivation tool there is. It doesn’t matter what else you try and use as leverage on yourself; whether that be money, becoming more desirable to the opposite sex, or just to look good, nothing will beat sheer enjoyment. Let me explain what I’m talking about. When it comes to exercise badminton is my passion. If my body could allow me to play more then I would probably play 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If I had the choice between a hot date and badminton, badminton would win hands down every time! :lol:

That brings me onto my final point. Plenty of people come up to me and tell me: “Amit, I need to lose weight for the summer so I’m going to join the gym!” At this point, I debate about whether to roll around on the floor laughing for the next 15 minutes or whether to explain to them direct. The former never goes down that well so let me go ahead and explain the latter.

As I mentioned earlier, the greatest motivational force is pure enjoyment. When you enjoy something you never have to even think about getting up to do it, you just, do it! Thinking that the fact that £50 is coming out of your bank account is going to be enough of a motivator to get you to go to the gym then you’re deluding yourself. Here’s the rub: Get into the habit of exercising now without a gym. If you can do that for 3 months, then fine, go ahead and join the gym and go use the variety of equipment and classes. Until that point though firmly establish your good habits first and then decide on longer term commitments later. If you absolutely feel the need to join the gym then ask them gym if they do a trial membership for a month or so before they tie you into long contracts which you later cannot get out of.

These are the first few steps to take. Make a start now and do what I said and you’ll find that you enjoy the process of exercising and losing weight rather than feeling like it is a chore of necessity.

Part two coming soon! ;-)

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Apr 28

What I think may work as a strategy for anything and what does actually work is two very different things. So even if you think something might not work it may be worth giving it a try. Don’t be afraid to try different different approaches and strategies because If you never try you will never know!

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Apr 10
    Y.E.P. (Youth Empowerment Project)

I’ve been working on an idea and a concept and it’s manifesting in many forms in the way of books, dvd’s, radio projects and seminars for children and young adults. I’ll be talking more about this in the upcoming months but for now I just wanted to share a simple concept with you.

Firstly, I often hear it talked about and this is whether the parents or the educators are to blame for the behaviour of children? My view is simply this: It doesn’t matter! Asking that question solves or achieves nothing! A simpler approach and a more productive one is for all of us to take responsibility to some degree. When we do and we take genuine interest in the the up-bringing of youth, you’d be amazed at the difference it makes! Shoving the blame to and fro takes our time and attention away from dealing with the challenge.

Secondly there is on a very simple explanation of why young adults get involved in crime, vandalism, alcohol, drugs, bullying etc etc. It’s quite simply because they it’s the only way they know how to feel powerful or, putting it another way, empowered! That’s the only reason ever! It gives them a sense of personal power and that is because quite simply they haven’t been shown any other way to do so! Once you show them how to feel empowered in a different way suddenly they won’t feel the need to do those other things to feel powerful, they’ll automatically lose interest and start taking an interest in other good things that make them feel empowered.

A very simple concept with a very powerful message and impact.

I’ve be talking about this more over the coming months.

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Apr 8

Why wait until new years, start planning your new years resolutions now! :lol: No, no, seriously I’m not joking! Why wait till new year? Start now thinking about what you want to achieve next year…maybe even as far as 5 years into the future! Setting goals and aspirations never hurts so anytime you’ve got a few minutes free, grab some paper and start scribbling!

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Apr 7

It’s a great feeling to have my blog back up and running again! It was a bit scary there at one point as I thought I’d lost everything and I also noticed that my site was no longer being indexed by Google. In fact it was because of that I noticed that something was wrong.

I first noticed that the number of hits on my site had gone down considerably. So I decided to search for my site on Google and noticed I could not see it. I asked a few friends what my be wrong with my site and why that might happen? No one seemed too sure but they had some ideas and one of my friends spotted that I had and immense amount of spam code embedded within my blog. It was hardly surprising considering that I was still running version 1.5 of wordpress. I did attempt to upgrade my blog a few months ago and was unsuccessful. When I asked for help through wordpress no one responded to my messages on the forum so I decided to leave it again until I had more time.

This though though the situation was incredibly desperate. So I backed up everything and deleted my blog directory on my server and decided to start from scratch. This time I enlisted the help of a friend who was a lot more web savvy than I and he did the upgrade for me but it still didn’t work. Finally, thanks to his suggestion I got a setting rectified by my web host. That was supposed to fix it but for some reason it still wasn’t working! After nearly working on my site for 24 hours straight I finally managed to fix it and get it all running. I looked around for a nice theme and found the one you see before you now. I will be making minor changes at some point but for now this is a nice clean design with some good features.

My site is still not showing up on Google search however I think that for some reason Google had a cached version of a robots.txt file that was set to disallow crawling. I manually changed that and now I believe that will get my site indexed once again…fingers crossed!

I learned a very important lesson that if I’m going to continue to maintain my own blog then to keep the software up to date and change the passwords regularly. If, like me, you’re not so web savvy, then a good plugin to get is the Wordpress Automatic Update Plugin which pretty much does the upgrades to wordpress for you with the simple click of a button. My gratitude goes out to the creator of that plugin as I know it’s going to make the maintenance of this blog that much easier!

This experience has been a great lesson in personal development and the power of choice because, ultimately, I know that these problems occurred through the choices I made. It wasn’t a bad or a good thing specifically but I learned valuable lessons and web skills through it so I see the good that’s come out of this whilst also knowing that it wasn’t the best approach. However it’s done now so I’ll remember the lessons and try my best to implement them into the future.

Now comes the easy bit of writing blog posts! :lol:

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Mar 14

It was great to see that John Assaraf was interviewed in yesterday’s Metro newspaper. I remember not long ago it was as if ‘The Secret’ was still a secret but of course now everyone knows about it!

I have observed though that many people will read or watch ‘The Secret’ then try to apply it’s teachings and become a master at the first attempt! Then after experiencing initial failure they will immediately brush it aside as some sort of ’self help’ fad.

Would you try the pole vault for the first time and expect to be able to break the world record? I’ve been playing badminton for over 8 years and I still consider myself a beginner in the grand scheme of things! I cannot become a champion within just a few short weeks or months; it takes time! I recently decided to take up salsa dancing; once again, I don’t expect to be a contestant on strictly come dancing any time soon! (Well not right this minute anyway!) :lol: It will take years of training to get to that level. Would you expect to enter the kitchen and be able to prepare gourmet meals like Gordon Ramsey without ever putting a pot on the cooker? I think not!

The teachings of ‘The Secret’ are no exception…if you want to be able to apply them in your life and expect them to work you’re going to have to work at it, just like anything else you decide to undertake!

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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 14

Once again, last year, I decided to enter for the London Marathon through the ballot system but I found out in December that I didn’t get a place. I wanted to make sure I didn’t loose the momentum of challenging myself every year whilst making each challenge more difficult so, just last week, I decided to enter the Adidas half Marathon at Silverstone on the 9th of March.

The half Marathon equates to 21km or 13miles approximately. That’s more than twice the distance I’ve ever run before! Last year I did the BUPA 10K run and I managed to finish that in 79 minutes but since then I had not kept up the running.

Yesterday I wanted to make sure that I began my program of running in preparation for the half Marathon so I decided to stretch myself early on and to see if I could run 5K even though I hadn’t done any running since last July. I’m quite happy to say that I managed to complete it very comfortably in 40 minutes and I felt like I could’ve easily have gone on to do 7 - 8K.

Now for those of you who are new to my blog you might think that’s nothing special. It’s true, it’s probably not but just so you’re aware, I’m 19 stone in weight or nearly 270lbs. 3 years ago I used to be 22stone and I could barely walk up one flight of stairs without being in incredible pain and out of breath! I even had trouble walking down stairs because my knees would hurt too much! :lol:

After the run I had tons of energy and even though I was a bit achy, I wasn’t feeling tired; if anything I was more energised! I was a little surprised that I managed the 5K so easily and I wondered how I’d managed to maintain my fitness even though I hadn’t done any running. I do play badminton regularly (at least 3 times a week) but that’s not really a sport that increases stamina. Badminton is a great fat burner and helps you to accelerate your reaction times, especially if you play doubles, but other than that it doesn’t do much in terms of fitness.

I realised that one small lifestyle change I had made recently has been making a huge difference to my fitness overall. It’s something very small and very easy and something that anybody can do; it just requires a firm commitment to yourself. Last August I made a solid choice that I would stop using the lifts at work and that I would only use the stairs; unless I was carrying heavy equipment. Since then I can say that I’ve only used the lift 3 times, for transporting heavy equipment only, other than that, it’s been the stairs all the way. I only work on the second floor of my building but I usually enter from a back door which is in the basement to in reality I’m climbing 3 floors and I do that usually 3 - 4 times a day.

This little change has made all the difference in assisting me in maintaining my levels of fitness, and in addition to that, what it has done is also strengthen my knees and developed and conditioned all the muscles in my legs.

The simple lesson is this: For you to make large inroads into whatever changes you wish to make to your life all you need employ is a very simple strategy; one that is easy to maintain. As with my example, I didn’t need to go join an expensive gym or totally overhaul my diet, all I needed to do was to commit to using the stairs.

I’ll be updating you on my progress and following up this article with some motivational and training tips for people who are overweight and want to take up a new challenge for 2008.

Related Articles:

SOS (Simple Obvious Strategies)

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Jan 3

It’s a new year and for many a new hope. Reliance on the feelings of new year are very short lived and so what you must do is change the way you approach your idea of the renewal of your life. My bet is that there are already people out there who’ve either dismissed their resolutions completely or have, in their mind, failed and are already thinking about retaking up that resolution next year. Not a wise move!

Where people often fail is focussing too heavily on the destination rather than engrossing themselves into the journey. The destination is never what it seems, the journey is far more real. Focus your attention on the journey, enjoy the moment, appreciate those feelings of excitement and anticipation. When you do this you’ll notice something very significant happen, your perception of time will slow!

Time appears to travel faster as you get older. After all, how often have you heard someone say “hasn’t the year gone so fast!” Or “where did the year go?” No, it’s gone at exactly the same speed but your perception has shifted. Your paradigm has changed and so ultimately has your perception of time has skewed. The only way to change you perception is to shift your patterns of repetitive thinking and learning that you, no matter your age or where you are in life, whatever you truly want to do, is possible for you!

I totally confess I haven’t even finished writing and deciding what my resolutions are for 2008 but they are a work in progress. I aim to finish them by Sunday and discuss them with my Life Coach so that together we can work on them, plan and prioritise. I can quite happily say that with the exception of one or two small things I not only achieved but surpassed many of my goals in 2007 and some of my dreams came true e.g. becoming a radio presenter!

Take the time now, sit with a friend and ask them to question you on what you would truly like to accomplish or achieve over the next 6 months to a year? It’s a simple process and maybe you can even do the same for your friend. Help them also get closer to their goals and dreams! :-)

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Dec 28

A huge festive greeting to you all! I hope you’ve managed to now unwrap all your pressies and are delighted with what Santa got you for Xmas!

I’ll keep this post brief as I’m shortly off to see my family which means I’ll get to play with my neices and nephews!

1) Firstly, a belated happy birthday to UnlimitedChoice.org. It’s been just over two years since I first wrote my first blog post and I must say that this blog has come along way and will continue to make strides. There is much work I must do with this blog and many projects and new ideas I still have planned. All part and parcel or my grand design and purpose for my life which seems to take massive shifts every 6 months at the moment. So happy 2nd brithday to UC.org.

2) Secondly A belated merry xmas to you all! Whatever you’ve been up to I hope that you’ve had a wonderful time with family and friends and if you haven’t had a great time, then maybe you and I can work together to make next year a much more fulfilling and enjoyable time!

3) HAPPY NEW YEAR! Earlier this year and last last year I wrote a couple of blog posts with regards to new years resolutions that still apply so whatever happens make use of that extra power that this time of year brings with it. I, for one, will definitely be writing down my goals and reviewing them regularly to make sure I’m am on track or adjusting them as and when I need to to keep up with the pace of everything I do! So below are the links to my previous posts, use those ideas and suggestions to thrust yourself into a solid year of progression and personal evolution!

Don’t Lie!
Create and begin your new years resolutions now!

Wishing you all the best and more for 2008!

Amit Sodha - Editor - UnlimitedChoice.

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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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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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Sep 13

Have you ever been in the situation where you got that feeling where you were coming down with a cold or ‘flu bug? It doesn’t feel great and before you know it you’re at the stage where you can’t do much except and wait for it to pass.

Ask any doctor and they will tell you that generally if you are in a happy state and stress free, you are less likely to get ill and your immune system will be much stronger. It doesn’t take a degree in medicine to know something as simple as this to be true. If you’re someone who suffers colds and ‘flu often then I’m willing to hazard a guess that you go through a lot of stress. Please feel free to tell me if you think differently of if your experience doesn’t concur with what I’ve said.

Naturally, if you do often get ill, one of the first things you should do is consult your doctor as there maybe something more deep routed. After getting a clean bill of health it’s worth looking at a few area’s of your life so that you stay healthy for much longer and the times when you do get ill are very few and far between!

I’m sure many bloggers have posted about what you can do nutritionally to boost your immune system and so I’m not going to talk about that here. What I am going to talk about is how you can boost your immunity, with a few simple adjustments in your psychology, that will make you more immune to minor virus’s and who knows, maybe even more serious illnesses too! One thing is for sure is that trying these things can only do you good so why not give them a try and see for yourself!

The tricky bit here, is changing years of habitual thinking. New habits are easy to form, changing old ones are not so my advice to you is to focus on creating a new habit, rather than eliminating an old one.

Think of a time most recently where you felt yourself in the initial stages of getting a virus. Now can you remember the exact moment that you first felt it coming on? In that moment what was your first reaction? If it was worrying and hoping that it doesn’t turn into a bad cold or ‘flu, then, I’m sure you can see for yourself, why it gets worse quite quickly! As soon as you start worrying or you get annoyed or stressed, about that fact that you’re coming down with something, immediately you’ve weakened your immune system considerably. Again the trick here is to form a new habit. Next time you find yourself feeling a little run down and you feel the onset of a cold or flu the first thing you have to do is put yourself into a better frame of mind. You can use any technique for this. Here’s a few suggestions:

1) At that instant that you catch yourself feeling worried about the onset of the virus, first change your physical state by sitting up right and keeping your head and eyes up. As you do that you can much more easily visualise something positive or constructive. It can be anything of your choosing. It can be turning your focus towards an exciting upcoming project. It could be just looking forward to the plans you have for the weekend….it can be absolutely anything you choose as long as it puts you into a happy frame of mind!

2) If available to you, put on your favorite comedy shows or movie, or, put on your favorite uplifting music!

3) Do anything that makes you feel good. Get a massage or go have a round of golf! If it’s a minor virus, i.e., it isn’t the kind that’s making you feel exhausted, then playing a light sport or mild exercise will do you good both mentally and physically. If it’s a strong virus, the kind that makes you ache all over, then I’d suggest to stick to point 1, 2 or 4

4) Try some self hypnosis. Hypnosis is very simple and there are plenty of resources on the internet to explain to you how you can do this. Hypnosis, in many ways, is synonymous to some forms of meditation. The processes are very similar, they will differ slightly in some areas but ultimately the outcome will be the same in that you will be more relaxed and more focused. A good technique for getting yourself into a “trance”, something which everyone on the planet can do, is find something that you find easy to focus on in a relaxed way. A simple example is imagining yourself on a beach and imagining the tide going in and out. It’s very simple, people go into trance’s several times a day and so find out what makes you go into trance very quickly and use that!

Even a few minutes of any of the above will be extremely beneficial to you. The longer you do it and the more you practice it that stronger your immune system will become and the faster the virus or illness will be eliminated from your body.

There reason there is no cure for the common cold or few is because there are so many varieties and neither is this a cure but what this one method will do is allow the for the virus to be eliminated from your system much quicker because your immune system is in better shape and functioning properly.

The reason I decided to write this article was because at the beginning of the year I was getting a cold or flu at least once a month and it was getting so frustrating! Using the methods I’ve described, I have cold and flu free for the past 7 months and in the last couple of weeks I felt the onset of a cold but using the methods I’ve described above I can quite happily say that it passed without it becoming “bad” so to speak or without it disrupting my life in any way.

Naturally, what I’ve written above is an additional technique you can apply for maintaining your good health! For even better results make sure you take a good look at what you’re eating that that you’re incorporating plenty of water, fresh fruit and veg into you diet!

I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, or results on this so please let me know what you’ve got to say! :-)

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Sep 10

Woooohooooo! :-D

The 100 day mark has arrived. For me this is a true milestone. When I first began this “100 days…” project it just started out as a little idea to keep me blogging regularly. Now I can see that it has the potential to go much further, who knows what else I can achieve with this idea. It’s just the beginning and I know it will go much further. Very shortly I will be begin a new “100 days…” project and it will have a slightly different theme. One thing is for sure, I’d like to make it more challenging for myself.

Throughout this wonderful journey, I’ve leanred many new and exciting things. Each day has brought with it a new adventure and a new understanding in how to live a more purposeful, spiritual life. Spirituality is everything that we do and if you can do it with a spiritual mindset, you will love every moment of life, no matter how challenging it maybe!

Always keep the relativity paradox in mind, you cannot know happiness without sorrow, you cannot know love without fear, you cannot know light without darkness. These things were created to so that we might know what it means to be loved and what it means to recieve it. We enjoy that feeling because we know it’s counterpart!

There are 10 things I want to share that will ehance the quality of your life, remember and use these 10 things and I promise that you will life will be more happy, enjoyable and fulfilled!!

1) Have fun with life! Don’t let your first response to people be about how stressed out or how depressed you are or about how busy you are. Always start you interactions on a positive note. If during your interaction you need to talk about your challenges then do so, then finish where you started, on a happy and light note, sharing what you’ve learned through that encounter, or just share a joke!

2) Challenges don’t disappear, they change form. Notice I say challenges and not problems. Problems are barriers, challenges are hurdles, hurdles can be leapt, it takes a leap of faith. Barries need to be broken down and take much more energy! It may appear to you that other people don’t face challenges, or that their challenges are not as challenging as the ones you face. That’s your own mind creating a story to hold you back from being where it is you want to be. Running away will not take away your challenges, changing jobs because you have a horrible boss won’t take your challenges away, they will change form. When challenges arise, face them head on!

3) Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs, don’t hold so tightly to them so to you nothing else is true. Keep and open mind and listen to others when they share. Everyone’s point is valid and there is truth in every way of thinking as it all comes down to perception! There’s no need to challenge anyone else’s beliefs either, respect them, appreciate them, and share yours with spiritual pride. Views are not there to be converted, they’re there to be enjoyed and appreciated.

4) Our childrens education is not just dependent on the teachers. I consider every single child on this planet as my children and I make it my responsibility to educate them. Education doesn’t necessarily have to be of an academic nature, in fact, most often that’s not real education. Real education comes from what children see us do and then, in turn, emulate. Whether we like it or not, we have a responsibility to them as they will always follow our actions. They will adopt our attitudes and they will look to our actions to shed light where for them, there is none. Make it your responsibility to educate every child on this planet. The more we educate them, they more they will be prepared to deal with the challenges they will inevitably face.

5) Learn NLP! NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) has some pretty impressive, no nonsense, tools that you can use for improving your life. It will be one the best investments of your time and money that you can make. You don’t have to become an expert, even learning the basics from any “off the shelf book” and acquiring a basic understanding will improve the quality of your life and your relationships. It will enhance your skills no matter what profession you’re in, whether you’re a house husband, a lawyer, a high powered business woman, it will benefit you!

6) Even if your life is going amazingly well, get a Life Coach! I’m not being biased in this because I am one! :P In fact, when you’re life is going amazing is the best time to get one because they will be able work with you to enhance your performance! If your life isn’t going so great, get one and you’ll be amazed at the results. They don’t perform magic, they just know how to ellicit the best from people!

7) I’ve said it before many times and I’ll say it again! Follow the 5 a day rule! Make sure that you incorporate these 5 things into your day, every day! 1) Meditate, 2) Smile, 3) Laugh, 4) Give, 5) Appreciate! They don’t have to follow any particular order but if I were to say one was mandatory, it would number 5, to appreciate and have gratitude for everything in your life! If you can do that one consistently and regularly then the other 4 will pretty much come naturally!

8 ) If you’re not sure what to do with your life the sure fire way of getting out of that rut is to put yourself out there and try different things. Watching Eastenders, even at the best of times, isn’t going to improve the quality of your life. What will is being social, interactive and experimenting with various activities like a sport or doing some charity work! Activities like that will enhance your focus and give you some clearer purpose and direction. The rule of thumb is to do something that completely takes you away from what you would normally do. If you’re normally on a computer or games console, then get out there and try a new sport or go speed dating! Anything that challenges who you are is worth trying once!

9) So often these days the first thing a person will tell me about is how tired they are! I’m no doc but one of the main reasons why people get so tired is because we’re so used to cars and junk food and living a lazy lifestyle it’s no surprise that lethargy sets in. We’re no longer use to physical exertion! When you feel tired is the precise moment you should get up and do some physical activity, push your body beyond what it’s used to and soon you’ll start feeling less tired! Another reason it lack of “good quality” sleep. Even if you’re consuming small amounts of caffeine, your sleep will be affected. Cut out as much caffeine as possible and was your quality of sleep jump from 3/10 to a 8/10 and you’ll feel more fresh and rejuvenated. You’ll actually wake up feeling like you’ve had enough sleep and be ready for your day!

10) Last but not least, tip 10 is read my blog and make it part of your daily spiritual digest! :lol: Ok that was a joke! You are valuable and important, make sure you make time for yourself on a regular basis. Whether that be 20 minutes a day to have some quiet time or whether you take 1 whole day a month and dedicate it to yourself is up to you but make it a regular ritual! We dedicate so much time to everyone else and unless we take the time to look after ourselves and nuture our well being that any pleasures in life will be short lived. The more you make time for yourself and take a step out of your life and become a spectator with an attitude of gratitude the more you will feel naturally happy and the more you will enjoy life.

There we have it folks, my top 10 tips and learnings from the 100 days of wisdom! Thank you so much to all of you who have left me messages, comments, sent me emails of blessing and well wishes! I truly hope this has been something you’ve not only enjoyed but something that you’ve got use out of too! Stay tuned for the next 100 days series! :-D

With love,

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Aug 18

It can be quite easy to get overcome by someone’s negative energy when you’re in their presence. What it will be worth doing on your part is instead of focusing on their negative energy, focus on your positive energy and then what you will find is that your positive energy will envelope and transform them.

This may sound like a bit of new age mumbo jumbo but try it for yourself and see. If you notice someone, a friend or stranger, being totally negative and only sharing their stories of what’s wrong in their life, stop them in their tracks!! Then, don’t talk about what’s good in your life but rather find out what they like or enjoy and then fully participate with them in that enjoyment, show interest and ask questions to get them excited. You’ll see for yourself how fast the energy and dynamic of their persona will change!

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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