Jul 30

If the saying: “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know” is true then your objective becomes simple. If your power is extended by the people you know, rather than bitch and moan about that principle, and the people who do get ahead because of the people they know, then why not use that same principle to your advantage. Create a social network of excellence. Knowledge is power and if that can be enhanced even further by associating with people who can elevate you then do exactly that! Learn to become great at networking and learn to value yourself. When people of influence see someone who knows their own value they will work with you to increase your value.

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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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Oct 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Aug 15

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

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

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

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

What are your fondest musical memories?

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

So who are your influences?

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

Who are your favorite musicians? Groups?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How do you describe your music to people?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace and Love

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

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

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

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Jun 13

Gone in 3 seconds!

For the last few days and for at least the next 5 days I’m going to be pushed to my limits emotionally, physically and spiritually! We are drawing ever closer to the end of this project at work and it’s now at the stage where it is crunch time! Not only is my job demanding mentally because of constantly learning of new technologies like wireless and VOIP systems but it is also very physical because at times I have heavy equipment to lift and lots of running around to do!

I was incredibly stressed today at one point but I realised I was stressed only because I was choosing to be so. It only took a moment to shift my awareness and change my perception of the situation. It was easy. All it took was 3 seconds.

1st second - In the first moment I had to become aware of what I was feeling
2nd second - Then I had to offer myself a choice on what I could experience alternately
3rd second - Then I got myself into that state and found my productivity jump! I also got to a point where I began enjoying once again the tasks and challenges ahead of me!

I was just talking to a friend also and she could here the tiredness in my voice but in truth I was grateful for this experience because it is pushing me to new levels of self growth!

If you happen to be in the same situation, you the gone in 3 seconds method and then also remember what you’re gaining from the whole experience!

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May 18

I just wanted to let you all know that i’ve started a new project called Good Will Coaching. To explain further, here’s a brief explanation I put up onto a community bulletin board:

I wanted to take this opportunity to start a new form of Life Coaching called good will coaching for people who are coming to the end of their studies and are not sure what direction in life they wish to take. The idea is that I’ll give you some Life Coaching sessions, primarily over email, chat or phone.

If in the future the Life Coaching you receive is a defining moment for you and assists you in getting to a place where you end up doing what you love, then, if you choose to, you can then compensate me to whatever amount you choose. If it does not, you owe me nothing. Either way it’s a win win situation for you.

I do ask for one thing though and that is a testimonial for my website. :)

Obviously I am only one person undertaking this project and I will take on as many clients as I am able to deal with at any one time. If I cannot start your coaching straight away, bear with me and I will begin it as soon as is possible.

The coaching will consist of 3 sessions either by phone, email, or gmail chat. If it’s on the phone I do ask that the call is made by you.

That’s it for now, so if you yourself would like to get Life Coaching or know of anyone that could do with some, you now know where to send them! :)

Wishing you all the best,

Amit

So there we have it, although in the message above, I mention only students, if you’re truly struggling and don’t know where to turn and need some assistance, then tell me about your situation and I will then decide, dependent on my level of resources at the time, if I can take you on as a client.

Someone asked me the question: “What is a Life Coach?” Here is how I would define it:

What I do, as a Life Coach, is to be your assistant to success! I work with people and taylor my program based on what their needs are. Everyone is different and has something different s/he wants to achieve/do/be! My goal, through the coaching process will be to get you to excel beyond your preconceived idea of what you thought was possible for yourself.

I look forward to hearing from you! :)

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Mar 5

Hey Everyone! I know my blogging has been very slow as of late so I just wanted to share a few stories of the last couple of weeks.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent the previous weekend in Latvia with for a stag weekend. When we landed it was minus 22 degrees C. Needless to say, it was rather chilly! :P Upon arrival myself and the guys went paint balling where we had an fantastic time in temperatures of minus 15 degrees C and in about 10 inches of snow! Anyone who’s been paint balling knows that even in normal temperatures, being hit by a paint ball can be extremely painful, but when you get hit in those sorts of temperatures, the pain is excruciating!! 8O Luckily, I didn’t get hit too much but where I did get hit, I’ll have scars for many weeks to come, and sitting down is still painful! :lol:

This weekend just gone, I had the wonderful privilege of attending the Christopher Howard Break Through to Success seminar in the Excel center in the east of London. It began on the Friday at 9am and for the 3 days until Sunday at 6pm. I have to say that is Chris is a huge inspiration to me, I’ve loved his work for ages and it was definitely a pleasure to see him live. If you’ve never heard of him or seen him, he should be back in London later in the year you can obtain free tickets for the event. I made some wonderful friends over the weekend and because I decided to put my hand up for one of the segments it meant that I personally got some help from Chris in the area of my career and business, in doing so, I also had many offers of help from many people from audience later on too. It just showed me that sometimes unless you raise your hand and ask, you don’t always get.

On Sunday, this physical body turned 30 years old. On Saturday evening I was thrown a surprise party by my amazing friends and the surprise was kept so well, that when I saw some of friends at the restaurant, my initial thought was; “What a coincidence!” It was only when they shouted surprise that I realised it was a surprise birthday! :lol: We had an amazing time and one of my pressies was a turtle teddy which I will cherish for ever! (I love turtles by the way!) I was also splattered with cake in the face but funnily enough I found the cream on the cake to be very moisturising for my face! :P

I’ve had an amazing couple of weeks but now its back to the pleasure of bestowing my pearls of wisdom on a regular basis. :D

It’s on that note that I would like to say that it’s important to make sure that you notice the glorious moments of providence as they unfold in your life on a day to day basis. They are subtle things that will occur for you on a day to day basis, things you may see as coincidence, fate or destiny, but I like to think of those events as an emergence of the power of the human spirit at it’s best. The power of intention, the power of choice, the power of our desires manifesting and creating lasting ripples within our lives to jetison us towards our ultimate outcomes. These things are happening all the time and all we have to do is appreciate and acknowledge them when they occur.

Have a beautiful day.

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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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Aug 21

It’s a common thing to hear someone say that they feel somewhat stuck and are not sure of want to do with life. After all, in this day and age we’re inundated with choices of industries, courses, paths, hobbies, careers, religions etc etc etc so often the biggest battle in life can be settling on “what” choice to make rather feeling as if there are a “lack” of choices. Because I get to meet get to know people from a broad spectrum of the community I see people in all sort of situations even successful people who still feel a sense of almost being lost. A very simple solution to this problem is getting a bit of variety in your life! After all, if you’re just going to work, coming home, eating, watching t.v., going to sleep and waking up the next morning for work, it’s no big surprise that you feel a lack of self worth and in a place where you feel stuck and lost!

If you were at that stage yesterday…then be happy and accept today as a new day to begin a fresh challenge. A good thing to do is start by trying out a few things. Voluntary work is always a good way to go. Even if it has nothing to do with what you’re interested in, (e.g. I do volutary work with children but I work in I.T.) it will still help you to develop your power of perspective and give you stronger resolve to make any decisions. The reason I say this is because it will give you the amazing opptunity to break down many barriers that you may have built up in your mind over time. It like smashing the comfort zone. If you stay in comfort long enough it gets you to a point where you you almost a sense of lethergy and disinterest with life. A place I’m sure where you don’t want to be! Taking up a fresh challenge will smash through some of those walls that you’ve built up in your mind Through working with children, my confidence has grown massively. Not only that I was given free training too which was huge boost to my C.V. but it allowed me to grow through having different expriences. I was put into a situation where I was put into a class of about thirty students and I had to give them a workshop on preparing for work experience. I was provided with all the materials but there was no handbook on how I was supposed to do this. I wasn’t taught how to deal with the naughty and the noisey kids, I was thrown in at the deep end and I loved every minute of it!

I also work one on one with children and I coach and mentor them to improve the quality of their existence. I can think of no bigger challenge than this. It takes a great amount of courage to sit down face to face with a child and get them to open up to you about the challenges they’re facing. Getting them to open up is only the first challenge though, It gets harder as you have you somehow find a way to get the trust of that child and then through the rapport and trust that develops over time, you can gradually begin to guide them and help them to be better than they ever thought they could be and get them to surpass any barriers they had. Once you see the results of something like that, guess what? You start to realise that you have an immense amount of potential within you too and you slowly begin to manouvre your life to a place where you previously thought you couldn’t be.

Experiences like those can ignite a spark within you and may give you some clues as to which area you would like to persue. Even if it doesn’t, what it will do is give you the opportunity of expanding yourself! It will increase your sharpness, mental clarity and also open up a universe of new possibilities. You will feel more open and alive and those previous feeling of being stuck and frustrated will slowly start to dissipate.

Another idea to try is hospital radio which is another thing that I am going to get into very soon. It’s been my dream from a young age to get onto radio and hopsital radio is a fantastic stepping stone onto bigger and better things. What more noble thing can you think of thank helping sick people get better through entertainment? You can truly turn your life around and start by doing asolutely anything…look in your local paper, go to the library and find out what things there are for you to participate in! A friend of mine was telling me recently that she joined a roller blading club! On the weekends they go to places like Hyde Park and explore and just go crazy on their roller blades. (She often comes back with cuts and bruises but she absolutely loves it!!) :p

Take a course, learn how to play an instrument, take up dance classes, try yoga or tai chi or some other martial art, go hiking, bike riding, go carting, bowling, paint balling, read a book of a genre that you never even thought to try before, start a website, join a club of some sort, start some charity work, do a fun run etc etc etc!! There is so much out there that the list could just go on and on and on!!

My biggest tip in all of this though would be to take a regular sporting activity and make sure you keep it up! There is nothing worse then starting a job and realising that your gut is growing in inches at the same rate as your age! :p Keep your self in good shape and taking up a sport such as badminton, squash, tennis, football, or anything along those lines. Playing a sport will keep you sharp and again help you increase your focus and clarity and give you the extra drive and ethusiasm to take your life in a new and fresh direction. Not to mention that you’ll meet lots of new people, make loads of friends and make some great contacts in the future that will maybe even inspire you or give you that idea or that “something” that you’ve been looking for! :)

I would also suggest keeping some sort of journal or diary. The reason for this is perusing your entries often helps bring further clarity and perspective on any given situation. It’s also a good way to gauge the progress in your life. It really hit home for me when I read some diary entries of mine from a about 5 years ago and some diary entries from about a year ago…they were almost identical and my goals were exactly the same. It showed me that I had made no progress whatsoever and that nothing had changed in my life. At first when I saw that I became a little depressed but afterwards I realised that it was great gift! Seeing that made me realise that life can be incredibly short and unless I chose make something of it for myself, I would wake up one day and realise that my entire life had floated by and I missed out of almost every oppotunity to be happy and live a fulfilled and enjoyable existence. If you can begin to keep a journal, and update it regularly with your fresh desires and goals and monitor it regularly, ticking off your achievements and desires as you go along then you will find that over time you will feel much happier at having reaching and surpassing these milestones that you set out for yourself.

These are just a few starting points but the key is to become active. Switch off the t.v. turn off the computer…and go out there and meet some new people and enjoy the entire universe outside your front door! :)

I wish you happieness, success, and most of all love for life!

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Jun 29

Paperboy!I made this comment to my brother quite some time back and since then I’d almost forgotten about this point until I was doing a life coaching session yesterday with a client.

We all have a similar goal in one form or another to be financially stable and to be able to sustain ourselves whether that be through owning our own business or several businesses or through working in a stable and enjoyable full time job. I think it’s safe to assume that we would all like to be in a job that we love to do rather than being somewhere, where we “have to” be there almost against our will with the attitude of: “just doing this to put food on the table”

Whatever situation you are in right now, what would you do if your flow of income stopped for one reason or another? Whether you lost your job or lost a prime client that paid most of your wages, what would you do if that happened to you?

Begin by thinking; “This is a wonderful opportunity to being doing the thing I love and make it my livelyhood.” It’s a great thought but you also need to stay physcially active and alert to put you in state of mind and feeling that allows you to say positive and focused on what it is that you want. So what can you do to stay physically active and mentally sharp?

When I first thought about this idea I sort of thought to myself: “that’s stupid, no one’s going to do something like that” but then more I thought about it the more it made sense to me and probably one of the best things you can ever do if you were to ever loose your flow of income!

“What is it”, I hear you ask?

GET YOURSELF A PAPER-ROUND!!

Become a paper boy/girl! I can hear the groans and moans and rejections already but hang tight for a few mins and carry on reading my reasons why!

1) Swallowing your pride and getting a paper-round is a fantastic idea because for starters, if it is one where you have to deliver papers in the early hours of the morning, what it will do is get you out of bed at the crack of dawn. This is so crucial because there is a danger that without a job, you’ll end up going to bed really late, waking up incredibly late and then you’ll feel like you’re not getting anything done with your day. This way atleast, you’ll have something to get up early in the morning for, and once you’ve completed your round, you’ll have the entire day ahead of you to search for jobs or new clients and build up your business.

I remember when I was out of a job for 3 months or so, I ended going to bed at something like 5am every day and waking up and 3pm in the afternoon and because of that bad habit I never really had a chance to do any proper job hunting and I ended up feeling very stale and lethargic. At that point in time I wasn’t as motivated as I am today but I truly wish I had this idea then because I know something like this would’ve given me more energy and drive to get out there and find exactly what it was that I wanted!

2) It’s good exercise!! Whether you’re doing it on a bike or walking you’ll be getting lots of fresh air and exercise and this is crucial to keep you sharp and looking well while you’re in the process of finding your new job/clients. During that period of 3 months while I was out of work I think I must have gained nearly 2 stones in weight, that’s nearly 28lbs in 3 months!!!!! Lets face it, being fat and pasty never makes a good impression on clients or job interviews. Getting the exercise early in the morning will boost your slow early morning metabolic rate and will help keep the lbs off while you doing what you need to do!

This idea may sound strange at first but I know personally that If I lost my main source of income tomorrow then that would be the first thing that I would do straight away to keep myself healthy and sharp so that I could then focus on what I wanted. :D

BHFG

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May 9

Eliminate StressMost of us will have some sort of task list that we write down on a regular basis. I do mine weekly and just make a note of my main appointments and tasks that I would like to see completed by the end of that week.

Between the points of the task list, you might get loads of other spontaneous tasks arising that you will need to take care of. (Looking after the Computer networks at work, this is very often the case!) When it feels that you’re getting bogged down at work with hundreds of things to do the last thing on your mind will be to take a break!! But, if you were hoping to get things done quickly, efficiently and with accuracy and yet you’re getting stressed and frustrated, it should be the first thing you do!

If you feel like you’re getting to the point where you are feeling stressed then you need to tackle your own stress first before you continue any further otherwise you run the risk making mistakes and being in and even worse state than when you started.

So how do you tackle the stress? Many people will have their own methods, some will listen to music, some will keep those stress toys on their desk, others will go and play sports, do some meditation, stretch, eat, drink, you name it, the list goes on and on!

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