So you think you’re an ordinary person, think again Often we think of inspirational people as being extraordinary. The reality is, they’re really just… ordinary. Think about it. Take any inspirational person, for the sake of illustration, let’s use Steve Jobs. I know he died 2nd October 2011 but he’s an excellent and typical example. A flawed character? He certainly wasn’t perfect but look at what he achieved with Apple. He was also the CEO and majority shareholder of Pixar. Read any biography of any famous person (historical or contemporary) you admire or of any achiever yo ..read more

Attitude – What I learnt the time people changed their attitude towards me About a decade ago I lost a lot of weight. I needed to, I was so big I couldn’t even find a tie that would fit me ? Better still, I’ve managed to maintain my target weight within a few pounds. I mentioned it when recently speaking at a dinner and was asked if I had any observations and insights of how people treated me compared to when was 100 lbs (45Kgs) larger. The most amusing observations and best lessons I learnt was observing the behaviour and attitude towards me of the people who KNEW I lost so much weig ..read more

About change and uncertainty, remember this We all experience discomfort from time to time, especially when we’re about to go out of our comfort zone or we experience change and uncertainty. More often the discomfort is unfounded and is usually because we’re unsure of what’s going to happen. We think we either might have little or no control or not be able to cope. I’ve observed, certainly if you’re in to personal development and want to become the best version of yourself, we’re often looking for the latest tool, technique or insight to make our lives easier and happy. Which is fine, exce ..read more

Resilience – A reminder Did you know self help books have been around for thousands of years. The earliest recorded tome was an Ancient Egyptian genre called “Sebayt,” (meaning teachings or instructions) which was an instructional literature on life. Today there’s an abundance of self help books. As for the internet there seems to be an almost unlimited amount of information, knowledge and wisdom available at our fingertips and on every topic imaginable. Why is all this information available? Because, we all have problems, issues and challenges and we need answers. Sometimes we just like t ..read more

Resilience and the Valentine most people forget I’m willing to bet every year on Valentine’s day there’s one person in your life you’ll ignore and not show love and appreciation for. If I’m wrong I owe you an apology. You see, this person is key to you building your resilience.   In my opinion, you should show love for, and to, this person even more than anyone else in your life and not just on Valentine’s day but, EVERY DAY.   You may have noticed there’s one thing many of us do on a more than regular basis and even find difficult to stop.   If something doesn’t work out th ..read more

Success mindset tools – An insight and a free gift THE INSIGHT Does using success mindset tools guarantee you success? Thank you for asking, in a word… no! So is it all rubbish? Absolutely NOT!! There are TWO things I CAN guarantee: 1) If you don’t use any beneficial mindset tools and techniques I guarantee your failure. Or at least you won’t get as far in life as you could. 2) Using helpful mindset tools and techniques WILL give you the greatest possible chance of achieving success. At worse, if things don’t work out you’ll be able to handle failure and hardships more e ..read more

Frozen wisdom to start the New Year Happy New Year, I trust you’ve returned from the festive break feeling refreshed, energised and ready to take on the opportunities 2024 will bring :) Late last year I did a very important exercise inspired by the film ‘Frozen’. It certainly helped me feel better and more focussed for what’s to come in 2024. I’m sure it’ll help you too. It’s something we all know about but don’t do often enough. By the way, some films inspire me in different ways. I recently watched Padding 2 (I loved it) and at the end of it I had a craving for marmalade sandwiches… I do ..read more

Resilience strategies to have the best Christmas ever Christmas is usually a very stressful time of year for many of us, so here are six (Christmas tree) top tips to help you build resilience, manage stress and keep calm over the festive period. I like to think of them as my gifts to you. But don’t save them as stocking fillers make a note of them now and use them as and when you need them.     1)   The myth of the perfect Christmas With all the excitement and hype it’s easy to fall in the trap of putting pressure on yourself to create the perfect Ch ..read more

Five easy ways to relax and boost productivity when busy We all lead busy working lives and often forget or choose not to take a break. For many their lives are ruled by their work. I know work’s important as it allows us to pay our way in the world and, especially if we enjoy what we do, makes us feel we’re making a contribution and valued. It’s just that life is about… balance. Too much of one thing is not good. I love ice cream, but would hate to eat a ton of it all in one go. I should know, I’ve tried :) In a busy working day some people often work their our lunch and coffee breaks, th ..read more

Resilience – Four ways to boost your confidence in times of doubt All of us, including the most astute business icons, superstars of stage, screen and music and world class athletes, at some stage we all have moments of doubt and lose confidence in our abilities. This can particularly happen when we experience a lot of change and uncertainty. So how can we maintain confidence all, or at least most, of the time? Basically, we just need to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. Here’s how: 1) Remind yourself of your achievements and successes – I have images of me presenting and ..read more