Tuesday, 27 November 2012

My Wage - J B Rittenhouse

I bargained with life for a penny,
And life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening,
When I counted my scanty store.

For life is a just employer,
He gives me what I ask,
But once I have set the wages,
Why, I must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wages I asked of life,
Life would have willingly paid.

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Posture Affects Performance

Video: - Amy Cuddy - Posture Determines Performance

Our non-verbals DO affect how we think and feel about ourselves and how we PERFORM.

The position we put our bodies in can affect our mind.

Our PRESENCE is a mixture of how
Passionate
Confident
Authentic
Comfortable
Captivating
Enthusiastic
we are............
 
Our body posture can change our minds;
our minds can then change our behaviour;
and our behaviour then changes our outcomes!
 
It is not "Fake it till you make it."
 
It is "PROJECT it until you BECOME it."



Wednesday, 19 September 2012

SuperBetter

Jane McGonigal and her SuperBetter game designed to give more
Physical,
Mental,
Emotional and
Social Resilience.

The Game That Could Increase Your Life by 10 Years.

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

If I Had My Life Over - I'd Pick More Daisies

There have been many versions of this poem. The earliest one apparently was attributed to Nadine Stair. It appears first. What follows is, according to Benjamin Rossen, a copy of the earliest verifiable publication of this material. It can be found in the Reader's Digest, October 1953 issue, where it was attributed to Don Herold (1889-1966), author and humorist.
Nadine Stair

If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.

Don Herold

Of course, you can't unfry an egg, but there is no law against thinking about it.

If I had my life to live over, I would try to make more mistakes. I would relax. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I know of very few things that I would take seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would go more places. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less bran.

I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary troubles. You see, I have been one of those fellows who live prudently and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I have had my moments. But if I had it to do over again, I would have more of them - a lot more. I never go anywhere without a thermometer, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had it to do over, I would travel lighter.

It may be too late to unteach an old dog old tricks, but perhaps a word from the unwise may be of benefit to a coming generation. It may help them to fall into some of the pitfalls I have avoided.

If I had my life to live over, I would pay less attention to people who teach tension. In a world of specialization we naturally have a superabundance of individuals who cry at us to be serious about their individual specialty. They tell us we must learn Latin or History; otherwise we will be disgraced and ruined and flunked and failed. After a dozen or so of these protagonists have worked on a young mind, they are apt to leave it in hard knots for life. I wish they had sold me Latin and History as a lark.

I would seek out more teachers who inspire relaxation and fun. I had a few of them, fortunately, and I figure it was they who kept me from going entirely to the dogs. From them I learned how to gather what few scraggly daisies I have gathered along life's cindery pathway.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted a little earlier in the spring and stay that way a little later in the fall. I would play hooky more. I would shoot more paper wads at my teachers. I would have more dogs. I would keep later hours. I'd have more sweethearts. I would fish more. I would go to more circuses. I would go to more dances. I would ride on more merry-go-rounds. I would be carefree as long as I could, or at least until I got some care - instead of having my cares in advance.

More errors are made solemnly than in fun. The rubs of family life come in moments of intense seriousness rather that in moments of light-heartedness. If nations - to magnify my point - declared international carnivals instead of international war, how much better that would be!

G.K. Chesterton once said, "A characteristic of the great saints is their power of levity. Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. One 'settles down' into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a light-hearted self-forgetfulness. A man falls into a 'brown study'; he reaches up at a blue sky."

In a world in which practically everybody else seems to be consecrated to the gravity of the situation, I would rise to glorify the levity of the situation. For I agree with Will Durant that "joy is wiser than wisdom."

I doubt, however, that I'll have much affect with my creed. The opposition is too strong. There are too many serious people trying to get everybody else to be too darned serious.

Monday, 30 April 2012

My rituals determine my success

Tony Robbins Video

Ordinarily I make progress once I validate what is possible.

I achieve recognition of what is possible and what I am capable of through a daily ritual.
 
The thing that I do daily will determine my success.

I am clear about WHY this ritual is important!

I condition my mind daily, to build momentum.
 
To get ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN.


Work on a daily basis to fill myself with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY!!

Thursday, 1 March 2012

Alice Herz-Sommer - positive in a concentration camp

My mother taught me some valuable lessons. She died, along with my father in the concentration camp, but her lessons live on.

1) To KNOW things - study; find out things; practice things; get skillful and knowledgeable.

2) To BE THANKFUL - everything is a present; focus on the best things; I know about the bad and I see the good.

3) To BE HAPPY - meet the world with joy; I lay for two years on the frozen bare dirt with my son and I laughed - what five and a half year old would not laugh under those circumstances?

How hard is my life? I can rise above my petty notions as she rose above monumental hardships - because she found what was good in it and knew that "people complain. Complaining changes nothing."

"I know about the bad, and I see the good."




Tuesday, 14 February 2012

How to have the best year ever.... Jim Rohn

I welcome all experiences! I never know which experience will turn something on.

I'm aware that to build a wall to keep out disappointment will also keep out happiness.

Look at my PHILOSOPHY + ATTITUDE + ACTIVITY = MY RESULTS.

Ask of myself to MAKE MEASURABLE PROGRESS in REASONABLE TIME.

Not that I am wrong - I have messed up!
I can go anywhere from here.
I have bought the wrong program; gotten the wrong results.
Get another program. Try something else.

"Truth will set me free" to amend my progress.
Awareness precedes progress.

Day that turned my life around -
Disgust - enough is enough;
Decision - inspiration, I will do what it takes;
Desire - I want this so bad I can taste it, it is happening;
Resolve - I promise myself I keep going UNTIL it is done.
These are the catalysts for change.

ASK:
WHY
do the work; put in the effort? Look for and activate MY drivers.
WHY NOT
see what I can do; what I can see; heights I can reach?
WHY NOT ME
with self-compassion, unconditional self-acceptance; setting goals; going forward?
WHY NOT NOW
get it together; it's a great time to start this process; to really get with it and go forward?

Get my cycle moving in an upwards, positive motion, amending what is possible and celebrating what is available.

6 days practice, persistence and patience - 1 day of rest.
Rest too long and the weeds start to take the garden.
Ask myself "What am I avoiding?"
"What do I want?" - MY evolving vision or goal.
"What is a next step that I could choose to take?"
I REPEAT THIS WHOLE PROCESS, WITH FEELING, OFTEN!"
 
Goals and achievement take time - having a goal or vision is like steam in a steam engine;
avoidance is letting it stay as water, for the moment....
I MAKE STEAM, WITH FUN!