Most of understand that our results are a direct reflection of our actions. If we plant the seeds of an apple, then at some point in the future, we are going to be picking apples from the tree in front of us. If we want cherries, then we needed to have planted cherry seeds instead. It makes no sense to plant apples then get upset when it turns out we actually wanted cherries in the end.

So if we know that our actions lead to our outcomes in a cause-effect relationship, then why don’t we take more action? And more importantly, why don’t we take more action in the specific direction of our goals? I mean, we are all busy all the time, so must be doing something, but it isn’t always helping us to achieve our goals and objectives in life.

I believe there are 6 main reasons why we are not taking the right levels of action, and why we are falling victim to what Aristotle called Akrasia; a weakness of will that causes us to be pulled away from what is right and in accordance with our purpose for a more immediate form of gratification. Read More

I recently gave a talk on fear for Be Extraordinary Talks, a London-based personal development MeetUp group. The talk was on the general topic of fear and how to get over it, which isn’t the ‘nicest’ of topics, and so I decided to attempt to address the topic with a more lighthearted approach.

The title of the talk was “Modern Day Fears, Matt Damon & The Correct Use of 4-letter Words” and involved concepts from some of my other posts on Bravery and Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone, but also looked at historical elements of fear written about by Napoleon Hill in The Master Key To Riches.

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Life is for living, and here are my top 33 ways to live a better life every day. How many will you experience today?

Laugh

Great abs and happy wrinkles are two by-products of laughing lots. Laughter helps the body heal itself and makes you feel great. Plus it’s contagious. Just don’t watch every single video of pandas sneezing on the Internet.

Be Outdoors
There is something inspiring and healing about nature. Walk through the trees. Hike in the mountains. Splash through the waves as they lap at your feet. See the sunrise or watch it fall below the horizon.

Be Inspired
Paintings, music, incredible physical or mental feats, nature, art, simple acts of kindness. There are countless ways to be inspired, but all open our hearts to something bigger than ourselves.

Experience Love
Do something that makes your heart come alive and brings a tear to your eye. Allow someone to love you completely or return the favour. Hold someone. Show them how important they are in the world, even if it is just to you.

Make A Difference
Let’s face it, you’ll be gone one day, but your memory lives on in the lives you touch. How can you influence someone for the better? Teach. Donate. Create. Volunteer. Think beyond you for a moment. Read More

Is it possible that the root cause of all problems in life could boil down to the same issue?

I’ve been exposed to a lot of people’s problems over the years, both in my coaching and training sessions as well as of my own creation, and lately I’ve been noticing something of a trend.

More and more of the problems seem to be caused by a lack of communication, not because the person doesn’t want to communicate, but because they are scared of how the other person will react to the communication.

When something goes unsaid in a relationship, whether that be interpersonal, business or friendship, a void opens up. Whilst initially this may appear small, if it is not addressed it will continue to grow, putting stress on the relationship and leaving the other party questioning why there is such an unspoken distance.

Take, for example, the case of the employee who wants to work remotely but is scared of losing his job if he challenges the status quo.

Or the wife burning with a sexual fantasy who doesn’t know how to tell her husband.

What about the girl who denies her crush because she doesn’t want to risk rejection? Read More

There have been a number of times in my life when I have been super productive, creative and just overflowing with energy, ideas and passion. I’m not just talking about being motivated, that general state of getting things done and celebrating a completed to-do list.

No, I’m talking about waking up in the middle of the night to write poetry, drawing visual masterpieces on every scrap of paper you can find and skipping everywhere because you just can’t wait to get there.

There are some funny reactions to finding a muse, and if I caught a glimpse of myself at any of those times, I probably would have checked myself for excessive medication or minor brain trauma.

But that’s what a muse does to you. It removes any blockages you may have restricting the flow of your creative energies into their desired forms. For me, my writing went from dredging out unremarkable blog posts to an endless river of poetry and prose that, in reading back over, even moved me… and I wrote it!

Then one day, my muse had gone. I sat down immediately to write, as if to squeeze the last drops of inspiration from my imagination, but even before I had finished the first line, I knew the magic had vanished. As quickly as it had arrived it left, leaving an emptiness echoing inside. I went back to meaningless tapping on the keyboard in front of me. Read More