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What’s stopping you from achieving personal growth? Michael Jordan recently said that the only thing that held him back was himself and there’s a lot of truth in his statement. So let’s have a look at the ten most common reasons for our not achieving what we want to. Read more…

One of my favourite films is Patch Adams starring Robin Williams. If you haven’t seen it, I really recommend that you borrow or buy it as it contains so many lessons that you can use for your personal growth.  And it’s not an airy fairy, pie in the sky work of fiction. It’s biographical – Hunter (Patch) Adams is a real person. Read more…

Think of someone who you consider to be an expert at communication. What makes them so good? Do they speak without hesitation? Do they have a good grasp of their subject? Is their delivery polished? Whilst all of those are important, I would suggest that there are two things an effective communicators will demonstrate: clarity and simplicity.

On  Wednesday I looked at material simplicity.  Today I want to use the same principles to look at the importance of focusing on simplicity of communication. Read more…

As I wrote here, my wife and I are going through an exercise decluttering our appartment. It’s a small appartment and having lived here for over 5 years, even though we don’t buy much, it all accumulates. However, the uncluttering is only part of the exercise. It’s part of our personal growth in the last few years that we also want to turn our backs on the mad consumerism that have dominated the west for the last 20 or 30 years, which means a complete rethink of our philosophy about posessions.

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On February 17th, I wrote a post about the economic recession suggesting that we’re asking the wrong question. In it I suggested that instead of asking when the recession should end and when will things get back to normal, we should instead be asking ourselves  “What message is this crisis giving us about the need to change?” Many thanks to all of those who sent me messages of support about the post – this post explores the question further.

It’s extremely easy to point the finger at the bankers and financial industry and blame them for the economic downturn. In an interview earlier this week, Mr Varley, the Chief Executive of Barclays Bank suggested that there was little that the government could do to make life “difficult” for bankers and he went on to say that it was ‘very unlikely’ that what he described as “the fundamental competitiveness of Barclays would ever be threatened by the decisions of the Government”. How arrogant and out of touch with public sentiment can one get? Read more…

In pubs, clubs, restaurants, business meetings, blogs, chats, I hear the same question being asked – When will this economic crisis end?

If the end means returning to things as they were, I believe that this is the wrong question to be asking! Put it this way – if you were with someone who you thought of as a friend and they started beating you up, when trying to defend yourself and come out of the encounter in good shape, would you be asking yourself when the attack would end so that you could resume your friendship?

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When I think back on life, I realise that the times when I’ve really thrived, when life was exciting, was when I decided to march to the rhythm of my own drum.  The times I’ve felt stifled, on the other hand, were when I conformed to everyone else’s view of the norm.

This has taught me that whether they think they can, or think they can’t, everyone has the ability to be innovative. It just takes time, practice and daring. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential for personal development. You are not stuck with who you are now, unless you choose to be. Read more…

All too often, when coaching clients or just generally chatting with people about their personal growth and development, they tell me that they’re unhappy with certain aspects of their personality. When I ask them what’s stopping them from changing, they say things like “I was born this way”, “It’s just who I am”, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, “I’m too old to change” etc..

The good news for anyone wanting to change is that all of these excuses are just, well, excuses! Neural plasticity means that our brains are able to create new neural pathways no matter what our age! Which means that you can change any aspect of your personality that you don’t like. And it means that age is no barrier to personal growth.

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I recently came across a disturbing blog article where the author, George Cloutier – “ The Turnaround Ace” had written the following:

“Your cell phone is for keeping in touch with clients and sales managers in the field, not for taking calls from your spouse throughout the day about what groceries to pick up on the way home. Cutting out early to take your kids to baseball practice three times a week, or picking up your Aunt Tilly or Uncle Ned from the airport, are unacceptable interruptions to success. Read more…

Many people are motivated by having something to work towards; for them, having a clear vision is useful for their personal development and journey in life.

Endless Possibilities

If you are someone that needs to find a vision for yourself you will want to make sure that you are following through with what life has in store for you. You also need to make sure that you don’t get locked into one set way of achieving that vision. There are endless possibilities for everyone.  If you are looking to make something great of yourself then you will need to set some priorities and goals to set you on your way to a better and bigger future. Read more…