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Many people believe that if they are “spiritual” or wish to succeed in life, they should ignore unpleasant things that happen to them, in effect denying that they have happened and/or have had an effect on them. But it will  have the opposite effect, hampering personal development and growth. Read more…

Many people are holding their personal development up by ignoring an important step – accepting repsosibility for their actions. Read more…

I had a conversation recently with a young man who I know has strong spiritual values. He told me he had been advised to keep his spirituality out of his work as it would put people off. The guy is not a fanatic, “shouting from the roof tops” type; rather, he is quiet, devoted to his wife and his children, and he’s not likely to try to force his views on anyone. Read more…

I’ve just taken a couple of weeks away from Social Media. In part this was dictated by a manic workload and in part to see how I felt about it all. I believe that one of the keys to personal development and growth is to listen to your heart, and I had picked up that something was not quite right, so a break was a useful way to sort out my thoughts. Read more…

Have you ever thought about taking a social media sabbatical? What would you do with the time you would free up if you were to take time out?

I am seriously thinking about taking a week off from all internet interaction except to answer emails to clients (I have little choice, being self-employed). I’m intrigued about the possibilities; I could spend the time I use on-line on reading, writing, meditation and personal development.

The internet and social networking take up a fair amount of my time, time I could use productively elsewhere. I know it sounds crazy, having worked hard to build this blog but I’m curious to revert, albeit temporarily, to an existence that is free of social media and non-client e-mail.

Has anyone else tried it recently, and if so, with what results?

When you sit down to write an article, what are the key things you keep in mind?  Carrying on from the article on Social Media – Building Successful Relationships, I want to show those who are afraid of writing on-line, that the skills of effective writing  are the same whatever the media. Another demonstration that on-line and off-line are not two different worlds – the first is just an extension of the second. Read more…

It’s that time of years when those people in Christian countries who believe in the Christ of the Gospels celebrate the sacrifice of his death and resurrection; the rest of the population get a long weekend!

Like most of the spiritual greats, Christ’s message was a spiritual message about unconditional love; love of God, of self, and of others. Whether you believe in him as a historical figure or as an allegory, or a mixture of both, his life was an example of service leadership and of sacrificial love. Read more…

A while back I wrote a post called 10 Things I Wish I Had Known And Stuck To From Early On. Here’s another ten things I’ve learned, occasionally quickly, more often only after repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall! Read more…

Smile at someone - do it now!

How often have you said “I wish I had done that, but I didn’t have the time?” I’ve certainly done it and wrote at length about some of the lessons I’d learned about this in the article 10 Things I Wish I Had Known And Stuck To From Early On. Here are 14 tips to help you to put an end to procrastination. 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.

Read more…