Zen Tools - Insights & Features
How Do I Change And Why Is It So Hard?
We Would Rather Die Than Change, And We Usually Do
In my experience, the vast majority of people who say they want to change don’t change.
Most people reading this won’t change because they don’t really want to change.
They may on the surface, consciously, believe that they want to change, but there are at least 3 powerful forces at work that will likely undermine you.
Unless you are aware of these forces and know how to deal with them, you will not succeed and you will remain the same as the vast majority of the human race.
The Illusion Of A Separate Self - Windows 11 With Self Awareness!
Beyond the content of your mind you are so much more than you think you are.
When we talk of "myself" this is the conventional way of referring to our self image which is in fact the ego's construction of its sense of self.
I find it helpful to imagine the ego as our operating system and absolutely essential, in the same way "Windows 11" is essential for successful functioning of our laptops.
But as with "Windows 11", however clever it is, it is just a piece of software. So when we say me, myself or I, metaphorically, think of “Windows 11" with self awareness!
But beyond the content of your mind you are so much more than you think you are...
Continue reading "The Illusion Of A Separate Self - Windows 11 With Self Awareness!"
Finite And Infinite Games - Dazed, Confused & Ultimately Transcendent
This is not an instruction manual, it is a wake up call!
Over this past week I have read Professor James Carse's highly regarded "Finite And Infinite Games - A Vision Of Life As Play And Possibility" from cover to cover several times.
It opens with the lines: “There at least two kinds of games. One could be called finite, the other infinite."
Carse uses game theory as an analogy for two alternative views of how to play the game of life.
This is a strange and challenging book that can change what you think you know about life and how you live it.
Continue reading "Finite And Infinite Games - Dazed, Confused & Ultimately Transcendent"
The Gap And The Gain - How Your Brain Sabotages Your Happiness
How Your Lizard Brain Sabotages Your Happiness
We are hardwired to measure our progress in any and all areas of life where we have goals and aspirations. We can't not do it.
But what we measure and how we measure matters because our default progress measurement setting leads to self sabotage and results in deep unhappiness and dissatisfaction with our lives.
Continue reading "The Gap And The Gain - How Your Brain Sabotages Your Happiness"
How To Wake Up - 4 Simple Practices To Help You Wake Up Now
So What Exactly Does It Mean to Wake Up - What Is "Enlightenment"?
There is nothing magical, mystical or mysterious about waking up we’re actually having glimpses of enlightenment all the time.
Enlightenment - waking up - means:
- To be free of the effects of your mind
- To be unencumbered with thoughts about the past or the future
- To be 100% present-moment-aware
This is also sometimes referred to as a "Unity Consciousness".
This is an experience and not an idea. This is not something to attained or sought after. This is a deeply practical way to live.
The focus of this article is to offer 4 simple practices to show you how to wake up and to live like this now:
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Situational Communication - Different Strokes For Different Folks
Situational communication is about taking account of 3 often ignored factors about the other person.
You are a situational communicator when you recognise that effective communication is not an event but a process.
This process is about understanding the other person's past experience, their competence and the way they behave in relation to whatever it is you want to accomplish, and then adopting the appropriate type of communication.
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How To Influence Without Authority - 6 Key Tips
The secret to how to influence without authority is that you get what you really want by giving other people what they really want.
We live in an interconnected world and knowing how to influence without authority is an increasingly important communictation skill.
The fundamental principle of how to influence without authority is mirrored reciprocation whereby you get what you really want by giving other people what they really want.
This goes beyond the transactional and is about building a "win-win" that addresses our deepest needs as human beings.
Continue reading "How To Influence Without Authority - 6 Key Tips"
Change Questions To Change Your Outcomes
Asking The Right Questions Is Critical For A Successful Change.
Every time we initiate a significant change - whether in our personal life or in an organisation - we will most likely over-estimate our chances of a successful outcome and under-estimate the likelihood that things will not work out as we had planned.
This article is part of a series on the art of persuasion, communication and change based on my 45 years in business, and I going to share with you a framework of questions that will enable you to successfully handle any significant change.
Group Culture - The Invisible Software That Rules Your Life
Group culture is: "How we do things round here".
We like to see ourselves as free agents making our own choices and living authentically but the reality is that The Matrix has many layers and we are unaware that we are more enmeshed and ensnared than we realise.
We are, to a very large extent, governed by our conditioning and our hardwired cognitive biases.
Group culture is another one of those things that also has a very powerful influence on our thought processes, decisions and behaviours.
Here's how group culture affects you and how you can take advantage of it.
Continue reading "Group Culture - The Invisible Software That Rules Your Life"
Why Getting From A to B Is Not Aways A Straight Line
In circumstances of significant change, the progress from A to B will not be in a straight line.
We run our lives largely on auto-pilot. In most circumstances your experience of getting from A to B is relatively smooth and seemless, and when it isn't you have established ways and means of overcoming the bumps and obstructions.
But when getting from A to B involves making significant changes such as (a) doing something new that will change the existing modus operandi; or (b) launching a major initiative or new venture, the progress from A to B will not be in a straight line.
For you as an individual or an organisation it is critical that you apply the "business as usual" test.
Continue reading "Why Getting From A to B Is Not Aways A Straight Line"
The Art Of Persuasion Planning For Success - Here's How To Do It!
To be successful in the art of persuasion you must ensure that certain things happen.
To be successful in the art of persuasion you must establish a framework of what has to happen to get you to that successful buyin to your proposal by the other person.
Circumstances will vary enormously. Persuading a friend to bring their family and join with yours on an Airbnb holiday is one thing and less complex than persuading the leader of a special interest group or a public institution to commit to a programme of activity or to adopt a policy.
The process outlined here can be scaled up or simplified as the circumstances require.
Continue reading "The Art Of Persuasion Planning For Success - Here's How To Do It!"
The Art Of Persuasion Advanced Communication Skills - Gaining Buyin
Create The Environment Where They Want To Buyin to Your Proposal
In order to build the win-win you have to uncover what it is that the other person really wants or needs, and to do that you have to ask questions.
There are a series of steps you need to go through, which make the other person feel comfortable with you and see the purpose in your questions.
In this article we are focused on advanced communication skills that will help you achieve this.
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The Art Of Persuasion The One Fundamental Principle - Create A Win-Win
The art of persuasion is based on the simple idea that you get what you want by enabling the other party to get what they want.
Being a nice friendly person with good inter-personal skills may be a good start but it is not enough.
For this to happen you, as the persuader, need to exercise these skills that will enable this to happen.
Continue reading "The Art Of Persuasion The One Fundamental Principle - Create A Win-Win"
Communication Persuasion And Change - Key Skills To Survive & Succeed
It's not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change, the most persuasive, and the best communicators.
We are living in an age of unprecedented change.
We are now part of a world of far greater globalisation, connection and interdependence than at any other age in human history.
In the current age, it's not the strongest that survive and succeed, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change, the most persuasive, and the best communicators.
Here's why the skills involved in communication persuasion and change are so important:
Continue reading "Communication Persuasion And Change - Key Skills To Survive & Succeed"
The Eisenhower Box - What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent
What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent And What Is Urgent Is Seldom Important.
The Eisenhower Box is a time management and decision-making model devised by President Dwight Eisenhower to help him prioritize and address the many high-stakes issues he had to deal with as a US Army general, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Forces, and as president of the United States.
The Eisenhower Box has two key elements that are not always present in other time management tools:
[1] It distinguishes between what is urgent and what is important.
[2] It has a ‘delete’ option.
Here's how to prepare to apply The Eisenhower Box:
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Zen Enlightenment [Satori] - The Stink Of Zen
Lost In Our Delusions About Enlightenment.
There is something in human nature - a desire to glamorise, sanctify, objectify and idolise – that elevates people who have offered deep insights to the human race and thus put distance between them and the rest of us.
But these great ones have exactly the same psychological, emotional, and physiological equipment as the rest of us. To put it bluntly – we all share the same basic equipment.
If one can do it so can we all.
Continue reading "Zen Enlightenment [Satori] - The Stink Of Zen"
5 Zen Mindsets For Mastery - In Any Area Of Your Life
The Wisdom Of A Person Who Masters In Any Art Is Reflected In Their Every Attitude.
The state and quality of your mind has a very large bearing on the quality of your performance in any area of life that really matters to you.
These 5 zen mindsets for mastery are drawn from the world of martial arts, and are grounded in zen practices.
Fortunately, you do not need to a be a practitioner of martial arts to practice and apply these mindsets - but it does help to have some experience of basic mindfulness practice.
We can all learn and practice these mindsets and benefit by excelling in any area of life that is important to us.
Continue reading "5 Zen Mindsets For Mastery - In Any Area Of Your Life"
Dealing With The Toxicity Of Online Dating - 6 Key Tips From A Clinical Psychologist
Toxicity Is The Price Tag Of Accessibility.
In the early days of online dating, users were vetted and had to go through a registration process and agree to comply with a code of conduct designed to ensure that they conducted themselves in a reasonably courteous and civilised manner.
Now in the post-covid era when we have all become so used to ordering just about anything online, with a home-delivery in 24-48 hours, online dating apps are increasingly popular as a quick and easy way to meet new people.
But that accessibility comes at a cost - and the price tag is the toxicity of the behaviour of so many users of these apps.
Here are 6 tips for dealing with it.
Why Understanding Ergodicity Is Critical To Your Long Term Survival
How Not To Be Fooled By Randomness.
Ergodicity is an ugly word from the world of mathematics. It is an umbrella term for two sets of conditions of probability and outcome.
These two conditions form the basis of a lie that you have been sold by governments, economists and investment "advisors" for the past 150 years.
What may seem to be a dry and boring exercise in semantics and mathematical fancy footwork very rapidly morphs into:
[1] A potent expose of how we have been misled and ripped off by the so called experts, and then offers
[2] An explanation of how to side step these lies and fallacies and position yourself for survival and success.
Continue reading "Why Understanding Ergodicity Is Critical To Your Long Term Survival"
Dealing With Imposter Syndrome - Ego Is The Enemy
How You Frame A Situation Has A Profound Impact On How You Respond To It Emotionally.
Imposter syndrome is a psycho-emotional experience of a fear of being found out as incompetent despite ongoing evidence to the contrary.
The effects of imposter syndrome include increased anxiety, under-performance and depression. It can affect mental health and overall functioning. In short, it is debilitating.
In my experience people can, and do, waste a lot of time thinking about their issue and analyzing it, typically how they got it, why they have got it, how it affects them, and talking with other people with the same or similar issue.
This has some value, but it is limited. Being informed about your problem is not going to solve it. The real work lies in dealing with your head and your heart, your thoughts and your emotions.
Here's how it works:
Continue reading "Dealing With Imposter Syndrome - Ego Is The Enemy"
The Challenges Of The Road Less Traveled
Issues You'll Face When Playing The Long Game.
The challenges of the road less traveled is loosely based around the phrase popularised by M.Scott Peck with his book "The Road Less Traveled".
This article is about the the journey that some of us take as we work towards a long term goal, and that involves hidden steps that we have to figure out as we go.
It involves the sacrifice of short term gains for long-term wins.
The purpose of this article is:
1. To provide a route map
2. To identify the challenges we will face on this journey
3. To offer solutions to overcoming the challenges of the road less traveled.
How To Benefit From the Unseen Margins - 5 Key Tips For Success
These Unseen Margins Can Have A Very Dramatic Impact On Your Life.
To understand how to benefit from the unseen margins we need to start by understanding what they are and where we find them.
In this article I am going to explain:
# What Unseen Margin Is And How To Measure It
# Where To Find Unseen Margin In An Environment Of Complexity
# 5 Key Tips To Benefit From Unseen Margin
# Guiding Principles To Benefit From Unseen Margin
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The Art Of Thinking Clearly - How To Do More Than Just Survive And Reproduce
3 Key Tips
The art of thinking clearly starts with the sobering realisation that our brains are designed to achieve two things: Survival and Reproduction!
98% of our thinking is unconscious, automatic and impulsive.
This thinking uses our mammalian brain which is all about emotions and is driven by our reptilian brain which is focused on survival.
The art of clear thinking is developed and exercised when we use the more recently evolved parts of our brain. This involves slower thinking that is thoughtful, deliberate, and calculating.
Here are 3 key tips.
Continue reading "The Art Of Thinking Clearly - How To Do More Than Just Survive And Reproduce"
Algorithms to Live By - 5 Useful Rules Of Thumb
5 Useful Heuristics From Algorithms To Live By
The thesis of the book "Algorithms to Live By" is that algorithms developed for computers can be used by people in everyday life in a wide range of situations.
But I don't think that's true because an algorithm is dependent on specific fixed conditions whereas real life is more fluid.
But some of the principles drawn from algorithms can be useful as a mental shortcut - or a "rule of thumb" to solving problems promptly and efficiently without having to take the time to think through your decision.
Here are 5 examples.
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Finding Signal In The Noise - How To Avoid The Noise Bottleneck
The Art Of Being Wise Is The Art Of Knowing What To Overlook.
We are blessed and cursed to live in the digital age. We have access to more information than we can possibly handle yet we struggle to find the signal in the noise.
We are drowning in a tsunami of 24/7 news, a swamp of social media and cesspit of trivia and garbage.
Like junkies seeking their next fix, we gorge on information, blindly seeking substance beneath the froth and bubble.
So how do we find the signal in the noise?
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The Checklist Manifesto - Your Personal Safety Net
A Checklist Is A Safety Net That Encourages Better Results And Prevents Avoidable Mistakes.
The volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely, or reliably. Knowledge has both saved us and burdened us.
Checklists provide protection against such failures. They remind us of the minimum necessary steps and make them explicit.
Continue reading "The Checklist Manifesto - Your Personal Safety Net"
How Not To Be Stupid - 4 Key Tips
How To Avoid The 7 Causes Of Everyday Stupidity.
We are all capable of everyday stupidity as we undertake routine tasks in our business and working lives and also in our personal lives.
This is not about about a lack of intelligence.
This is about is how we regularly overlook or dismiss crucial information that is often right in front of us and the resulting human error can at a minimum cause significant hassle and inconvenience and in the worst cases cause catastrophic loss of life.
Here are 4 tips on how not to be stupid.
Beginners Mind And The Voice Of Experience
Only The Experts Survived Evolution.
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."
These are the famous words of Shunryu Suzuki in "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" who did so much to promote and popularize Zen Buddhism in the US during the 1960's.
The implication is that to have knowledge and experience of a subject - to have the mind of an expert - is limiting and we should always assume the mindset of a novice with no prior knowledge or expertise and maintain an open mind.
Is this really what Suzuki meant? What exactly was he driving at?
Continue reading "Beginners Mind And The Voice Of Experience"
The Art Of Being Alone Is A Skill
Let's Make Today A Good Day.
You may not have chosen the condition of being alone, and it may have been imposed upon you by circumstances beyond your control, but your response to the situation is within your control.
The art of being alone is a skill.
It is a skill that you can acquire by training, practice and experience.
Here's how to do it.
Intuition & Anxiety - Are There Angels Or Devils Calling Here?
How To Tell The Difference Between Intuition and Anxiety.
How do you know whether the voice of your intuition is real or just the product of your inner anxiety?
We all struggle with these inner voices as we try to work out whether it is the inner devils of our insecurities and anxieties that are talking, or whether we are hearing the voices of the better angels of our nature offering intuitive guidance.
Here's how to tell whether you are hearing the voice of intuition or the voice of anxiety.
Continue reading "Intuition & Anxiety - Are There Angels Or Devils Calling Here?"
Like A Prayer - Life Is A Mystery
It Isn't The Process Of Prayer That’s The Problem, It’s The Way It’s Framed.
Regardless of what we feel about Madonna or her song the topic of prayer often arouses strong reactions.
Usually, it is something that we associate with organised religion and for most of us this is not on our current radar.
For the modern person who is not a practitioner or devotee of a faith tradition this framing of prayer does not resonate.
Here is an alternative approach.
Fear Of Missing Out - "I'll Have What She's Having!"
We Follow The Herd - We Mimic Other People's Choices.
Fear of missing out - or FOMO as it is popularly referred to - is the feeling that everyone else in your peer group is having much more fun than you are.
FOMO is an emotional response of envy, jealousy, inadequacy and at root a deep seated insecurity reflecting fragile self-esteem.
Here's how to deal with it.
Continue reading "Fear Of Missing Out - "I'll Have What She's Having!""
Free - Self Improvement Resources
Exercising Balance and Discernment.
I have just updated these self improvement resources with a number of additional sources of material that are practical and can help you change your life.
Check it out. It's all free!
Your Higher Self - Your Hardwired Portal To The Universe
This Is The You That Is Beyond Your Thinking Mind.
This is the big you, the transcendent you, the you that is often referred to as your higher consciousness or higher self.
This is the you that acts as your conscious mind's portal to the universe, everything conventionally thought of as outside of you.
This is the you that is connected to every thing and everyone else.This is the non-dualistic you that does not see distinction between 'this and that' and experiences 'everything' as unity.
Here's how to connect with your higher self.
Continue reading "Your Higher Self - Your Hardwired Portal To The Universe"
The Power Of Gratitude - It's Good For You!
Gratitude And Attitude Are Not Challenges, They Are Choices.
The power of gratitude quite simply is that it is good for you!
Many of us were raised by parents who instilled in us the social niceties of saying "please" and "thank you".
Whilst those ingrained courtesies have their place in oiling the wheels of social intercourse there is an important dynamic at work in the expression of gratitude, and it comprises two elements, namely framing and focus.
How you mentally characterize a situation has a profound impact on how you respond to it emotionally and, over time, this has a significant effect on the results you create in your own life and in the lives of others.
Continue reading "The Power Of Gratitude - It's Good For You!"
Living With Your Thoughts - 4 Tools To Help You
Develop A Good Working Relationship With Your Mind.
The first step in living with your thoughts is to understand and develop a good working relationship with all areas of your mind.
The key to developing a good working relationship with your mind is to have tools, techniques and resources that work with all levels of your mind.
The second key factor in living with your thoughts is to understand your many selves and learn how to deal with them.
Here are 4 sets of tools to help you that each work with one or more areas of your whole self:
Continue reading "Living With Your Thoughts - 4 Tools To Help You"
You Are Not Your Thoughts - How To Escape This Ferris Wheel Of Suffering
The 4 Stages To Dealing With Your Thoughts.
You are not your thoughts, at least that's what your rational mind tells you most of the time, but that's definitely not how it feels at 3 am when you have woken up and can’t get back to sleep.
So how do we deal with our negative thoughts: thoughts of anger, accusation and despair?
There are the four stages in dealing with your thoughts: awareness of your thoughts; understanding your thoughts; accepting your thoughts; and, living with your thoughts.
Continue reading "You Are Not Your Thoughts - How To Escape This Ferris Wheel Of Suffering"
Finish What You Start - Action Will Destroy Your Procrastination
4 Key Tips To Help You Finish What You Start.
So why do you fail to finish what you start? Or in my case, why do I fail to even get started?
There is a wealth of information out there about how to avoid procrastination, how to get started and how to finish what you start and yet for so many of us this area is huge problem.
Here are 4 key tips to finish what you start, and all based on extensive personal experience.
You may find some of these tips counter-intuitive, but believe me they do work and are effective.
Continue reading "Finish What You Start - Action Will Destroy Your Procrastination"
Going The Extra Mile - The Power Of One More
Life Is Non-Linear, Which Makes The Rewards Of Continued Effort Disproportionately Big.
In the pursuit of a long term goal you have to go countless extra miles to set yourself up for a big success.
Going the extra mile in the long game is so hard to play because it involves taking a series of very small steps, that people rarely see, persistently and consistently over a long period of time to reach an enormous and visible outcome.
Here are 7 proven strategies, with resources, for going the extra mile in the pursuit of a long term goal.
Continue reading "Going The Extra Mile - The Power Of One More"
Tao Te Ching - Connecting To Your True Source Of Power.
How To Be Lived By The Tao.
The Tao Te Ching is one of those books that many people read, few understand, and even fewer put into practice.
The only way to know the Tao is to experience it, and it is experienced in your heart not your head.
The words in the Tao Te Ching are not a belief system. This is not something that you can grasp intellectually.
"Only in being lived by the Tao can you truly be yourself."
Continue reading "Tao Te Ching - Connecting To Your True Source Of Power."
Dying To Self & Dropping The Ego
Everything Does Not Revolve Around Me.
The two phrases dying to self & dropping the ego are Christian and Buddhist expressions of the same fundamental truth - the need to correct the inbuilt, hardwired tendency to assume that everything revolves around "me".
This is all about achieving a balance between the harmony and peace of the inner world of consciousness and awareness with the requirements of surviving and functioning effectively in the outer world of duality.
This balance occurs when we draw daily guidance and inspiration from our inner world and execute and implement with our thinking minds.
The Confident Mind - 4 Keys To Peak Performance
Peak Performance Is Meditation In Motion.
Peak performance is grounded in the Tao practise of Wu Wei which means "doing with out doing". This is all about how you take action by being so immersed in profound concentration on what you are doing that you are "in the zone".
The foundation for achieving this state requires you to have achieved unconscious competence in exercising the required skills to undertake the required tasks and activities. i.e. to function on auto-pilot.
Here are the 4 keys to building the confident mind:
Continue reading "The Confident Mind - 4 Keys To Peak Performance"
Going With The Flow - The Balance Of Being And Doing
Steer The Boat Each Day Rather Than Plan Ahead Way Into The Future.
Going with the flow is about learning to become comfortable with uncertainty, and learning how to exploit the potential hidden within it, both to feel better in the present and to achieve more success in the future.
Uncertainty is where things happen.
It is where the opportunities – for success, for happiness, for really living – are waiting.
Continue reading "Going With The Flow - The Balance Of Being And Doing"
8 Principles For Success
A Timeless Foundation On Which To Build Your Success.
There are Universal laws and processes that work to support us and guarantee that we achieve all our goals.
But first we need to know what they are, and then follow them!
You will certainly achieve your success and it will be in exact proportion to the clarity and depth of definition of your vision, the persistence of your focus on that vision, the level of your trust and the depth of your gratitude to the process that will deliver your vision.
The Loving Father
A Love That Will Not Let You Go.
I had a loving father. I knew that I did, but I never felt it.
My father was a good man but very damaged and unable to show his feelings. So I grew up knowing in my head that I was loved, but not feeling it in my heart.
This is a common experience. Many of us, for one reason or another, grow up with little or no sense of a loving father and often we may not even realise the absence of the felt sense of that love until much later in life.
As a child I went through a period of idolising my father and in a way he was like a god to me, but always distant and never felt.
The love of a father has a special quality to it - a deep sense of comfort and all encompassing protection - a feeling of being taken care of, and a source of guidance, direction and inspiration.
Deep within all of us is a basic, primeval need to be loved, loved by someone, loved by anyone, just loved.
Your Ebenezer Stone Of Help
How To Stay Connected To Your True Source Of Power.
Approximately 2,500 years ago the Israeli town of Kafr Qasim was close to the site of two battles between the ancient Israelis and their neighbours and enemies the Philistines, a war-like people said to have originally migrated from Crete.
In keeping with their belief system, the ancient Israeli's viewed themselves as JHWH's chosen people, and JHWH was their source of guidance and power. But they left JHWH and worshiped foreign gods.
The result was they suffered major military defeats. So they changed back to following JHWH and in the ensuing battle the Israelis prevailed and the Philistines were decisively defeated.
After the battle, the Israelis erected a stone monument and called it "Ebenezer" which means in Hebrew "Stone Of Help".
An Ebenezer stone of help is a constant reminder to stay connected to your true source of power.
The Stockdale Paradox
How To Deal With The Attrition Factor.
The Stockdale Paradox is named after the late James Stockdale, former vice presidential candidate, naval commander and prisoner of war during the American-Vietnam war.
It became well known having been featured in author and business guru Jim Collins’ book “Good To Great” following extensive interviews between Collins and Stockdale exploring how Stockdale survived 8 years of imprisonment and torture.
Collins’ specific focus was to identify the principles that underpinned Stockdale’s survival and emergence at the end of the war as not only unbroken but as source of practical inspiration.
Embrace Your Fear Of Failure And Uncertainty
We Celebrate Success And Ignore Failure.
Numerous studies have been undertaken on successful people to understand what it was that they did to become so successful, how they did it and when they did it - and we are led to believe that we too can achieve comparable success if we replicate this.
We are told by the self-help gurus: “You can be anything you want to be, if you put your mind to it.”
But what the self help gurus tell you is just not true.
Continue reading "Embrace Your Fear Of Failure And Uncertainty"
The Wilderness Years - 3 Keys To An Exit
How You Got Into The Wilderness Matters Less Than The Lessons To Be Learnt There.
The wilderness years can be described as any lengthy time, longer than a year, that is spend aimlessly; without an immediate purpose, or without a current goal.
The internal psychological, emotional and spiritual landscape of the wilderness state is one of being unable to find one's way, of aloneness, bewilderment, confusion and disconnection.
Here are 3 key lessons to successfully navigating your route through the wilderness years.
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In circumstances of significant change, the progress from A to B will not be in a straight line. We run our lives largely on auto-pilot. In most circumstances your experience of getting from A to B is…The Art Of Persuasion Planning For Success - Here's How To Do It!
To be successful in the art of persuasion you must ensure that certain things happen. To be successful in the art of persuasion you must establish a framework of what has to happen to get you to that…The Art Of Persuasion Advanced Communication Skills - Gaining Buyin
Create The Environment Where They Want To Buyin to Your Proposal In order to build the win-win you have to uncover what it is that the other person really wants or needs, and to do that you have to as…The Art Of Persuasion The One Fundamental Principle - Create A Win-Win
The art of persuasion is based on the simple idea that you get what you want by enabling the other party to get what they want. Being a nice friendly person with good inter-personal skills may be a go…Communication Persuasion And Change - Key Skills To Survive & Succeed
It's not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change, the most persuasive, and the best communicators. We are living in an age of unprecedented ch…The Eisenhower Box - What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent
What Is Important Is Seldom Urgent And What Is Urgent Is Seldom Important. The Eisenhower Box is a time management and decision-making model devised by President Dwight Eisenhower to help him prioriti…Zen Enlightenment [Satori] - The Stink Of Zen
Lost In Our Delusions About Enlightenment. There is something in human nature - a desire to glamorise, sanctify, objectify and idolise – that elevates people who have offered deep insights to the huma…5 Zen Mindsets For Mastery - In Any Area Of Your Life
The Wisdom Of A Person Who Masters In Any Art Is Reflected In Their Every Attitude. The state and quality of your mind has a very large bearing on the quality of your performance in any area of life t…Dealing With The Toxicity Of Online Dating - 6 Key Tips From A Clinical Psychologist
Toxicity Is The Price Tag Of Accessibility. In the early days of online dating, users were vetted and had to go through a registration process and agree to comply with a code of conduct designed to en…Why Understanding Ergodicity Is Critical To Your Long Term Survival
How Not To Be Fooled By Randomness. Ergodicity is an ugly word from the world of mathematics. It is an umbrella term for two sets of conditions of probability and outcome. These two conditions form th…Dealing With Imposter Syndrome - Ego Is The Enemy
How You Frame A Situation Has A Profound Impact On How You Respond To It Emotionally. Imposter syndrome is a psycho-emotional experience of a fear of being found out as incompetent despite ongoing evi…The Challenges Of The Road Less Traveled
Issues You'll Face When Playing The Long Game. The challenges of the road less traveled is loosely based around the phrase popularised by M.Scott Peck with his book "The Road Less Traveled". This arti…How To Benefit From the Unseen Margins - 5 Key Tips For Success
These Unseen Margins Can Have A Very Dramatic Impact On Your Life. To understand how to benefit from the unseen margins we need to start by understanding what they are and where we find them. In this…The Art Of Thinking Clearly - How To Do More Than Just Survive And Reproduce
3 Key Tips The art of thinking clearly starts with the sobering realisation that our brains are designed to achieve two things: Survival and Reproduction! 98% of our thinking is unconscious, automatic…Algorithms to Live By - 5 Useful Rules Of Thumb
5 Useful Heuristics From Algorithms To Live By The thesis of the book "Algorithms to Live By" is that algorithms developed for computers can be used by people in everyday life in a wide range of situa…Finding Signal In The Noise - How To Avoid The Noise Bottleneck
The Art Of Being Wise Is The Art Of Knowing What To Overlook. We are blessed and cursed to live in the digital age. We have access to more information than we can possibly handle yet we struggle to fi…The Checklist Manifesto - Your Personal Safety Net
A Checklist Is A Safety Net That Encourages Better Results And Prevents Avoidable Mistakes. The volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correc…How Not To Be Stupid - 4 Key Tips
How To Avoid The 7 Causes Of Everyday Stupidity. We are all capable of everyday stupidity as we undertake routine tasks in our business and working lives and also in our personal lives. This is not ab…Beginners Mind And The Voice Of Experience
Only The Experts Survived Evolution.
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." These are the famous words of Shunryu Suzuki in "Zen Mind, Beginner's Min…The Art Of Being Alone Is A Skill
Let's Make Today A Good Day. You may not have chosen the condition of being alone, and it may have been imposed upon you by circumstances beyond your control, but your response to the situation is wit…Intuition & Anxiety - Are There Angels Or Devils Calling Here?
How To Tell The Difference Between Intuition and Anxiety. How do you know whether the voice of your intuition is real or just the product of your inner anxiety? We all struggle with these inner voices…