Saturday 27 September 2014

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams


Simply inspiring.




This is the full "last lecture." Watch the first 5 minutes and you may be tempted to watch more. Alternatively skip forward and watch the last  6 minutes.



Saturday 20 September 2014

Self Improvement? No Need!

By Willie Horton

You don't need self improvement. You're perfect all ready - you just need to realize it. Some aficionados of personal development might call the process 'self-realization' - a big word (two actually) for something that is within every single person's reach. There's little pointing in clouding what comes naturally in some fog of mystique - little point in complicating the simply. Every sinlge one of us can achieve awareness and self fulfilment if we learn how to simply stop the incessant noise in our head. I think you know the noise that I'm talking about. The little voice that says 'No You Can't' - that nagging feeling that, unlike the L'Oreal ad, you're not worth it! - or all the various different feelings of inadequacy, shyness, uselessness, that, in actual fact, have nothing to do with who you really are - they're just the leftovers from the things that happened to you during your formative years.

We all labour under this crap - but crap it is. Psychology tells us that our subconscious mind - the part of you that's constantly feeding your feelings of perceived inadequacy - is obsessed with what made you feel good or bad about yourself during your childhood - those aforementioned formative years. Unfortunately, psychology also proves that your subconscious mind actually prefers, for some bizarre reason, to focus on the negative. In other words, instead of being encouraged by your subconscious, you are constantly being put down - your subconscious mind is actually working against you. This is a very big problem for us all because, you must remember, that your subconscious is the part of your mind that automatically creates your behaviour and reactions - so you constantly keep proving yourself right! Your life is a string of self fulfilling prophecies!

As an adult, you've grown older but never grown up. Well, it's time to grow up now and take responsibility for what's going on in your head. You need to learn how to free your mind - to sweep away all that horrible self-destructive noise. Those useless thoughts will always be with you, they're deeply impressed upon your subconscious mind, they're never going to go away. However, what you have to do is learn how to not give them your attention or energy. What you must realize is that thought on its own is nothing. On the other hand, thought plus energy the energy that you give it equals your version of reality. And it has nothing to do with real reality right here, right now.

You've got to find a different way to deploy your energy. First of all, there's certainly no use in trying to counteract the useless thoughts in your head with positive thoughts. Fighting the useless thoughts is counter-productive - if you get involved in that argument you will just give those self-defeating thoughts even more energy and you'll get even more frustrated with your lot in life. Instead, you've got to learn to pay attention to something else - and nothing else is more exciting, nothing else should demand more of your attention than the wonderful world of the here and now. Because real reality is actually taking place before your very eyes - it's just that the useless crap in your head has blinded you to who you really are and all the opportunities that life has on offer - right here, right now.

The present moment is the time and place where life is lived. By training your mind to focus on the here and now, you can break out of your 'thought-made shell' and start living the life that you really want to live, free of the unreal inhibitions that have been holding you back. You have the opportunity to live life to the full right now. What you've got to do is wake up and smell the roses - I mean that literally. Reality - with all its possibilities and opportunities - is experienced through your only interface with the outside world - your five senses. Psychology proves that, because of the noise in our heads, we do not pay adequate attention to what our senses are actually telling us about the present moment. Instead, we use our internal crap to make sense of what we think is going on - and, obviously, make nonsense of it. You've got to come to your senses. You've got to train your mind to pay attention to what's real so that it will stop paying attention to what isn't.

And starting out couldn't be simpler - as I said earlier, why complicate what is simplicity itself! Tomorrow morning, before your day gets going, make ten minutes 'me-time' for yourself. Find somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed, sit down, close your eyes and just listen. You'll think that someone has turned up the volume! However, it's just that, with your eyes closed, you're actually paying more attention to the sounds around you. Try to listen to the sound of your breathing and, then, try to feel the way the air goes in and out of you - and the effect that it has on your body - every time you breathe in and out.

The secret to living your ideal life is no big deal - you've simply got to start paying attention to living, instead of letting your subconscious mind pay attention to dying a slow and painful psychological death.

Copyright (c) 2010 Willie Horton



About The Author
Willie Horton has been a Personal Development expert since 1996 - working with top leaders in major organizations. An Irish ex-accountant, ex-banker, published author and keynote speaker, he travels the world, from his home in the French Alps, enabling people "live the dream". All his work - including his acclaimed Personal Development Workshop - is now online at http://www.gurdy.net


The author invites you to visit: http://www.gurdy.net



Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_8366.shtml

Saturday 6 September 2014

Overcoming Life's Challenges - Are You Tired Of It?

By Noelyne Jones

I've given up.....hoping that one day I will no longer have challenges to overcome in life. A few years ago I had got to the point where I was tired of the constant struggle to overcome the challenges that seem to continually come my way. Challenges at work, in my personal life, with my relationships and after my divorce the financial challenges. I know that you learn most from the experiences that stretch you and take you out of your comfort zone however, I had got to the point where I no longer wanted to be stretched and developed.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt very tired of the constant battle to keep your head above water? Always feeling as though no matter what you do nothing changes or improves? Thinking that you are just about to get there, then something else arrives to knock you off your stride? Like redundancy or discovering your partner or husband is having an affair? Have you ever felt that you just don't want to have to do what it takes to survive and be successful?

The problem is with hoping that you will find happiness and peace and no struggles one day is, that one day never arrives. Do you know why it will never arrive? Because it's always in the future. That's a big lesson I have learned. There is only now. The past is history, the future a mystery and the present is a gift that's why they call it the present. It's here right now that you will find the peace and contentment and satisfaction and happiness that you desire.

Once realise that there is only now you can start to let go of the worry, frustration and feeling of constant battles. You just need to know that whatever happens you will handle it. I've turned my life around from that desperate feeling of never really getting anywhere with my life and I now have the life of my dreams. Yes there are always things that I desire and strive for, life would be no fun if you didn't have those hopes. The important thing is to enjoy the present moment.

And life continues to throw me those challenges. I've already blogged about one this week when I was asked at short notice to travel to Portsmouth to deliver a training course the following morning. What's challenging about that I hear you ask? I had been up since 5am to travel to a meeting 3 hours away and was sat on a train on the return journey when the call came through. I arrived home at 7.30 and then drove to Portsmouth arriving at midnight.

This week I've also discovered an issue with one of my tenants, that needs to be dealt with immediately. A few years ago this would have sent me into the panic zone and sleepless nights. That feeling of fear you get to the point where you freeze not knowing what to do. However, now it's a process that needs to be followed to get the desired outcome. No I don't want to have to be dealing with this, it would be lovely if everything was as it should be, but it's not. And the sooner you accept the reality the sooner you can take action to do something about it.

It's often other people's behaviour that causes the problem. In this case, a standard or something that it very important to me has been broken. When you feel strongly enough about the situation and have clear standards then the solution is easy to choose and the action that follows easy to take, even though you don't really want to be doing it. Knowing who to contact for support helps immensely. I used to bottle things up for fear of appearing as though I couldn't cope, for fear of what other people might think or say. I didn't want to have to deal with their reaction.

You all need some time now and again in the comfort zone, it's where you feel safe and things are easy. There's a familiarity and this can happen at home and at work when you have been living or working on a task for some time. If you stay in the comfort zone too long it can become boring and you start to feel that there must be more to life than this.

If you get out of the habit of setting yourself new goals and activities to follow then you can easily go into your panic zone when facing a new or unexpected situation. This is where you allow your fear of what might or might not happen to stop you from taking action, you freeze. It's inevitable that you will feel this at different stages throughout your life. You need to recognise the feeling and get curious about what it's telling you. What are you afraid of? You need to get back to the Stretch zone, where you will feel excited and challenged rather than fearful.

When you overcome your fear and step out of your comfort zone into the stretch zone life becomes much more exciting and challenging. You become more confident as you develop new skills and overcome those challenges.

I've learned that the only thing that I can truly control in my life is my reaction to whatever happens. I've also know that I have the confidence and courage to overcome anything. Life is a balancing act of living in the comfort zone, moving into the stretch zone when appropriate and recognising when you are in the panic zone and need to change your approach.

Enjoy the process of life,

Noelyne Jones

Your Personal Achievement Specialist



About The Author
Noelyne Jones the "Personal Achievement Maestro" is the Training and Development expert who specialises in overcoming low confidence and self-esteem, banishing procrastination and removing all fears and doubts so that you can get the life that you want. With over 20 years experience Noelyne is an expert in Personal Effectiveness Strategies, People Management and Health and Well-Being. Her purpose is to sky rocket your confidence and self-belief using her unique toolkit of skills and techniques including Coaching, Neuro Lingusitic Programming (NLP) and accelerated learning activities.

Find out more at http://www.noelynejones.com

Free Special Report click here http://www.howtoovercomeyourfears.com

'Showing you how to enjoy the process of life'

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 The author invites you to visit: http://www.noelynejones.com




Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_8383.shtml