Control your mind to achieve goals and get more done.
Often attributed to Joseph Campbell, a favourite quote of mine is ‘The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.’ I have a little printed meme of this quote stuck to my office wall. It faces me when I sit at my desk.
I have decided to break up with my phone. Yes, after many years, the relationship has become toxic, so I have decided to end it.
As I write this in early August 2024 recent incidents in the news have made me realise that unchecked and addictive phone use is one of the poisons in modern life.
Continue reading “Why I’ve decided to break up with my phone.”
I’ve written several posts and even a book on how to retire early, or the Financial Independence Retire Early movement (FIRE). In July 2023 I finally reached the position whereby I didn’t need to work again. However, the feeling didn’t last, and I was back at work withing 3 months, although I was working for myself. You see, I decided that I won’t retire.
I have always loved words and writing, so maybe I am biased, but I believe that everyone should write, if they can. Here are seven reasons why writing is good for you.
The riches are in the niches. This is the advice you hear from the experts, when you are starting a business or content creation project. Its sound advice, but it’s easier said than done. It also doesn’t rhyme where I come from!
My advice for what it’s worth would be to be your own niche.
There is only one question you need to ask to achieve any goal, provided you have already clarified what the goal is and why you want it. That one question is: What is the next action?
You don’t need to know all the ins and outs of how to arrive at your goal. You don’t need to know even what the second step will be. All you need to know is the very next step. So, if you are stuck, just ask yourself, what is the next action I need to take?
Continue reading “One question you need to ask to achieve any goal.”
Why do you pursue goals? Is it to gain wealth, love, health or fame? Happiness is not a goal, so ask yourself why you are pursuing your goals. Whatever the answer is, ask why you want it. If you keep asking you will eventually become stuck. You will probably just say, so that I will be happy.
Running has many benefits, especially for health, such as cardiovascular exercise and mental health. Using running to solve problems, however, is a benefit few people know about.
Problems can be solved by logical analysis. They can also be solved by intuition or allowing the subconscious mind to find the solution. Using the subconscious mind to solve problems often provides more elegant solutions. But how do we get the subconscious mind to work on the problem. Well, there are many ways. You might have already noticed that answers to questions pop into your mind when you are thinking about something else. Or alternatively, you can’t remember someone’s name, but then when you are relaxing or doing something mundane like having a shower and the answer is delivered.
I can’t remember how old I was; I was sitting on my mother’s lap as she read The Hobbit to me. The tales of dragons, dwarves and hobbits transfixed me. And treasure. The image of Tolkien’s map of Middle Earth, with the mountains, rivers and a huge dragon were magical. I was always drawn back to this.
Later, when I was older, I re-read the Hobbit on my own and then tackled The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s 3 volume 6 book sequel to the Hobbit. This was not the same. The Lord of the Rings is not a children’s book and I struggled to get through it. The themes are deeper and adult in nature .
Continue reading “6 Life Changing Virtues in The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien”
About midway through my sales career, I changed jobs. This meant a change of company and products sold. Although I was still selling to the same industry (Food and Beverage), it also meant a change from hybrid account management/ business development to solely business development. Before I started the new role, I read (and re-read) Agile Selling by Jill Konrath. The tagline of the book was ‘get up to speed quickly.’ This is exactly what I needed. Here are my notes on the book and my key takeaways.
Continue reading “Agile Selling by Jill Konrath – my takeaways”