Our universe, our world and your daily life operates like a big energy-exchange machine.  So says quantum physics – everything is made up of energy and the most basic components are superstrings of energy.  You’ve got trillions of superstrings of energy that combine into particles, molecules, cells which, all together, add up to the physical you.   To quote the physicist Brian Greene, your superstrings are just like violin strings and, when they are all in more...

It may be myth – but many myths are simply facts lost in the mists of time – that, having struggled for many years to find the meaning of life, the Buddha became enlightened when he was simply sitting under a tree.  Again, it may be legend, but legend has it that Sir Isaac Newton made is most important scientific discovery, once again, whilst sitting under a tree.   And although it was an apple that reputedly dropped for Newton, you’ve got to find your own tree to more...

Think about it – the people who are currently most important in your life were once total strangers to you.  Whether by chance or what I might view as synchronicity – or, indeed, what a quantum physicist might view as a derivation of quantum entanglement – you are where you are as a result of apparently random events at the core of which are people who were, when you first encountered them, complete and utter strangers. When I was growing more...

I come across so many people who want more out of life.  I talk to many people who know they want something different but have no idea what that ‘different’ might be.  Many people are simply unhappy where they are – whether it’s because their stuck in an unloving relationship, they hate the job they’re doing or, perhaps, they’ve simply been doing the same job for so long that they’re getting nothing out of it anymore. Do you want more out of life? more... 

Have you the guts to be different?  Have the guts to stand out from the crowd, to stand apart from your own little herd?  Have you what it takes to set yourself apart from all the sad, pathetic people that you hang out with?  Normal people are sad and pathetic – and most of us are normal.  The normal mind is out of control, preferring to take its cue from the events of our formative years rather than actually taking real action – the only kind of action that will achieve more...

How many good ideas have you had that you simply never did anything about?  Ever noticed that some of the most successful people are where they are because they took action to progress some really simple idea – the kind of idea that you say to yourself “I could have thought of that!”?  Of course, the difference between you and these super-successful people is down to one simple thing – they take action, normal people don’t.  Normal people more...

What impact does your self esteem have on your personal effectiveness, your relationships and the normal course of your daily life?  Are you suffering from low self esteem?  Would you like to learn how to build your self esteem?  Self esteem is all about how you value yourself as a person, how you view yourself in terms of your strengths and weakness and, indeed, how you perceive what other people think of you.  Let’s deal with the last one first, because it’s really more...

How many good ideas have you had that you simply never did anything about?  Ever noticed that some of the most successful people are where they are because they took action to progress some really simple idea – the kind of idea that you say to yourself “I could have thought of that!”? Well, we all are struck by inspiration from time to time – it’s just that normal people will laugh it off as a flight of fancy.  And that’s what makes normal people normal – and the more...

All too often we find ourselves in situations in life that are less than ideal.  Did you ever wonder how you got there?  Well, the answer is extraordinarily simple – it’s your own doing!   We make choices on a moment to moment basis and all the choices that you have made in your adult life add up to where you are in this present moment.  Unfortunately, though, we’re completely unaware of most of the choices that we make because we make them subconsciously – or more...

What would you say to the proposition that you can achieve anything – absolutely anything – in which you can believe?  Well, that’s what you’re actually doing at the moment – you’re living the life that you believe you can live.  Psychology tells us that we perceive only what we expect to perceive and experience only what we expect to experience.   Unfortunately, as a result of our socialisation into a normal world and upbringing by normal parents more...

With the massive growth in sales of self improvement books and the proliferation of personal development websites, wouldn’t you think that you would be now have witnessed a major shift in human consciousness – a marked improvement in the human condition?  Not only is there little sign of improvement, all the evidence points to the contrary – increased levels of worry and anxiety as the economy slips and slides having been hijacked by a small number of more...

I got an invoice from my lawyer a couple of days back – for what exactly I’m not sure, as his services didn’t really match the bill!    He said he was sending out invoices to a variety of people to “keep the wolf from the door in these challenging times”. Challenging times they may well be.  We’re faced with difficult economic circumstances currently, we’re regularly faced with the ups and downs of normal everyday relationships and we are frequently more...

Too many people are going through their lives wishing, hoping, wanting or waiting for something to happen.  “I wish I could just get that lucky break.” “I hope that tomorrow will be better.” “I want to win the Lottery!”   Unfortunately, what most people don’t realize is that nothing “just happens” in life – you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do yourself to get the ball rolling.  And, unfortunately, there are too many self-help books out there that, at the very least, more...

A friend recently recommended one of his best-loved self-help books to me – it was the latest in a long list of recommended reading.   In chatting with him, I enquired as to how he was getting on putting into practice what he was learning from all his reading.  It emerged from our conversation that, in fact, he was a life-long student of living life to the full but was likely never to actually try it.  He told me that a friend of his had suggested to him that he “stop more...

The normal mind is anaesthetized.  I’ve come across people who do things they know they shouldn’t be doing but they appear not to be able to help it.  Things like reading every single email when it arrives even though they’re supposed to be in the middle of something important and they know that the majority of the emails that they read are a complete and utter waste of time.  Things like sitting in front of the television in the evening with the remote control more...

As I wander around from country to country, working with and talking to my various personal development clients, I am struck by the number of people who are doing what they’re doing for the money.  In asking them what would they do with their life if money were no object, few tell me that they would keep doing what they’re currently doing.   My anecdotal evidence seems to be backed up by the extent to which the vast majority of normal people don’t like more...

You are being plagued by useless thought and you many not even be aware of it!  Whilst the average adult is bombarded by around 50,000 thoughts each day, it is also true to say that the average adult is largely unaware of anything that is going on in his or her life.  Wow – that’s a big statement, you may wonder if it’s true, certainly it will come as news to you.  However, research that started in 1936 and is still being built upon proves conclusively that normal more...

I’ve just spent a couple of days with a client here in the French Alps – someone who regards his personal development as of paramount importance in his life, someone who has altered his daily routine, going to bed one hour earlier to ensure that he has an extra hour each morning for meditation.  He has been regularly meditating for up to an hour each morning for the last two years.  The benefits?  His health and fitness have greatly improved.  His level of more...

I get these strange comments to some of my articles and posts.  I recently wrote an article on the importance of paying attention to the here and now, making the point that it’s the only time and place that you can be – and if you don’t bother to turn up to the reality of the moment, how can you reasonably expect to get anything much out of life.   One of the comments – from someone working who signed themselves as a “personal development expert” said more...

We all get frustrated from time to time.  People’s behaviour frustrates us, we get frustrated by our own inaction, we get frustrated over things over which we have no control – like the weather or volcanic ash!   But what about those of us who are trying to do our best to get the most out of life, or even change our lives, who get frustrated because nothing seems to be happening, we don’t seem to be making any progress? Well, the one sure way of holding more...

The short answer to the question is “none!” – unless, of course, you’re prepared to put what you’ve learned into practice.   And that’s where most people fall down.  Yeah, they spent a day or two and it was great, they felt renewed, uplifted, ready for action.  But research shows that it takes about six weeks for the effects of the average training course to wear off – completely – and personal development training is no exception. Why?  Because it’s easier more...

I hear from quite a number of people – clients and readers of my Personal Development Ezine – who tell me that they have become far calmer, more aware and focused as a result of the various little “mental exercises” that they undertake to banish stress and move themselves in the direction that they want their life to go.  I regularly get feedback from some who tell me that their lives have changed and that they have seen some of their goals being more...

Many of my clients, when I meet them for the first time, feel that they’ve become stuck – perhaps they feel that they’ve hit the so-called glass ceiling, perhaps they feel that they’re going through the motions or that, in some vague way, they’ve begun to feel that there must be more to life than the daily repetitive routine.  As one client said to me “My God, I don’t even look forward to my holidays anymore, we’re going to the same place in August that more...

I was chatting to a client’s PA last Wednesday – she started the conversation with “Are you looking forward to the weekend?”  When I mentioned to her that it was only Wednesday, she replied “Ah, but the weekend’s almost here once you get past Wednesday lunchtime!”  Indeed, as I write this on a Thursday morning, I’ve already received a couple of emails finishing with the line “hope you have a great weekend!” or words to that effect. We spend so much of our lives more...

Although most of my clients are business people, because of my personal development work with young aspiring sports people I get to spend quite a bit of time with people who have not yet grown so inward looking that they miss out on the joys of life.  The psychological facts are plain, simple and incontrovertible.   Up to the age of puberty, the mind functions in a manner that is clear and focused – the immature brain is subjected to far lower more...