If you're paying a mortgage, if you've been responsibly saving for your retirement, if you're an ordinary taxpayer, if you're depending on social welfare... you are suffering at the hands of an elite group of sadistic lunatics who think that it's OK to bet on banks' share values falling - by selling shares that they don't even own. The practice of 'short-selling', currently banned by a number of European governments, has been one of the primary forces in driving more...

It's fifteen years since I ran my first Personal Development Workshop - and sixteen years working for myself is fast approaching. In all those years I've met hundreds of people who wanted, for one reason or another, to change their lives. Some had reached a crossroads in their career, some were suffering from the proverbial mid-life crisis, some had serious (and incorrect) doubts about their own capabilities but many simply wanted more out of life. more...

We all want more out of life.  Some of us want to change our lives radically – some of us have things about ourselves that we want to change.  But, unfortunately, for most of us, life keeps getting in the way!   The stress of everyday life – yes, millions of people are suffering from stress and national health services worldwide are leaking money trying to cope with the related health problems – stop us in our tracks. But, if you think that you’re more...

It only takes a few minutes to discover the difference between being focused and being all over the place – I’ve been teaching people to focus since 1996 and I know that it works.  Every week, my personal development ezine readers receive quick tips and exercises on how to focus their mind.  Every week, people all over the world sign up to my online workshops to learn the same thing.  So, what is focus all about? First of all, you need to realize that more...

I’ve been running Personal Development Seminars now for over fifteen years and still, after all these years practicing what I preach, I wake up some mornings plagued with useless thoughts – or the little rascals come after me during the day when I least expect it.   But, of course, I should expect them because, sad as it may seem, the adult human appears to be hell-bent on destroying our best efforts in the course of our everyday lives. Seventy years research in more...

The World Health Organization believes that stress will be one of the biggest killers of the 21st century.  Stress is responsible for millions of lost workdays in the US and UK each year.  Stress leads to eating disorders, sleep disorders, heart problems, a multitude of other health problems – stress kills.  And, yet, stress does not exist.   You’re suffering from stress simply because you think that you’re suffering from stress.  It’s a trick of the mind!  Outside more...

What a strange title for a blog post! And, yet, you need to understand the psychological facts to understand why it can appear to be so difficult to focus your mind, stick to your goals and overcome the herd-like behaviour of so-called normal people. Evolutionary psychology suggests that the human mind developed to its current state between 1.3m and 10,000 years ago, when we were hunter-gatherers. Our minds were ideally suited to that environment. In other more...

Have you ever started the day with the very best of intentions - you were going to get a load of work done, or some important decision taken or you were really going to enjoy the day at the beach - whatever? And then it all goes peach-shaped? Or you simply forget what you'd set out to do and discover yourself, half way through the day, doing the same old crap that you wallow in every day. It's very hard for us to keep our minds on track - psychologically more...

A simple question - the answer to which can provide you with both a major insight and a major opportunity. Personal development or self improvement are all about awareness and, in particular, self awareness. Quite simply, how you are feeling right now! Noticing how you're feeling is not the first step on the road to awareness, it's the only step - if done in a mindful manner. So, stop for a moment and ask yourself the question. Perhaps you're feeling happy, more...

Just as I started writing the title of this post I remembered that my last post might have said something about us all being the authors of our own misfortune. If that is the case - and I strongly believe that it is (been there, done that, have now burned the T-Shirt!) - then, by definition, we must be able to be the authors of our own happiness and success. And it's as easy as putting a different CD in the disc drive! Yes, that's right - at present, you're more...

I sometimes wonder at the emails that I get from people! Someone - whose business and financial situation is a disaster - and whose family life is fraught, to say the least - repeatedly asks me how he can break out of the downward spiral - and why such dreadful things are happening to him again and again. Let's deal with the second one first. The bad things that befall us in business and finance are the direct consequence of our own decisions and actions - or lack of more...

The vast majority of people that I meet on my Personal Development Workshops have arrived under an illusion that they need to improve themselves - self improvement is their goal. What they don't understand is that they actually don't know who they really are and, if they did, that there is no need for self improvement, just a need to break the bad habits of an adult lifetime. You are not your behaviour. You are not your personality. Your personality is a more...

The short answer to the question if 'Yes' - if you buy all that crap that the ideal life is about yachts, fast cars, Caribbean sunsets and designer clothes. That's got nothing to do with personal development but that's what all the self-styled personal development experts and lifestyle gurus are peddling because they know that that's what you want to hear. Why? Because it's the normal believe, the conventional wisdom. But normal people are crazy and conventional more...

I've had too many discussions over the last two weeks with peoplel who think that they are suffering from stress. You might say to yourself "Well maybe they really are suffering from stress" - but that's my point, nobody suffers from stress - they just think that they do. Stress is created by your own over-active subconscious mind. Sure, the resulting symptoms can be as real as hell - and you'll find all sorts of pills to pop to deal with those symptoms. But none more...