Last week I travelled around the UK interviewing outstanding volunteers for the vInspired National Awards 2013. In the process I began to notice a pattern in the lives of these super humans who consistently go beyond the call of duty to help others. Whether it was family illness, childhood scars or bad early life choices, each of them at some … Read More
Making your past useful
You hear it all the time, someone complaining about how they would do things differently if only they were back at school, didn’t have kids or if they were ten years younger, but why are we so quick to overlook the now? It’s easy to complain about what you coulda shoulda done – everyones has regrets, but if years later … Read More
Upgrade Your Thinking
Every year technology companies spend millions of pounds updating their operating systems in order to stay in the game. Microsoft recently brought us Windows 8 and Apple, OS X Mountain Lion but when was the last time you did an upgrade on your own system? Too many people accept their old way of thinking even when they haven’t been getting … Read More
Panic Attacks and Personal Bests
I had my first panic attack in my University dorm room about four years ago. I’ve always enjoyed working out but on this occasion I may have pushed myself too far which lead to a full on panic attack. After convincing the NHS helpline that I may be dying, my flat mate quickly escorted me to the hospital where they … Read More
Why you should listen to and read about successful people
For the last six months I’ve become fascinated with listening to and reading about successful business people and how they got there. I guess it stems from our natural fascination with the underdog who goes from nothing to conquer his demons and eventually come out on top, but is all this just trivial entertainment or can it be having a … Read More
Scheduling in procrastination
Procrastination is a dirty word when it comes to productivity but the truth is it can be highly effective if we learn how to take control of it. Humans suck at foresight and so we find it difficult to comprehend the success of our future selves, even though the rewards are likely to be much bigger. This is known as … Read More
The Negative Bias
Everyday when I sit down to write the following thoughts cross my mind… Does anybody care about what I have to say? Am I wasting my time? Will anybody even read it? Is it worth the effort? Am I just being egotistic? Our brains constantly search for things to think about and unfortunately for us these tend to bias toward … Read More
The importance of small wins.
One of the hardest aspects of creating something new is having the ability to finish. We all get flashes of inspiration followed by a desire to put pen to paper but as the initial drive wears thin, self doubt begins to flood in and the process quickly becomes a battle of wills. One of the main reasons for giving up … Read More
Care enough to get hit
Every time a fighter walks into the ring he/she knows they are more than likely to get hit in the face… Hard. To the average person this may seem absurd or even animalistic in nature but to the martial artist they are doing what they love and so the potential beating is worth the trade off. Everyday thousands of people … Read More
Will it work? Is it what I’m supposed to be doing?
If like me you’re constantly thinking up ideas for new ventures then you will almost always battle with these two questions. Will it work? This is always the first thing that comes to mind and is your rational lizard brain weighing up the probability of success in comparison to your own personal knowledge. It’s also the part the brain that deciphers … Read More