Life Hacks
Life Hacks. There are - in reality - very few hacks or shortcuts that yield lasting results. This section is a set of techniques, methodologies and things you might not know which can help you incrementally (or potentially radically) change your life for the better. Most of these articles don't fit neatly into one of the other life categories in the wheel of life sections, or in the tools. These are broader in scope and, generally, more transformational.
How to make your Gratitude Journaling reap Powerful Rewards
Keeping a gratitude journal is often recommended to help you develop more happiness. By being grateful for even the little things in life, we gain a much greater inner appreciation for what we actually have. It helps stem the tide of negative or comparative thinking which, through self-talk, brings our emotional state down. Gratitude journaling is beneficial and easy to start. Simply jot down the good things that happened to you like a promotion, hitting a goal in your fitness program, or getting some good news. You can use a piece of paper, a digital notepad or any of the myriad journaling apps or ready-made journals that exist. I prefer…
How to take in more information from an audiobook
The more I listen to audiobooks, the more I find them an excellent way of accessing new learning in an easy way. When I am driving, even for 5 minutes, or walking around a shop, or taking a stroll by the river, or on a plane or train, or even sitting at home, it’s easy to press play and listen to the next nugget of wisdom. However, I did start to find I was struggling with taking in the information. I did some research and I found that avid listeners digested a greater amount of knowledge by increasing the playback speed within the Audible app. Audible has this built-in and…
A Letter from the Future
As we draw to the close of the year (and the decade), it’s time to review where we’ve come from and where we’re going. Personally, I often think about this on my journey to “Become Human” as I unpick limiting beliefs and outmoded paradigms that no longer serve me, and the end of the year is a great time to do this. A powerful technique to help is the “Letter From Future You.” Many coaches ask you to think of yourself a year ahead and write down what you are grateful for having achieved that year. You then review it and if you’re not super-psyched by what you have written…
Self-Help Books – Further Thoughts on the Journey
A short while ago I wrote a post titled Why Self-Help Books Don’t Work. I have been reflecting on this and found an alternative angle to better understand it. The human experience is complex. We each have different life events and each affects us individually. This map of experience is often uncharted and key points along the timeline have a significant impact on us. These can be positive or negative and I discuss the concept of reviewing your life story further in Finding My Authenticity: Breaking My Chains. I have always had an interest in astronomy, even from a young age at school, and went on to work on cosmology…
Day One Templates: Elegant Simplicity
You may have seen me mention Day One a few times in other posts – it is my go-to journaling app and great for quickly jotting down ideas too. This post is about creating Day One Templates. One of the challenges I find with a daily journaling routine is my desire to have a short set of pre-defined sections or questions which I can adopt – i.e. headings. Other apps like Evernote also offer the facility for templates, but I found Evernote too unwieldy for day-to-day journaling. Evernote is geared for a different purpose. Day One has the template facility nailed and it even comes with a few templates for…
The Power of the Daily Journal
Do you journal daily? Journalling is all the rage now. There are numerous apps that range from the fluffy to the overly analytical. I have tried four different apps to date – Day One, Stoic (review here), Moodnotes and Jour – and bought three different physical methodologies – High-Performance Planner, Best Self Journal and a Blank Notebook. Some focus on specific aspects of journaling – such as gratitude – while others try to cover the full spectrum. Let’s be clear from the outset that a journal is not a diary, not a summary of what you did and who you did it with (though this can feature), but a much…
Tim Ferriss on Fear Setting
This is an excellent talk from 2017 by Tim Ferriss at TED about fear setting and the benefit of stoic philosophy, as well as some unexpected places it is used today and in history. If you’re unsure what fear setting is about, it’s a method to address those pesky fears you might have. All the time you remain ‘in fear’ you are paralysed and unable to make progress. Fear setting is a technique that allows you to define the fear, define what will happen (worst case) now and in the future, and help you identify steps to mitigate (prevent and repair) the problems. Defining the fear helps you conquer it.…
Struggling with Negative Emotions? There is a Path to Joy
Do you feel you suffer from depression, jealousy, anger, hatred, overwhelm, or even just boredom? Maybe not all the time, but from time to time? We all do. It’s normal. But you can raise your spirits and get out of the doldrums. Here’s how. Abraham-Hicks Emotional Scale I have been reading Super Attractor by Gabrielle Bernstein and chapter four discussed the Abraham-Hicks Emotional Guidance Scale in depth. It is an elegant tool which maps out a path from depression at the lowest end of the scale to joy at the highest end. Here is that scale: Joy / Appreciation / Empowered / Freedom / Love Passion Enthusiasm / Eagerness /…
Rewriting Your Past – A Tool to Understand Yourself
In her new book, Everything is Figureoutable, Marie Forleo presents a free writing exercise for 7 days which helps you figure out what you want in life. It’s a great and valuable exercise when you’re really not sure where you want to go, and I suggest you pick up a copy of the book and check it out (it’s at the end of Chapter 6). Free Writing vs Rewriting However, if you’re feeling stuck and think you might have some unconscious self-limiting beliefs which are holding you back, all the free writing in the world won’t help you overcome these blocks and let you hit the target that ignites your…
Why Self-Help Books Don’t Work
Have you ever wondered why self-help books don’t work? No matter how many you buy or listen to, or how many courses you start, they just don’t seem to deliver on what they promise. For regular visitors to this site, you’ll see I read a lot of these sorts of books. Many of them come with the “this book changed my life” quote, which helps sell the book, but may not actually deliver the same result for you. Since this is a quote from a reader, it’s not actually a claim of the book, ergo no guarantee the same will happen for you. And I would have to agree –…
