Do not ‘Just Do It’. Sit down and think about it. Weigh up the pros and cons, and think through the possible risks. Maybe jot these down on a piece of paper. Sleep on it. Then, if it still looks promising in the morning, run a trial, ensuring the conditions are as close to realContinue reading “Don’t just do it”
Tag Archives: advice
Living the dream
The problem with ‘following your dreams’ is that those dreams tend to include all the upsides and none of the challenges. There was an article in the paper about a middle-aged man who lived in his car. He had been a teacher, but had given up the ‘rat race’ to pursue his dream of becomingContinue reading “Living the dream”
Abstention
I sometimes think we get holidays the wrong way round. It takes us the first week to destress and get into the right frame of mind, then, before we know it, we are thinking about packing up and going home. The sunshine, the food and the freedom we have briefly savoured make returning to theContinue reading “Abstention”
Perfectly imperfect
Some apples look perfect on the outside, but taste of nothing; others might look imperfect, but they taste great.
Making the effort
Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to. Sometimes the reward you get from forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to is all the greater precisely because you didn’t want to do it. On this particular Sunday, it had been raining all day. Relentlessly. I had been planning to go forContinue reading “Making the effort”
Off gridders
I am a big fan of these ‘escape the modern world’ programmes. I admire people who turn their backs on the conveniences of modern living to pursue a simpler life and get closer to nature. They give up their televisions, the central heating, the internet, supermarkets etc to live a near subsistence life ‘off grid’.Continue reading “Off gridders”
Stopping and looking
When I went for my run yesterday, I got about half way and then stopped. I did some stretches, to make it feel purposeful, but really I just wanted to stop and look. There was a cool breeze and the spring sun was out. I stood there for ten minutes or so. I watched theContinue reading “Stopping and looking”
Riding a bicycle
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein We need to keep going, that’s the most important thing, pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone to tackle the next challenge. If not, we get bored. That’s how it works. We need to push ourselves, but not tooContinue reading “Riding a bicycle”
Opposites
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” Bertrand Russell Tony gets it wrong Tony is a self-made man. He runs his own, small marketing company. He made good money from it. In the boom years. Tony is quick to make decisions. He sees theContinue reading “Opposites”
On being polite
If two people are walking along the pavement, heading straight towards one another, and only look up at the last moment, you do not want the pair of them to carry on regardless and walk straight into each other. On the other hand, you do not want them both to hesitate, step to the sameContinue reading “On being polite”
Busyness
There was a corny 1950s film about the US Navy. A warship was in dock between missions, with the crew carrying out repairs, preparing for the next mission. They had little to do, and the work they had was repetitive and boring, with the crew starting to get restless and to squabble amongst themselves. TheContinue reading “Busyness”
The Serenity Prayer
I am not an alcoholic, nor a Christian, but I love the Serenity Prayer. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” It was written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1930s and later adopted byContinue reading “The Serenity Prayer”
Assertiveness
I recently came across a study on assertiveness. Its objective was to explore the issue of people being overly assertive, notably in the workplace. The study was wide-ranging and complex, but also very thorough. It was maybe 20 pages long, with densely packed text in tiny font, and went into enormous detail on the backgroundContinue reading “Assertiveness”
