Category: Inspiration

Gifts

Finding the perfect gift is difficult for many reasons.
Everyone already has so much. We are all aware of the impact of excess consumerism on the environment. We want to give a gift that conveys just the right message. We don’t want to appear overly stingy or overly generous. 

A number of years ago, a very wealthy colleague of mine was getting married. I was invited to the wedding but couldn’t go, although I still wanted to give a gift. It was difficult to think of something suitable.

Eventually inspiration hit and via a charity donation, I sent 2 goats to a country in need on the couple’s behalf. When he returned from honeymoon, my colleague expressed amusement at the gift choice I had made. It became a running joke and I believed I had made the wrong choice for them.

The last time I met my friend he told me his marriage had ended. As I sympathised with him, he quipped, “At least I still have the goats!”

I am definitely a lot better at getting gifts for myself. 

I gave myself a number of presents in 2021. 

I started a coaching programme with Maeve Lankford. This investment in myself has been transformative. It has helped me with courage, perspective and self-belief. Maeve is a wonderful coach and I am grateful for our ongoing connection.

Also, I applied for 4 months of unpaid leave and that gave me more time for family, friends and projects. I appreciate that I had this opportunity and now I’m looking forward to returning to work in January. 

In addition, I have made more time for reading books and articles. I subscribed to some free email newsletters, which I enjoy. One of my favourites is James Clear’s 3-2-1 email, which arrives in my inbox every Thursday.

This inspiration, together with my new-found courage led me to create my own newsletter. 

If you would like to give yourself a free gift for 2022, you are welcome to subscribe to ‘Belief Building’ my monthly newsletter that conveys a boost of inspiration, motivation and encouragement. 

You can sign up at this link:
https://mailchi.mp/7c31e83d6f57/belief-building

Good luck with the gifting and I wish you a wonderful Christmas!

Feature Image Credit: Ekaterina Shevchenko via Unsplash

The Monk who sold his Ferrari

“There is a huge difference between well-being and being well-off”.

This is a quote from ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari‘ by Robin Sharma. The book grabs attention from the start as we are intrigued by the transformation of a hot-shot lawyer into a serene monk.

As the book progresses the monk shares the secrets of his transformation with his former protégée, who is now a stressed lawyer with his own busy legal practice.

The 7 fundamental pieces of advice offered are:

Feed your mind with quality thoughts

Find your purpose

Pursue self-mastery and improvement

Cultivate willpower

Be disciplined with your time

Contribute to others

Live in the present

I have read other similar books.  What sets this apart is the storytelling and use of fables, which leave a memorable picture in the reader’s mind.  The author, makes what could be very abstract and difficult to grasp an easy-to-follow story.

Here are 7 of my favourite quotes from the book.

“There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.”

“The only limits on your life are those that you set yourself.”

“One must never live in the thick of thin things.”

“The only thing standing between most people and their dreams is the fear of failure.”

“Time is a non-renewable resource.”

“A little bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.”

“The journey is to be enjoyed.  The road is just as good as the end.”

I am grateful to the friends who recommended this book to me, it’s an inspiring read!

The Fly

Have you ever watched a fly hammering itself against a glass window trying to get out?  I usually get a piece of paper and guide it towards the opening to set it free but of course the fly doesn’t always cooperate.  Sometimes I come back the next day and see a dead fly on the window sill.

At the start of the book, You2, Price Pritchett uses the analogy of a fly beating itself to death against a window as a way of explaining that sometimes doing the same thing over and over is a waste of energy and that perhaps we should look around and find a different way.

The fly is probably doomed because it is so small relative to the size of a window, it can’t really see the big picture that there could be another option.

I can relate to the fly’s thinking that there is only one route. For many years I wanted to write blogs but thought it was impossible.  I thought that to be a blogger, I needed a website.

However, unlike the fly, I have the benefit of greater perspective and a conversation with a friend led to the suggestion that I could post the blogs to LinkedIn.  It would be a simple way to test how interested I really was in blogging before incurring any cost that might arise from creating a website.

I started writing and posting to LinkedIn over a year ago.

Now, I have evolved. I’m more like a spider than a fly, as I have a WEB-site!

Feature Image credit: Chris Curry via Unsplash

Time

I like this time of year. I like the changing colours on the trees. I like wearing warm, cosy clothes. And I really like gaining an extra hour when the clocks change!

Almost everyone I know is pressed for time, always rushing and often running late. Getting an extra hour is a gift!

Previously, I have been quite a time obsessed type of person, feeling stressed when I encounter a delay. 

Recently, I added a reminder to my phone that pops up twice a day.  It says: “I have all the time I need for everything”. It’s an affirmation that is helping me to have perspective about time and deadlines.

In addition, I’m trying out some other strategies to help with having more time.

1.      Before I go to bed in the evening, I make decisions for the next day, choices like what clothes I’ll wear.  Doing this the night before means I’m quite purposeful as I am looking forward to going to sleep, and I don’t delay. This then leads to a more streamlined morning, as I get straight into my day’s priorities.

2.      I have started to reduce the time I spend making minor decisions. For example, when someone mentions a good film or TV show, I put a note in my phone, and follow that recommendation as opposed to losing time weighing up different options.  Various studies have shown that people spend an average of 20 minutes or more choosing what to watch on TV.

3.      I am trying to set time limits for unimportant tasks like scrolling through social media. An academic I know allows herself 10 minutes of scrolling through Twitter after 50 minutes of concentrated work. In his book, “Atomic Habits”, James Clear shares that he gets his assistant to change his social media passwords on Monday morning so he can’t access his accounts until he gets the new passwords sent to him at the weekend. I haven’t gone quite that far but it’s an idea worth considering.

What would you add to the list?

Feature Image credit: Malvestida Magazine via Unsplash

High 5

Mel Robbins, now a best selling author, entrepreneur and coach, was once someone who struggled to get out of bed in the morning. She kept pressing snooze on the alarm clock to avoid being confronted by her daily struggles and unhappy life.

One afternoon she was inspired by a TV advertisement, which showed a rocket blasting off after a 5 second countdown.

This motivated her and the next day she replaced pressing snooze on the alarm clock with counting down in her head “5,4,3,2,1, blast-off” and got out of bed. This marked the beginning of a new approach for Mel.

She started using the 5 second rule and turned her life around. When she had a good idea or impulse, rather than talk herself out of it, she undertook an action within 5 seconds.

Although it seems very simplistic, the approach has a scientific basis. The strategy wards off procrastination and diverts our brains away from over-thinking and self doubt, thus leading to action and greater productivity. 

I read Mel’s book “The 5 Second Rule” a few years ago and still sometimes use the countdown in my head, especially when I need to do things I don’t feel like doing.

This year, Mel has brought out a new book “The High 5 Habit”. Its premise also seems very simple. Mel encourages us to give ourselves a high 5 in the mirror every morning. 

We support ourselves in this action, as opposed to being reliant on external validation. The research says that by taking a moment to reflect on and celebrate being ourselves, we increase motivation and productivity.

I haven’t read the book yet but I am going to add a self high 5 to my day, it’s a simple habit to incorporate especially if it increases motivation and performance and I don’t think Mel would want me to procrastinate!

Feature Image Credit: Bill Jelen via Unsplash

Fresh Start

Today is a fresh start!

Every day is a fresh start. Every minute is a fresh start.

For 10 weeks in a row, I have posted a blog to LinkedIn at the weekend. However, I didn’t do that this weekend.

I had a busy week and the right idea for a blog never came to me.

This morning (Monday), I was disappointed that I’d broken my streak.

Out walking, I saw a group of swans – I counted 10 and thought 10 is a good number and it looks a lot (I had to take 2 photos to capture all the swans), so I should be happy with how far I’ve got with the blogs.

And then I had the inspiration – its never too late! 

Just as easily as another swan might come along, I could write a blog today – there’s no rule saying I can only post blogs at the weekend.


Sometimes we impose rules on ourselves that aren’t there at all. Sometimes we think because we’ve been doing something for weeks, months or years, we must keep doing it but that’s not the case.

We can always have a fresh start.