How often have you sat down and thought about being a Billionaire? Unless you are in the tiniest percentage of the world’s population, probably never. Compare that to how many times you may have daydreamed about what it would be like to be a Millionaire, lots? Have you thought about that big business deal finally coming off, a massive stock market recovery or that day when your numbers finally come up for the lottery rollover? What’s the difference? Does Millionaire sound more realistic or “easy” than Billionaire? Can you imagine things that can happen in your life or things that you can do to get you there? Can you make an action plan to hit that magic number? In truth,

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As we move deeper into winter and daylight hours get shorter, how are you feeling? Are you having difficulty getting up? Have a lack of energy? Craving carbohydrates or comfort foods? Feeling sleepy in the day or losing interest in work or other activities? If so, you’re not alone! Around 20% of the population suffers from the “Winter Blues” to different extents with increased moodiness and low feelings. However, there are some quick and easy things you can do yourself to banish those Winter Blues, caused by lack of daylight, forever. The Magic of Metaphor We often speak in metaphor. When we’re ill we can feel like we’ve “been run over by a bus” or look like we’ve been “dragged

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Replace Fear with Curiosity. I read a short story this week that I’d like to share with you. We all have fears, some more life limiting than others; some essential, some not. The story made me stop, sit and think for a good hour or so about my life so far. Here it is; In 1911, for reasons no one has ever been able to ascertain, a man appeared, naked and alone, in the foothills of Mt. Lassen in Northern California. With the help of two anthropologists from Berkely, it was learned that he was the last remaining member of a once strong tribe of Native American Indians known as the Yana. Although accepting the friendship of the Westerners who

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Wake up and Smell the Coffee. Have you ever had the experience of walking into somewhere and being hit by a wonderful aroma? You may have walked into a bakery and smelt freshly baked bread, enjoyed inhaling the scent of coffee in your favourite coffee shop or been absorbed by the fragrance in a florist. How did it feel? For most of us getting a whiff of our favourite smell releases feel good endorphins and we get a kind of natural high. You may wonder how people who work in these places cope with the constant endorphin release produced by their sense of smell; surely they should be the happiest people on the planet? The peculiar thing is, however, that

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What do they REALLY think about you? One of the things that people often worry about is how they are viewed by others. It can affect what we say, what we wear, the places we go and the people we choose to spend time with. In a lot of cases it can start to affect the way we live our lives and damage self esteem and confidence. One of the common themes I encounter when working with someone to increase self esteem or build confidence is that they worry excessively about what people think. It’s also common that we never know what people REALLY think about us. The people that we worry about can often be strangers. Take for example

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Beware of Parkinson. Would you like to get more done in less time? Want to boost profits in your business, get promoted quicker of be a stress free parent? Then beware of Parkinson. “Parkinson’s Law” states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. Or in other words, we always take as much time as is given to do a job. For example, if your boss gives you a week to complete a project, it will take you a week. You would normally do most of the work for that on the last day too! If your boss gave you two weeks to complete the same project, guess what? It would take you two weeks

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Join the Dots for Success. My son, Declan, has just moved up to Year 4 in our local school. As the children are growing up they are given more freedom and responsibility for their learning. He came home from school this week and told me about the approach they take in some of his classes now. He explained it as a “dot system”. The children are given the choice of difficulty level of the work that they do. A “3 dot” piece of work is the easiest, “2 dot” a bit more stretching and “1 dot” the most challenging. I’m curious to know your initial thoughts to this approach. Do you see it as a way to empower 8 and

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Fright or Flight? I’m going on holiday soon and I’m sat here thinking about the ten hour flight I’ve got to take before I get there. I can feel my heart rate has increased, I’m getting butterflies and a churning in my stomach, I’m getting hot as my blood pressure increases and I’m noticing as I type this that my hands are getting a little sweaty and I’m breathing more rapidly. I LOVE FLYING. Sorry, did you think I was describing nervous feelings or maybe that I had a flying phobia? Did you perhaps recognise those physical sensations yourself? Isn’t it strange how the physical sensations for fear and nervousness are so similar to those of excitement and anticipation? People

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How to prevent unnecessary worry, anxiety and sleepless nights every Sunday As I sit here on Sunday afternoon, looking out of the window at grey overcast skies, knowing that in a few short hours it will be Monday morning and time to go back to work, I feel fantastic. It appears that I’m one of the lucky few. A survey of more than 20,000 workers by Monster.com reveals more than 80 percent of workers suffer Sunday-night insomnia due to work anxiety. “Anticipatory worrying” is so common in many areas of life and not just confined to work related anxiety. We tend to find ourselves getting worked up far in advance of actual events, anticipating all the things that could possibly

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“First Aid” Tips for Coping with Bereavement The whole subject of bereavement is far too complex to deal with in a short article like this. However, there are a few vital things that are important to remember. We can pretty much take it as read that we will all have to deal with the loss of a loved one at some point in our lives. No matter how expected the loss is, we never quite know how we will react or cope. It’s important to remember that there are no “rules” as to the grieving process other than we will all go through the process at our own pace. I hear people say “It’s been X number of years now,

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