The life manual they never gave you.

Should You Make A New Year’s Resolution?

New Year’s resolutions are so last century, right? I mean, who really even believes that they’ll follow through with anything, who believes that they’ll actually make that change? What if you’re going about it all wrong, this year and every year? This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version. SO HERE we are, going into 2022. Given the two years we’ve had, and the direction that Covid seems to be taking, perhaps all you’ll have to do [...]

By |2025-02-22T14:40:06+00:001 Jan 2022|Categories: Life Hacks, Mental Strength|Tags: , , , |

10 Guidelines for Generating Meaningful Hope

Hope is critical in these tough times. Meaningful hope is not fantasy, it’s real. It’s also not random, it can be generated. Here are 10 guidelines for generating meaningful hope. This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version. MY OWN experience of going through personal tough times, which I shared in a previous post, taught me that you have to end each day with hope. I also shared some examples of how I did this for myself, [...]

By |2025-02-22T14:50:29+00:009 Jun 2020|Categories: Life Hacks, Mental Strength|

How to Generate Hope in Tough Times

There are tough times ahead, and what we need is hope. Hope is not random, it can be generated. Experiencing my own tough times has taught me how—and so can you. This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version. ONE THING you can say about living in South Africa is that we know how to survive through tough and uncertain times. In fact, if you’re alive and breathing in this country, you’ve probably never known a time [...]

By |2025-02-22T14:50:54+00:004 Jun 2020|Categories: Life Hacks, Mental Strength|

Morning Stretch Exercises for Back & Neck Health

Little matters more for mental clarity, energy, mood and performance than having your back and neck in good working order. Here is a morning stretch and exercise routine that is designed to support good back and neck health. This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version. Think back to the last time you had a sore, throbbing neck and headache—and hopefully that’s not happening for you right now! I’m sure you’ll agree that when your back [...]

By |2025-02-22T14:40:27+00:002 Jun 2020|Categories: Life Hacks|

Easy Desk Exercises to Avoid Back and Neck Pain

In the world beyond lockdown, online meetings will most likely become the norm. That will mean a great deal more time at desks and on screens than before. Here is a life-changing, two-minute exercise set that you can do in between Zoom sessions. This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version .  THE WORLD is gradually moving on from total lockdown and into the world beyond. It’s a world that incidentally kicked off with the news that [...]

By |2021-05-26T16:25:11+00:0019 May 2020|Categories: Life Hacks|

Equanimity: A Word for Our Time

Equanimity, along with compassion, is one of the most revered virtues in every spiritual and philosophical tradition. Yet it’s almost entirely absent from our corporate leadership lexicon. That says a lot about who and what and where we are. It’s also why equanimity is a word for our time. IF YOU learn to observe your own mind, as mindfulness teaches you to do, you’ll notice two particular things about your thoughts. Firstly, you’ll notice that your thoughts are always—literally, always*—about the future and the past. So you’re always [...]

By |2025-02-22T14:41:00+00:0030 Apr 2020|Categories: Life Hacks, Mental Strength|

Getting Motivated (5 of 5) | Agitation, Stress — Could You Care Less?

The world is in a mad rush. Everybody wants everything yesterday. Welcome to the state of agitation, the precursor to stress. It’s a bad neighbourhood, and not one you should care to hang around in.   IF YOU’VE ever been stuck in traffic when you’re running late for a meeting—and presuming you’re not a Zen monk—you’ll recognise the state of agitation. It’s that state when you’re pushing hard against life to make things happen within a certain time, or in a certain way, and life is having none of [...]

Getting Motivated (4 of 5) | Making Monday Great Again!

People experience the state of flow twice as often at work than they do at home. So, what’s the big deal about Friday? Find out how work is good for you, and make Monday, yes Monday, your best friend! IT’S ALWAYS been fashionable—and in many cases it’s probably true—to see work as a grudge activity. The words we use say it all. The grindstone. The salt mines. Sigh, you do it because you have to. And so on. Plus, it’s normal and natural to complain about your boss in [...]

Getting Motivated (3 of 5) | Getting Through the Dip

One thing you can know for sure about getting motivated: when you’re starting out with any activity, you almost never feel like it. Sadly, getting through the dip is the only way. Enter the state of animation. YOU KNOW that positive feeling you get when you’re in the flow state? Or that sense of accomplishment when you’ve finished a task? We all want that feeling, right? Well, guess what? There’s no other way to achieve it than to simply get stuck in. Perform the activity. Do the task. Duh! [...]

Getting Motivated (2 of 5) | It’s Not About Your Feelings

You don’t have to wait for your feelings to come right before you can get motivated. You can choose your motivational state and act to bring it about. Your feelings will follow. WHEN YOU’RE weary, as the song goes, or feeling small—or feeling down—you tend to focus on, well, your feelings. You try to nurse them into a better shape. You need to feel better, you tell yourself, in order to get motivated, to get going. Similarly, when you’re struggling to get going on a Monday—or to drag yourself [...]

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