WHEN YOU arrive at yourself, your purpose, you’ll see that it’s been there all the time, you’ve known it, but been too ashamed to admit it, or could never have believed it was possible. The amount of time and energy we waste not doing something that we’d love to do, because deep down we don’t believe we deserve it, or that it could be possible – it’s insane. The more I see of life and people, the more I’m convinced that every person has one thing, one single message [...]

The first 20 years of life are spent building a strong ego, and rightfully so. In the first 20 years of adulthood this ego brings in all the silverware – the degrees, war medals, sports trophies, gold disc records, creative awards, sales team trophies, tiaras (for women), and so on. Newton had published his most famous work by the age of 27. But by 40, in most instances, those talents are well spent. Sportsmen retire, musicians leave the band and move on to more individualistic styles (think Sting, Peter Gabriel, [...]

  THINGS HAPPEN exactly as they’re supposed to happen – in every instance. Let’s say you have a great idea; as you explore it, you find that there are ways that it can work and ways that it can’t work. No amount of positive thinking will allow otherwise. The apple tree seed doesn’t suddenly produce an orange tree as well, just because you want it to. Water flows downhill, so unless you want to expend huge energy, you build your canals to use this principle. Why then do we try [...]

  IF YOU want to really live then you have to take the great opportunity that life offers you in midlife. I turned 42 this month and I can really attest that life begins at 40, that 40 is the new 20. We have all the knowledge and facilities to build healthy bodies and healthy minds. Having used these opportunities, I find myself in the most clear, most powerful space I’ve ever been in. I’ve cleared the mountain of ‘stuff’ that held me back in the past, that kept me [...]

THE SECOND phase of life requires some serious relearning. I have so much new information I feel like a kid all over again – like an invalid learning to walk. I find myself heading off in a direction, making decisions, then realise that I’ve dropped a ball I picked up a few weeks ago – I had to, in order to catch the new one coming in! Then I want to unmake that decision to include the dropped ball plus the new information. Problem is, I’ve already made commitments, and [...]

  THE SUCCESSES of youth come about through chaos. Young people travel overseas without a definite plan, they enter a career to have fun and they seize every opportunity unquestioningly with both hands. This inevitably leads to success. As we become older we settle into habits, preferred ways of doing things. Too much order closes out the opportunities that chaos brings. You need chaos to move forward. When you walk, for example, you’re about to fall over with every step you take; just then, the next foot lands. Having structure [...]

  LIFE IS a river. It stands still for no-one. So if you feel like you’re drowning, perhaps you need to respect the river over yourself. It may not be deliberate, and it’s often not. If it’s a repeated lesson – money, love, health – chances are you’re simply not respecting and valuing that area of your life. You may be working hard for it, demanding and expecting it, but do you really value it – as in love it? Would you be willing to give up everything for the [...]

  HOW DO you know when your constant spinning is worthwhile, whether it’s leading somewhere, whether life itself is worth living? Consider the impact on yourself of having booked and paid for a holiday: You feel lighter, ever less troubled by the daily grind as the time approaches, until, the night before, you hardly need any sleep! On the last day of the holiday, however, you’re starting to feel a little tired at the prospect of going back to work. The experience of life you have today, therefore, depends on [...]