Tag: personal development
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The Importance Of Companionship
I’ve just been listening to the Desert Island Discs podcast on BBC Radio 4 where 95-year old ex-Royal Navy test pilot Captain Eric Winkle-Brown was interviewed. Other than listening to an incredible man who lived through such key moments in history as attending the Berlin Olympics and taking part in the liberation of Belsen, he…
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The Tale Of The Supermarket Carol Singers
The Christmas Lights are being switched on in Granada tonight which will be fun to see and as the festive season approaches each year, I’m often reminded of a shopping trip to a supermarket in London a few years ago where I was greeted by two teenagers of about 15-16 years old who were belting out Christmas carols accapella…
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How Your Phone Can Help You Know Where You’re Going
When did you last see someone walking down the street so engrossed in their phone that they either: – almost walked into you, somebody else or a lamppost? – actually walked into you, somebody else or a lamppost? The chances are that you have seen at least one of these things happen and probably not…
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What We Can Learn From Playing Tennis
While walking around recently, I noticed a boy of about 12 years old hitting a tennis ball against a wall with his tennis racket. Perhaps he was practising for a match or maybe he was just having fun. Either way, he didn’t have any friends around to impress so he was clearly motivated to do…
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The Scent Of Nostalgia
While walking around town recently, a woman walked past me and just as she went by, a waft of perfume struck me and suddenly I was at university in a conversation class with a French teaching assistant called Nathalie who wore the same perfume by Issey Miyake. Just like that. No introduction. The last thing…
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Your Favourite Toy
I’ve just been chatting to a friend about her favourite toy when she was a child – her teddy bear. She’s now 28 and still has it on top of her wardrobe – kind of watching over her. Of course, she doesn’t need to play with it anymore (and even if she did, that would…
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How Do You Know What You Want (And What You Can Do To Get It)?
How do you want your life to be? In 10 years? 5 years? 1 year? 6 months? Most people know what they don’t want – I don’t want to work in a dead-end job, I don’t want to be broke etc. However on being asked what they do actually want, other than perhaps a generic…
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The Sky is Bigger
If you have ever lived in a big city, you know about the countless advantages of doing so. However, one of the downsides which was highlighted to me recently is that the sky can feel so small making city living enclosed and claustrophobic which inevitably has a negative impact on its inhabitants. Kitty Shepherd, a British friend…
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The Frank Sonata
Short post today. Sometimes, less is more. This lyric is taken from the Longpigs song ‘Frank Sonata’. Love the sentiment… Love like you’ve never been burnt Work like you don’t need the money Dance like there’s nobody watching For the rest of the lyric, visit Frank Sonata and watch the video below…
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The Supermarket Cashier
I popped to the supermarket last Friday to get a couple of things. I wasn’t feeling great to be honest as things in general hadn’t been going too well that week. Just after I paid, the cashier smiled at me and wished me a lovely weekend. Nothing unusual in that, however, the way she said it…
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How To Smile Loudly
I was travelling on the bus today on the way to a class and we got stuck in traffic but fortunately, it didn’t last long, nobody got particularly stressed and soon enough, we were on our way, but it did remind me of a similar experience in London last year when I was stuck on the…
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What’s The Secret To Being Happy?
I recently got chatting to Julie, a friend of a friend, at a wedding and it turns out that she’s an actress, not in Hollywood blockbusters nor the next cool indie flick, but an actress working in theatre and TV. During our conversation, one of the things she said that intrigued me was that sometimes…
I Am Away From The Noise 