The ‘Five Set’ Mind
If you want to succeed you have to be ready for a five-set match.
I’ve been researching what’s best described as the ‘beyond confident’ mindset. I’m not talking arrogance or blindly optimistic here. Rather, I mean the mindset that’s best demonstrated by those who’ve survived the almost unsurvivable – Read More »
'Look up!' and other useful tips!
IN SHORT: NEED is not enough, you have to WANT it. GOALs are not enough, you need some “If… Then…”. And Look UP!
“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.”
[Helen Keller, 19th/20th-century deaf-blind author & activist]
(1208 words, approx 7-12 mins to read)
December and January have, for me at least, felt very ‘stop-start’ in terms of effort and rest, rather than a more sedate ‘slow down, speed up’ progress, hence the later-than usual timing of this ‘slice’.
What I thought I’d share with you, instead of one central theme, are three related pointers: Read More »
Inspiration comes at odd times…!
I was out running on Saturday, feeling quite smug with myself at about the 6 mile point of a 9 mile route, when I spotted an old man up ahead. I’m assuming he was old – he appeared to be in his late 70s at a guess – and very frail as he was walking with one of those zimmer frames with wheels on, Read More »
A Passionate Obsession
“When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.”
[Various attributions]
(1208 words; approx 6-9 minutes to read)
Have you ever been so focused on and driven by something it bordered on, or perhaps tipped into, obsession?
I’d assumed I’d written all I could about desire and focus for the moment, but then I found myself listening to an interview with Ellen Macarthur (now a Dame) – famous for her solo sailing exploits and many sailing-related records, including breaking the women’s world record for circumnavigating the globe solo at the age of 24, and both the men’s and women’s record four years later.
During the interview she talked about how she had become obsessed with sailing after her first time in a boat at the age of four. When she, later on but still a child, decided she wanted her own boat, she even saved the change from her school dinner money in order to buy one, making choices as to what she’d have for lunch based on maximising the change she’d get. Read More »
The Power of Focus
“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.”
[Anthony Robbins, US self-help expert, author and adviser to leaders]
(1066 words, approx 6-8 mins to read)
In our last ‘slice’ we talked about AWAY-FROM and TOWARDS types of motivation, and I made the assertion that the only way to achieve long-lasting, fulfilling and satisfying results was to make sure that your motivation was mostly, if not fully, of the TOWARDS variety.
If you still haven’t quite got why, even after a quick reminder by re-reading the last slice if you need to, imagine trying to drive using only your rear-view mirrors, or trying to run somewhere with your head turned to look behind you all the time. Read More »
Away-From & Towards
“Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want.”
[Hannah Whitall Smith, 19th/20th century Quaker author and activist in the Women’s Suffrage movement]
[I wrote about this general concept a good few years back now and touch on it every so often, but after the last two ‘slices’ on Desire here and here, it fits really nicely and will serve as a timely reminder.
What follows is, I realise, an over-simplification, but I’ll go ahead with it anyway because it’s often only through considering things simply that we uncover the most useful truths within…]
(1278 words – approx 6-8 mins to read)
What pops into your mind as you roll those two phrases around in your head: