…and knew in that instant that I needed to make a change.  I found myself lying floor at 4am in a serviced apartment in New Plymouth.  My eyes stared blankly into nothingness, my arms lay loosely on the floor as my body slumped lifelessly against the vanity cabinet in the small bathroom.  I opened my eyes to the sound of her screams.  I felt the adrenaline surge through my veins as I was pulled back from darkness.  “What happened? Where was I?”  The realisation hit me (more…)

There’s a lot of talk in leadership circles about resilience and how leaders have to be resilient.  I agree but the way it’s talked about it comes across as this mystical state that is only available to a lucky few.  Resilience is simply the ability to bounce back quickly from adversity.  It’s a skill that helps us move beyond those tough experiences life throws at us and may even make us stronger in the process.  Although there are people out there who exhibit certain personality characteristics (more…)

Ever since I returned from Australia in my early 20’s I was extremely goal driven. I was in massive debt (for a 20 year old) and had no job in an environment where employers weren’t exactly laying opportunities at my feet. But I’d managed to get myself around the world for the last year on a wing and a prayer and I wasn’t going to let a little thing like no job opportunities get in my way of getting back on my feet! I set a goal that I would get a job…any job…within 2 weeks. (more…)

In most leadership material you read you’ll come across the need to be self-aware.  I agree, it’s a very important element of growth because if you’re not aware of the need to change it will never happen, right?  But how do you do develop self-awareness?  Often times when I’m running a workshop on leadership I start with awareness and how to develop it.  To do this I always start off with the concept of the Self.  One way the Self can get into conflict is when there is too great a gap between the Actual Self and the Ideal Self. (more…)

Every so often I work with a client who gets quite irritated by the things that people are doing around them.  For example, one client I worked with used to get extremely irate at his flat mates.  He used to go barmy when he’d be the last one to get up in the morning and all the curtains in the house are closed, the rubbish is sitting in the corner of the kitchen or the bin is overflowing, food and dirty plates would be left on the counter top from last night’s dinner.  He’d leave the house after cleaning up after his flatmates and with every step he’d mentally spit and fume about his flatmates and their disgusting habits.  Then he’d arrive at work…ready to start the day.  You can imagine how things would go from there. (more…)

“Curiosity killed the cat…”

The other night my youngest daughter came into the bedroom, she had a nightmare and couldn’t get back to sleep.  Bringing her back to bed I asked her what the nightmare was about.  She said that mammy and daddy died and she was really upset.  I explained to her that in a dream that doesn’t mean what she thinks. (more…)

If you’ve ever wondered what makes up a balanced individual so have psychologists since the beginning of the discipline.  Many renowned psychologists have put forth their view on what makes up a mature personality but after extensive research into the topic the following traits have become known as the Big 5 Personality Traits.  How many do you have? (more…)

I’ve always been fairly ambitious in my life and that ambition has driven me to work ridiculously hard holding down full-time jobs as well as two other part-time jobs while studying part-time on top of all that!  I’ve also gone out and set up small side businesses in the areas I was passionate about at the time but my earlier attempts always met with the same faith.  I was so driven to succeed in my twenties that it was all I could think about.  How to make money! (more…)

I’m sure I wasn’t alone when I say that I found myself with a paintbrush in my hand over the Christmas holidays. Whenever I’m doing a spot of painting I like to put on an audio book to wile the time away so I thought I’d throw an oldie but a goodie – Jim Rohn. If you’ve ever listened to or read any of Jim Rohn’s work you’ll know what I’m talking about; his thoughts are full of timeless wisdom and they are always presented in such an amenable way you can’t help but get sucked into his message. (more…)

I’ve recently taken on more responsibility that has changed the dynamics of my life quite considerably and I’m very excited about the opportunity.  This has meant I haven’t had the time to focus on some of things that are important to me because “there are only so many hours in the day” and “I just don’t have time for everything”…and other excuses.  Sound familiar at all?  So I’ve decided to do something about it and make a few changes so I can continue to live life at high speed and enjoy it along the way. (more…)