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First there was an entrepreneur
....most recently people who do what they love have been described as alterpreneurs
now some people describe those entrepreneurs who are pursuing their passion in life as passionpreneurs!
What strategies a successful entrepreneur must embrace remain the same:
Doing what you love with a focus on making a major difference in peoples lives.
Vision aligned with your values and interests.
Belief - the most powerful drug in the world.
Understanding that the journey will be a true adventure full of light and dark, each constituent bringing you closer to your dream and in the process developing you personally.
Willingness to learn and humility - remember everybody can be your teacher on this trip.
Flexibility - if it isnt working change it!
And Action - the first step is the most difficult and potentially the most liberating.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:52 AM
Rafa Benitez secrets to success
Never give up - when things aren't working out try something different and watch what happens!
Focus - one match at a time.
Passion
Mentaility
Leverage your people's potential - Stevie Finnan, John Arne Riise, Jamie Carragher, Djimi Traore, and last night only V Smicer and Jersey Dudek!
Enjoy - walk around with a smile on your face and always with hope in your heart.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:29 AM
Tonights the night!
A night I have looked forward to for the past twenty one years!
Yes - Liverpool are playing in the Champions League Final!
As I review the year many, many moments stand out
the unbridled ectasy as I celebrated Stevie G's goal against Olympiakos - tears flowing down my face in a bar in Monaco as the final whistle blew at the end of the Juventus Classic - losing all grasp of reality while simultaneously screaming down the phone to my friend Martin when we defeated Chelsea
............and now for tonight!
Come on Liverpool
Money could never deliver such a high!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:54 AM
"Inspiration is common, but inspired action is rare."
Gary Zukav
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:28 AM
Forget about the journey - NEW SCIENTIFIC research confirms what many ice cream lovers have always known - eating the frozen stuff makes you happy!
It lights up the brain’s pleasure zones, according to Unilever, owner of Walls ice cream, which conducted research at the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, London.
Participants in the Unilever study had their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging - fMRI - a non-invasive technique which allowed researchers to see which areas of the brain were activated when participants ate vanilla Carte D’Or ice cream.
The results showed that eating the ice cream had an immediate effect on parts of the brain that previous research has shown are activated when someone is really enjoying themselves.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:52 PM
"Dream and not make dreams your master ... think and not make thoughts your aim ... meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same."
Rudyard Kipling
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:35 AM
A new report identifies the rise of a new class of micro business owner, the alterpreneurs – lifestyle-focused business people - who are taking over from the finance and career orientated entrepreneurs.
According to More Th>n Business, the majority of people starting businesses should be classed as alterpreneurs, rather than entrepreneurs:
Less than a quarter (23%) set up their firms in order to make lots of money
60% went into business in order to get more control over their lives
54% said they went into business in order to be ‘happier’
Just 3% said they wanted to emulate high profile entrepreneurs like Richard Branson
These ‘alterpreneurs’ see quitting corporate life and starting their own firms as a lifestyle, rather than a career, choice.
They have set up on their own in an attempt to take back (or retain) control over their lives.
They don’t live to work - they work to live.
The way they run those businesses, and their ambitions for the future, reflect this:
85% say quality of life is more important than money when it comes to business planning
70% say they are happy and comfortable with their business as they are
56% never want to employ more than 10 staff
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:45 AM
"The man of understanding finds all things laughable, the man of reason few".
Goethe
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:11 AM
My friend Lorna has just been blessed with the arrival of your new son Tom. Yesterday, she gave me a humourous insight into the trials and tribulations of motherhood.
Most weeks she walks the famous promenade in Galway.
Though breathing in the fresh sea air and getting some all important exercise, feature high on her reasons for the walk; only one outcome really delivers what she wants!
Lorna takes consolation when she notices that some of the ladies bums are larger than hers at this moment in time.
Life could be worse!!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:11 AM
An abundance of research exists highlighting the advantages of an optimistic outlook - here is the latest:
"Psychologists love to blame pessimism for health problems, but I never really believed it until now," says Dr. Walter Rocca, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn.
Rocca and his colleagues followed thousands of Minnesotans who took a personality test in the 1960s.
Those who scored highest on pessimism were about 30 percent more likely to show dementia up to four decades later.
Another sample of Minnesotans revealed an even stronger link between pessimism and Parkinson's — a 50 percent higher chance of developing the degenerative disorder.
Both studies were presented last month at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. They don't show causality, Rocca stressed, just an association. In other words: "Pessimists, this doesn't mean you are doomed."
The studies weren't designed to answer the why question, but they still may provide a clue. The researchers also looked back at the Minnesotans' levels of anxiety on those personality tests and found a similar link between anxiety scores and the brain diseases.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:30 AM
Expensive holidays, cars and designer clothes are slipping down the UK’s lists of essentials for a good quality of life according to brand new research published recently by Visa UK and the Future Foundation.
Two-thirds of those surveyed revealed that they would prefer to live well everyday, even if it means forgoing occasional luxuries to do this.
Here is what was considered key for a good quality of life:
- comes spending time with friends and family (97%)
- being fit and healthy (97%)
- having time to relax every day (94%).
With an estimated 1.6 million people in the UK now working past retirement age, it seems that finding time to relax, has moved up even further up the agenda for over-65s, as many seek to find a balance between work and home life.
A massive 99% of over-65s rate having time to relax as essential to maintaining a good quality of life, considering it more important than any other age group surveyed.
Must be wait to sixty five to realise that switching off the mind, doing nothing is essential for healthy happy living?
Revelation?
Only 11% of women believe that luxuries such as expensive cars are essential to a good quality of life, and fewer women than men believe that designer clothes and goods are the key to happiness, with just 12% describing them as essential, compared with 19% of men.
Greg Twitcher, Vice President, Visa UK commented, "Our study shows that people in the UK are increasingly recognising that it’s the little things in life that matter. Anything that can make their lives quicker and more efficient gives them time to focus on what really matters to them."
Meanwhile our consumer spending continues to increase!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:47 AM
Reviewed with interest and concern the latest statistics on obesity.
Immediately the following definitions sprung to mind:
Insanity - where you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
Change - solving the problem is never the problem; seeing it is the challenge.
Incapacity - oftentimes because we have continued to feed bad habits on an ongoing basis it is difficult to break free from these limiting patterns. However you can - no doubt it will be very painful but you can choose to CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY in the future and in time you will reap significant rewards.
Now for the research - how relevant are the above understandings to it?
"Even though a staggering 72% of Americans are overweight -- and 39% are considered obese -- weight loss remains a relatively low priority for U.S. consumers, according to the 2005 Yankelovich Preventative Healthcare Study released today. The Yankelovich research, which polled 6,000 consumers, reveals that only 30% of Americans are actively trying to lose weight. Equally surprising, when respondents were asked to rank the top 10 ways to maintain health, diet (39%) and exercise (34%) didn't even make the list.
Instead, "maintaining personal hygiene and cleanliness" (64%), "maintaining a positive attitude" (58%) and "maintaining/cultivating good family relationships (53%) topped the list, with diet and exercise placing a distant 13th and 17th, respectively.
According to the study, 29% of adults have felt healthy and full of energy for only two weeks or less during the past month, including 9% who have not experienced health and energy at all. The least healthy tend to be unmarried, under the age of 40 or have children under the age of six."
And Action - the first step is always the hardest.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:17 AM
The inaugural Inspiration Ball in aid of the Gatoto Secondary School project took place in Galway last saturday.
Over 430 people attended a rather magical night.
Betty Nyagoha principal of Gatoto Primary School and visionary behind the programme told a captivated audience:
"Dont mourn over the past as it has gone; dont be troubled about the future as it has not come, make the present as beautiful as possible so it is worth remembering."
Advice well worth remembering, even more so when you know that Betty had a harrowing upbringing, was in an abusive relationship for a decade, and two years ago her soon to be seperated partner told her she had aids. Thankfully she tested negative.
A lady who reaffirms in me the belief that we may be in the gutter but we can still choose to see the stars.
A major thank you to some of the people who made this such a special event:
Frank Cummins - Stage Manager, Set Design and Production
Pete Galligan - Set production
Eileen Bennett Galway Now
Louis Crowe ReadPAL
Galway Gospel Choir
Lucia Evans
Pyramid
Mary Anne and members of the local African Community for Masai Welcome
Michael Naughton
British Airways
Black Light
Flowers by Kay
DJ Chris
United Beverages
Slainte
Coca Cola
Marie Forde
and all other sponsors.
And my beautiful wife Deirdre who has listened to me rattle on about this project every day for the last six months!
GO RAIBH MILE MAITH AGAT GO LEIR.
You have made a major difference in the lives of thousands of slum children.
Over €40,000 was raised overall - more exact figures to follow.
We are now taking bookings for next year. Numbers limited to five hundred.
What a night!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 05:31 PM