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A Galway native Tom O’Connor is now selling fresh air bottled in old chutney bottles from locations such as the Aran Islands, the Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Castle.
€7.99 gets you a whiff of the good stuff !
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:07 AM
"When old words die on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart."
Rabindranath Tagore
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:12 AM
Life lessons from Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios. (Presentation delivered at Stanford University last June.)
"You have to trust in something - your guy, destiny, life, karma, whatever.This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.You've got to find what you love. And that is true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Dont settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."
"Your time is limited, so dont waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. Don't let the noise of other people drown out your inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Excellent presentation.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:55 AM
"You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result."
Gandhi
"All growth is a leap in the dark."
Henry Miller
"The one with courage is the majority."
Andrew Jackson
"You miss a hundred percent of the shots you never take."
Wayne Gretsky
"Throw your heart out in front of you
And run ahead to catch it."
Arabic Proverb
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:06 AM
The prevailing myth has finally being scientifically disproved i.e. you can seperate work challenges from your relationships and vica versa.
Researchers at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass found men and women in unhappy marriages suffered from increased stress levels throughout the day at home and at work as well as higher blood pressure at midday at the office, which could raise the risk of heart attack or stroke.
In the study, researchers measured stress indicators, such as saliva cortisol levels, blood pressure, and self-reported stress in a group of 105 middle-aged civil service workers in the London area.
The results showed that men and women who reported a higher level of marital concerns had higher cortisol levels in the morning after waking up and higher self-reported stress and blood pressure throughout the day than those who were generally happy with their marriage. These negative effects of a bad marriage were the same in men and women.
(Study appear in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.)
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 02:35 PM
Becoming successful in your chosen pursuit can be a journey in which you will experience many emotions. Business Week offer the following advice to help you along the narrow path:
"• Sing: A study from the University of California, Irvine, shows that singing boosts immune cells by 240%. Keep CDs at the office and let loose with your favorite singers for at least five minutes a day. You're not trying to win a Grammy, just keeping yourself sane.
• Laugh: When you're stressed, the diameter of your arteries shrinks by more than a third, but when you laugh they expand. So make a point to add some humor to your day, and try not to take yourself -- or your business -- too seriously.
• Eat: Pass on the bacon, eggs, and sausage, but don't skip breakfast altogether. Research shows that the simple act of fueling up before you start the day boosts metabolism as much as 25% and keeps you energized throughout the day."
Enjoy the adventure.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 05:20 PM
New winning attributes:
Ability to see the big picture.
Focus on contribution - give more, get more. Give more - fill a void present in all.
Warmth and empathy. As an aside, I read a peice of research recently which showed that doctors with empathy were sued less that their matter of fact, get on with the job colleagues.
Humility - an ability that allows the entrepreneur to attract teachers, circumstances and events that helps achieve goals.
Belief and vision - nothing new but still important!
In a sense, we are moving from the traditional model of the rational, analytical left brained person to the big picture, dreaming predominantly right brained alternative.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:10 AM
A little exercise a day keeps colds at bay!
Researchers from the University of Carolina have found that people who exercised regularly were 23% less likely to get colds than those who exercised less.
And if those who exercised got colds, the symptoms disappeared more quickly than in the study participants who did little exercise.
Without research, one can be fairly confident that when you love what you do there are health benefits also. Compare the number of days lost through illness between someone who loves their job and a person who "lives for the weekends." It is highly probable that the latter will go missing in action more.
Are you doing what you love?
And more - just after reading some interesting research that links the existence of contempt in a relationship as the catalyst for the aggrieved partner to catch a cold. Not surprisingly, contempt can affect the workings of the immune system.
Are you with someone you truly love?
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:45 AM
Seven tips from Professor Ian Robertson that should help you stay sharp into old age. (As reported on The Irish Times 08/09/05)
1. Aerobic exercise.
2. Mental stimulation
3. New learning - "The more you learn, the more you can learn," adds Professor Robertson.
4. Reduce stress levels.
5. Stay socially active.
6. Healthy eating.
7. Think young!
Age after all is a matter of perception. I still believe I am nineteen!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 01:02 PM
Absenteeism is not the problem in the Australian workplace, "presenteeism" is, according to Professor Whitford,World Bank consultant who is directing the WORC (Work Outcomes Research and Cost-Benefit) Project collaboration between Harvard University, University of Queensland and the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research.
"Whereas absenteeism costs around $1.2B per year for the economy, 'presenteeism' or work under- productivity costs almost double that at $2.3Billion," says Professor Whitlock.
Only half of people that have depression ever seek any form of help or treatment for the condition, yet treatments are effective in over 70% of cases.
"We're talking about employees with untreated depression that can last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, and causes that employee to function at around 40% of their capability while they are at work." Professor Whiteford said "the potential to investigate cost-effective interventions was enormous."
"The WORC Project surveys employees, and helps those with depression access treatment, and determines the financial return on investment from the employers' perspective," Professor Whiteford said. "We want to proactively help people to access treatment, but employers also need to know that the cost of screening and treatment are more than offset by increased productivity, expressed in dollar terms"
"For those participating employers, we calculate treatment and intervention will recoup around $338 for every employee per year; that's each employee, not just those with depression. This is a big carrot for employers, just as the personal, familial and social benefits of lifting the clouds of depression is for the people who actually experience it."
The WORC Project has surveyed 80,000 employees across Australia. Employees who have symptoms of depression and who are not currently seeking treatment are linked in with psychologists and General Practitioners or other specialists. Early results indicate that 65% of employees with depression symptoms have not sought help in the last year.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:27 AM
A new broom sweeps clear, but the old broom knows the corners!
The stars make no noise!
When God made time, he made plenty of it.
Patience can conquer destiny.
When God shuts one door, he opens another.
When I started researching the wisdom underpinning the Old Ireland, I realised I didn't need to travel the world to unearth the secrets of life.
More tomorrow!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:18 AM
Research undertaken by Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, cellular biologist and Dr Elissa Epel at the University of California has shown that stress speeds up the aging process by damaging a person's DNA.
Reviewing the part of the DNA that controls aging - telomeres the researchers found that the telomeres thinned as you aged. The more stressed you were, the thinner the telomere.
(If you think of a strand of DNA as a shoelace, the telomere is the plastic tip on the end. It protects the DNA from damage.)
Interestingly enough, the researchers found resilience as the quality that would help offset any damage caused by stress. People who cope well with stress experienced less damage to their telometre.
On that point, I was speaking to my colleague Betty in Nairobi last night. As you know our dream is to build a secondary school in the slums over there asap. I spoke of the difficulties trying to oversee a rapidly growing primary school with close to 1000 students and this new secondary school project. Betty's reply was memorable - "No problem Kevin, headaches make me stronger."
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:33 AM