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"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
"Abraham Lincoln"
Live Life NOW!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:04 AM
Kicked off the personal motivation slot on Seoige and O Shea on RTE1 yesterday.
The first session focused on seeing clearing - spring cleaning our perceptual filters.
Here was the task set for week one:
Set aside five minutes daily minimum to do this exercise.
Select any of the following activities:
- Listen to nature music - or a song with positive lyrics eg "What a wonderful World."
- Observe nature - can be the trees moving in the wind, the waves coming to the shore or whatever.
- Prayer.
- Watching a candle.
Whatever you choose, start by focusing either on the words, the music, the sounds, the view.
Thoughts will definately enter your mind.
Acknowledge and return your focus again to the words, music, whatever....
More thoughts will enter your mind.
Again acknowledge and re- focus
Continue this five minute exercise for thirty days.
For those who persist, here are some of the benefits:
Seeing clearly - solutions to problems will become more obvious
Jumpstart in creativity - the more you travel beneath thoughts, the more ideas will come to your conscious mind.
Better quality sleep - at the moment most people give their physical body rest but their mind gets little or no respite. As a result, many wake after eight hours sleep feeling mentally fatigued. Why? Because the mind has been working through the night. For you to reach your potential, you need to integrate timeout into your life.
More intuitive.
In time you begin to work smarter, not harder.
Many business owners, team leaders, sales/customer service personnel, personal development enthusiasts, teachers who have attended my seminars have had their lives transformed by learning to tame the mind.
You can too.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:43 AM
Congratulations to Dr Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams for bringing their respective parties outside their comfort zone, and creating history in Northern Ireland.
It is only outside our comfort zone, that we can both collectively and individually tap into our potential.
Take the trip today - the worst possible outcome is that you will end up in a place you describe and recognise as better than your starting point.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:06 AM
The ability to express and let go emotions is a key skill as one journeys through life. As we have seen on previous entries, dwelling or stewing on negative emotions depletes the immune sysyem making it more likely that you will get ill.
For younger men who may have the mantra "Boys dont cry" engrained in their psyche, expressing their emotions can be challenge - however it is one they have to meet. More and more of their role models are showing it's ok to cry, and they should follow suit.
Recent research from USA shows the extent of this emotional challenge.
Although eighty per cent of interviewees agreed it's right and good to express, only fifteen per cent did so. However interviewees agreed that this was an improvement compared to twenty years ago. Three quarters of those surveyed agree that people are more likely to let it out now than they were 20 years ago.
Relief was the major emotion experienced by interviewees after expression (57%) following by a feeling of being at peace (32%). Increased confidence and happiness were the other positive side effects cited.
Without doubt, it pays to express!
(The study of 1,003 Americans 18 and older, was conducted on behalf of Kimberly-Clark Corporation's by a division of Yankelovich.)
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:57 AM
Without doubt as choice explodes but similarities abound, the little difference that can make the difference has never been more important!
Understand?
I was speaking to a lady recently who related the following story about her favourite restaurant. On one occasion, she asked the Manager for the ingredients of the one of their sauces. The Manager refused politely. When she was leaving that evening, he ran up to her with a little package - inside it was a container of the sauce. She told me that this story has been repeated to many, many people.
So the question is what is your difference that makes the difference?
What is your unique selling point that grabs the imagination of your target audience?
What allows you to stand out in the crowd?
As mentioned on a past entry, in 1990 I read a story which suggested that that the average person was hit with three thousand marketing messages a week? Can you imagine what that number is now? Of course the number is irrelevant - what is important to remember is that for your marketing message to be retained, it has to be different.
Work on your differences today!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:16 AM
You can watch Kevin Kelly on UTV Live speaking on such topics as motivation/inspiration and entrepreneurship by clicking here
Enjoy
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:37 AM
"Yes, hope, its always good to have hope -even if it's completely unrealistic at times, you've got to believe that you are going to get better because if you don't you won't get better. You've got no chance if you dont believe."
Matt Hampson, the former Rugby prop who was paralysed in a training accident with England Under 21's in an interview with The Sunday Times.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:23 PM
Probably the greatest drug in the world is.....attention.
Attention is a derivative of love, and love is the fuel that propels you to a life less limiting.
There is no doubt in my mind, that as our society moves in favour of monologue, as oppossed to dialogue, an issue I discussed on a previous podcast, anyone who can offer a caring ear, unconditional support will become very popular in the community.
Well now my colleague Eileen Bennett is offering this service online by launching the innovative new site http://www.askmammy.ie
As she says, everybody needs a Mammy, and how right she is.
Eileen will be there to listen, answer questions, inspire with her blog, allow you to relate with other like minded people online and so on.
But the question is "Who is Mammy?"
Over the past few years, I have the honour of meeting and working with Eileen. Without reservation, I would say she is one of the few unconditional givers I have met in my life. Kind, caring, warm, giving, funny, normal, you are in good hands when you trust Mammy.
Enjoy the site!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 12:25 PM
Live longer through laughter, thats the result of a study of about 54,000 Norwegians who were tracked for seven years
"Adults who have a sense of humor outlive those who don't find life funny, and the survival edge is particularly large for people with cancer, "says Sven Svebak from Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the research leader.
Results included:
Adults who scored in the top one-quarter for humor appreciation were 35% more likely to be alive than those in the bottom quarter. This is taking account of health, age, sex, lifestyle and other things that could affect survival.
In a subgroup of 2,015 who had a cancer diagnosis at the start, a great sense of humor cut someone's chances of death by about 70% compared with adults with a poor sense of humor. The research leader Svebak checked to see whether the least humorous people also had the worst prognoses, which would explain their earlier deaths. That wasn't the case.
So humour, laughter works, as we have pointed out so many times on this blog.
Just got the following joke through from my American colleague - enjoy!
Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat, because he had an important meeting, and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, "Lord take pity on me. If you find me a parking place, I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life, and give up me Irish Whiskey!"
Miraculously, a parking place appeared.
Paddy looked up again and said, "Never mind God, I found one."
Happy St Patricks Day to all my visitors from around the world.
Thanks for making this site Googles and your Number 1.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 12:49 PM
In conjunction with Seoige and O Shea, we have developed a motivational slot that will run on the following dates:
March 27, April 03, April 17 and April 24.
The slot will features the following key topics:
- Taking responsibility
- Going for Goals
- Dealing with failure.
- How to see clearly
Enjoy!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 03:48 PM
"Learn from the negative: a failed experiment is a rich source of information."
Daria Hazuda, Scientific Director for infectious diseases, Merck.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:43 AM
Success, fulfilment, tapping into your potential, improving your leadership skills, coverting your customers into friends, building team spirit.....
Contribution
Give more...Get more.
Even better
Give more and trust ....watch your life transform before your very eyes.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 01:55 PM
L - Ongoing commitment to learning will improve your earnings.
E - Infect your internal and external customers with your energy and enthusiasm for the project.
A - Take Action - the hallmark of great Leaders.
D - Be determined and persevere - inspiration but more so perspiration is definately the quality of champions
E - God gave us two ears but only one mouth for a reason - listen!
Listen to everybody even the most annoying of customers and/or employees -they could be your teacher. Listen and welcome complaints - when solved they help to convert customers into friends. Listen and honour the dreams of your people.
R - Reward customer and employee loyalty and commitment. Saying thanks congruently will always be appreciatively received.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:26 AM
Just returned from a thrilling, emotional night in Anfield where Liverpool progressed to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
What an amazing atmosphere - as always when the crowd sing the Pool Anthem, "You'll never walk alone," every cell in your body is moved.
I thought it appropriate to share the lyrics of the song with you....whether you love football or not, these words will inspire:
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone.
.....looking forward to bringing the Cup back home from Ancient Greece!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:24 PM
I am often asked at seminars around the world how do you know when it is your mind that is delivering some information you want to hear or your intuition?
Without doubt your mind has the uncanny ability to make you hear what you want to hear, attract information that fits with your existing beliefs, and so on.
Intuition on the other hand, works best when you have no emotional attachment to the subject, or indeed when there is no personal history attached to the idea.
Thus when my intuition prompted me to write a Best seller eventhough I had no background in writing, and I certainly had never rationally thought about following such a direction, this was a prime example of pure connection.
Another way of knowing it is your intuition that is delivering key advice is by understanding how it delivers in the first instance. Some people get a compelling vision, others an inner voice and many, many others this feeling that is promoting a course of action.
When it delivers, commit to honouring it, and I guarantee you, that you will end up in a place you recognise as better than your starting point.
It was the following amusing but telling story, from the Times that motivated me to write on this topic:
The Psychic Museum in York has closed after its founder failed to predict what hard work it would be.
"If you are asking me for predictions when exactly it will open up again, then it is hard to say," Astrologer Jonathan Cainer told the York Press. " I dont believe you can make predictions about things you are close to."
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:10 AM