Personal Growth & Transformation

Daydreams: Friend or Foe?

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This week I am back to full-time work after a short break. I kept myself reasonably busy during this time off, but one habit I did develop was to relax, both physically and mentally, during the mid-afternoon. On such occasions I would allow my mind to wander, or to “daydream” as this is commonly known. Daydreaming is basically a state of mind where the thoughts you experience are unrelated to what is going on in the environment around you.

Interestingly, this habit initially brought with it some guilt. I’m sure this was related to being in a “non-doing” state in a culture that increasingly values productivity. With time, however, I came to shed most of this guilt and use this period of rest in a positive way. The following are a selection of potential positives and negatives to daydreaming.

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A Simple Story About Remembering Your Value

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Recent events in my life have provided an important reminder: don’t let others determine your value.

As some readers will be aware, I have been looking for a job recently. As a recent immigrant to Canada, my situation is a bit different from your typical job seeker. Despite having a Bachelor degree and close to 3 years experience in my chosen industry, I have had trouble convincing some employers to take me on at the level I want without “Canadian experience”.

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10 Ways to Give Your Morning a Makeover

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Once upon a time I hated the morning. Waking up was a process of hitting the snooze button over and over, only to roll out of bed at the last possible moment. It was then a mad rush to get out the door, and very often I would need to run for the bus (not surprisingly I missed it a few times). Anyhow, I gave my morning a makeover and now it is my favorite part of the day.

The following are 10 ways you too can give your mornings a makeover.

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Book Review: Getting Things Done

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Many personal development sites focus heavily on productivity, and for good reason. I am, however, going to admit here that productivity has traditionally not been one of my strengths. For example, there was quite some time between purchasing Getting Things Done and actually reading it – kind of ironic really.

Well I’m glad I finally got around to reading Getting Things Done. I have not read many productivity books, but I can appreciate why it is commonly known as the “bible” of personal productivity. The following are a few of the points in the book that had the most impact on me.

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What is Success?

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In one of my most popular articles, 30 Fundamentals of a Wonderful Life, I stressed the importance of forming your own definition of success. If you don’t, there is a good chance you will waste a lot of time and energy chasing someone else’s version of the word. To help you, I have found 10 quotes that each, in my opinion, give a key insight into what success really means.

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Review Your Week With These 7 Questions

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Often personal development material focuses on goals and intentions as the keys to success. It is just as important, though, to take the time to regularly review your life. I like to do a short review of my day each night, but once a week I like to take extra time to drawback and get a bigger picture of how things are traveling.

Whilst the number of questions in this article is an arbitrary number, there is a specific purpose to making this review session weekly. The questions in this weekly review will allow you to rise above what is, in my opinion, the sometimes limiting perspective of a single day. Here then are 7 questions to end your week with.

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The Importance of Setting Life Reminders

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If I could kick myself in the ass right now, I would. Last night on my way home from the driving range I was caught for speeding and issued a nasty fine (like golf isn’t expensive enough already…). Unlike my experience in If You Want To Change, Tell the Truth, I was never in any doubt that this was anything but my own fault. I strongly agree with the principle that people should drive within the speed limits, and I put this down to a lapse in concentration. What really annoys me, though, is the fact that this is something I vowed I would never do again after the last time.

The last time was a few years ago, but I still remember it very clearly. I also distinctly remember the following weeks where the care I took driving could have had me nominated for a “Driver of the Year” award. But as these weeks turned into months, I slowly returned to a more “normal” way of driving (still predominantly safe – just more relaxed and, therefore, prone to occasional lapses in concentration).

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If You Want to Change, Tell The Truth

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So I went to a job interview last week and, to be honest, it didn’t go well. What I found interesting, though, was in the aftermath of the interview my mind was on overdrive. And by paying particular attention to these thoughts rushing through my head I noticed something: I wanted so badly to blame external factors for the way the interview went. I wanted to blame the public transport for making me 5 minutes late. I wanted to blame the interviewer’s wooden demeanor for the uncomfortable atmosphere in the interview. I wanted to blame the unusual interview questions that had me on the back foot trying desperately to recall some specific example from past.

By the time I got home from the interview my mind had settled somewhat. Whilst in the bathroom, I paused for a moment and stared at my reflection in the mirror. It was then that I said to myself: you sucked. That was it. That was the brutal, honest truth. I went to the interview under-prepared and the famous Benjamin Franklin quote came true: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

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4 Effective Practices for Gaining Perspective

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As human beings it is inevitable that at some point in our lives we will develop feelings of sadness, hopelessness and even depression. These emotions can be brought on by something personal like losing a job, a failed relationship, or a serious health issue for you or a loved one; or sometimes they are triggered by something more global like corrupt political systems, war, or the knowledge that there are starving children all over the world.

Regardless, we are just people and no matter how hard we may try to mitigate negative emotions, they persist. The purpose of this article is NOT to explain to you how detrimental these negative feelings are, but rather give some practical tools for gaining perspective amid these rough times. Living with perspective means always looking at your life from the 10,000 foot level, and when you entrain yourself to pull back and view yourself from this height things begin to look a little different. More often than not, they begin to look much better.

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How to Be Boring

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Boring people – they’re everywhere. You can tell when you are in the presence of such a person when you have to fight the urge to yawn or your mind wanders off to.. well… just about anything else. Now you too can be boring if you follow these simple, straight-forward tips. (Disclaimer: this is something of a Monday morning rant)

1. Be a fence sitter

Sitting on the fence means taking a position of neutrality or indecision on a particular topic. Now there may be some circumstances where this is needed, but far too often I see people sit on the fence because they are too lazy to think about where they stand on an issue or they are too scared to voice their opinion for fear of offending someone. Boring.

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5 Signs You Are On Autopilot

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I was on autopilot for many years. Sure, I was traveling through life with my eyes open and my hands on the wheel. But it seemed as if I was heading toward some pre-determined destination that had been chosen for me by others. In addition, it seemed that whenever I turned the wheel to guide me toward this destination, that there was no conscious thought behind my actions. Are you on autopilot?

Admittedly this can be a tough question to answer. First, it is always hard to be brutally honest with oneself. If you realize that you are traveling through life on autopilot, you may just need to make some big changes. Second, how can you tell if you are? Personally, I believe the best method is to look for particular signs. The following are 5 signs that are either relevant to my life or the lives of some close friends of mine.

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