Stephen Hart

Natural beauty

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:12:31 -0800

It isn't how much you have it's what you appreciate that counts.

There is beauty in the world all around us and freely available. This tree made me remember and marvel at that fact and I wanted to share it with you. Regards Archie

For those with a technical interest the picture was taken with a Sony Ericson K800i on the 3MB fine quality setting.

Islands

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:25:27 -0700

This is desktop size if anyone would like to use it as a desktop image then feel feel free to do so.

Power in your hand

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:59:59 -0700

One hand is more than enough!

In who's hands lie the power?

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:57:55 -0700

Let the creativity flow!

Time

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:38:54 -0700

What time have you got and how are you going to use it?

Image1

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:12:51 -0700

Me!

How To Become A Jedi Master Part 1

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:13:39 -0700

How To Become a Jedi Master Part 1 I have a dear friend who tells me that I am too serious and that I need to relax and be more of myself. Which just goes to prove that she has met me! So as a personal development specialist who is also a sci-fi fan let me offer the first in a light hearted series of notes entitled: "How to be a Jedi master." Oh come on it was a no brainer really wasn't it. I saw Star Wars when I was seven and I always wanted to be a Jedi knight. Now that I know some techniques that come very close to Jedi mind tricks it seems like fun to share them with you...oh and I'm not making this stuff up. Everything I am going to share works and comes from either the world of NLP (neuro linguistic programming) or similar psychologically based disciplines. So I invite you to read on and "Learn how to be a Jedi master!" Let's start with mind control - the famous scene in the first star wars movie features obi-wan kenobi telling the storm troopers that "These aren't the droids you're looking for". He then suggest to the troopers that "They can move on." which then the troopers tell him to do and thus he and his group escape capture. So how great would it be to able to do that...to influence another person's thinking in the direction you wanted...well here's the thing; you can. And it's pretty easy. Let me show you...by asking you one question...and consider the answer as you read the question... "Your mother. Your mother what's her first name?" Okay so do you have a picture of your mother in your head now, or did you when you thought of the answer to the question? let's try another one...again consider the answer as you read... "Your front door. The front door; of your house, flat or apartment...what colour is it?" Again do you have an image of your front door in your mind, or did you when you thought of the answer to the question? I'm going to stick my neck out as assume that you did. (This is a lot harder to do on paper and so much easier to do verbally!) Now how it works is very simple, yet it highlights a fundamental fact about how the human brain works; "labels". You see the brain is hard wired to generalise and assign labels to things. When you are young you learn that small, squeaking creatures are called 'mice' yet not all small squeaking creatures are mice, which you learn later, so your brain has to do some translation work when presented with something small and squeaking; literally is it or is it not a mouse. And when you see the word 'mouse' you think of something that your brain has labelled as a mouse, whether that is a white mouse, brown one, cartoon one or whatever. In short when you are presented with a label your brain rushes off to access a meaning for the label, which means that when you present a label to someone you literally mind control them for a split second to think about what you want them to think about. Which is why the label in the examples above were written as they were - label first! I could have asked: "What is the name of your mother?" but that isn't as effective as trigger the label of mother first and then asking the question. I could get technical and explain why this works on at least two levels but this is supposed to be a light weight article not a thesis so let me press on with why this might be of interest to you... Let's say you want to have a conversation with an attractive woman or man at the bar...how about... changing the old "Can I buy you a drink?" (a very weak line for so many reasons!) to "You're favourite drink, what would that be?" Note the delivery is important in particular put the emphasis on 'You're' and pause at the comma. taking it further... "You have beautiful eyes." to "You're eyes, they're very beautiful." and even better and using some other psychology... "You're eyes; they're a beautiful shade of blue" (obviously assuming here they are blue) Putting the 'You're' first triggers association and sends the signal that the message is personal to them and about them. And the above example contained Jedi mind trick number two - make compliments specific. The more specific and personal to the individual that you are speaking to the more impact it will have psychological. ...hey try it out...nothing ventured nothing gained :) Now whether using this technique to attract the opposite sex is going to the dark side is something I can't answer! You can use it in lots of situations to direct people's thoughts. If nothing else it is a great way of getting someone's attention diverted to the thing you want to talk about. Throw out a label, give them a second to consider it then ask your question. It works in Next time; how ambiguity allows you to control events :) Or in other words...once she (or he) has told you what their favourite drink is, how to get them to let you buy them one :)

Perfection is flawed

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:52:48 -0700

As a business coach I am going to recommend that you don't strive for perfection. That in fact the quest for perfection is a fool's quest and should be abandoned immediately. Now the reason behind my thinking is very simple...perfection itself doesn't exist. It's an illusion, a concept that can not be given actual form. In the world of mathematics you might be able to have the perfect answer to a question but in the arena of human endeavours perfection ceases to be a real possibility. After all however good someone becomes someone else can always improve on it. So if perfection isn't the goal what should be? Try excellence. Now yes, excellent is another concept, another idea that within the field of human endeavours is hard to positively identify. However this time it is possible to more accurately measure it. I can, for example, recognise an excellent sales call when I hear it. And I can even write down what would constitute an excellent sales call and train someone else to recognise it. I couldn't however describe a perfect sales pitch. There is always something that could have been changed or altered. So where ever you are in business, assuming you want to excel in your career, I recommend you focus on being excellent. This is something that can be reached, a solid goal that is worth pursuing. One of the beautiful points about this belief is that you can start today, right now. First you commit to the task, to the challenge of being excellent at something. That's the first step. Then you do the first thing, take the first step. The pursuit of excellence is a journey of actions not theory. It's a process of doing not saying. So do it now. Take that first step...but heed a warning first... ...please realise that excellence is a long journey and it requires determination, persistency and it is fuelled by a constant desire to excel. But enough of warnings for the good news is that whilst perfection is the destination you can never reach, the pursuit of excellence rewards it's travellers as they travel. So take that first step and commence the journey. Good luck. Archie

"Never give up, never surrender!"

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:27:25 -0700

A few years ago I was on a plane flying to the beautiful city of Seattle from England. I was on one of those planes with the neat mini television screens set in the seat in front of you. I flipped through the available channels, saw a film on the listings that looked like fun and slipping the headphone on I settled back in my isle seat to enjoy the movie. Minutes into the film I started to laugh. First a chuckle, then a contained laugh. I tried to suppress my laughter due to the other passengers on the plane but it got worse. Soon I was crying with laughter, tears streaming down my face as I doubled up in my seat with convulsions. People started looking at me funny and I realised I was the only person on the plane laughing! In a quiet moment of the film, as I wiped the tears from my eyes I glanced puzzled at what they were watching as it seemed inconceivable to me that they wouldn't be laughing just as hard as I was. They weren't watching what I was. Definitely their loss. At about the half hour point I gave in and laughed and chuckled through the rest of the film as quietly as possible but still loud enough to draw some odd looks from the other passengers...hey what can I say - the film was funny! So what's the point of the story? Is it "walk your own path"? Or "Be respectful of others", or "Humour is good for you"? Well all good points but not where this is going. You see the film was a sci-fi spoof - literally a Star Trek spoof called Galaxy Quest. Now as such it had a heroic Captain Kirk type figure who's motto was "Never give up, never surrender!" And that's the point of the story...well that's the point of the blog, the point of the story was to make entertain you as you read it - picturing one man crying with laughter in the centre of a plane whilst everyone else looks on bemused not knowing why he is so happy! (Watching with headphones remember on my own mini tv) So for this first blog on blogger I have chosen "Never give up, never surrender!" as the motto. For here is a truth for you, no matter what you want to do in life, no matter who you want to be, as long as you don't give up and don't surrender to the objections and obstacles of the world then you will triumph. Consider how many marvellous things that have been created, how many wondrous inventions given life and how many lives bettered because people kept going. So dear readers it is good to laugh at films and equally it's brilliant to ""Never give up, never surrender!"

A List of People

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:49:12 -0700

Recently a friend of mine at work emailed me a list of the casualties suffered by the British Army in Iraq. I wasn't sure why he had sent it round apart from the fact that he is an ex-military chap himself and I assumed he was sharing some news. It seemed like quite a long list of names and the email it self took a few minutes to open on my machine. So I deleted it. Simply as that, deleted it, click. And then... Well then nothing happened, at least not at work. What did happen outside of work however was that I, that very night, watched a television show, one of my favourites, and in this particular episode the character are talking about the list of dead from that day in a fictional war. The scene played out like this: Character 1: "Sir... the latest casualty reports have been posted." Character 2: "How many this time?" Character 1: "Including the troops lost at AR-Five-Five-Eight... seventeen hundred and thirty." Character 2: "Seventeen hundred and thirty." (quietly) Character 1: "That's a lot of names." (Sympathetically) Character 2: "They're not just names... It's important we remember that. (to himself) "We have to remember..." Now watching that scene brought me to tears, not only because of the fictional story that was emotional and hard hitting but because art had imitated life absolutely and it had found me wanting. So I want to say that the character was right. We have to remember that the names in the news are real people. Out of respect of their choices, out of respect for a fellow person we must remember that. This isn't about being about anti-war; this is about being a decent person. Now I don't know exactly what difference it will make to the world to remember that they were people but I know it is the morally right thing to do. So for myself I went back to my email and found the deleted email with the names of those dead soldiers and I read the names, I read the names of those people, all of them. And I wondered what type of people they had been. What their hopes had been and who had been left behind. Again I don't know what it accomplishes but it feels right. Let us never forget it is not a list of names, it is a list of people.

Enjoy your victories!

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:26:13 -0700

Three years ago I joined a company with fifteen people. Today it is a group of companies spanning three locations, three industries and totaling more than one hundred and fifty people. And that's not what this blog is about. What it is about is that three years ago whilst I had some skills I didn't have the range that I have today, three years ago I didn't know what I know today and three years ago I wasn't the person I am today. And here's the thing...I plan to celebrate that. I am going to go home tonight, on the anniversary of my joining my company, and celebrate all the great things that have happened over the last three years. I'm going to take the opportunity to make something of this anniversary and to enjoy it, to live it, indeed to revel in it. I've already started the process. I brought to work chocolate bars for the office to enjoy my anniversary with me and I sent them an email where I listed some of the things that I had done in the last few years and thank them. For without them I would have achieved less and become less. It is the impact on other people and the times I have had with other people that makes today special. As I said in my email round work: "I've seen people laugh, cry, win, lose, succeed, fail, fall in love, out of love, fight, curse and embrace...sometimes more than one of those at once! I've done my share of those things to. I've also drowned a laptop, been praised by a nobel prize winner, qualified as a public speaker, finally moved out to the country, performed magic tricks to a public audience, become an NLP practioner, hypnotized some people, cured a couple of phobia's, made some friends, made some enemies (which can be good as I've learned a lot from having them!), oh and I've run a few training courses and trained one or two people here and there!" Now I think that people don't take enough time to say to themselves well done. I achieved something. So take some time out for yourself. Celebrate your anniversaries and your strengths. Revel in what you can do. And then go modestly on with the knowledge that we can all get better.

Is there a lion outside your window?

Thu, 22 May 2008 03:21:43 -0700

So is there a lion outside your window? Yes your window, the one you can see from where you are. And if your somewhere other than in a room look around...can you see a lion? Okay now I've been away from Virb for a little while and maybe you're thinking I took a bump to the head whilst I was gone and came back strange but not at all. What I was thinking about in my absence, apart from when will I get well and when will work calm down enough to allow me back here, was just how incredible and amazing life and this world really is. We go throgh our daily routines and that is exactly what they are. Routines. Patterns of behaviour that are valid and complimentary with out goals. (And if they are not you know who can make the change don't you!) What we forget though as we gop through our routines is that somewhere else, at this very moment, right now, there is a lion outside of a window, a dolphin is swimming in the sun, and an eagle is soaring through the heavens. There is a beautiful, intoxicating and marvelous world out there and we are part of it. So if your day seems a little dull, if your rounties have you running the same old, same old then stop, lift your eyes to the horixons and wonder...what is out there? For ladies and gentlemen the world is out there. And there be lions outside your window.

Knock Out

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:07:00 -0800

I entered the ring as the cocky young new comer quite confident in my natural ability and power. Twelve minutes later I ended up face down on the canvass with my head ringing and the taste of defeat in my mouth. Today, the day after my defeat, (boxing here is a metaphor I've not taken up pugilism), I hurt more than at the time of my defeat. In particular the bruises to my ego and self esteem ache badly. So what do I do? Do I drag myself away into a corner, find a bottle and wash the pain away, do I blame everyone else or do I accept responsibility and learn from this event? Well it comes to me, being someone who wants to achieve the most he can in life to learn from the pain and grow stronger. It occurs to me to accept the responsibility for my actions and realize that if something is really important then it is really important that I prepare properly and thoroughly. It occurs to me that I must prioritize the essential and save the 'nice to do' for later. And finally it occurs to me that what I win or lose comes down to how focused I am on my goals. So I'm picking myself up, dusting myself off and I'm planning for my next bout in the ring. And whether next time I win or lose is down to me.

Following on, following through

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:25:00 -0800

One of the most common flaw made when people are learning to play golf is failing to follow through properly. 'Following through' in golf is literally the part of the swing after the club has struck the ball. The ball has, a fraction of a second earlier, gone sailing off into the air, and the club simply continues to swing through empty air. Yet the fascinating thing about this is that if the follow through isn't done properly the ball won't go where it should. It's almost a moment from science fiction where a future event affects a current event - time travel on a golf course! Now if you consider the last thought for the week "Ideas are not Enough", and think about those decisions that you might have considered and even started to take since reading that how many of them have you seen through fully? How many of them have you completed and indeed how many decisions did you miss? In golf it's all about intending to follow through, indeed planning to follow through. This affects everything from the players stance, their muscle tension and their mental expectations. In life it's the same. Have the intention to see things through, planning to do them completely even when it seems you will be simply swinging through the air and not making a difference. This is what enables people to achieve great things. Regards Archie PS I am indebted to a friend of mine James Moorhouse for the wisdom that is contained in the above.

Ideas are not enough

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:22:23 -0800

Half way into an hour and a half commute to work and the rain was still falling. The roads were slick with water and visibility could have been better. For some reason the traffic had slowed to a crawl and then I saw on the inside lane the reason. A car had broken down and stood forlornly with its hazard lights feebly blinking away. A woman stood, holding her coat hood down against the rain, hand bag in hand next to the car. She was getting wet. And in five minutes she'd be a lot wetter. Now the next thought that went through my head was that I could pull over and give her the umbrella that was sitting, unused, next to me in my car. I don't need it and she did. I could have stopped right by her car. But I didn't. Twenty yards further down the road I saw a parking place. Again I thought that I could very easily turn the wheel, slow the car, and pull up. Then I could get out, walk twenty yards and give her the umbrella. A decent, quick idea that would make a difference. I kept driving. Now I've thought about this up and down and the reason why I didn't act is not the topic for this thought for the week. The topic is rather that ideas aren't enough on their own. Action has to follow them. If you don't put your ideas into action then the ideas won't make a blind bit of difference. If you have an idea to develop yourself, follow it with action. If you have an idea how to increase your sales, improve your health or your wealth then follow those ideas with action. Otherwise nothing will change. Listen to your ideas, take action and make a difference. (And I offer my most profound apologies to the woman in the rain...)

Pushing the Envelope

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:25:33 -0800

Sixty years ago, October 14 1947, to be exact a young pilot climbed into an experimental plane and took off on a flight to achieve something that had never been achieved before...to break the sound barrier. The prevailing wisdom at the time was mixed with some thinking that the forces would literally rip the wings of the plane or lock the controls up causing a catastrophic and fatal crash. As it was Chuck Yeager flying the experimental plane the X-1, (named by Yeager "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife) flying at an altitude of 45,000 feet entered the history books as the first man to successfully break the sound barrier. In the years that followed he, and others, continued to fly further and faster and even now there are pilots and plane engineers striving always to 'push the envelope' (as they say in the aviation world) and go faster and further. Because these people do that, because they strive to do the things that haven't been done before they achieve more and they learn more. After all the benefit is not always in reaching the goal but the wisdom that is learned along the way and we could all learn more wisdom! I know specifically how I will, for myself, push the envelope today and yes it's a little scary and it's a little unnerving and I welcome that. Because when it is done, when the attempt is made and whether I succeed or fail, I will have pushed my personal envelope out further than it has been before and I welcome whatever that brings. So I invite you to consider what personal barriers you can exceed before the end of today? What can you attempt that you haven't done before, some target you haven't reached or some action you haven't before taken? How far can you push the envelope today?

Changing the world

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:43:24 -0800

How do you feel about the world right now? Are you happy with the global state of affairs or does international conflict, the threats to the environment or global injustice touch your conscience. On a more local scale would you have people be more polite, more thoughtful or more positive to each other? If you are nodding as you read those lines with the thought that 'Yes; sometimes I wish for those things' then you have a simple challenge if you are genuinely serious about making a difference in the world. Your challenge is this - how do you turn the idea into action. More specifically; how can you influence other people to make a positive change in the world? It might sound like a very big question yet the answer is remarkably easy and the really beautiful thing about the answer is that you personally have the power to put it into action. So what is the answer? Well it is this - whatever change you want to see in the world you need to first adopt that change for yourself. For example if you want people to be more polite then be more polite yourself. If you want people to be recycle more then make sure you recycle more. As I said a very easy answer and one that you have the power to implement. Simple yet potent in it's potential. Another powerful aspect of this answer is that you can act on it immediately. Simply consider, right now, one way in which you would like the world to be a better place and resolve to do more of that yourself from this moment on. This philosophy works on three levels. First by changing your own behaviour you have changed the behaviour of one person on the earth immediately. Secondly, and this is where the big impact lies, you will start to influence those people around you. Humans are ultimately pack animals and we adopt the characteristics of those around us. When you start to act in a certain way people will see this and start, sometimes slowly sometimes quickly, to adopt your patterns and behaviours. The third level that this works on is an internal level because if you genuinely apply this philosophy as you go through life you will realise how powerful you are. Rather than complaining about others you will evolve and grow into someone who sees something they want to change and then who does something directly about it. I don't know about you, but knowing that I have the power to change the world makes me feel pretty good! Be the change you want to see in the world.

Evolution

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:56:38 -0800

Evolution ~ a process in which something passes by degrees to a more advanced or mature stage I'm a big fan of the show Heroes (good acting, complicated plotting and great cliff hangers how could I not like it?) and one of the central themes is evolution. In the show certain people manifest new physical abilities for humans, literally evolution in action. It got me thinking about us biologically normal people and whether we could evolve and develop. As you can imagine I believe the answer to be a resounding yes. The thing is you have to make it happen. You have to take command of the present to ordain the future. Let's say for sake of argument that you are not the person that you dreamed about being when you were younger or even last week! What can you do about that? Well frankly whatever you want to do about it. You can chose to accept your (self determined) shortcomings or you can chose to grow and evolve into something closer to the person you wanted to be. I can give you the guarantee that if you chose not to pursue your dreams and ideals then you will not reach them. I can also guarantee that if you do pursue them then you will get closer. You will become more of what you want to be. In short you will evolve into the next version of yourself. And I'd love to see that happen. So let me end with a question: Peter Petrelli in the first episode of Heroes stood on a roof edge and had the faith in himself to step off (he believed he could fly). What, metaphorical, roof edge do you have the faith to step off?

Taking life less seriously.

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:38:51 -0700

I was extolling the importance of my job and the necessity to take it seriously to a guest at a dinner a few years ago when the guest I was speaking to started to smirk. I asked what was funny and he asked what was the worst that could happen if I got things wrong. At the time I was a headhunter and I talked about career's being ruined and the devastating effect on the person's family etc. After puffing myself up with the importance of my role and how dire the consequences of getting it wrong it occurred to me to ask him what he did for a living. He was a heart surgeon! Naturally I had to concede his role had graver (no pun intended) consequences and we got to talking about that. He told me how as a young doctor he had been given a brilliant piece of advice which he always held to. That advice was to not take things too seriously and always maintain a sense of humour. The reason for this he had been told was that if he took himself or the role too seriously he would more likely stiffen up either mentally or physically and thus be more likely to make mistakes. Naturally being a heart surgeon he had to treat his job with respect and care yet in his experience combining that with a good sense of humour was vital for success. So this week don't forget the power of humour to oil the wheels of success!

I was feeling the blues, then I met a man with no shoes.

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:29:52 -0700

Imagine the scene; a cold winter's morning in Chicago in 1920. The snow is falling as a business man is walking to the train station to board a train for a job interview. Whilst he had dressed as well as he could his coat was several years old and did little to keep the cold out and he knew his suit had seen better days. This job interview was, he felt, his last chance to find work in Chicago and if he failed he would have to move out West and try his luck elsewhere. As he was went to cross over the road to the station he saw a scene which he credited with changing his life. Coming along the sidewalk towards him was a man in a wheel chair in a winter coat that was tucked under him and showed that clearly the man had no legs. "Morning there. Beautiful day isn't it." The man said with a smile as he wheeled past the business man. The business man was speechless and stood in the snow marvelling at a man who, despite his disadvantages, could be so positive about the world. Over the years that followed the business man told the story many times and spoke often of the lessons it had taught him. For him not only did it say something powerful about having a positive attitude it also said to him to appreciate what you do have. That lesson was relevant in 1920's Chicago and it is relevant today where ever you are. How many great things do you have in your life to have appreciation for? How much can you accomplish with what you already have? If you are reading this then you can see, you can read and whether at home or work you have access to technology that millions are denied. In the hurly burly of today's world with constant advertising from companies and corporations it is easy to be discontent. Being happy can be no harder than taking a moment to appreciate how many things you already have. So how many things do you already have to appreciate and what can you achieve with them?