What is luck? A benevolent Lady who watches over you or a cruel whim of the gods?
Some people you say you make your own luck.
That's great for a person who is breezing through life, happy, healthy, successful and popular. How nice to think you are the sole architect of your good fortune. How confidence boosting to believe you are that great.
But consider someone equally smart with similar opportunities who has had a string of bad luck, made redundant though no fault of their own, a recurring health issue, friends who moved away, no success with applying for a new job simply because of the high level of competition. Are they responsible for the misery that seems to have befallen them? To say you make your own luck suggests you make your own bad luck too. But if you are suffering a series of chance happenings that work against you, how would you feel to be told you made your own luck? Not so good, and hearing that over and over from those successful people who don't know what bad luck is, might just make you feel worse about yourself, erode your confidence and spiral into a spate of worse situations.
Luck is just chance. A string of good luck is very healthy, a string of bad luck needs to be seen as what is it, chance. And chance says that previous events can't influence the future. Your luck just might change.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
Take note
Are your desk, bag, wallet and pockets full of reminders?
Spreadsheet! Open up a new spread sheet, on your computer or on your smartphone.
Have a page for websites you want to visit - mark them off when you have looked at them, a page for books to read, one for people you want to look up, one for places to have days out at etc.
Save paper, save reminders and save your sanity.
Friday, 16 March 2012
Losing weight
Losing weight is notoriously difficult. People are constantly struggling with diets and exercise plans and looking for miracle cures.
I think one of the reasons that it is such a struggle is that it is a huge commitment. You have to commit to work on it every day for what can be a considerable period of time. If it has taken four years for you to pile on a couple of extra stone (28 lbs, 11kilos) then you can expect to take a couple of years to lose it, and that's if you work hard.
You also have to be committed every day, committed to reducing your intake of inappropriate foods, committed to burning a few more calories. That takes awareness, mindfulness and focus.
Anyone who is for any reason a little below their best, whether it be a physical health problem, a mental health problem or simply a period of emotional stress or difficulty, will find it that much harder to make that daily commitment.
As well as the daily commitment there is the long term commitment, the decision to work at it over a long period of time. Anyone who is below par may find it hard to think in terms of the long game.
And then there are the days when the willpower fails, the commitment is lost or something just goes wrong. Anyone not in tip top condition may find it hard to pick themselves back up and get back on track. They may berate themselves as a failure, feel guilt at letting themselves down, feel despairing of their ability to reach their targets and may spiral back into the bad habits that got themselves where they started. Even if they do get back on track, they may find they have to work a little harder to make up for the slip up.
So next time someone you know tell you they are trying to lose weight, be supportive and positive, and be prepared to support them over a long period of time.
Have a look at this blog for more on this,
I think one of the reasons that it is such a struggle is that it is a huge commitment. You have to commit to work on it every day for what can be a considerable period of time. If it has taken four years for you to pile on a couple of extra stone (28 lbs, 11kilos) then you can expect to take a couple of years to lose it, and that's if you work hard.
You also have to be committed every day, committed to reducing your intake of inappropriate foods, committed to burning a few more calories. That takes awareness, mindfulness and focus.
Anyone who is for any reason a little below their best, whether it be a physical health problem, a mental health problem or simply a period of emotional stress or difficulty, will find it that much harder to make that daily commitment.
As well as the daily commitment there is the long term commitment, the decision to work at it over a long period of time. Anyone who is below par may find it hard to think in terms of the long game.
And then there are the days when the willpower fails, the commitment is lost or something just goes wrong. Anyone not in tip top condition may find it hard to pick themselves back up and get back on track. They may berate themselves as a failure, feel guilt at letting themselves down, feel despairing of their ability to reach their targets and may spiral back into the bad habits that got themselves where they started. Even if they do get back on track, they may find they have to work a little harder to make up for the slip up.
So next time someone you know tell you they are trying to lose weight, be supportive and positive, and be prepared to support them over a long period of time.
Have a look at this blog for more on this,
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Reading
A place in Berkshire.
But seriously, I do love to read. it's a lot easier than writing.
You may already have spotted my reading list at the bottom left of this blog.
I try to read a book a week but sometimes Time just gets away from me.
You might have spotted that one particular book has stayed in the Currently Reading slot and not been moved to the Previous Reads list. That book is quite a tough on for me, I dip into from time to time and read a few pages but it makes me sad. It describes my dream job and I find it quite hard to read as I have not achieved that career path.
Other books are quick easy reads, ideal for the train journey into London. I have a book reader on my smart phone and have recently enjoyed my first PG Wodehouse tale.
Then there are the BIG reads, books that you can immerse yourself in for weeks. I personally am a fan of fantasy like JRR Tolkien. It's a huge genre with plenty of authors and a variety of styles, settings and stories. I have never managed to get into Austen or Dickens, but I do like a good detective or mystery story.
It doesn't really matter what your tastes in reading matter are, but I do think that reading is a very healthy past time, exercise for the mind that can be done anywhere at anytime.
But seriously, I do love to read. it's a lot easier than writing.
You may already have spotted my reading list at the bottom left of this blog.
I try to read a book a week but sometimes Time just gets away from me.
You might have spotted that one particular book has stayed in the Currently Reading slot and not been moved to the Previous Reads list. That book is quite a tough on for me, I dip into from time to time and read a few pages but it makes me sad. It describes my dream job and I find it quite hard to read as I have not achieved that career path.
Other books are quick easy reads, ideal for the train journey into London. I have a book reader on my smart phone and have recently enjoyed my first PG Wodehouse tale.
Then there are the BIG reads, books that you can immerse yourself in for weeks. I personally am a fan of fantasy like JRR Tolkien. It's a huge genre with plenty of authors and a variety of styles, settings and stories. I have never managed to get into Austen or Dickens, but I do like a good detective or mystery story.
It doesn't really matter what your tastes in reading matter are, but I do think that reading is a very healthy past time, exercise for the mind that can be done anywhere at anytime.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Time flies
How is that one minute it's Monday morning, the next thing you know it's Friday night?
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity." Einstein.
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity." Einstein.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Web privacy
Both Google and Facebook are making changes to the way they work that enable them to gather more information about you so that they can personalise advertising that appears on your screen and thus make themselves more money.
Both are free services so you are under no obligation to stick with them but you can make certain changes to protect yourself.
Change you Google settings to remove the details of your web history. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/320137
Read this article about the Facebook timeline so you understand the changes. https://www.facebook.com/notes/daniel-b-lancaster/the-timeline-faq-why-timeline-cant-be-removed-and-what-you-can-do-to-protest-it/390360994314464
Be web savvy, be web safe.
Both are free services so you are under no obligation to stick with them but you can make certain changes to protect yourself.
Change you Google settings to remove the details of your web history. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/320137
Read this article about the Facebook timeline so you understand the changes. https://www.facebook.com/notes/daniel-b-lancaster/the-timeline-faq-why-timeline-cant-be-removed-and-what-you-can-do-to-protest-it/390360994314464
Be web savvy, be web safe.
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