February 3, 2015
Fear and how we react to it is, as with many of our emotional responses, a composite of neural pathways largely laid down in our childhood. However, as adults, our entrenched fears can interfere with our ability to live full and healthy lives. Misplaced fear can stop us thinking rationally, make us compliant, silence us…
January 20, 2015
If we insist that everyone subscribes to the same fundamental beliefs and so values the same things that we do, then we not only take the colour and depth out of life, but we make it close to impossible to work with people who may differ, at least in part, from ourselves. Our own values…
October 28, 2014
We are confronted on a daily basis with pictures of our world that are confusing. On the one hand, we are aware of the power of human ingenuity. Together with the evolution of technology and economic development, humans would appear to have the capacity to resolve (albeit over varying lengths of time) complex problems. We…
August 25, 2014
Politics is about understanding how decisions are made, how resources are allocated and who is in a position to help. For many of us, political behaviour feels like the covert way some people seek to manipulate outcomes – it is not to be trusted. What follows is a way of looking at politics that can…
July 28, 2014
A lot of people don’t achieve what they want to achieve in life, not because they can’t, but because they self-sabotage. We can each do this in a number of ways. We can have such a strong internal belief about our strengths and weaknesses (e.g. I have always been good with figures and I’ve never…
July 21, 2014
Curiously, while we are told good news doesn’t sell papers, it makes our lives infinitely more possible. Good news functions to our spirit the way oxygen functions in blood. Vital for coping, essential for helping us overcome adversity. Good personal stories are like deposits in a bank. In their absence, the bad news can put…
June 25, 2014
Emotions as world-changers (taken from One World AtLast pp. 162-3) Emotions, in all their glory, are common to all human beings, irrespective of culture, geography, age, gender, etc. Some common emotions are anger, sadness, surprise, joy and fear. So, it isn’t whether or not we have emotions that is the challenge, but rather whether we…
June 18, 2014
Emotional management: Early cues (excerpt from One World AtLast p. 173) Being in control of emotions is largely about practice. Have an intention not to ‘vomit’ your emotions on others. Here is a simple way to practice ‘getting in control’. The trick to this is to pay attention to the earliest possible cues (not what…
May 13, 2014
It seems we often spend an inordinate amount of our time arguing with one another and not listening properly. In an argument or raw debate, one person assumes that the other is wrong and believes the best way to prove this point is to continue to shove their opinion down the other’s throat (and vice…
May 5, 2014
It doesn’t really matter where you learn about values; what matters is understanding the price you pay for not knowing your values. Being unaware of your values can significantly limit your experience of the world and your understanding of, and ability to really connect with, the other people in it. If you don’t know why…
April 15, 2014
Please note this is an excerpt from One World AtLast There is something genuinely strange about the way we respond to the spin on things that are meant to make us happy – endless amounts of money, a diet that will produce a body to die for, a life of leisure, phenomenal success at work,…
March 25, 2014
When we are little, we just try, and fail, and try again, repeatedly, until one day we can crawl, stand, stagger, walk, skip, jump and run. Our massive brains adapt, learn and utilise experience. We get feedback from people (parents) around us; if we get rewarded, we do it again. It is not so different…
August 13, 2013
Helping hand – by Fabian Dattner Once upon a time, the teachers were all older than the students. Once upon a time IF you were older, you could reasonably expect to lend a hand to someone younger, to help them do something, learn something, grow, develop skills, and generally be more able in the world.…