Practical Personal Development


Practical Personal Development


 

Changing Your Life - It's Up to You


Copyright (c) 2010 Willie Horton

A long-standing friend recently recommended one of his best-loved self-help books to me - it was the latest in a long list of his recommended reading. In chatting with him, I enquired as to how he was getting on putting into practice what he was learning from all his reading. It emerged from our conversation that, in fact, he was a life-long student of living life to the full but was unlikely to ever actually try it. As the conversation unfolded, he told me that a mutual friend had suggested to him that he "stop reading the bloody books and starting doing it!"

Bookshop shelves groan with personal development, self improvement and self help books. It's big business - apparently the fastest growing sector of the publishing market. In addition, personal development websites abound - offering all manner of inducements to purchase their package which will change your life in five minutes.

None of these websites, packages or books will change your life. They may well point you in the right direction, provide you with an insight or understanding that had been missing from your range of knowledge or experience or, perhaps, offer you concrete tips on how to get more out of life, change your life, transform yourself or whatever. Undoubtedly, there is some very good stuff out there - and some innovative and practical personal development online help - but none of it is going to be of any use to you until you put it into practice for yourself and keep putting it into practice.

You are the only one who can change your life. You are the only one who can take control of the awesome inner power that is simply waiting for you to muster up the courage or energy to unleash it. But neither courage nor bravery is required - in fact very little effort is required at all. The interesting thing is that much of the advice provided by books and websites requires very little effort on your part, really only a tiny amount of work is required of you. In fact, to change your life immeasurably you really only need to very minor alterations to the manner in which you use your mind. And, indeed, I have seen many people make these tiny adjustments and experience major benefits. Sadly, however, having been in this business for over fourteen years, I have seen far too many people unwilling to take five minutes each and every day, on an ongoing basis, to make the other twenty three hours and fifty five minutes so much better. I know that it doesn't make sense - but it's just so easy to revert to type, to fall back into our default state of "not too bad" and rejoin the herd of normal crazy people who simply do not take control of their mind.

All this leads me to the key point that I want to make - one that I've already alluded to - you have to keep putting what you learn into practice. No book, program or package will change your life in five minutes. You won't change your life in five minutes. But five minutes each day is an entirely different matter. Life is lived one day at a time - so, if you take or make the time to ensure that your mind is up and running each every morning, then your life is going to change beyond all recognition. Decades of research in the field of psychology has come to the conclusion, in no uncertain terms, that normal people perceive only what they expect to perceive and experience only what they expect to experience - that the normal life is dictated by the sadly closed normal mind that prefers, as its default state, to dwell on the experiences that impressed us during our formative years. This is how your mind works and how your mind will always work unless you take five minutes each morning to make sure that it's open, clear, focused on now so that it isn't focused on the past.

You need to make sure that your mind is open for business each and every morning - open to the business of living not just any old not to bad life, but ready to live life to the full where it's meant to be lived - in the here and now. If you pull your mind's attention into the here and now, you will alter your perception - no longer will it be coloured by the formative events that made you who you think you are. If you pull your mind's attention into the here and now you will open up a whole range of experience that is completely foreign to the normal mind - it's the experience of real life, real opportunity, real happiness, real success - and it's all on your terms. In pulling your attention into the here and now you will change your expectations and your expectations once changed will lead to a totally different life. But your changing your mind is not a once off event - it's something that you have to do one day at a time - because real life is lived one day at a time.




Willie Horton enables his clients live their dream - since he launched his acclaimed Personal Development Seminars in 1996. His clients include major corporations: Pfizer, Deloitte, Nestle, Wyeth, KPMG, G4S & Allergan. An Irishman, he lives in the French Alps and travels the world as a much sought after speaker and mentor. In 2008 he launched Gurdy.Net home to his Online Personal Development Seminars, Change Your Life & No More Stress

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

Related Practical-personal-development Videos


Next page: Presentation Skills


Bookmark/Share This Page:



Practical Personal Development News


Is a notebook the key to lasting self-improvement? - Business Insider


Is a notebook the key to lasting self-improvement?
Business Insider
Lifehacker offers a simple but solid solution to making sure we don't repeat mistakes and are always improving our lives. Keep a notebook and record what has and and hasn't worked for you, over time creating a "Personal Handbook.

Read more...


What's The Point? - Santa Monica Daily Press


What's The Point?
Santa Monica Daily Press
Santa Monica is ground zero in self-improvement and becoming the best you can be. I like that for the most part. We are a society that is incredibly rich in our abilities to improve our lives. This past weekend I was blessed to spend the morning at the ...

Read more...


3 books on self-improvement - Washington Post (blog)


3 books on self-improvement
Washington Post (blog)
It's a new year. The party hats and noisemakers have been packed away, and “Auld Lang Syne” is a distant echo. Haven't made any resolutions yet? Not to worry. Here are three recent titles, just in time for the procrastinators of 2012.

and more »

Read more...


Self-Improvement Starts with Reading, Flossing, and Sleeping - Diets In Review (blog)


Self-Improvement Starts with Reading, Flossing, and Sleeping
Diets In Review (blog)
Take your self improvement anywhere you can! I had a supervisor years ago who set aside 30 minutes per day to read and was thus always informed about new research and theories in the field. Whether you choose 15, 30, or 60 minutes every day, ...

Read more...


Self-improvement seminar aids student travel - Journal Pioneer


Journal Pioneer

Self-improvement seminar aids student travel
Journal Pioneer
From left, Amanda Williams, Rebecca Drummond, Cori Irvine, Jonathan McDougall, Brianne Clark and Sarah Thususka go through Rebecca's closet to find out what her clothes say about the teen. A fundraiser, 'Building a Better Brand: What Do Your Clothes.

Read more...


George Hamilton finds theatre far from a drag - Toronto Star


George Hamilton finds theatre far from a drag
Toronto Star
Richard Ouzounian Theatre Critic George Hamilton knew about having a self-improvement mantra long before Jersey Shore, only his goes like this: “Tanning, tanning, tanning.” The 72-year-old, perennial bronzed romantic charmer is on the phone from ...

and more »

Read more...


Healthy holidays booming in 2012 - Herald Sun


Healthy holidays booming in 2012
Herald Sun
"In the New Year, many Australians vow to spend more time on self-improvement, reinvention and to place a stronger emphasis on their health, and we've definitely seen this reflected with the spike in health retreat interest.

and more »

Read more...