600 Personal Development Exercises
do one a day - every day!
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CONNECTIONS I know that I am nothing but that I am connected to everything through love. I know that I can do so little but that through this great love I can do everything. I therefore give myself to Love so that everyone can be well and all as it should be. In submitting to infinite goodness I unleash a gentle power within me beyond all imagining. For it is in this complete submission that I am connected to everything that ever was and is yet to come. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are you connected to? 2. Who are you connected to? Day 69 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
NETT GAIN If you pull back the net curtain you will see clearly. You will see forever into the distance. If you don’t pull back the net curtain all you will see is the net curtain and a vague light behind it. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What would you like to see more clearly? 2. What is the net curtain? Day 68 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
EXCLUSION It is no longer enough to stand inside the tent and call people to join you. Sometimes we need to go outside the tent and work with people, so that we can all walk in together. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Who is in you tent? 2. How can I or others join you? Day 67 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HANDS-ON I can remember you washing your hands in the kitchen sink. You'd just come home from work with garage grease up to your elbows. And Ma rescued the situation with a towel whilst serving us our tea. I can remember you asking me to hold out my hands So that you could wind the wool into balls. And then you'd sit at night knitting Aran jumpers that were admired by all. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Being hands-on means that we are actively involved. We make things happen with others. What are you making happen at the moment? 2. What hands-on activities do you have with your partner and/or children in the daily activities of home life? 3. How are you working with others who are holding out their hands, asking for help? Day 66 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
STEP CHANGE Back to work. Back to the coffee shop. Back to family and friends. Back to barbecues. Back to days out. Back to meeting up. Back to school. Back to all we love. Progress now means that we move forwards by going backwards in small steps. We are rediscovering and cherishing all that we had and once took for granted. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is the 'step change' you are most looking forward to rediscovering? 2. How do you express your thanks and appreciation for what you already have in all aspects of your life? Day 65 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SELF ACTUALIZATION Mission and purpose ask us to reach into ourselves and try to understand who we are, why we are here and what we are meant to do at this time. Self actualization is made real and visible for us every day through this ongoing inward search and the ever-present uncovering of truth on our lifelong journey. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your mission and purpose? 2. What have you uncovered today about yourself? Day 64 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
COFFEE MORNING I just love this first cup of coffee in the morning. It’s my moment of appreciation for the day I’ve been given. It’s my celebration and gratitude for a new start, full of wonder of all that will unfold before me and for me. I gently leave to one side the troubles from yesterday. I do not carry the worries of the past. I begin afresh, right here, right now, with both hands clasped in thanks, around this first cup of coffee. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How do you welcome and say thanks for each new day that you have been given? It can be as simple as a thoughtful cup of coffee! 2. What is your new start? Day 63 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
LIFETIME GUARANTEE We are all made of pure love. The same pure love is present in each of us and unites all of us together. Our lives add a rough crust of worldliness over this pure love, hiding who and what we truly are. Life circumstances, difficulties and personal choices can add layer upon layer, burying our real selves. But underneath it all, no matter what we do exists our pure love, secure and untarnished. And so it is, that each of us and all of us together, are protected and cared for, forever. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What does your 'rough crust of worldliness' look like? 2. What 'life circumstances, difficulties and personal choices' have contributed to hiding your real self? Day 62 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
DISCIPLINARY HEARING You must never lose your battle cry, your willingness to go for it. You must never dilute what you once dreamt about, what you saw so clearly. You must never give up whatever happens, whatever others may say. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What did you once see so clearly? 2. How can you discover (or re-discover) your battle cry? Day 61 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
RESILIENCE We spend all our lives doing stuff. And then planning and doing more stuff. It's exhausting. Our life is passing us by. And still we plan and do more stuff. Schedules, routines and to do lists strap us into this world of doing. Like chains. We accept this as normal and yet it doesn't have to be like this. We can get off the treadmill. Step back from the world of doing and see a different world. The world of being. Here all is calm and peaceful. There are no timetables and no demands. It's a timeless place that holds all that is important to us. Yet many of us rarely go there. Get off the treadmill every now and then. You will immediately arrive at the world of being with its peace, gentleness and with nothing to do. Just be. Be yourself. Let all love fill you and renew you for the next part of your doing journey. This is the font of resilience. This is the source of all. This is where we all can be truly ourselves. It is our place of being, where we truly belong. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is the 'stuff' that can trap you or exhaust you at times? 2. When will you step back and take a little time to refresh yourself at your font of resilience? Day 60 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
BUILDING SERVICES There are people looking to build a better world. They’re looking beyond business models and consumerism. They’re looking at the development of a collective approach with a collaboration of ideas and support defined by service. This is a different model and way outside of the business box. It is defining what we are about in a different way. It is about setting different expectations of ourselves, proactively supporting those we know and those we do not know. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your model for working with others? 2. How are you proactively working with others to build a better world? Day 59 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HIDE AND SEEK Come out from under your duvet. We need to see you. It’s a beautiful sunny morning. We need to hear from you. Come out from yourself. We need you to be with us. It’s your day to shine. We need you to help us. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How have you been hiding recently? 2. How will you shine today? Day 58 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
LEADERSHIP Leadership is not about changing roles or shifting direction. It is not about team development or business strategy. Leadership is a fundamental shift in our being - what we are, how we think, the priorities we set and how we behave. Leadership is a behavioural, emotional and spiritual process. It's rewiring the hard disk of our being for a completely different output. We are no longer mass market products of the consumer age but pilgrims with a purpose. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What does it mean to be a 'pilgrim with a purpose'? 2. What are your outputs? 3. How can you rewire your being for a different type of leadership? Day 57 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
MINIMUM WAGE As we emerge cautiously into a different world, what will we bring to this new normal? What have we learned that will now make life better for us, our family and for others? How will we relate to all others without regard for status, income or position? For we have learned that those who were paid nothing or so little have become our champions. They have turned our thinking upside down and empowered us with compassion to change everything. So, as we emerge cautiously into a different world, what will we bring to this new normal? PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Kindness and compassion don't often get onto job descriptions. Where do they sit in your role? 2. How have you changed over recent weeks? What have you learned? 3. What will you bring to the 'new normal'? Day 56 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
LOST We tend to think of being lost as negative. It seems to indicate that we’ve gone off our path, gone astray, lost our way or we are not where we should be. But perhaps the opposite is true. Perhaps being lost is an opportunity to find a different way, be in a different place or to explore something new. I remember on holiday when I was young, my Mum sitting with a map on her knee, my Dad 'driving too fast’ and missing the right turns. He would never go back! He would always find a new way. So, can we deliberately choose to be lost? Can we step out of our predictability and discover an unfamiliar route? Can we put ourselves in situations that lead to a different set of outcomes? PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. In what way has your life become predictable? Where are you yearning for something different? 2. How might you step out of 'more of the same'? How could you take a different way and get lost? Day 55 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
CAUSE AND EFFECT If you move sideways You’ll get a better view. If you take a few steps back You’ll make bigger jumps. If you need to stop for breath You’ve already gone too far. If you laugh and smile You’ll learn to enjoy yourself. If you feed someone You’ll not go hungry. If you stop and plan your route You won’t go round in circles. If you are tired You can rest. If you close your eyes You’ll see more clearly. If you can sit in silence You’ll hear the answer. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Which of the above nine statements has most meaning for you at the moment? 2. How will you act on this? Day 54 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
YIELD Give way. Let the other win. Operate at a higher level. Give way. Let it all pass you by. Stay detached in your own place. Give way. Let your rate of return be what cannot be measured. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are you trying to win? 2. Who are you competing with at work or at home? 3. How do you measure your yield - your rate of return? Day 53 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
MESSENGER When you were born you were given a message for the world. As you live your life you will uncover and understand this message. And then, for the rest of your life you must share your message with the world. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How much of your message have you uncovered? 2. Write down what you understand and what you have yet to make sense of, the questions still unanswered. 3. You message (however incomplete) is your purpose. Be brave and be true to yourself. How can you share who you really are today? Day 52 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
DETERMINATION Early this morning as I sat in the woods I spotted a young woman jogging in all her gear. She was pushing her pram and baby in front of her as she ran, maintaining a steady pace. I thought to myself ‘what determination!’ About ten minutes later she approached where I was sitting reading. I looked up and said ‘I think you’re marvellous!! Absolutely amazing!’ She looked at me, laughed and said ‘thank you!’, without changing her pace. Sometimes when we try to get across the true meaning of a word, the definition is not enough and an image can perhaps capture it better. ‘Determination’ for me will always be a young woman running with her pram. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What does determination mean to you? What's your image? 2. How is your determination made real and visible each day? Day 51 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION Deep programming, social conditioning and learned behaviours cause us to think this way or behave in that way. We have learned what works for us and what doesn’t. It is easy to see why we continue to confine our thinking to that which we know or are used to. Our current levels of understanding and routine behaviour have hidden other routes and areas of unknowing. What should we be doing that we haven’t even thought of? We need to find a way through, around, above or beyond our knowledge base. Perhaps we need to go deeper than our normal dialogue. Perhaps we need new conversations, perspectives and insights. For this time is about making connections with pieces that we may not know to deliver a dream that we would never have imagined. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are your areas of unknowing? 2. What new connections might you explore that you have never even thought of before? 3. What is the dream that you have never imagined? Day 50 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
OWNERSHIP There is no such thing as mine. It is there for all of us. For as soon as we claim something for ourselves we lessen its potential and we limit our capacity for growth. Let us shift from ownership and self to potential and possibilities. Let us leave all in that sacred space that we cannot own so that we become all that we should be. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What do you own? 2. What is it that are you be holding onto that in some way may limit you? 3. Where is your real potential ? Day 49 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
THE COMPLETE WORKS We only have one version of the story. We can only define what we see as reality from our perspective. We view everything through our personal filters. Others too have their version of the story. Each person tries to make sense of life through their personal filter. Billions of realities across the world and all different. And beyond all of this is the reality of completeness. This sees and links everything and everyone as we truly are. The complete works. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Think of three people you know or work with. In a sentence describe how they each see you. 2. Where and how do these views differ from your picture of yourself? Day 48 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HARVEST Every conversation is a story. Every person we meet is a case study. Every situation offers options. Every thought can open a new door. Every job teaches us new skills. Every task produces opportunities. Every memory holds real treasure for we grow through all things. Every moment holds an asset for us enabling us to make sense of life, helping us with a different perspective and to find our best way. So, do not forget your stories, please write down your case studies, explore all of your options and open new doors. Harvest all that you are today. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Begin to build your 'harvest' files and folders on your computer or laptop. Start to collect all your experience, notes, writings, reports, ideas and stories together into relevant folders. Begin today. 2. What will you harvest from yesterday and today? 3. Devote some time to harvesting every day. Look at what is emerging for you..... Day 47 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
ROAD WORKS There is a blockage, a huge boulder in the road right in front of me. I’ve been looking at it for years. I’m now right up against it and I must decide what to do. To continue standing here looking at the boulder in the road or to move it. And what’s on the other side of this boulder in the road? Where does this road lead? So, this is not a physical challenge for I would have moved the boulder in the road years ago. It’s a spiritual challenge. It’s one of becoming and being. It’s my boulder in the road. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your 'spiritual challenge'? 2. How will you move this 'boulder in the road'? 3. Where are you on your journey of 'becoming and being'? Day 46 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
WORKLOAD Be thankful for the tasks you have to do today. For there will come a time when those seeking your help or needing your input, will no longer be asking. There will come a time when you will not be able to help. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are your priority tasks today? 2. Can you look beyond the activity to further explore the relationships involved in each task? Day 45 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
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