600 Personal Development Exercises
do one a day - every day!
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TIME ZONE I’ve changed my time zone. I now get up at six o’clock rather than eight and go to bed at ten o’clock rather than midnight. By moving my time zone back two hours I have not only been able to redesign my day but to reinvent the work that I do. You see, these two amazing extra hours every morning help me to redefine not just the rest of the day but who I am. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How could you restructure your daily routine in some way to create ‘extra’ time? 2. How would you like to reinvent the work that you do? Day 99 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
ANGELS Isabella is the light of my life, saving me from everything. Not expecting anything and finding true joy in all things. She helps me with mundane tasks bringing me to a level of understanding, peace and real happiness in these moments. Her excited greeting ‘Hello Grandad!’ makes me thankful for my years. Her run to get lifted makes me wish I was younger. Isabella is my angel. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Who is your angel? 2. How does your angel save you? Day 98 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
JIGSAW PUZZLE I do not even have one piece of the jigsaw. I don’t know how many pieces there are or what the picture on the lid of the box is. Yet this is a jigsaw that will be completed. For the search for pieces and the piecing together will answer every question. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What pieces have you found so far? 2. What pieces are missing? Day 97 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
WORLD WIDE WEB The World Wide Web has existed since the beginning of time. It has enabled people to link up and help one another without limitation. If we say a prayer today for someone in need who we don’t know we can reach out with love and we will change the world. For our gift of love will explode like a million meteor showers, exploding together at once and covering the whole world. And these explosions of love will in turn create more explosions of love. In an instant we can change, help and support the lives of everyone. The exponential growth of love, beyond culture, countries or technology is personal, direct and transformative. It’s our world wide web of love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Send out a message on the World Wide Web of love. 2. Where will your meteor showers land? Day 96 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
RESET BUTTON If we keep thinking the same way we will come to the same conclusion. If we keep doing the same things we will still get the same results. If we keep looking the same way we will miss what is really happening. If we keep going in the same direction we will miss the turning point. Press your reset button. Think differently about everything. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What will happen when you press your reset button? 2. How will you think differently, do things differently, see things differently and go in a different way? Day 95 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
TERRITORY MANAGEMENT God is not territorial. God is love. God does not need us to believe in anything but love. For love is all we need to unite us in common goals of peace, kindness and compassion. Love requires us to look beyond ourselves. It asks us to feed the hungry and care for the sick. Questions of belief or non-belief miss the point of all that is. We are not here to exclude others but to unite ourselves with all others. That is our purpose. There is no greater priority for mankind. Structures give authority and authority brings power over others. Religious structures too can divide us despite all the good words. We can walk through the doors of exclusion and re-write the rules that hinder the fulfilment of the true purpose, potential and happiness of all. Inclusion can grow quietly and gently within each of us, for this is our personal journey of love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What exclusive structures do we belong to or support? 2. Who are we not linking up with or reaching out to, that we should? Day 94 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
COMPLIANCE To change things for the better You do not need to operate within the rules of business and the machinery of the world. You can bypass the games of competition and expectations of others. You have your own compass of compliance, your own way of being and are your own self. This must grow and flourish despite all around it and because of all around it. You can set a different path. A new way. You can offer fresh hope just by being totally and truthfully you. This will create new ways of working that will change everything – forever. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What guides your compass of compliance? 2. How are you changing things for the better? Day 93 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
PEACE BUILDING Throw your grenades of love into the world with a quiet thought. Fire your missiles of help to those in need with a wish especially for them. Blast your kindness to everyone you have never met with a moment of silence for them. Launch your propaganda offensive with words and messages of love and a share of your resources. Create collateral damage that inspires and transforms everyone to join your war of peace. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your war of peace? 2. How can you escalate this? Day 92 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
RELOCATION PACKAGE We’re moving house next week. My wife is busy ensuring all the lightbulbs are working. She will clean the flat from top to bottom. She’s had new window locks fitted as we’d lost the keys. We’ve been to the hardware store and bought a new electric fire to replace the one that we are taking. The Shop Assistant laughed as it was the hottest summer on record! We have even bought better quality ornamental coals for the gas fire. We’ve touched up all the paperwork where pictures used to hang. We have left a welcome pack of notes with instructions on the boiler, door key codes, internet connections, recycling arrangements and heating controls. The last thing will be to leave a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine. We’ve spent all this time and we will never see the people who move in. We will not know who takes our place here. We will not know if they are kind or thoughtful. We will not know if they are younger or older than us. When I questioned all this activity, I am gently reminded that it’s just about doing for others as we would like them to do for us. She asks ‘If we were to walk in here what would we like to see? It’s not so much about us leaving and moving but, them arriving. Sometimes we need to relocate our thinking. For relocation is not so much about where you go but what you leave behind. (P.S. Three weeks after we left, we received a lovely thank-you card.) PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your next move in life or work? 2. What will you leave behind? Day 91 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY Every time I play golf I am with you, remembering to keep my head down and watch the ball. I always want to play on my own, partly due to embarrassment at my standard but also, just to be with you. For it is not about the score, the lost balls, my swing, or even the one or two good shots that redeem the round. It’s about being with you, treasuring the gift that you gave me, and remembering your call to follow through. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are your best memories of those who loved you? 2. What is your ‘follow through’? Day 90 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
BUSINESS DRIVERS Are you the driver? This is the question I was asked when paying for tea and a scone in the cafe by the ancient monastic site at Clonmacnoise, in Ireland. I guess it was my solitary nature, the sunglasses or absence of a camera that led to her question. I was clearly not part of the Japanese tourist group. Now, every day, I ask myself: ‘Are you the driver?’ PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are the drivers in your business or work? 2. What are you driving? Day 89 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY DEGREE FEEDBACK Love is not something we have to search for. Love is with us, beside us, and in us always no matter what. So, this journey of life is an inward one, to be love in all we are and an outward one, to love all who we meet. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What does your love look like – inside and out? 2. List and celebrate the top five real, practical and visible outputs of your love Day 88 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
TEA BAGS When you sit and look into your cup of tea what do you see when it is finished? Years ago, fortune tellers would predict our future by looking at the pattern of the leaves resting at the bottom of the cup. Tea bags now mean that we throw away our tea leaves before we drink our tea, leaving no clues, no predictions. So, as you gently dispose of your tea bag today, take a moment to imagine your future and how your story will unfold. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Can you imagine how your life might unfold in terms of work, relationships and all that is important to you? 2. What is the one surprise or unexpected event? 3. Write out the perfect story for your future. Day 87 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW Your time is running out. Another year has gone. Your life is passing by. It is here now. The moment to grasp all that is meant to be. The whole purpose and meaning of your life. Your time is running out. Another year has gone. Your life is passing by. It is here now. The moment to grasp all that is meant to be PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. This is the key moment in your life. What will you grasp? 2. What will you achieve by this time next year – at your next annual performance review? Day 86 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
RETAIL TRAINING PROGRAMME Go to a bookshop and browse. Check out the poetry, personal development or business books. Collect stories, ideas, quotes and perspectives that challenge or excite you. Let your sense of wonder come alive. Let possibilities and scenarios explode in your brain like winter fireworks. Capture the key messages. Next time you go shopping, join me and let us take ten minutes together on our retail training programme. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Pick out two or three books from your shelf or bookcase that you haven’t opened for ages. Browse through these and write down three or four ideas. Now play with these and think ‘What are the key messages for me?' and 'How can I use these?’ 2. Join me next time you go shopping on my Retail Training Programme. Day 85 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
MERCHANDISING Rearrange yourself. Mix up your pieces a bit and bring out all the love you have. Re-stock your shelves. Let the world see a new you, the real you. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What can I get in your shop? 2. What is your new merchandising plan? Day 84 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SCENARIO PLANNING There are many ways. You have your own way. And your way has many options and possibilities. Stay on your own path. It may be muddled or uncertain now but it will become clear. Be yourself. Stay true to yourself and to all those who love (and have loved) you for they too are on the path of love and uncertainty. Love all others for your kindness (with a smile and a helping hand) can be a signpost on their journey. And yours. You have a fixed amount of time so take every moment to work for love. All else will pass. Love is. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are your options and possibilities? 2. How would you describe ‘your way”? Day 83 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
INTERIOR DESIGN I'm using this time as an opportunity to rethink where I am and to start afresh. I even moved all my office furniture around yesterday and it made a huge difference. You see, I'm now able to look out of the window at the trees and not stare at the wall. Moving around the furniture has literally changed how I see things. It’s my interior design process. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How could you rearrange your furniture for a different perspective? 2. How could you rearrange your day for a different set of outcomes? Day 82 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
PEACE TALKS She gently reminds me that any fool can fall out with someone. But I feel really angry, betrayed and let down. She explains that the reality is that we are still connected no matter what happens. It may seem like the end of the road, but before your angry outburst, that long legal case begins or that explosive email is sent, just remember that this is not the end of your story together. For you will connect again sooner than you think. So, always part on good terms, always think well of the other no matter what, for both of you are forever part of each other’s journey. Let the anger go and be at peace with yourself and others. Speak well of those who let you down, for in time they will have no answer to your kindness but kindness itself. Any fool can fall out. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Who is it that you do not always ‘think well of’ or ‘speak well of’? 2. If you were your own Life Coach how would you help yourself to let go of this anger? Day 81 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
MENTOR I’m not vey good at the meditation thing so for me it’s a morning business meeting with God. We chat through priorities and tasks. We look at the current focus in line with the overall strategy and identify people we need to talk to. We come up with a few good ideas together and set out a detailed plan for the day. We all need a Mentor. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Who is your Mentor? 2. Who do you Mentor? Day 80 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
TIME AND MOTION Grasp every moment. Waste not one second. Fill each minute with joy and gratitude. Seize opportunities. Show your enthusiasm. Excite others. Pass on your love. Surprise people. Make them smile. Waste not one second. Grasp every moment. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Time and Motion studies help us to evaluate how effective we are. A typical day offer us over 50,000 seconds. How did you do yesterday? 2. How can you 'seize opportunities, show your enthusiasm, excite others, pass on your love, surprise people and make them smile'? Day 79 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
MULTI-TASKING Our task is to continually seek the truth not just to listen to others or be influenced by popular opinion. Our task is to listen to what is deep within us not to follow the crowd or miss the real conversations. Our task is to live the life given to us in full without reservation, without excuses without blinkers each day. Our task is to become all that we should be, to be our own person, there for others, the helper and peace builder. Our task is to uncover and use our gifts and skills to help others not to build wealth or to become important. Our task is to set our own course and not be buffeted by events and activities around us or what pleases others. Our task is to reach out to all others, especially those who are hungry and those who ask for our help in any way today. Our task is to love, to be a source of encouragement and a guide so that we all may become what we can be. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Go through each of the eight tasks above and make a note for your to-do list this week. 2. Which of the above tasks holds most potential for you? Day 78 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
INCLUSION MANAGER God has a different relationship with every single person. He communicates with us and works with each of us in different ways. We all have different roles and each role is equal, vital, personal and unique. The unbeliever and the monk. We all share the same space. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. If 'Inclusion Manager' is another name for God, how is your role equal, vital, personal and unique? 2. What is this ‘same space’ that we all share? Day 77 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
REMINDERS Never too old, never too tired, never too late, never too much trouble. Always enough, always great, always yes, always love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Write another two phrases beginning with ‘never …’ 2. Write another two phrases beginning with ‘always …’ Day 76 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SEMI-DETACHED It’s obvious to all of us how the tasks, worries and responsibilities of daily life can wear us down. We also know from experience that these all pass in due course, but still we get overcome at times with the demands upon us. It is in the quieter moments when life is less hectic that we appreciate the peace and gentleness that lies beneath everything. This is where we really belong. And so, our daily focus must be to stay semi-detached and balance being busy in our world and quiet in ourselves. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are the tasks and worries of daily life that can wear you down? 2. When and where do you have your quieter moments? 3. Can you make time each day to stay semi-detached? Day 75 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
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