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600 Personal Development Exercises

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What is your Personal Time Zone?

6/30/2020

 

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

Where is your Joy?

6/29/2020

 

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

What is the Jigsaw of Life?

6/28/2020

 

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

What is the future of the World Wide Web?

6/27/2020

 

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

Will you Press your Reset Button?

6/26/2020

 

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

Can we Create Structures that Unite us?

6/25/2020

 

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

What is a Compass of Compliance?

6/24/2020

 

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

What is a War of Peace?

6/23/2020

 

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

What is a Good Relocation Package?

6/22/2020

 

                                                     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

What does 'Follow-through' mean?

6/21/2020

 

​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

What are Business Drivers?

6/20/2020

 

​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

What is 360 Degree Feedback?

6/19/2020

 

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

Can Tea Bags help to predict the Future?

6/18/2020

 
 
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

What is an Annual Performance Review?

6/17/2020

 

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

How can I create a Career Development Program?

6/16/2020

 

​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

What is Personal Merchandising?

6/15/2020

 

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

How would you describe 'Your Way'?

6/14/2020

 

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

What's the best way to rearrange my Furniture?

6/13/2020

 

​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

How can we let go of our Anger?

6/12/2020

 

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

Do you have a Morning Business Meeting with God?

6/11/2020

 

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

What does Time and Motion mean for us?

6/10/2020

 

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

What are the Eight Tasks of Life?

6/9/2020

 

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

Is God an Inclusion Manager?

6/8/2020

 

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

What are your Daily Reminders?

6/7/2020

 

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

Are we Semi-Detached?

6/6/2020

 

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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