600 Personal Development Exercises
do one a day - every day!
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POSITIONING STATEMENT I had a mentoring call with an author in New York yesterday from my rural base in the UK. ‘How are you today?’ she asked. ‘I’m brilliant!’ I responded. She looked at me quizzically. After a pause, she said ‘Here in the US that means you’re like Einstein, a genius, incredibly clever?’ I laughed. ‘No, I just meant I am in really good form.’ And we arrived on the same page. I learned about her work, empowering those who felt inadequate and the millions of people she had helped. At the end of the call, she said ‘Thanks!’ I smiled and said, ‘You are brilliant!’ And we laughed. How are you today? PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What do you say when others ask, ‘How are you today?’ 2. How often do you tell others that they are brilliant? Day 161 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
VENTURE CAPITAL The taxi collects me at 8:40am from my hotel in Seef and takes me some 20 minutes to the Sacred Heart church in Manama. The driver and I have enough English between us, to arrange for him to come back for me at 11am. I spend two hours captive in this compound with no distractions. It’s a haven of peace for me. I leave at 10:58am and my driver is here, waiting to take me back to my hotel and swimming pool. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Where is your haven of peace? 2. What is your next new venture? Day 160 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SUITCASE So much of our focus and time today will be about the here and now. Much of our focus will be on ourselves and what we need to do, or what we have to achieve. We have the wrong perspective though, for our focus and time today should be on what comes next. Our focus should be about what we have to sort out and do to get ready. We need to work out what we are putting in our suitcase. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Where are you going? 2. What are you putting in your suitcase? Day 159 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
INSTANT ACCESS To get from here to there is simply impossible. I know from experience that it just can’t be done. In practical terms, it is not possible and anyway, I have no idea where I would even start. These is no map. It has never been done before. So my brain can only see the outcome and not the steps. But as I see the outcome I realise that I have already left where I was. I am here. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your impossible destination? 2. Don't worry about the journey. Can you focus on actually being there - right now? Day 158 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
COMMUNICATION SKILLS Uncover your message. Write your words. Capture your stories. Keep a journal. Update it each day. Include your case studies. Harvest all that you are. For the world needs your grace and your love. Start a blog. Post your updates. Publish your books. Create your courses. Record your podcasts. Make your videos. Share all that you are. For the world needs your grace and your love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What have you seen and learned over the years? 2. What are your messages for the world? Day 157 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
WORD Thinking differently about everything encourages us to focus on a word and to hold this word. We place this word at the centre of our hearts and allow it to grow in these moments. It is in this process that we move beyond our normal definitions of words and meanings We try not to get distracted and keep coming back to this word resting gently within us. It is only when we free the word to be in and off itself that it becomes all that it should be. We then become one with the word within us, for we are the word and the word is with God. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Choose a word, sit quietly for ten minutes and just hold this word gently within you. 2. Images and feeling will emerge after a short time. Follow these. Then write it all down. Day 156 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
LIFE SENTENCE In this moment a thought is born and the idea comes. The words flow and the writing takes shape. Ready to share. Every moment holds a thought. So let your ideas come, your words flow and your writing take shape. You’re ready to share. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Create a moment each day just to catch your thoughts..... 2. Remember, our thoughts are unique and they are our treasure. How can we share these? Day 155 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
BUBBLEWRAP When I started my daily reflections at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, I never imagined that I would go to a hundred days, never mind Book Two. For what started out as a short sprint has now become a marathon for all of us. We’ve had to adjust in incredible ways. Our normal relationships of family, work colleagues and community have been disassembled and we have been left floundering, trying to understand and to recreate ways of living, being and working. We keep getting different rules that only increase our uncertainty and stress. And there is little to address the isolation, loneliness, sadness and fear that is being felt by so many. Without a training manual we are having to rewire our brains, reconfigure our thinking and reprogram who we are. Some are gradually adapting but so many are struggling. In the coming days and weeks and months don’t shrink into yourself, don’t hide in your bubble and don’t close your door. Be gentle on yourself and reach out to others. We all need to know if you’re learning to cope with the challenges that are unknown, the new ways you are discovering, and the pieces of joy that you found in this difference. So, as we look out at our world, floundering with no plan and no certainty, let us each grasp the opportunity to ask for help, seek support and reach out in our own way. Let us remember today, those without internet, those on their own, the millions of people directly affected by Covid-19 and the loss of loved ones. So many are literally trapped. But many of us are not so what are we going to do? Let us all think and act outside our bubbles. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How can you be gentle with yourself today? 2. How can you reach out and share with others in a new way? Day 154 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
REFLECTION We can only really see ourselves properly when we look in a mirror. The reflection comes straight back to us. Our bathroom mirror shows us how we look today. We can only really know ourselves fully when we look to see God. The reflection comes straight back and shows us just like a mirror all that we really are. Until we look there can be no reflection. There is no picture. There is no image. Until we look to see God there can be no real understanding of self. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What do see when you look in your bathroom mirror? 2. Where else can you look to know yourself better? Day 153 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HOLDING COMPANY It is the pot that holds the soup. It is our soup. It is the universe that holds the world. It is our world. It is the arm that holds the child. It is our child. It is the book that holds the word. It is our word. It is the face that holds a smile. It is our smile. It is the light that holds all life. It is our life. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What do you hold in your life? 2. Who holds you? Day 152 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SHORT-TERM MEMORY We awaken each day. We forget to say thanks. We settle to sleep. We forget to say thanks. We eat our food. We forget to say thanks. We wear our clothes. We forget to say thanks. We have our home. We forget to say thanks. We have our world We forget to say thanks. We walk and talk. We forget to say thanks. We laugh and cry. We forget to say thanks. We have our family. We forget to say thanks. We have our friends. We forget to say thanks. We have our work. We forget to say thanks. We have our rest. We forget to say thanks. We have time to be busy. We forget to say thanks. We have time to rest. We forget to say thanks. We can think and dream. We forget to say thanks. We can plan and prepare. We forget to say thanks. We can be happy or sad. We forget to say thanks. We can be ourselves. We forget to say thanks. We were born and given life. We forget to say thanks. We have wonderful memories. We forget to say thanks. Everything has been given to us. We stop and give thanks. For all that we are. We stop and give thanks. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Just stop for a moment and give thanks for all that you are. 2. Write down you top ten thank-you's and remember to say them at the same time every day. Day 151 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HOLIDAY My mind is busy running over all of the current activities. It’s as if I’m living in them rather than just completing them and moving on. I seem to want to hold it all in my head and replay the elements over and over again. Where I did well or where I messed up. I shift down a gear and leave all the daily activity to one side. Travelling slower, I can plan and organise. There is more space for thinking here. It is quieter. And then I go even slower and bring the car to a halt. Leaving all thinking behind. Sitting quietly by the shore and looking out to sea. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Are you holding anything in your head to replay over and over again? 2. When is your next 'holiday' moment - when you can sit quietly and look out to sea....? Day 150 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
ENERGY SUPPLIER Some days I waken up full of energy, ready to get moving and excited about the day ahead. Some days I waken up lacklustre, weary, struggling to get going to face the tasks ahead. Today is an energy day just like yesterday! I must be on a roll. It’s so good to be alive. I must capitalise on this potential. I have to get it all done. For tomorrow, who knows, I could be in low power mode. These are not good days or bad days for every day is a good day. It’s simply me managing my energy supply. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your energy level like today? Are you ready to go for it? 2. What is your plan for low energy days? Remember, all days have something special to teach us.... so how can you accept slower days with joy? Day 149 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
WEATHER FORECAST I look at the early morning sky. It is a blank canvas. By lunchtime, I will have filled in half of this picture. By tonight, it will all be complete. And what will this picture be? Whether or not it will be the picture I planned, waits to be seen. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Look up at the sky where you are - go on, do this now! 2. This sky is your blank canvas for the rest of this day. What picture are you planning to paint? Day 148 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
RAT RACE We have inherited a world where jobs and work are allocated to people. Employers decide on the tasks that need to be done and carve up the activity. It’s an out-dated economic model where we are paid to do what we are told. And where many people have no jobs. With technology we can now create work in different ways, driven by what really matters. We can link up with others and collaborate on projects that are important to us as individuals. We can take responsibility for creating and shaping all of our futures and a better world. We can share resources rather than waiting, like rats, for the food pellet to arrive. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How can you use your skills, experience and passions in new ways? 2. Who can you start to work with today to create your new projects? Day 147 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
CALL TO PRAYER The church clock in our little village chimes at 3 o’clock as I cut the grass. It’s my call to prayer and I pause for a moment. At 4 o’clock we repeat the process. It seems like a fitting end point, working to God’s time. Time for thanks and a cold beer. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. When do you pause in your day to give thanks? Day 146 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SHARING ECONOMY I sit on Platform 2 in the shade, on a sunny August day with a cup of tea and some 'oats and honey' crunchy biscuits. Three pigeons keep me company and make sure that we leave nothing behind. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How can you help others on your journey? 2. Who is in your sharing economy? Day 145 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
APPOINTMENT REMINDER In the middle of the night when all is so dark and empty there is nothing for me to see or do. My mind shoots me back to that dreaded place I knew well, when I was 17. Fearing death and my non-existence. These momentary incisions literally shake me as I am overwhelmed by some uncontrollable force. The panic attack as they named it, has returned tonight. It’s terrifying. Back then, I had my whole life before me. I could rationalise these moments. Now, and as I get older, I see that this dread is in fact, a blessing of love. I’ve learned that the losing of my self is what we all ultimately move through in dying. We each have to let go of what we are so desperate not to lose, as we become everything that is love. It is no surprise to me tonight that my brain still struggles and refuses to let go. For it knows that this is simply another reminder, and not the appointment. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What sort of appointment reminders do you receive? Day 144 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
ON-LINE JOB APPLICATION What is your current job? Please don’t use your job title. Who do you work for? Please don’t put your business name or your boss’s name here. What do you work for? Please go beyond money. What do you actually do? Please go beyond your job description. What does your ideal job look like? Please say what you’d really like to do. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Put all five answers together.. 2. Send this to yourself and ask 'what does it say to you?' Day 143 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
REINCARNATION No one ever dies. No kindness is ever wasted. No one is ever lost. For everything just changes into love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How are you growing gently into love? 2. Looking back, what have been the key phases or times in your life (so far) where you have seen or felt the impact of love.? Day 142 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
THE ZONE ‘You have to be in the zone.’ she said. ‘You have to focus your mind, be in a different place and bring all to bear on the task.’ And then she smiled and said ‘And from here you can find the real zone, which is beyond all tasks and beyond all thinking, where no zone can be.’ PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is the real zone? Day 141 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
THINKING SKILLS If we waken up and then just pick up where we left off yesterday, we are doing more of what we have already done. This is cumulative thinking. If we waken up and then something unexpected hits us, we have to reassess everything. Our day is turned upside-down as we work out what to do next. This is reactive thinking. If we waken up and then choose to begin something new or different today, we are creating a fresh opportunity. We are uncovering our new way. This is deliberate thinking. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What thought can help you to uncover your new way today? Day 140 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
FIRST RESPONDER When tragedy strikes around the world we see images of destruction and death. There’s pain and anguish on young faces. It’s easy to feel helpless. But there are six key things we can do in these moments. We can be with the families not just as onlookers but in our thoughts. We can feel and share some of their pain. We can send our message of love right now. Personal and direct. We can offer ourselves and all that we are to support them. We can give money through agencies. And we can encourage our friends to do likewise. Our one small gift can begin an avalanche. We can create and say a prayer of love. It’s our call to the power of God to rescue, change, heal and renew. We can commit to specific actions to help create a kinder and more caring world as we move forward in our own lives. And we can encourage our children, young people and colleagues to become First Responders when they too, hear the news. Those struggling are not in some far-off land or on our screens, separate from us. They are beside us, now. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is the role of a First Responder? 2. Think about the latest world tragedy and see how many of the six points you can do. 3. Imagine if we were the ones who were suffering, and it was our tragedy on the news. Day 139 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
STARTER We mess up. We learn. We start again. We got it wrong. We think about it. We start again. We let others down. We are disappointed. We start again. We failed to deliver. We are annoyed. We start again. We got caught out. We are embarrassed. We start again. We missed the opportunity. We are frustrated. We start again. We see it fall apart. We are devastated. We start again. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Is there anything that you need to forgive yourself for? You can start again. 2. Is there anything that you need to forgive others for? You can start again. It's never too late. Be the starter! Day 138 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
OUTSOURCING Don’t do everything yourself. Share your dream with the world. Collaborate with others. Reach out and build your team. For when we don’t try to do everything, we can do anything. Don’t do everything yourself. Create projects and initiatives. Let others work with you. Set out the plan and make it happen. For when we let it all go, we will all do everything. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How will you work with others so that they can help and support you? 2. Who is (and will be) on your team? 3. We all have a dream to share with the world. What’s yours? Day 137 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
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