Des McCabe

600 Personal Development Exercises

do one a day - every day!

Do you work in the problem solving sector?

8/12/2021

 

PROBLEM SOLVING
 
We tend to think of shop assistants,
cleaners or bus drivers as
providing a service, when in fact
they are solving a problem,
or a need that we have.
 
It would be good if we could
recognise the impact that
they have made, providing us
with food, sorting out our house,
or getting us home safely.
 
Let us say 'thank you' each time,
to all of our problem solvers
and solution providers, who are
busy doing their job, and
making life a bit easier for all of us.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. When you think of the work that you do, what problem do you solve or what needs do you meet? 
2. What should your job/work title really be?
​

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​Day 506 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is your Preoccupation?

7/12/2021

 

PREOCCUPATION

What comes
before your occupation,
before your work?
 
What is within you,
that drives or leads
you to your work?
 
What is it,
that makes you choose
the work that you do?
 
What is it,
that gives purpose and
meaning to your work?
 
What is this
preoccupation, that
comes before your work?

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What is your preoccupation - the driver for what you do? ​

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Day 475 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercise

What is the first question for all trainee Astronauts?

7/3/2021

 

SPACE MISSION
 
Could you go outwards
away from all that is now?
Beyond the world.
Beyond the universe.
Beyond your imagination.
Beyond your thoughts.
To where there is nothing.
To where you belong.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. How far are you prepared to travel - without physically going anywhere? ​

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Day 466 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is Lack of Ambition?

1/22/2021

 

LACK OF AMBITION

I don’t need anything
for I have you.
 
I don’t need to go anywhere
for I am here with you.
 
I don’t need to be something
for I am everything with you.
 
I don’t need to search
for I have found all with you.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1. What is your ambition? 
2. How do we view those with no ambition?


Day 304 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What do you Really do?

11/28/2020

 

JOB VACANCY

When we are asked
‘what do you do?’,
we often give a response
based on a job.

I am in retail.
I’m in banking.
I work on the ambulance.
I’m a teacher.

Or maybe, I’m unemployed.
I’m looking for work.
I’m building my business.
I’m at college.

The world has conditioned us
to define what we do,
by the job we do.
Our perceived economic value.

But this is not what we do.
This is simply the role
that others assign to us
or we give to ourselves.

So, go beyond the two
or three word title, and think
‘What do you do?
At home?

With your family?
With your colleagues or friends?
In your community?
In all your activities?

In your creativity?
In your gentleness?
In your conversations?
In your hopes and plans?’

Next time someone asks,
Have your answer ready
and tell them,
what you really do.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Let's practice this - 'What do you do?'

Day 249 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

How can I become a Life Coach in 60 seconds?

11/7/2020

 

LIFE COACH

If you’re thinking about
using a Life Coach,
then ask them one question.
'What is your purpose in life?'
 
If you need to ask a follow-up question
 for greater clarity, you will know
which one of you is the Life Coach and
which one of you needs a Life Coach.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1. What is your purpose in life? 


Day 228 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Can we really Invest our time for a return?

10/21/2020

 

COMPOUND INTEREST

​What is it that you really want
to do, to build or to achieve?
Most things don’t happen overnight.
Anything worthwhile usually
takes some time to put in place.
So, in a busy world,
with limited resources,
how can we make it happen?

It’s about doing something every day.
It’s about adding a piece today,
and then another piece tomorrow.
This is the way we achieve
all that is important to us,
and how we build our future.
Put your priorities first each day
or you simply won’t get round to it.

Seize this moment.
Make a plan. Be determined.
Start today with one piece.
Tomorrow, add another piece.
The next day, add the next piece,
and every day, no matter what,
keep adding a piece.
Do something every day.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 
1. Compound interest is not just about investing money. It's about investing a little of our time every day to build your core aim. We are only here once, so what do you  really want to do?  What do you want to build or to achieve?
2. Say this phrase every morning 'Do Something Every Day' - DSED

3. What is today's piece? 


Day 211 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What does your Ideal Job look like?

8/13/2020

 

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

What are the best Career Development Models?

7/18/2020

 

CAREER CHANGE
 
When we speak of career change
we don’t mean changing jobs
or sectors or a new job title.
 
We don’t mean getting promotion,
going back to college or
having flexible work arrangements.
 
We don’t mean working from home,
working for yourself
or starting a business.
 
What we mean is
changing the career model
and becoming fully ourselves.
 
We can step out of the career box
that we are put in, for this is only
one construct for guiding our lives.
 
There are many alternatives such as
time, purpose, age, self-knowledge, family,  
personal situation, wish list, relationships,
spiritually, love, service or trust.
 
The career model is not our only choice.
We can all have a frame of reference
for our lives that works for us
.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Which alternative to the career development model might you explore - time, purpose, age, self-knowledge, family, personal situation, wish list, relationships, spiritually, love, service or trust?
2. What does your future look like based on this?


Day 117 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Do you suffer from Impostor Syndrome?

7/16/2020

 

LIMITING BELIEFS
 
We can see the door
and not open it.
 
We can approach the gate
and not go through it.
 
We can be told the path
and not take it.
 
We can be shown a new way
and not go there.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What negative thoughts are holding you back from doing all you want to do?
2. All is possible through love and we are made of love. You can be all you should be. Open the door. Go through the gate. Take the path. Start your new way.
​


Day 115 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Is your Purpose the same as your Career?

7/10/2020

 

CAREER DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

I was building my career and income and
learning to live my purpose through this.
 
Now I'm delivering on my purpose and
building my career and income through this.​​​

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What is your career development strategy?
2. How can your purpose help to steer your career?


Day 109 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 can we create a New recipe?

4/18/2020

 

OUTSIDE CATERING

The boss and employee relationship
is deeply flawed.
It is not a true construct
for it restricts both parties.
 
We can only bring a fixed menu
to the job table.
And it’s the same meals every day
in every workplace.
 
We all leave behind
kitchens full of food,
unused equipment and
books of recipes, unopened..

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. List all of the skills, experience, interests and knowledge that you leave at home when you go to work.
2. What new 'recipe' might  you create today?
3. How will you build your 'Outside Catering' business? ​


Day 26 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

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