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600 Personal Development Exercises

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What's outside your Snow Globe?

8/4/2021

 

SNOW GLOBE
 
Human life is such
a small part of all existence.
Of all that ever was,
and will be.
 
We know so little beyond
our thinking, and our world.
We are in a snow globe
shaking a few flakes.
 
But what if we were
the manufacturer of snow globes?
What sort of worlds
would we create?
 
And would we stop at snow globes?
For beyond us is thinking,
imagination and creativity
that is not limited to snow globes.
 
And now we understand why
snow globes are transparent.
To let the light in, and for us
to look outwards, beyond all we know

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Describe and draw a snow globe that contains your perfect world.

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Day 498 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Is there a Sign Language we all remember?

11/17/2020

 

SIGN LANGUAGE

The rabbit.
The dog and
the seagull.
 
I can still make those
hand shadows
against the wall,
when I get close to the light.
 
I can still remember
their voices and
the dramatic storylines.
They are forever with me.
 
The rabbit.
The dog and
the seagull.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What shadows can you create with your hands? 
2. What's your story?


Day 238 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

How can we create Options and Possibilities?

10/19/2020

 

 ABRIDGED
 
Take me to the end.
To where the river splits.
Here the choices are clear.
I can go back the way that I have come.
I can instead turn right,
for the less-trodden path.
Or my third option
is to get across the river!
 
I have been walking along this tributary
outwards and back again for years
assuming all the while
this was the only path.
I could turn right and uncover another way,
or go back on familiar ground.
Or I can decide to go forward.
I can start working out how to cross the river.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 
​1. What bridge could you build at work or at home?
2. What new way of thinking can you bring to your routine? 


Day 209 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Are you still making Wheelbarrows?

10/12/2020

 

​WHEELBARROWS
 
It is people who create, drive and sustain businesses.
The company's success is simply a by-product
of human endeavour and teamwork.
 
Yet we make the share price
or the return on investment,
the key measures of success.
 
In the future we need to be better
at capturing personal and group achievements
along with the economic ones.
 
We must learn to harvest individual innovation,
the new models of collaboration,
and problem-solving approaches that are helping
our organisation to succeed each day.
 
And then we can leverage this
into all sorts of products, services
and new ways of thinking.
 
It's a bit like two people inventing the wheel,
and then we only use this to sell wheelbarrows.
We have of course, learned to go to the next stage,
and use the wheel in millions of other ways.
 
But the wheel is still a by-product.
What about the two people who invented the wheel
or solved a problem in your workplace?
 
That’s where the real opportunity and value is.
Individuals are the key to success,
if we can just free ourselves of wheelbarrows. 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. How do you harvest and leverage your creativity?
2. How do you help to harvest and leverage the creativity of others? 


Day 202 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

How can we create a Masterpiece?

10/3/2020

 

MASTERPIECE
 

Don’t just create new pieces.
Don’t just look for more pieces.
Don’t just revamp the pieces
you already have.
Don’t just re-organise
and move all your pieces around.
 
Throw them all away.
All your pieces.
Clear the table.
Start with a different picture.
Start today from scratch.
A blank canvas.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Describe the masterpiece  that you will create from today? 
2. What are the pieces you need to make this real? 


Day 194 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Have you tried Cheese Mints?

9/9/2020

 

ACHIEVEMENTS
 
My voice recognition software
thinks I’m talking about
cheese mints.
 
It looks like I’ve just
created a new product
by accident!
 
Imagine if this turned out to be
one of my greatest
achievements.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What has happened recently that has caused you to smile and see things a bit differently?
2. What new product or service would you like to create or offer?


Day 170 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Why is it not enough to Think outside the Box?

9/7/2020

 

​CONTAINER BUSINESS

The original Business model was straightforward. It was about profit and building a business. The Mill owners of the Industrial Revolution had a simple focus.

Over the years other elements have impacted upon that business model - employee rights, consumer protection, international laws, environmental concerns, government interventions of all sorts, corporate social responsibility, exchange rates, global outsourcing, internet marketing, health and safety, and much more.

The local business entity of the industrial revolution has now become much more complex in a global interconnected world.

Interestingly though, our concept of what business is and how it should work is still defined by that original model. In short, we keep adding on more ‘hi-tech’ features to the vehicle without really looking at the 250-year-old chassis. This cumulative approach needs disassembling.

Henry Ford used to make all his cars in black but those days have long gone. Likewise, the ‘one size fits all’ approach to business is no longer relevant. Perhaps we should be exploring many models, driven not by history but by needs, situations and opportunities – however defined.
​
The Internet evolution should be our starting point and not the Industrial revolution. Business is now personal. It’s time for each of us not only to think outside of the box, but to get out of the business box and build new containers.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Business is now personal. What business are you in?
2. How do you define your model of business - making money and looking after all that you care about?


Day 168 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

How can we make the impossible, possible?

8/28/2020

 

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

Do we lose our Creativity with Artificial Intelligence?

7/30/2020

 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
 
Years ago, when we were travelling
we would stop at a lay-by,
take out our map
and plan our route.
 
We would create options,
factor in a coffee break
at a little village
and plot a route that worked for us.
 
Now we put our destination
into our phone which is more efficient.
The route is planned for us
and we do not have to think.
 
We don’t pause in the lay-by.
We don’t create our options.
We don’t stop in the little village.
We can just go where we’re told.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What options and opportunities are you creating?
2. Where is your 'little village'?


Day 129 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 your biggest Asset?

4/16/2020

 

SWOT ANALYSIS

​'The Hide Away Pub'.
Can you turn
​your greatest perceived weakness
into your biggest asset?

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
​What is you greatest perceived limitation (weakness) at the moment? 
List 5 possible ways to get over, around or through this.


Day 24 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

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