600 Personal Development Exercises
do one a day - every day!
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PRESCRIPTION 'Do something every day' is what I say to delegates, who are looking, to build their futures. This is about pushing forward step-by-step, in the direction you want to go. It takes you closer to your goal. But it’s also about more than just getting things done. It builds within you a culture of success and achievement. It ensures that you focus on your priorities every day, rather than get ambushed by life all around you. And it gives a context for everything else you do today, and what needs to be done, tomorrow. Do something every day is our ongoing reflection and action plan for making all that we are, real. It is our prescription for life to take this regular exercise, just one step at a time, and do something every day. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 1. What will you do today to move forwad in the direction you want to go? 2. What will you do tomorrow to move forwad in the direction you want to go? 3. How will you make sure you 'do something every day' from now on?  Day 495 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises STARTING POINT Many of us see our futures as developing from here, instead of beginning with the end in sight. We need to work backwards from this new reality and we need to behave in future mode, NOW! PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 1. What is the end that you are working towards? 2. How are you making this real, right now?  Day 492 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises DISTRACTIONS I can only ignore the weeds on the path for so long. For as they grow, other weeds, encouraged by this success, get the same idea. Before I know it, they have now joined together to form a blanket and cover my path. It's got to be done. I’m weeding today. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is distracting you and covering your intended path? 2. When are you going to start weeding and clear your path?  Day 480 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises SELF-REALIZATION I know, I know.... I know you know. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What do you now know? 2. What has brought about this process of realization?  Day 471 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises SOFT THINKING The frame of our thinking can be made of iron, holding all fixed and secure, difficult to move and keeping all else out. The frame of our thinking can be made of wool, holding all gently and moving with the wind, to greet all that comes. Sometimes our perceived strength is a real weakness, and our real growth may be in softness, flexibility and a different type of thinking. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Is your thinking framed by iron or wool? 2. In what situations might you begin to think, interpret and respond in different ways? Day 442 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SELF-SCULPTURE Personal development, is about chipping away at the pieces we do not like, about ourselves. It’s about using a selection of tools, from heavy duty drills to fine chisels, as we get closer to what we might be. For deep inside our concrete exterior is our real self, looking to be freed. Our perfect ‘me’ is already within us, and so, we chip away. You see, personal development is not only about learning new skills, or adding more layers, to what we already are. Personal development is about chipping away to uncover what is already here, and to become what we really are. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How is your Self-Sculpture coming along? 2. What tools are you using? What are your heavy duty drills and fine chisels? Day 440 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Say it in the present tense, or it can never happen. You see, ‘I am’ and ‘I have’, are now. ‘I will’, is in the future and can never happen. Say it in the present tense every day and watch it happen. ‘I am’ and ‘I have’, are waiting now for you to say these words, and watch it happen. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. Please finish these sentences - I am.....I have....I work....I live.... 2. Now say these sentences every day - first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Day 436 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
NICHE MARKETING Joe Karbo, famously said that ‘you know more about something than half the people in the world’. What do you know about? What is your passion? Where is your experience? Where is your joy? For this is your purpose made real, by design and by chance. This is your expert position, and your gift to share. Half of the world is waiting. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What do you know about? 2. What is your passion? 3. Where is your experience? 4. Where is your joy? Day 434 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
CRITICAL THINKING Once we have the courage to give up what we are desperately trying to hold onto.... we find where we should be, what we should be doing and what we are really looking for. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What are you desperately trying to hold onto? Day 233 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS If one idea you share helps someone, then everything is worthwhile. If one thing you do helps someone, then everything is worthwhile. If one word you say helps someone, then everything is worthwhile. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 1. What one idea can you share to help someone? 2. What one thing can you do to help someone? 3. What one word can you say to help someone? Day 224 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
ALL SAINTS' DAY We tend to think of Saints as holy people from long ago, detached from the world, and living some sort of strange and perfect existence. It all seems to be millions of miles away from our lives, but Saints had their challenges and human weaknesses. They were no perfect Saints. There are Saints around us today, doing good work and trying to live their lives in the best way they can. For sainthood is not a badge but the alignment of the needs of others with our skills and commitment in love. We are all imperfect Saints, journeying in our own time, in our world and living some sort of strange and perfect existence. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 1. What Saints do you know? 2. How does your life align with the needs of others? Day 222 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
NEEDS DRIVEN Embrace all possibilities. Be open to the unseen potential in every situation and in every moment. Go out. Just go there, just be there. And bring with you all that you are. Be positive. Be encouraging. Be ambitious for your success and the success of others. Be gracious. Be grateful. Be kind and smile. Do what you love. Enjoy your interests. Set the world on fire and watch the grass grow. And when you realise that there is nothing that you really need, then you have everything. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. How will you 'set the world on fire' and 'watch the grass grow' today? 2. What do you still really need? Day 177 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
COPY AND PASTE I typed the word love and saw it in front of me. I highlighted the word love and captured it in my heart. I copied the word love and made it who I am. I pasted the word love and it was everywhere. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. We 'copy and paste' who we are in every encounter with others. Where can you paste love today? 2. What are the other words that are you pasting everywhere? What is the message that others are picking up from us? Day 175 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
HIDDEN AGENDA There are things we should do but we don’t do them. There are people we should see but we don’t see them. There is work we should do but we don’t do it. There are words we should say but we don't say them. There are places we should go but we don’t go there. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your hidden agenda - the people and activities that you are avoiding? 2. How can you begin to address this? Day 167 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
SUCCESS It may not work. It may not happen. It may not unfold as we think or had hoped for. But this is not failure. Failure is when we don’t have the dream, when we don’t act or when we don’t try to make it happen. Success is when we do our best, do what we can, and recognise that this is what is intended. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your dream? 2. How will you try to make this real today? Day 166 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
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
HEADMASTER I am still in the office at home. I am still at work. My head is full of stuff. The number of things to do seems to be getting longer, not shorter. For as soon as I cross something off the list another two things appear needing to be done. My brain and my whole self are consumed and controlled by this list of what needs to be done. I can’t just walk away from it for it all needs to be sorted. And who else will do it, if I don’t? If this day was twice as long, I would fill it. If it was shorter, I would cram even more in. Then it hits me, that I am being managed by the time available – not by who I am. I have it all the wrong way round. For it's not about doing but being. Being is the master of time, my headmaster. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What is your 'Headmaster'? 2. How does time and activity drive who you are? 3. What does 'being' mean to you - in practical terms? Day 130 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
TO-DO LIST Today I gave myself nothing to do. I scrapped my ‘to-do’ list. I’m in the park without my phone. I’m sitting in the sunshine. Enjoying just being here. Just being. There's always things to do work to catch up on, deadlines and demands from others. It all has to be done but not today. Today I'm sitting, in the sunshine. Just sitting. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. What's on your to-do list today? 2. When will you be just 'sitting in the sunshine'? Day 105 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
UNIQUENESS These writings reflect me and my journey. They’re published in order to encourage you to capture and explore every moment, opportunity and wonderful event of your journey. Go where your heart takes you. Have moments and days of different thoughts and experiences. Get off the worldly commute and see the countryside. Go without your satnav. Every moment can hold something amazing for it is a doorway to understanding. Do not settle for more or better but for understanding, insight, perspective and personal truth. Create your own crazy life journey. Make it up as you go along. Enjoy every minute especially failures, disappointments, illness and fatigue for these are the reminders of who we truly are. Share your successes with humility and use these to encourage others. Fire them up with joy and enthusiasm. Hold out your hand and offer to help. Surprise others with a call. For the more you reach out, the more you learn about yourself. We build our own truth from the building blocks we have been given, such as our DNA, our health, our parents, our culture, our schooling, our religious upbringing, our gifts and talents and much more. So, it is no surprise that many of the concepts, ideas and sayings that we pick up early in life are reflected in who we become. ‘Go with the flow’ is what my Dad said. ‘If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right.’ was another. These messages from our foundation years are always with us. But they are only seeds for us to water. They are the raw material for us to grow, shape, form, build, develop and to create something unique. This is the key purpose of our lives, to be a unique structure, a unique creation and a unique offering of love in the world. It doesn’t matter how we do this, for each journey is of its own. We do not have to follow the traditions of the past, the beliefs of the present or the technology terms and conditions of the future. All these can trap and enslave us. Our task is to learn and enjoy being fully ourselves in this life. For life is meant to be a process of joy. If we can understand this we will see beyond the difficulties, suffering, pain and death that we must endure. This is the quest. No one perspective, teaching, or personal development book will get you there. Life is an ongoing personal development process. Only you can know what is going on within you and what makes real sense. There is, in my experience, no quick fix or instant download. Our worldly attachment to power, position, money, instant satisfaction, ego, vanity and self-centredness all work against this complete understanding of who we are. And yet, these are so often part of the daily reality of our lives. But there can and there will be, moments of light, glimpses of understanding and instances where we see things differently. These are the stepping-stones for uncovering our path. Every life with its glamour or failures, with its successes or poverty holds its own unique, beautiful and infinitely precious journey of understanding. This is the wonder of life for we are born with nothing and we die with nothing. The only thing in between is our journey of understanding. Help everyone to have the courage to step outside of the norm, to take time for themselves, to be different, to listen and to offer us ideas and perspectives that most of this world would find strange, crazy or unrealistic. Let us all be an inspiration of difference and acceptance. Let us all go with the flow and see where it takes us. The beliefs of another are no threat to you. The traditions and practices of your neighbour should be the greatest joy especially if you disagree with them or ‘just don’t get it’. For we all should celebrate not just our uniqueness but our ability to be different in a world that drives conformity, control and standardisation. We need creativity, innovation, compassion and we need new perspectives. We need different ways of dealing with the new challenges the world is facing. Let us all be champions of uniqueness. Encourage others to ‘have a go’, say what they really think, question values and create better ways of living. In our interactions with others let this light of uniqueness shine through. A smile, a ‘thank you’ and encouragement must be part of every conversation. Reaching out to those in need, those who are lonely and those with no one to talk with is our mission of uniqueness. Our mother and father gave us our DNA and the foundation of our uniqueness for us to grow and become all that we can be. We do the same for our children who then in return do the same for their children. We are all protected under an umbrella of uniqueness which cannot be troubled, overthrown, or destroyed. It is not confined to this world but is there forever, cherishing each of us, as together we build an eternity of love. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE 1. In what ways are you unique? 2. Describe your outlook or philosophy on life. 3. What are the key messages you will pass onto your children? 3. How can your uniqueness help to build an eternity of love? Day 100 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises
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
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
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