Des McCabe
  • Books
  • Exercises

600 Personal Development Exercises

do one a day - every day!

Why do we need Monk Umbrellas?

9/13/2021

 

MONK UMBRELLAS
​

It’s late in the afternoon
and the attendant is
going around the pool,
putting down the large umbrellas.
 
He’s tying the cream covers
with their cream belts,
around their sturdy brown poles.
 
The umbrellas now all stand
spaced neatly apart like monks,
guarding the ocean
here at Cunan, Mexico.
 
The Monk Umbrellas look
out across the Atlantic
to their counterparts,
in the square at Candelaria.
 
Towards the statues
of the Guanches kings
who ruled the pre-Castillian
kingdoms of Tenerife.
 
Together they all wait
for a new day and to protect us all
in the Cathedral,
and by the pool.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What does the arrival of a new day mean to you?​

Picture
Day 539 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is the gift of expiation?

9/5/2021

 

​EXPIATE
 
We can try to make amends
for all that we have got wrong.
We can try to begin again
through our own efforts.
We can try to extinguish
the guilt we may carry.
 
But expiation does all
​of this, freely, for us.
Expiation is a gift of love
that clears the record.
It’s as if our mistakes
never existed.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Can you accept the gift of expiation?
​2. What does it mean to start with a clean sheet?
​

Picture
​Day 530 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercise

Can we have Answers without Questions?

6/19/2021

 

​ANSWERS WITHOUT QUESTIONS
 
Have you noticed how if we keep
asking ourselves the same questions,
we keep getting variations
of the same answer,
sometimes packaged as ‘new ideas’.
 
After a while we come to see,
that we’re asking the wrong questions,
and then we gently realise,
that there are in fact, no questions to ask,
only answers to be received.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What answer would come if you sat, and never asked a question? 

Picture
Day 452 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What do you call your God?

6/5/2021

 

PEN NAME

Our God comes with
no baggage or history,
no image or place,
no authority or stories,
no religion or belief.
For our God has no name,
but love.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What does your God come with?
​2. What do you call love? 


Day 438 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Do you use the God word?

5/28/2021

 

THE GOD WORD
 
God is everything
and yet, nothing.
God is what we know
and what we don’t know.
God is what we believe
and what we don’t believe.
God is the word that is 
beyond and within all words.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. When did you last use the God word?
2. How might  you break free of outdated concepts and allow the God word to open up new possibilities for you ?


Day 430 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is Spiritual Duality?

5/24/2021

 

SPIRITUAL DUALITY

Spirituality talks of exploring
and developing an understanding,
of the duality of human nature. 

The focus of this can be known
as God, or Love, or simply
the  Ultimate Reality of everything. 
For all are one and the same. 

Our Spirituality asks 
how can we experience God
in times of need, or in everyday
events, or with others?
 
But spirituality is also about us
in the presence of God’s life.
How can we be with him
beyond all that we are?

This is about us going to his place
and not just him coming to us.
 
These two sets of experiences
and learning, are not separate or
parallel, but are entwined.
This is the duality of human existence.

​The two paths are one.
For every road enables us to go,
and to come back
​from our destination.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE?
1. What is the focus of your Duality?
2. Is your journey to be with God, or Love, or the Ultimate Reality of everything?​


Day 426 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is Sustainable Spirituality?

5/6/2021

 

SUSTAINABLE SPIRITUALITY
 
Our energy use will shift
dramatically over the next 20 years.
We will move further away from
the old fossil fuel economy
which creates greenhouse gases.
We are learning to work together
for the good of everyone.
 
Clean, renewable energy is our aim.
It’s a new way of living for all of us.
Coal will stay in the ground
and we can look after our world,
if we all play our part, together.
 
Our spirituality will also shift
dramatically over the next 20 years.
We will move further away from
the old religious structures
which create division.
We are learning to work together
for the good of everyone.
 
A spirituality of love is our aim.
It’s a new way of  living for all of us.
Religions will stay in their buildings
and we can build a caring world,
if we  all reach out, together.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. How will you become a champion of Sustainable Spirituality? 
2. Is your belief or non-belief  limiting your potential or holding you back from building  Sustainable Spirituality? 


Day 408 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

How can we go beyond Negative Conditioning?

4/30/2021

 

NEGATIVE CONDITIONING

Much of our conditioning
about God has come
through the media and religions,
with their view of what is truth.

Much of our conditioning about
talking with God,
has come through concepts
such as prayer or meditation.

But what if we made a fresh start,
and built our own understanding
and personal relationship, with
whatever we perceive God to be?

For God is really
the unknown that is out there,
beyond us and yet in each of us,
and all of us.

Imagine then, if we
could go beyond 
all that negative conditioning
and talk with love and kindness,

To ourselves
and to others.
 to all that we know,
and don’t know.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. How do you imagine a God that is unknown but yet within you and part of you? 
2. How can you begin to develop a relationship with your God?​


Day 402 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Why do we have Easter eggs?

4/4/2021

 

EASTER EGGS
 
It doesn’t get
any more radical
than Easter Sunday.
For Jesus to come back
from the dead,
goes against all the
laws of the natural world
that we understand.
 
Easter is an amazing gift.
It gives us direct
insight of a world
yet to come.
Easter promises that
we will all come
back to life and
we will live forever.
 
It doesn’t get any
more radical, exciting,
exhilarating, hopeful
and wonderful than this.
 
Easter is the gift that frees us
from all that holds us back and
encourages us to become
all that we should be.
Our Easter eggs
are a reminder of this gift,
from one to another,
and for each of us, together.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. As you open your Easter egg this year, be thankful for the amazing gift that is Easter. ​

​Day 376 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercise

What is Theology?

2/28/2021

 

THEOLOGY

You don’t have to
go anywhere,
to be with God.
He is with you now.
 
You don’t have to
say anything,
to communicate with God.
For he knows you well.
 
You don’t have to
give any time to God,
for he is time,
and he gives this to you.
 
You don’t have
to believe in God,
for he gives you life
and believes in you.
 
You don’t have to
apologise to God
for he is love,
and has forgiven everything.
 
You don’t have to
ask God for anything,
for it has already
been given to you.
 
You don’t have to
think of God as ‘out there’
for he is already in you,
as you are in him.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Write down your theology - your understanding of what God is.
2. What is your relationship with God? How would you describe this? ​


Day 341 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is Your Message for the World?

1/24/2021

 

CO-WORKERS

Imagine that God
is looking with your eyes,
for he is.
That is why you are here.
To be the eyes of God
in the world.
 
Imagine that God
is working with your hands,
for he is.
That is why you are here.
To create and build
a world of love.
 
Imagine that God
is speaking with your voice,
for he is.
That is why you are here.
To bring a message of love
to the world. 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1. What are you seeing?
2. What are you building?
3. What is your message for the world? 


Day 306 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Who should you have on your Team?

1/17/2021

 

FREELANCERS

Some people pray to the Saints
in heaven to intercede for them,
and to help them.

They believe that these holy people
have a good place in heaven.
They also have God’s ear.

The prayers are usually calls
for help with illness, or for situations
 that are causing stress or worry.
 
And the prayers are not only
for the person themselves,
but often for those they love.

But everyone who has died
is in heaven, and has God’s ear.
They are all waiting for you to ask for help.
 
So, reach out to those you know who have died,
Reach out to those who you don’t know,
and ask for their help, too.
 
For heaven is like a team of freelancers,
all working together to help us.
Heaven is packed with experience and wisdom.
 
You see, the energy and interests,
that we have in this life,
continue to grow and flourish, in the next.

So, what answers do you need?
What help are you asking for?
Who are you asking?

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1.
What Projects are you planning? 
2. Who is on your team of Freelancers?


Day 299 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What do Agnostics believe in?

1/14/2021

 

AGNOSTIC

We can promote love
without religion or belief.
 
We can love others
without religion or belief.
 
We can help others
without religion or belief.
 
We can serve others
without religion or belief.
 
We can give all we have to those in need
without religion or belief.
 
We can promote goodness
without religion or belief.
 
We can do what is right
without religion or belief.
 
We can give a voice to those who have no say
without religion or belief.
 
We can be truthful
without religion or belief.
 
We can stand up for those who are down
without religion or belief.
 
We can be kind and gentle
without religion or belief.
 
We can do all of this each day
without religion or belief.
 
We can become love
without religion or belief.
 
We can be as one
without religion or belief.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1. How can we all be as one?


Day 296 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is the Faith that we all share?

1/7/2021

 

​FAITH

We think of faith
as something we believe in,
when in reality,
faith is something
that believes in us.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What or who believes in you? 

Day 289 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Does Jesus do Monitoring Visits?

11/21/2020

 
​
MONITORING VISIT


I was sitting in the garden
early this morning
and the gate opened unexpectedly,
with a rattle,
and Jesus walked in.

It was not what I could have predicted!
He was dressed in white of course,
raised his hand,
and shouted ‘hello’
as he closed the gate.

I’ve just come to say ‘thank you
to everybody for all the good work
that you are doing.
I know how difficult it is
at the moment’.

He sat down on the bench
beside me
and we said nothing.
He didn’t need to say anything
and I didn’t know what to say.

He then got up, shook my hand,
gave me a hug and said
‘Good to see you’.
As he closed the gate he added
‘Take care, talk soon’.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What would you have said?

Day 242 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Do some words switch you Off?

11/14/2020

 

LIGHT SWITCH

If you switch off
when you hear
the word 'God',
then just change it
to love.
 
If you switch off
when you hear
the word 'love',
them just change it
to your name.
 
For you are part
of all love.
We are part of God.
And that cannot
be changed, ever
.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Write a sentence (or two) that includes the words 'God', 'love' and your name. ​

Day 235 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is the link between Atheism and God?

11/2/2020

 

ATHEISM

There is no such thing as God.
God is not a fixed entity
 to be defined in any way,
for God is beyond definition.
 
God holds everything
 and is in everything forever.
God is the totality of an expanding,
infinite and eternal love.
 
When we create
boundaries and limits,
we force people to
agree or disagree with us.
 
So, stop trying to force God
into your system of belief or unbelief.
Stop trying to put limits
or human boundaries around God.
 
For God encompasses all thinking,
all beliefs and non-beliefs, and all time.
God rests in each of us
and in all of us as one.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1. If we define God as love, then we can begin to see how this is 'in each of us and in all of us as one'. Starting from here, how would you explain what God is to a child. 


Day 223 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is a Spiritual Apprentice?

10/29/2020

 

APPRENTICESHIP

People used to look to
religious bodies for spiritual guidance
and the path to salvation.
Nowadays, many of us work
to find our own path in life,
and our own way.
 
For we know that there is
no one way and no one map.
There are different maps
and so many ways.
We can each find a path
that works for us.
 
Our path will be like no one else’s.
It will be like no other.
We will learn and do
what works for us.
And that is exactly,
how it is meant to be.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. ​
1. What journey are you on?
2. How would you describe your path or your way - so far?


Day 219 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Can we cash-in our own Life Insurance after we die?

10/18/2020

 

​LIFE INSURANCE
 

Insurance is a way of life.
We cover our house, our cars
and indeed, our life.
But life insurance doesn’t protect us,
it just helps those we leave behind.
 
So, what if there is a heaven and God?
What if we’ve ignored this throughout
our lives, and then we find they do exist?
Perhaps we should buy some real life insurance
so that our future in heaven (if it exists), is protected.
 
We cannot buy this life insurance,
for it is available to everyone for free.
To avail of this lifelong offer, simply spend
some time thinking about the possibility
of God,  and having a life beyond here.
 
God or heaven may not exist,
but it makes sense to think about it,
as an insurance policy, just in case.
Who knows, you may need
to cash it in someday.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 
​1. What real life insurance have you taken out? 
2. What is your 'just in case' contingency plan?


Day 208 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

What is Turnover?

10/5/2020

 

TURNOVER

It was so much darker
when I awoke this morning.
Summer is slipping away.
It’s cold and raining.

I marvel at the continuous
and seamless transition
of the seasons.
Year after year.

They tell me that we also move
through different phases,
and that we too, are continuously,
renewed and reborn.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. What phase of your life are you moving into?
2. When you look back over the last year, how have you changed or developed?


Day 196 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Is Coffee time a chance to rest and reflect?

9/22/2020

 

COFFEE TIME
 
It used to be in churches
with stained glass windows and stillness
where our grandparents found respite.
 
For quiet, peace, reflection and rest
it is now to the coffee shop, with its
soft chairs and quiet corners that  many go.
 
The carefully designed colour schemes of
Café Nero or Starbucks soothes our minds.
The lighting creates a mood to help us relax.
 
But God is just at home in a coffee shop.
For us to rest and reflect
is really what matters for body and soul.
 
God is with us wherever we are,
not just in Churches or Costas.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. When will you take some time to rest and reflect today?
2. Is it coffee time yet
?


Day 183 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

How can I create the perfect Job Description?

9/21/2020

 

JOB DESCRIPTION
 
Our spiritual journey isn’t
necessarily a holy or religious one!
We are all called to be part of love
in our own unique and special way.
 
For some this is in business,
others in acting, others in nursing,
others in sport or teaching,
or retail or manufacturing.
 
But these are only careers or jobs
that describe what we do
and not who we are. It’s who we are
that is the real spiritual journey.
 
It’s how we interact with people.
It’s how we reach out.
It’s how we help others.
It’s the times that we are kind.
 
This is the real day-to-day spiritual journey
that we are all on.
And it doesn’t matter what
our role or job or situation is.
 
For every connection with others
touches something deep within us.
It gives meaning
to who we are in that moment.
 
Each interaction connects us
to the same love
that is working within each of us,
and that we all share.
 
We are all on the same 
spiritual journey together.
A journey that is written by each of us 
as our own job description.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1. Write out your  job description. Remember, it's unique to you. 
2. How will your job description change in the months and years ahead?


Day 182 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

Where is your Haven of Peace?

8/30/2020

 

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

​What do we look for in the Mirror?

8/23/2020

 

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

When do you stop for a Cold Beer?

8/16/2020

 

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
<<Previous

    Search all of the Exercises


    View our 24 Categories

    All
    Business
    Career
    Christmas And New Year
    Collaborative Working
    Creativity
    Daily Routine
    Dying
    Education
    Future Planning
    Gratitude
    Happiness
    Harvesting
    Inclusion
    Inner Learning
    Kindness
    Leadership
    Life Journey
    Love
    Peace
    Personal Effectiveness
    Purpose
    Spirituality
    Wellbeing
    Work


    Picture

    Leave your 
    feedback

    Linkedin
    ​Instagram
    ​​Facebook

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Don't miss
    ​a day ...

    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020


Personal Development Exercises - 24 CATEGORIES
​Work
Business
Gratitude
Daily Routine
Spirituality
​Kindness
Love
​Leadership
Harvesting
​​Inclusion
Gratitude
Happiness
​Creativity
​Purpose
Inner Learning

Collaborative Working 


Wellbeing
​Education
Future Planning
Career
Personal Effectiveness 
Dying
Life Journey
Christmas / New Year







​
Resources
Contact Us


Picture
Picture

Copyright © ​Des McCabe 2010-2022  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
  • Books
  • Exercises