Advice

Energize your day

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Kick the coffee. Drink herbal tea.🍵 It’ll regulate your moods.

Drop the booze at night. You’ll sleep deeper and wake up rested

Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning.

Exercise for at least 25min every day. Get a balance of anaerobic and aerobic exercise.

Phone a friend and catch up. Don’t text or post something. Phone the person. Connect with them, don’t just communicate with them.

Get lunch outside of the office. It’ll get you walking, and you’ll probably eat with someone else.

Drink lots of water.

Avoid sugar, especially during the afternoon slump. Same with coffee.

Eat oats in the morning. You’ll also lose weight. Avoid toast for breakfast, especially with sweet jams, etc. are not ideal for breakfast. Toast is an efficient food delivery system, so be careful what the cargo is. If you must have toast, then have it with some butter.

Spend time with positive people.

Smile 😊

Be kind and shrug off grudges and slights. Grudges suck up a ton energy.

Be thankful for one thing every day.

Be social. We are pack animals. A community is a powerful thing.

Giving is energizing. Be a giver.

Communication vs. connecting

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There’s no social media version for a face to face conversation with a friend. With everyone spread out across the globe these days the next best thing is a conversation over the phone. The best version of this is a video chat. Texting via Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, Snapchat are essential communication tools – they help you communicate, but they don’t connect you with people on a deeper level.

Even though our smartphones have the word phone in them, we use them more for other things like email, social media, work and entertainment.

To stay in touch, you’ve got to make the time to be there in the moment. Video chat, phone and face to face is the best way to connect.

Inflight safety

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Put on your oxygen mask before helping others. An essential air safety trip and a useful metaphor for everyday life.

In other words look after yourself first. If you are taking care of yourself, spiritually, mentally and physically, then you will be much better placed to listen and assist others.

I’m a lucky man

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The most important two steps to a successful career is to make sure you choose the right parents and country of birth!

I love working with people who acknowledge timing and luck as part of their story. They are the first people to pull others up and take a chance on someone who doesn’t have the pedigree or connections.

Ten dinner cooking tips

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Buy a nonstick saucepan. Replace it every year. It doesn’t have to be made of kryptonite or unobtainium. A new pan washes easily and makes cooking a pleasure. Throw out the old pan and rotate.

Wash the pan once it’s cooled down. Washing the pan when it’s hot will wear away the nonstick stuff.

Eat leftovers. They last longer than you think. Get tastier over time and make one meal into three

Use ghee over butter or oil. It doesn’t smoke like oil and adds flavor.

If you can lean, then you can clean

Vegetarian dishes are easier to clean up than meat dishes. The ingredients last longer in the fridge.

There’s nothing a fried egg or avocado won’t solve. Just plop it on t with a bit of salt and pepper. Same for heirloom tomatoes 🍅

Undercooking your meat is okay. Salmonella is a thing, but most meat should be on the rare side.

If you have the time, cook food on medium heat versus incinerating it on high. It’ll take longer, but it’ll be juicer and more flavorsome.

Eat early. It’ll give you more time to digest your food and you’ll sleep better.

Toe breathing

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Toe breathing? Yup, your toes breath if you concentrate on them. Ready to try?

Okay. Take a pause. Relax your shoulders, eyes, and jaw. Feel the ground on your feet and wiggle your toes, so you know they are there. Take a deep breath through your nose and feel the air enter your body. Imagine the same fresh air coming your lungs, tummy, legs, feet and finally your toes. Feel the body expanding. It’s like blowing up a balloon. Imagine the clean oxygenated air reaching the very tips of your toes and that everything it touches on the way down is cleansed.

Now exhale slowly. As you exhale, imagine your body deflating slowing and breathing out the stale air. All of the aches, pains, anxiety leave the body with that exhalation.

Is like rinse and repeat. Try it 3 times. Concentrating on the toes will make you breath deeper and slow down the exercise. Remember to the breath through your nose and relax the shoulders and face.

Stay grounded today and enjoy.

The experience of right now

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We only experience right now as Emily Dickinson explains below:

Forever — is composed of Nows
by Emily Dickinson

Forever — is composed of Nows —
‘Tis not a different time —
Except for Infiniteness —
And Latitude of Home —

From this — experienced Here —
Remove the Dates — to These —
Let Months dissolve in further Months —
And Years — exhale in Years —

Without Debate — or Pause —
Or Celebrated Days —
No different Our Years would be
From Anno Domini’s —

Change the Universe

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The mystic and poet William Blake asks us to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of our hand and eternity in an hour.

The entire universe is inside all of us. The entire universe changes when we change. Everything in existence feels the ripple of our development because we are all part of the whole. That’s a radical and powerful realization.

In today’s world, we get up every day and have interactions where there are opportunities to grow. Interactions with our kids, spouse, friends, work colleagues, pets, cars, nature – EVERY moment is an opportunity to grow and change the universe. Wow.

William Blake and Gandhi were onto the same thing. Gandhi said ’Be the change you want to see in the world’. Here’s my spin on that quote – Be the change you want to see in the Universe.

Now get out there and change the Universe.

The space between the notes

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Music is the space between the notes. From Mozart to Adele, it comes down to the pauses and inhalations, which allows the music to flourish.

Breaks and a breath in life are the same thing. Whether it’s first thing in the morning or before a meeting. Stop, pause and breathe – then ACT. Let your music play.