The Bars of Life, would you have a Bar of it?

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You’ve likely heard the saying “I wouldn’t have a bar of it?” The origin or meaning apparently stems from USA with bar being short for barrow, i.e. “I wouldn’t take a barrow of him even if they or he was giving it or him away for free”! Or it could be referring to a bar of chocolate i.e. “I wouldn’t want anything to do with him even if it came in a bar of chocolate or he or it was neatly packaged up like a tasty bar of chocolate”. How about imaging it’s neither of these, but more an acronym – BAR. Let’s look at what this acronym is and means and how we can integrate BAR into our lives. B – Believe – We need to believe in ourselves, in what we do, our abilities, our goals, our desires and more importantly our abilities. We can be our worst

Shudder the Thought!

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Shudder the Thought! I recently revisited Napier, the last time being 10 years ago. One of the return visits was to the earthquake museum. The video talked about ‘The Day that Hit the Bay’ and it also referred to Napier as being ‘The town where time stood still’. This got me thinking about how an event such as an earthquake or other major event in our lives can change us forever and affect us in ways that we don’t even realise until much later. These events in our lives leave scars, emotional, mental and sometimes physical, which can be seen and felt by us and others. Napier’s event reduced a city to rubble, killing and hurting many, leaving pain and heartbreak for lots of people. However, in time a new beginning came about, a new city with an Art Deco theme incorporating many cultures across the world. When we have

At this time of year, do you intend to?

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I’m sure you’ve heard the proverb “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, and you probably know it has nothing to do with a road to hell or that the road is paved, but that, ‘hell’ (or Sir Hell) was paved with good intentions. This reminds me of the other more common word used, the ‘a round tuit’, (or the saying never getting around to it), referring to those who say they intend to do something and never do. This led me to wondering how many times your road been paved with good intentions or how many round tuits you might have and why have you never gotten around to doing things? Feeling – Thinking – Doing – let’s look at these individually. Feeling – We spend a great deal of time with our emotions feeling happy or sad or various other feelings of possibly empathy with others

Can you be an Optimist if you are a Worrier?

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Are you the proverbial optimist or pessimist? Are you the glass half empty or the glass half-full? Do you constantly worry about what might happen? Do you find it hard to stop worrying about things that may never happen? If any of the above apply, then read on! If they don’t read on anyway as your opinion is valued. I was thinking the other day about the fact that if you are an optimist then theoretically you shouldn’t be a worrier! This is an oxymoron isn’t it? (An oxymoron being “a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction”). Like some of you, I am sure you are an optimist, always focusing on the positive and putting out constant positive messages to attract positive things to us – the Law of Attraction. But, also like some of you, we can’t stop the old ‘worry warts’ bothering us

Anchored to the Wharf? Consider a DPS!

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Do you know what an anchor’s for? Do you have an anchor? How do you know if you have the right anchor? What is an anchor? “An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current”. How might we anchor ourselves down, staying in our comfort zone, reluctant to move into unknown waters for fear of being swept away! Nowadays, instead of anchors, vessels use ‘Dynamic Positioning Systems’. These are operated by twin GPS satellite and operated via twin propellers below the boat which work constantly, helping you hold your position, positioning you accurately without damaging the boat, relieving stress and increasing safety. Perhaps we could change our thinking, particularly if we feel we’ve anchored ourselves to the wharf, never venturing out to sea for fear of

Do you give a FIG?

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I’m sure you’ve heard of this slang expression which means “To be concerned about someone or something. Typically used in the negative to convey the opposite. I don't give a fig about making money, I just want to do something with my life that makes life better for others”. However, perhaps there is another meaning to FIG as an acronym! Feeling – Instinct – Gut Feeling – More often than not we have a ‘feeling’ which we can’t explain and sometimes we ignore this for various reasons, and then after the ‘event’ we realise that’s what the feeling was. We could deliberate for ages into the whys and wherefores of why we don’t listen to our feelings anymore, but instead we could take time out to get to know ourselves better. What is it that makes us tick, when do we have these feelings, what do they mean to us

Planning is a like a Jigsaw!

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Are you a big picture thinker or a details person? Are you too close to the picture to be able to see it clearly? ‘Big picture thinking’ is a person who looks at problems and opportunities. A creative person, an idea generator who brainstorms as many ideas as possible. ‘A details person’ is someone who considers all the parts, seeing all aspects, able to see the detail from all angles. This person is someone who sees the finer points considering these carefully. Whether we’re a big picture thinker or a detailed person, often what we see is like a jigsaw, a jumble of pieces with the picture facedown. Seeing all these pieces can feel overwhelming, too hard to even contemplate trying to piece them all together. Plans and planning is like a jigsaw isn’t it? Here are 6 steps for you to follow: Gather all the pieces together, turn them

Are you a Yes or No Person?

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Are you a yes person reluctant to say no and then feeling overwhelmed with work you can’t handle? Are you a no person who feels bad about letting someone down trying to justify you have done it for the right reasons? Perhaps you are a yes person who feels empowered about saying yes to new challenges knowing this will help you grow! Or perhaps you are a no person fearful of stepping outside your comfort zone in the fear of failing or not achieving or letting someone or yourself down! Whichever of the above you are, perhaps you can consider the following steps in determining what type of person you want to be and why. Do you want to be a yes person and feel empowered but not overwhelmed? This would be the ideal wouldn’t it? OR Do you want to be a no person focusing instead on yourself, so

Do You Have the Limiting Belief Bug?

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If you were asked if you had limiting beliefs would you agree? Do you actively challenge your limiting beliefs? Do you manage to conquer your limiting beliefs? We are often our own worst enemy in that we create our own limiting beliefs, live by them and believe them to be true and unconquerable. But we don’t need to do this anymore, we can change the way we think, change our mindset, change our pattern of behaviour and our thoughts. We can! Let’s start with looking back to when we first started having doubts about ourselves and about what. We need to dissect it and find out what’s inside. Once we break it down, we can see it for what it is. Small pieces of fractured items that in themselves are without power, but together we seem to give ‘it’ power to stop us, slow us down, prevent us from doing

The Secret of the Spoken Word!

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There are so many ways nowadays to communicate with others. The old-fashioned way, face-to-face or telephone, video conference, either audio or visual, and of course in writing, whether pen to paper, email, text, message etc. The list is endless. We often default to what is easier, or quicker for us, when in actual fact, it’s not always the best means of communication is it? Surely there is nothing better than the spoken word! Whether this be a conversation, a presentation or as a facilitator. When we are feeling down – this is probably one of the best ways to counteract how we’re feeling. Talking to someone, getting things ‘off our chest’, sharing a problem or an issue. What is it they say? ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’. Talking the talk but not walking the walk – we do need to be mindful of continually talking about things, whether