Power-Ups

The path that led me to teaching was a twisted and windy one. I didn’t set out after school to get a degree in education, mould young minds, and change the world. Finding my purpose as an educator  was a long process, one that didn’t fully emerge until after more than a decade in the classroom. In high school, I took two classes that immediately defined what I thought I wanted to do with my life, Journalism and Business. I was going to own my own theatre company and be a playwright and then have my own column in a local newspaper, and I would speak to the world. Now, there are people who are sharing inspiration through writing and theatre with the world, but it’s a hard world to crack into, and theatre and journalism can be daunting for a 20-year-old with a baby son, and high values on ethics and respect. I found the theatre became about making money and creating a “product” and I never did follow through with my journalism dreams. I didn’t feel like I was making a difference, and ...

And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. - HARUKI MURAKAMI It has been a brave journey and you have claimed your reward. All that is left at this point is to return to your ordinary world. On return to your ordinary world, it is evident that you are not the person you were when you left. You’ve been strengthened, shaped, and moulded by your journey. The New World is now a terrain you know well and have positive experiences with. You are now a dual citizen, able to live in the old world and live within the new. When I was looking at going overseas for the first time, I certainly felt like the ‘new world’ was unknown. I was a little nervous and not sure what to expect. But the more we ventured, the more comfortable I became and that form of traveling is now some...

"The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine." For as long as I can remember, I have set New Year’s Resolutions that I have (surprise, surprise) not been able to stick with. Things like losing 20 kilos or cutting out caffeine. This time around, I thought I might take a different approach. Again on January 1st, I made 13 resolutions, that I will endeavor to work through, however, already just three weeks later, I realise how hard it is to get these larger goals into play. So today I have started to break down my resolutions into mini-resolutions.  I took a photo, which is a habit I’m trying to start (I want an album with the whole year in it). Rather than saying that “I am going to cut out caffeine”, I have made the commitment at the beginning of each day to give up caffeine for ‘today’. Today I made a commitment to make my bed before I started any work. I made this goal and felt good about it. So again, as my partner would say: start light then slowly build to a...

The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind. As a teacher, I learnt very quickly that times tables and repetitive learning of information would not catch the attention of my students, and I decided to adopt the lost art of storytelling back into my lessons.  I was filled with joy to see the students sitting forward listening in their chairs asking questions and pondering some of the very important questions of life. This taught me very quickly that there is always more than one way to look at a situation and sometimes it is worth looking outside of the box to get the answer that we need. Often life can seem like it is moving very quickly, with lots of decisions, yet very few real options. This is where we really must take the time to take a few deep breaths and in fact, give ourselves the space and time to reflect on the important aspects of life. When thinking about the Mind and Meaning Pillar of Life, to find what...

S.Y.S.T.E.M. Save Yourself Time, Energy, and Money A Roman Catholic priest, an Anglican priest, and a Baptist preacher were standing near a river conversing when the subject of which church was nearest to the teaching of God arose. The Roman Catholic priest said that of course there was no argument that the Roman Catholic Church was. They were descended directly from the Apostles; in fact, Peter was their first Pope. He said in fact so close are we that I can even walk on water like Jesus and he preceded to walk on the water to the other side.   The Anglican Priest said the Anglican Church was very similar in origin to the Catholics and he too demonstrated his ability to walk on water like Jesus Christ. The Baptist preacher said that he could not care where their origins were; he studied the word and preached it purely and without any embellishments. Since they could walk on water he should be even better at it. He took one step forward and sunk knee-deep into the river. The R...

"The secret of getting things done is to act!" I personally like to keep things simple. If the process is too long, I won’t tend to get through it. So often with self-help guides to getting things done, they have so many steps that by the time I have spent an hour working out what I need to do, I really don’t feel like doing anything with it. With this in mind, I thought I would share with you the 5 steps I take when I want to get something done. Get A Routine –  Get into good routines; over time it gets easier. Think about what you need to achieve in a day. Reward Yourself  – My philosophy in life is to work hard and then celebrate a job well done. Reward yourself when you achieve each small step, even the easiest ones, such as calling a gym to check the prices, or making your bed. Plan For Fun –  You won’t be able to stay motivated if your life is all about work and no fun. In your timetable, make sure you commit to doing things you enjoy, whether it be taking a dance l...

"Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror." - Colin Powell Driving a car looking in the rearview mirror is a recipe for disaster. Likewise, driving backward or reversing is dangerous. It is important to work on changing the directions of the front wheels and the back wheels will follow. Imagine you are about to go on a road trip from Western Australia to Sydney. You have packed the car and filled it with petrol and you and your passengers are ready to head off. You have chosen to start this trip in the evening so that there will be less traffic on the road. You have many decisions to make regarding your trip. The first thing you need to think about is what setting you to have your headlights: 1) Sometimes we have our headlights turned off and we can’t see the road or we get off course or hit a roadblock. 2) Sometimes we have our lights on low beam, so we can see a little way ahead, but it is a slow journey and we don’t see all the signs or the best path ...

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. - Morrie Schwartz The beautiful thing about any relationship (friendship, intimate partnership, acquaintance, etc.) is that it provides a context for you to get to know yourself better. You might say it is like a mirror; in that, it shows you yourself. Are the benefits of friendship solely selfish? Ponder this: to the degree that you don’t be yourself, know yourself, and love yourself may be the degree that there will be friction and sizeable opportunities for learning in the relationship (a.k.a. challenges!). Building a network of healthy relationships (through small, frequent actions over time) is the ultimate support. When your life moves through a chaotic patch, or your roots are shaken by a storm, it most likely won’t be your work that supports you through it! At the end of the day, all you have is yourself, family/friends, food, and the earth. ‘Prune’ and ‘grow’ these things regularly. Other...

It all depends on how we look at things and not on how they are in themselves. - Carl G. Jung It is our experience, that a good relationship starts with you. How do you have a relationship (in any form; be it friendship, colleague, or intimate partner) without losing yourself? At the end of the day, our relationships may come and go, but 24/7 you are going to be with yourself. That is why it is important to commit to knowing and, yes, even loving yourself. Are you taking care of yourself? To be able to have a good and meaningful relationship with someone else, you must first have one with yourself. Below are some gold nuggets to respecting and being confident in who you are. You will find that when you are confident in yourself, you are able to deal with what other people throw your way much easier and be much more tolerant of others. Be kind to yourself. Your needs and desires are equally as important as anyone else’s. Being comfortable to be with just you is a good thing, as long as ...

"Don't adapt to the energy in the room; Influence the energy in the room." The environment in which we find ourselves powerfully influences us. All around us are triggers that can influence our emotions, feelings, and perceptions. This would suggest that a form of hypnotic influence is happening all the time. That is to say that  depending on the environment that we find ourselves in, it can be the cause of the state we find ourselves experiencing . We are all highly susceptible to environmental triggers and these triggers can powerfully plant responses in us. I was reading in an article that  a very subtle background aroma of cleaning products in the air influences people to be notably cleaner and tidier than they would otherwise be .  The same article spoke of an experiment where students were asked to hold a cup of coffee in their hands shortly before reading an information pack about a hypothetical person and then assessing this person's character.  The article s...

"The pain of discipline is much more bearable that the pain of regret." Many people forget that they have a body, and get caught ‘upstairs’ in their heads. The value of health as a foundation to do well (and be well) is greatly underestimated and undervalued. This could largely be due to the common perception that building Physical Health is: Complicated, Inconvenient and Expensive. Ironically, media and parts of the health, medical, and fitness industry are responsible for much of the above mindset conditioning of the general public. For example, a large part of the fitness industry is heavily commercialised to its detriment. This vein and superficial focus on the body’s appearance as an illustration of health, and also of quick fixes, often conditions people in two ways: 1. The “extremist” group – we see this expressed at its most challenging through extreme ends of the scale: anorexia and bulimia, or bigorexia. Note these conditions are at the far ends of the scale. People...