Goldilocks and a Pile of Salt — Why You CAN Have Too Much of a Good Thing — ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ was one of my favourite fairy tales growing up. Salt is one of my favourite condiments. It seems weird to put those two sentences together. …

Blending Appreciative Inquiry and strengths gives you a powerful boost to achieving your goals and fulfilling your dreams — Appreciative Inquiry is a method for solving problems and implementing change by focusing on the positive. It emerged from the work of David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva in the late 1980s, and has since been used by businesses, teams and organisations around the world. The Ai (1) approach is perfectly…

It’s the one piece of advice that works in every situation — Back in my early 20s, I was given a piece of advice, and told that it works in every situation that humans face. I initially couldn’t (or rather, wouldn’t!) accept the idea that it could apply in every context. And I tried really hard to imagine a situation in which…

Even if you’re great at something, more isn’t always better — One of the most common questions I hear when talking to people about their strengths is whether it is possible to overuse a strength. After all, it’s something that you’re great at, and that lights you up. What could possibly go wrong? Remember “Occupational Overuse Syndrome”? When I first learned how to type, it…

It’s not what happens, it’s your attitude about it that turns mistakes into successes — Life tends to serve me up metaphors at every turn — and the last day of 2021 gave me a fantastic object lesson in my attitude towards mistakes. The Great Pizza Disaster of 2021 My lovely partner bought me a pizza stone for Christmas. I already had one, but wanted another so we could cook two…

Don’t get stuck thinking you can only make change with a New Year’s Resolution — you have another 85 opportunities available to you! — Why do people make New Year resolutions? After all, 1st January is a day just like any other day in the calendar, right? Or is it? The New Year resolution approach to lasting change (and why it doesn’t usually work)

Turns out, the only way to get started is to start! — Last month, I wrote an article titled ‘I’m Double-Vaxxed And Am Vaccine-Conversation Hesitant’, and it received thoughtful and helpful replies from Alex Rosado, Oscar Starschild, Fricis Rumnieks and C. M. Bingham. So I thought it was time to return with an update on how I’ve gotten on. The August Delta outbreak in New Zealand New Zealand has…

You weren’t born “lucky” or “unlucky” — you can create your own luck, if you know what to do. — Do you believe that it’s possible to become more lucky? Most people tend to think that they, and others, are either lucky, or unlucky — but even if you think you’ve been the unluckiest person ever to have lived, it’s possible to change your stars. How the lucky people got all the breaks One of my favourite pieces…

I now realise that they are onto something quite amazing — This morning, instead of my usual meditation session sitting on a cushion inside, I headed out to sit on my deck (porch) with my cup of coffee. …