In the world of sports, some activities transcend their recreational value and offer unique insights into other aspects of life. Pickleball, a rapidly growing racquet sport, not only provides fun and fitness but also serves as a remarkable metaphor for leadership. This article explores how playing pickleball can be an ideal tool for leadership training and team building within businesses.

I. Agility and Adaptability:

One of the key qualities of effective leaders is their ability to navigate challenges with agility and adaptability. Similarly, in pickleball, players must swiftly adjust their strategies based on their opponents’ moves and court dynamics. By experiencing this dynamic nature of the game, leaders can understand the importance of being flexible and quickly adapting to changing circumstances, thus improving their decision-making skills in real-world scenarios.

II. Collaboration and Communication:

In pickleball, effective teamwork is essential to win matches. Players must communicate, coordinate their movements, and support one another to achieve success. These principles directly parallel the requirements of successful leadership within teams. By participating in pickleball, leaders can enhance their collaborative skills, learn the art of effective communication, and foster a culture of cooperation and trust within their own teams.

III. Strategic Thinking and Risk Management:

Pickleball demands strategic thinking and calculated risk-taking. Players must anticipate their opponents’ moves, identify patterns, and make split-second decisions. Similarly, leaders face the need to assess risks and make strategic choices in their professional lives. By honing their strategic thinking and risk management skills through pickleball, leaders can become better equipped to analyze complex situations, weigh potential outcomes, and make informed decisions for their organizations.

IV. Resilience and Emotional Intelligence:

Leadership often entails encountering setbacks and maintaining composure in challenging circumstances. Pickleball provides an environment where players experience both triumphs and failures. Through these experiences, leaders can develop resilience, emotional intelligence, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. The game teaches them to handle pressure, manage emotions, and stay focused, all of which are crucial qualities for effective leadership.

Pickleball is not just a game; it offers a wealth of lessons that parallel the challenges faced by leaders in the business world. Its unique blend of agility, collaboration, strategy, and resilience makes it an excellent metaphor for leadership development and team building. Businesses can leverage this sport to cultivate and strengthen the skills of their leaders and teams, fostering a culture of growth and success.

To explore the possibilities of using Pickleball for leadership training and team building, please get in touch and we can discuss how to make this happen for your teams. Get in touch via the contact form or visit Wyre Forest Pickleball and I look forward to hearing from you.

In today's highly competitive market, exceptional customer service can make or break a company's reputation. Unfortunately, not all companies prioritize providing satisfactory support to their customers. One such company that has failed to live up to customer expectations is Amazfit. As a loyal customer who has purchased multiple products from them, I have recently experienced their abysmal customer service firsthand. In this blog post, I will share my disappointing encounter with Amazfit and shed light on the various issues I encountered along the way.

Chronology of Events:

In July 2020, I eagerly purchased two pairs of ZenBuds through the AmazFit USA Indiegogo campaign. One pair was intended for myself, while the other was meant for my son, who was experiencing significant difficulty sleeping. Due to personal reasons, my son ultimately decided not to use the ZenBuds. As a result, one pair remained unopened and stored on a shelf, until March 2023 when I stumbled upon it while tidying my office.

Having been pleased with my own pair of ZenBuds, which I had been using without any issues, I decided to sell the unopened pair on eBay. To my surprise, the item sold quickly, and the buyer, Charlotte, later contacted me requesting a refund due to connectivity issues with the left Bud. Despite my eBay terms stating no refunds, I agreed to help her by contacting Amazfit's customer support on her behalf.

Unsatisfactory Support Communication:

My attempt to assist Charlotte quickly unveiled Amazfit's lackluster customer support. After reaching out to their support team, led by Joey, I was disheartened by the delayed response and the inadequacy of the reply. It became evident that resolving this issue would be a time-consuming and frustrating process.

Upon receiving the disappointing response, I anticipated a lengthy resolution process, as it had become apparent that Amazfit's support team was not proficient in prompt and effective communication. Waiting weeks for a response is simply unacceptable, particularly for a company in the technology industry where efficiency is valued.

Defective Product and Warranty:

In order to better understand Charlotte's concerns, I decided to provide her with a refund and requested that she return the ZenBuds to me. This allowed me to personally test the product and ascertain the validity of her claim. Unfortunately, I discovered that the left Bud failed to connect or would frequently disconnect, even when fully charged. Both Charlotte and I attempted various troubleshooting methods, such as depleting the battery and recharging, but to no avail.

It is important to note that although the ZenBuds were outside the warranty period, the fact that the unopened box remained sealed for two and a half years suggests that the product was essentially brand new when Charlotte opened it in March 2023. This raises concerns about the product's quality and durability, especially considering the limited use it had undergone.

Disillusionment as a Customer:

Amazfit's poor customer service and the numerous challenges faced throughout this ordeal have left me utterly disillusioned as a once-loyal customer. The lack of timely and satisfactory support from a company I had trusted has shattered my faith in Amazfit as a reliable brand. As a result, I will never consider purchasing their products again.

Comparison to Competitors:

This experience has reinforced the importance of exceptional customer service. While Amazfit may offer competitive pricing for their products, their disregard for customer satisfaction pales in comparison to companies like Apple, whose products may come at a premium but are accompanied by unparalleled support. With Apple, customers can be confident in receiving a superior level of customer service, compensating for any additional costs.

A Warning to Potential Customers:

By sharing my story through this blog post, I hope to caution prospective buyers considering Amazfit products. It is vital to make an informed decision and recognize the potential pitfalls that lie ahead. Chinese companies like Amazfit may be eager to sell their products in markets like the UK and Europe, but they often fall short when it comes to addressing customer issues and concerns.

Conclusion:

My personal experience with Amazfit's poor customer service has left me disappointed and disillusioned. I have highlighted the chronology of events, the ongoing lack of communication, the defective product, and the ultimate disillusionment as a customer. I believe it is crucial to warn others about these issues, encouraging them to think twice before purchasing Amazfit products. While price may be a consideration, it is essential to prioritize a company's commitment to customer satisfaction.

UPDATE: August 2023

In the end because of all the resistance from Amazfit, I decided to refund my eBay customer and instead decide on a different strategy. I searched high and low across the web and also on LinkedIn and finally found someone in the UK in their Zepp division. I connected with them and messaged them with this blogpost. After a few messages back and forth I received this message:

Hi Michael,  thank you for sending over the receipt. Whilst I understand these were unopened for almost 3 years we as all businesses have to set clear policies and timings in place on sold items. Should you have had any issues within the warranty period from date of purchase we would have had no issues in accommodating your request. A warranty period is a warranty period right? Away from the business I will personally at my own cost send you a new pair of Zenbuds to resolve your out of warranty issue. Please provide me with your full address and I will post out this week. Many thanks 

He very kindly did send me a brand new pair of Zen Buds. As I already have a perfectly working pair of Zen Buds, I naturally sold this new pair, in a totally unopened box on eBay.

The surprisingly sold quite fast and within a few days of them being sold I received the following message and my heart sank in despair.

Hi there, the Zenbuds have been received. However, the right one doesn’t work. It won’t connect, we’ve tried on 2 different phones, but same story. Any advice? Many thanks

I sold the Zen Buds on eBay on the basis of no return or refund. I sent a message to my contact and regrettably received the following message back.

Hi Michael, I am on my family holiday for the next 3 weeks, I will pick this up upon my return. Many thanks

My heart sank even further, I was not able to provide any kind of answer to my buyer and had to stall him for 3 weeks! Aargh!

I waited 3 weeks and messaged my contact at Zepp again and regrettably this is the response I received.

Hi Michael, that is correct. My actions to provide you with a new pair of Zenbuds was purely from my own goodwill and away from the companies policy. I don’t have another pair to send and your warranty for the first pair ran out a very long time ago as we’ve established. Kind regards

Of course I wasn’t that happy with that response, so asked who else I could contact.

Thanks, I totally understand your point of view and I have no idea how you came about those buds, but surely something is seriously wrong considering both these pairs went faulty and the company should know about this, whether inside warranty or not, both these pairs were brand new out of a sealed box and faulty at the same time. I am at a loss to understand why Amazfit can just turn a blind eye to this issue. Can you advise me who else I should contact about this, I don't expect you to have to resolve this. Thanks, Michael

And then the final blow was delivered.

Hi Michael, I’m sorry but as you’re out of the warranty period there is nothing more Amazfit can assist you with. I have tried assisting you away from the companies policy with a goodwill gesture, had you come to us within the warranty period then we as a brand would have happily assisted your issue. Kind regards

I unfortunately had to provide a full refund to my eBay customer, I couldn’t not, it just would play on my mind forever. But I still want to highlight this to a higher level if I can. I just found the COO at Zepp Health in the USA, so I will send him a copy of this post whether he would like to read it or not is up to him. Wish me luck!

After 6½ years of podcasting, I have made the tricky decision to put my podcasting days on pause. I'm using the pause button phrase very carefully because you just never know what might come your way.

What has come my way right now is Pickleball. 

I've also become a Level I Pickleball Coach and Volunteer County Representative for Pickleball England for the County of Worcestershire UK, where I live. In my current more mature years I am recognising that sitting in front of a screen for hours on end producing podcasts week in and week out is neither healthy or conducive to my increased health and happiness. I also had guests booked for months in advance. I should consider it a compliment that so many people wish to be a guest on my podcast, which I do actually and at the same time it was such a huge pressure for me to produce a show week in week out.

I will honour the scheduled guests for the remainder of February 2023 and my last episode will go live in the first week of March 2023. It's very fitting that as Spring starts marking the advent of new growth and new beginnings, I also will be ending one project and starting a new one. The timing couldn't be more perfect.

Hereby ends my identity of Podcaster, Interviewer, Podcast Host, Podcast Producer etc. It's amazing how we get so attached to our identities that we have created for ourselves, it means it takes hours to not only detach yourself from your own subconscious identity, it takes hours to undo all the digital crumb trails you've created to support your identity. I've been busy creating a new one too, that of Pickleball Coach and County Representative for pickleballEngland.

Wish me luck folks!

Michael OUT - Mic Drop! 

www.wyreforestpickleball.com

~ Michael - bio.link/stayingaliveuk

We are delighted to be facilitating a Happiness Habits course, which is running in our local area of Wyre Forest, Worcestershire, United Kingdom.

This 6-week online course has been developed by Action for Happiness, drawing on the wisdom of experts across many fields, to cover the habits of living a happy life and spreading happiness to others. The Wyre Forest Happiness Habits course is due to commence on Thursday, 2 February 2023 at 6.30pm with the topic of Gratitude. Week 2 explores Self-Care, Week 3 is Relationships, Week 4 is Resilience, Week 5 Kindness and Week 6 looks at Meaning.

Each weekly interactive session will last for about 2 hours and is delivered live online via Zoom (there are no replays).

SIGN UP: https://actionforhappiness.org/course/happiness-habits-wyre-forest

The course is run by local volunteers (Clair and Michael) and based on donations to Action for Happiness - so please feel free to give whatever you can afford :) 

ABOUT THE COURSE

Happiness Habits is a secular, science-based course for people who want to learn how to live happily and spread happiness to those around them. It was created to help people tune in to what really matters in life, connect with people around them and find small ways to start taking action.

On the course you will: 

• Meet with like-minded people to explore what really matters in life and find new ways of looking at things.

• Enjoy expert videos, mindfulness practices and group exercises to help you apply the lessons to your life.

• Take time each week to think of small actions you can take to create happiness for yourself and those around you.

Each week features some of the world’s most trusted experts:

Week 1: Gratitude 

• What can we learn about happiness? Vanessa King - Head of Psychology, Action for Happiness

• How can we become happier? Shawn Achor - Bestselling Positive Psychology Author

Week 2: Self-Care 

• How can we be kinder to ourselves? Kristen Neff - Professor of Psychology, University of Texas

• How can we get the basics right? Rupy Aujla - General Practice Doctor and Healthy Eating Expert & Darryl Edwards - Movement Coach and Author

Week 3: Relationships 

• Why are relationships important for our happiness? Robert Waldinger - Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

• How can we look after our Relationships? Roxy Manning - Psychotherapist and Nonviolent Communication Expert

Week 4: Resilience 

• How can we be more resilient? Tal Ben-Shahar - Positive Psychologist, Harvard University

• How can we be happy in dark times? Maria Sirois - Positive Psychologist and Author

Week 5: Kindness 

• How can we become kinder? Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist Monk snf Author

• Why does kindness matter? Chude Jideonwo - Journalist and Entrepreneur & Nipun Mehta - Founder of ServiceSpace

Week 6: Meaning 

• What makes life meaningful? Gretchen Rubin, Bestselling Author

• What should be the purpose of our lives? Jon Kabat-Zinn - Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts & Richard Layard - Economist, London School of Economics

People find it really valuable and often refer to what they learn on the course as life-changing.

SIGN UP: https://actionforhappiness.org/course/happiness-habits-wyre-forest

WHO THE COURSE IS FOR

This course is for anyone interested in exploring how to create happiness for themselves or others. Maybe you’re someone who could do with some new approaches to try out in your own life. Or maybe you’re passionate about creating happier communities and a happier world.

Either way, by coming together with others locally on this course you can find the inspiration and support you need find the actions that work for you.

Everyone on the course agrees to abide by the Five Golden Rules:

• We really listen to each other

• We are open about our feelings

• We focus on what is working well

• We practice safe boundaries

• We maintain a spirit of kindness

Please note: this course is not group therapy, if you are experiencing severe challenges at the moment we recommend seeking alternative professional support.

HOW IT WORKS 

The course is run by approved volunteers who are stepping forward to help spread happiness in the local area.

Everyone who joins the course makes a donation of their choice to be there - most people chose to give around £60.

You can choose to either give the recommended donation of £60 or give more or less depending on your circumstances. 

If you can't make a donation online or need a place on the course without making a donation then please email us here for a free place: courses@actionforhappiness.org 

We welcome everyone on the course equally whatever they are able to give :)  

SIGN UP: https://actionforhappiness.org/course/happiness-habits-wyre-forest

What are the highlights of the course?

“Sharing and learning from each other allowed us space to grow and taking away action plans each week focused our minds on pro active action.” ~ Jacqueline, London 

“More or less everything is a highlight as it is mightily well researched and factual.” ~ Annick, Lindfield 

“Being able to believe that I could be brave enough to change my circumstances/life, in order to be happier/make others happier around me.” ~ Michelle, Farnborough  

GET IN TOUCH

For general questions about Action for Happiness and the course please contact: courses@actionforhappiness.org 

We hope you enjoy the course. Thanks for helping to create a happier world.

The Action for Happiness team

Please note: although the content and materials for this course have been developed and tested by Action for Happiness, this specific course is being run independently by volunteers who support the aims of Action for Happiness, rather than being put on directly by the organisation itself. 

Action for Happiness was co-founded by Prof Richard Layard, Sir Anthony Seldon and Geoff Mulgan. Key members of the team include Vanessa King and Dr Mark Williamson. It is backed by the Dalai Lama - the patron of Action for Happiness. Action for Happiness is a UK Registered Charity (1175160).

SIGN UP: https://actionforhappiness.org/course/happiness-habits-wyre-forest

We look forward to welcoming you on this 6-week course.

~ Clair and Michael

. . . unless being able to record them is made available very soon.

I have been hosting a weekly and now bi-weekly show since July 2022, called Social Audio Community Chat, based on my LinkedIn group with the same name.

I’ve loved hosting these rooms and have had wonderful people join in with me and chat about their journey with Social Audio whether on LinkedIn or somewhere else, like Clubhouse, Twitter, Wisdom or other platforms.

It has been an invaluable experience of learning and growth, the mastering of creating LinkedIn Audio Events, promoting them and inviting attendees all takes time and effort.

But what is my outcome for all the effort? 

Well, one of my outcomes was to master the process and have a format for creating and hosting LinkedIn Audio, which I have pretty much achieved. The second outcome obviously was to heighten my own profile, make new interesting connections and most importantly share some knowledge and experience.

One of the speakers that joined us, Jon Tromans, introduced me to the BBC mission statement, ‘Inform, Educate and Entertain’, which I am now using as our strapline for our bi-weekly Audio event. Thank you Jon and great chatting with you via LinkedIn Video Meeting recently.

Where could I go with this. Well I have all sorts of ideas; inviting guest speakers, interviewing small business owners, introducing guests that I have interviewed on my podcast, sharing my knowledge and experience in storytelling and other ideas I haven’t thought of as yet.

I am however, 100% clear that I won’t venture into any of those areas unless LinkedIn will give us a record feature. 

There are too many people who aren’t able to attend audio events when they are actually live, but lots of people who ask if they can listen to the recording afterwards and of course they can not right now.

I would like to continue with LinkedIn Audio as an interesting project but have to make a decision probably by the end of the year that unless we get a recording feature I will have to call it a day. I would then probably pivot to doing LinkedIn live instead as I recently discovered, thanks to Yonason Goldson that you can stream to LinkedIn live via a paid Zoom account, which as it happens I do already have because of my podcast. But, it’s definitely not the same as Audio only events

Having researched the activity of Live events versus Audio events, firstly there are a lot more and secondly the attendee numbers are way higher. 

I’m watching the space and will make a final decision at the turn of the year. 

Happy streaming everyone!

~ Michael - bio.link/stayingaliveuk

That’s the reaction by most when you mention the word Pickleball. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the USA with more than 4.5 million active players. That’s an awful lot of Pickleball being played each week.

Boredom was what got this sport started in 1965.

Three dads living on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, came home one summer evening to find their children complaining that there was nothing for them to do. So, they found a net, a Wiffle ball, some ping-pong paddles, and created a game on an old badminton court that the entire family could play together.

It was a hit.

Over the next year, the three friends worked together to develop a set of rules, formalise the court layout, and introduce a larger plywood paddle that was good for striking the ball. And they decided to call it pickleball. (The name’s origins remain a matter of debate. Some believe it was named after a dog. Others say it’s a reference to a “pickle boat,” a thrown together boat made from the leftover rowers in crew races.)

Pickleball is a fun sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Played both indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net. Two or four players use solid paddles made of composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, over a net.

You do need a certain level of fitness to play but because the ball is so lightweight it is not as strenuous as say tennis.

When I first heard about Pickleball via an American guest on my podcast, Clinton Young I researched it carefully and discovered something that inspired my interest. However there is nowhere in the whole of Worcestershire (the county where I live), where Pickleball is being played, so you can imagine my disappointment. 

Coincidentally there was an article in the Spring edition of the u3a Third Age Matters magazine, but I hadn’t seen it yet. In fact it was only after I was in touch with 'Pickleball England', the official body in England, that I learnt about the article from the co-founder Karen Mitchell who emailed me a copy.

Realising that there was nowhere in Worcestershire to play, it gave me an idea. I only joined my local u3a in January 2022 and soon after joined the Wednesday badminton group. I have played different racquet sports in my youth but never for any length of time, so I saw this as an opportunity to take up a brand new one and asked the badminton group if they were up for trying it out. To my delight they were!

Pickleball England arranged Gillian, Staffordshire’s county representative to come over to the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire and introduce us to the game. There was quite a turn out and we nearly didn’t have enough paddles (name for a Pickleball racquet). It was a great success and people said they were interested in playing it regularly. 

Then I went to work, I spoke with the management at the Wyre Forest leisure centre and after some persuasion they were happy to purchase paddles and balls, which we could use to play without everyone having to purchase one to begin with. In the beginning we lowered the nets on the badminton courts, but this was not ideal and again I asked the leisure centre whether they could purchase Pickleball nets and to my delight they said yes. 

Working with the leisure centre we organised days and times for when we could play and then we went about advertising this to the Wyre Forest u3a membership. 

Nearly 60 people (and growing) have shown an interest to play Pickleball and together with an online booking system we are usually fully booked on Mondays at 2.00pm and Wednesdays at 9.30am. 

There is a dedicated web page on the Wyre Forest u3a website with a link to the online booking form and also a couple of videos, which explains the rules of the games and the scoring system, which is quite unique and definitely can be a challenge to get your head around. I have included those videos at the end of this post as well as a fun video by Bill Gates, who says he's been pickling for over 50 years!

So if you want to try out a new racquet sport in Worcestershire, come and check it out but remember to book, because court time sells out very quickly. 

By Michael de Groot (u3a member since Jan '22)

Email: pickleball@wyreforestu3a.org.uk

Wyre Forest u3a webpage: https://styin.me/u3a-pickleball

If in doubt, BEGIN.

A mantra I learnt from Gapingvoid Culture Design Group, when I discovered their image below. It has stuck with me and I will probably never get it out of my head. I fell in love with their doodles and I now have a Pinterest Board with 1,600 images. Do check them out, they are all awesome! I even created a 'small' company Culture Wall from my favourite 20 images.

Next Social Audio Community Chat: https://styin.me/sacc-sept09

But this is not what I am sharing with you today. I would like to share that I have been in doubt for a while, ever since I got a seat inside the now infamous social audio start-up and social media disruptor Clubhouse. Initially I was mega turned-on by the idea, after all I am a podcaster for nearly 7 years, so I do love anything audio. I started listening on Clubhouse and just wanted to get started with hosting my own rooms, but what do you talk about? I listened a bit more and then a bit more and then I heard EGO. I heard people sharing wisdom, their own or maybe wisdom they had borrowed and promoting themselves with bios on their profiles that read like the whose who of Egoland, yes Legoland with out the 'L'.

I was turned off completely, yuk, this didn't resonate with me at all and the same question kept appearing in my mind, 'what do you even talk about?'

But I promised myself to keep an eye on things or rather an EAR. Then Twitter rolled out Twitter Spaces and I initially believed this could be it for me. At least I have a small following there, just over 4k, which means if I could invite them, happy days, I could establish a small audience, but...what would I then talk about? And, I need a co-host do I, it's what all the greats appear to be doing? And then you can't really invite anyone, so that caused more doubt.

I didn't despair though, I came across a wonderful show/room/space, All Things Audio, just what I needed. I have been listening to hosts Suze Cooper and Madalyn Sklar for a few months now and I even create the occasional Mind Map from each weekly episode👇.

But what I came to realise on Twitter Spaces, discovery or searching for Spaces is pretty awful and almost impossible at times, something that LinkedIn appear to have copied for now, it's equally as poor here, but we've been told it will get better.

I knew LinkedIn Audio was on the horizon, they were Beta testing their offering and I discovered during listening to All Things Audio that Robert Hanna was doing a weekly LinkedIn Audio Townhall on a Sunday, except there would be nobody from LinkedIn attending, it wasn't like Clubhouse where the founders attended every single one of their Townhalls, a term coined by them actually for the purpose of engaging their users and providing updates on product development plans. These are still happening on Clubhouse.

Robert Hanna took it upon himself to update us creators on LinkedIn's development plans, the rollout expectation and what we could expect of the feature and of course by attending his Townhalls we could all get an insight to how it all actually worked in practice, I was impressed and the best thing of all, you can access it on desktop too, that's awesome. Robert has a direct communication link with LinkedIn, as well as other beta-testers and therefore he does speak with some authority and knowledge, we're all super appreciative of his work to help the community. 🤟

Cut a long story short I eventually got the ability to host my own LinkedIn Audio Events. There was no notification, I literally just tried to create an event and boom there it was on the drop down. Allegedly, you need to have creator mode turned on, on your profile, but my wife hasn't and she now has access to it took although she won't be hosting any rooms any time soon, she has suggested that she may attend one of mine at some point!

Before I got access to LinkedIn Audio Events I decided to set up a LinkedIn group in anticipation of its arrival titled 'Social Audio Community', I felt that it would be beneficial for many of us on LinkedIn to learn together about the topic of Social Audio, what are the benefits and what are the downsides for example. The group is still small, but that's how I like it! Do ask to join it. This was a 'if in doubt begin' moment for me, I decided, YES, LinkedIn is where I will start to host a regular event and link it to the group as well.

After all this is where my network is the largest of all platforms and where I know many people personally (face to face) too.

Plus, LinkedIn Audio has been inserted as part of their 'events' creation process, this means you can actually invite people, no pinging (Clubhouse term) or tagging (Twitter term), to try and get people's attention. You actually invite your first level connections directly and they will either accept or not. By the way even if they do accept, they may not necessarily turn up and that's absolutely fine.

And now for the Elephant in the room, what will I actually talk about? Well...

I will actually say very little, I would like the room to chat more. My intention is to hold the space for others to learn and grow on the topic of Social Audio. Of course I need to start with something to open the dialogue, but after that if guests are willing to come on stage, happy days. In the main the discussion will be about Social Audio tactics, not about the technical ins/outs there are plenty of rooms/events/spaces/houses/clubs discussing that, I would like to focus on, why should we even do it, will it help our businesses, how do we maximise our audience attendance and participation, etc.

Name: Social Audio Community Chat (the name links it back to the group) Time: 2.00 - 2.45pm (UK) - just 45 minutes, leaves me a few minutes if we over run. Frequency: Every Friday afternoon, excluding any planned vacation of course.

If you'd like to attend, click the link below and if you are already attending, do test it out and invite a few of your connections too, you never know who may benefit. By the way the actual link could be much better, so I shortened it, https://styin.me/sacc-sept09

Hope to hear you there and do let me know in the comments, (either in the event or here) if you have any questions for the event or if you have any questions at all on anything to do with Social Audio, will do my best to give my perception of it all.

Hear you soon, M ツ ~ bio.link/stayingaliveuk

I’ve been a storyteller all my life and so have you. Welcome to our world of storytelling. 

I’ve not always known this and perhaps you haven’t either or maybe you will realise once you’ve read this. 

It was around 2009 I started to become aware that I was an outstanding storyteller. This is when I discovered my own creative ability to produce whiteboard animations. Showreel enclosed to illustrate what they are. 

When clients asked me to create one for them and they gave me their scripts, I held my head in my hands in despair. The scripts were boring and were basically adverts. They said, here’s my product or service, please buy me. 

I know the purpose of any advert is for people to buy a product or service of course I do. But unless you have thousands or millions in your budget to use the hammer on a rock method, you can repeat your advert daily until it has been hammered into your prospect’s brain. The brain being the rock which eventually will develop a huge dent to make the information (ad) stay there forever or at least for a very long time. But this is an expensive and a very time consuming method. I'm not saying it won't work and most small businesses (my ideal clients) don't have deep pockets to be able to afford constant advertising.

You’d be better off sharing a story. Let me explain why. You and I learnt about stories as soon as we were born. We couldn’t speak or maybe even understand what these people around us were saying but we learnt to make sense of their noises and expressions. It’s how we learnt body language. We then also learnt that when our tiny body was hungry we could make a very very loud noise by crying which almost immediately made the food (mother’s milk) come to us. Just like a delicious takeaway. 

This continued for a while until my and your parents decided to read stories to us every single day. Believe it or not you and I never got bored of these stories we loved them and we also wanted to hear the same story every single day and we never got bored! How does that work?

On top of our learning of body language when we were babies, we now learnt to remember stories and get lost in them. We created other worlds in our minds, worlds of good and evil but also worlds where the hero(in) overcame adversity. 

See, you and I hardwired our brains for storytelling. We now love stories, that’s why we love the movies, we are curious about other people’s stories, we converse with friends and family by sharing our stories with each other. We are storytelling masters and story sponges.

We are also the hero(in) in our own life story overcoming adversity regularly throughout our lives, whilst we speed around in circles on this beautiful planet, literally and metaphorically.

So how can we use storytelling for our own transformation?  If we experience adversity in our lives, we get addicted to focusing on that story, we may share it regularly with family, friends and colleagues during the stage of adversity. Those around us will help us by asking about our story of adversity every single day, helping us to reinforce our focus on all that is bad in our lives. Remember we all love hearing stories even the bad ones, our brain is wired for stories from the very start of our lives. 

Adversity is tough, but, it will pass it always does. It can pass faster if you tell yourself a different story. Write down how your story of adversity will be transformed in the coming days, weeks, months or maybe even years. Read that story to yourself every single day and learn to love it like you did when you were a child. Get excited about the undoing of your adversity, maybe even record your new story in your own voice on your phone in a voice memo and listen to it daily. 

In the same way we wired our brains to hear and love stories all our lives, we too can become master storytellers of our own lives by rewriting the script, directing and producing a new blockbuster movie with ourselves as the leading character and everything we wish to be present in our new reality. 

We all live the same story, sure people, places, things, times and events are all different but the underlying story is exactly the same, we are the same, we are after all, all human!

Happy storytelling. 

~ Michael de Groot - bio.link/stayingaliveuk

A few weeks ago (in June) I received messages from my family in England that our oldest brother, Steven who lives in The Netherlands, had become homeless. We didn't know whether it was true or not, my own brother homeless?! I volunteered with Crisis in the UK for several years and my instinct from having done some support work and learning about the homeless, is that he needed to get professional help. He was asking us for money, the messages coming through were that he was sleeping in his car with his dog. 

Seriously can this really be true in a rich Western nation like The Netherlands? Surely they look after their citizens, they wouldn't allow someone to be sleeping rough in their car at his age? I know the UK is awful at looking after the homeless, but The Netherlands? Surely they must be much better, it turns out not. They have a huge homelessness issue there too.

Anyway, I was persistent in my suggestion that he should seek a homeless shelter and get professional help. Homelessness is a very complicated and involved scenario. It was a shock to us of course and although we were aware that his marriage had broken up, he definitely had not kept us posted on the events that then followed. We still really don't know how it has all come about.

He turned 70 on the 24th June 2022 which means he must receive a state pension, wouldn't that be enough to pay some rent? Clearly not.

Steven hasn't always been honest with the truth, so there's always been a doubt in the back of my mind whether this was one of his stories or he was actually telling us the truth.

It wasn't until he shared an article from a Dutch online newspaper that I realised it was in fact very true. My heart sank, I had doubted him and it was true after all. 

What can I do?

My Dutch is rubbish. I have lived in the UK for over 45 years, so English is really my first language. This is an issue for me were I to liaise with the relevant authorities and support organisations in The Netherlands, I know they all speak English, but I wouldn't even know who to speak to.

I decided to share the article with some old Dutch friends, who I'm sometimes still in contact with. Of course they were all shocked with the news and were offering to assist. I wasn't sharing it to get pity for Steven, I will always stay in the belief that he needed professional help with his ordeal and what assistance do you actually ask for. It is Steven that needs the assistance.

In sharing the article one of those friends also spotted the same article shared here on LinkedIn too. Let me share a link to it below. It's all in Dutch, but thankfully there's a translate option inside LinkedIn. I have also shared the original article in full translated into English with the help of Google Translate.

I had noticed some names in the news article and decided to copy them in on the post and to my surprise one of those responded very positively. 

She said:

"Dear Michael, I will continue to work for your brother and all the homeless. Steven will soon be given a place. This month."

I'm of course super happy about this and it confirmed my initial gut-instinct that he needed to find professional support, which I really do hope he will be receiving, not just in terms of a physical place to live, but also any emotional and mental support that he will need. Furthermore he confirmed that he is appearing to be getting forgetful, so he needs some tests to check for any signs of Dementia, making it an even more complicated case.

- - -

Here follows the full news article, that started Steven's journey hopefully back to some normality very soon.

Author: Johan Hardeman 15-07-22

What it's like to suddenly become homeless as a 70-year-old: 'It is sometimes scary and threatening'.

Image: Homeless Steven de Groot (70) makes a cry from the heart: give the elderly homeless a quiet shelter. © Cees Wouda

Becoming homeless in old age. This nightmare happened to Steven de Groot (70) from Amersfoort, who lost his house due to an accumulation of problems and ended up on the street. He makes a heartfelt cry for better shelter for himself and other elderly homeless people. “Sleeping two hours a night, fearful of conflict and a lot of stress. I'm not taking this.”

Growing old carefree? That is not for everyone. The 70-year-old Steven de Groot lost his rental apartment in Amersfoort at the beginning of this year after an accumulation of financial problems. After rent arrears continued to mount, he was eventually evicted from his home. He is not the only elderly homeless person in the day and night shelter on the Smallepad in Amersfoort, he says. “There are two men in their 60s. I am 70 myself and we have another man over 75, with whom I spend a lot of time.”

“In the end I collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to the hospital.” ~ Steven de Groot

The first three weeks he lived in his car. Along with his puppy. “Relief workers told me to go to the shelter. But that didn't work with my dog and I thought the threshold was high. So I started roaming everywhere. I hardly slept and ate far too little. In the end I collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to the hospital. After that I got rid of the dog anyway and I went to the homeless shelter. I came in with my suitcase and my clothes and I thought: where have I ended up?”

Fearful and threatening

His time in the homeless shelter is very difficult for Steven. He's been there for two months now. At the location on the Smallepad, different target groups stay together. People with a drinking or drug problem or psychological complaints, but also economically homeless.

Image: The homeless shelter on the Smallepad in Amersfoort © Cees Wouda

These are people like Steven, who have led 'a normal life' for years, but have ended up on the street due to an accumulation of reasons such as financial problems, overstrained housing market, divorce and bad luck.

It's survival, the 70-year-old outlines. “It is sometimes scary and threatening. There are already conflicts over small things, because people have a lot of stress and you are therefore together with people with psychological problems or addiction. A kind of drain. There are also all kinds of rules, which make it difficult to find your way around. For example, you can't decide to take an afternoon nap at any time. While at my age you sometimes need that.”

Snoring

The number of homeless people in Amersfoort has increased in recent years, as a result of which there are regularly too few places to sleep. In the corona time, the number of people per room has been reduced, so that homeless people have more space. However, this is not enough, says Steven. “I once slept on a mattress in an office with my broken hip. That doesn't actually work. I only sleep two or three hours a night now. I'm exhausted. There is always someone snoring or coughing.”

“In the hotel I completely relaxed mentally. Everything was clean and quiet” ~ Steven de Groot

Homeless organisation Kwintes recently arranged that Steven could sleep in a hotel for a short time to recover. That was great, he says. "I completely relaxed there mentally. Everything was clean and quiet. I could take a nice shower and set the heat knob as hard or soft as I wanted. “ But when Steven had to go back to the shelter, things went wrong again. "I didn't want to and I got pressure on my chest again. I am a heart patient. I had to go to the hospital. The way things are going now is disastrous for my health. It can no longer be like this.”

Cry from the heart

The 70-year-old homeless person has a cry from the heart for politics and Kwintes to take care of the elderly homeless in a hotel in the short term. In fact, he believes that different target groups such as addicts, people with psychological problems and economically homeless should be cared for separately. “People like me only want one thing: to move out to their own home as quickly as possible, if necessary with guidance. It makes no sense to put us in the same place as people with very different problems.” PvdA councilor Rachida Issaoui has spoken with Steven several times and also visited Kwintes. She wants to argue in the Amersfoort city council for the separate care of elderly and young people without psychological complaints or addictions. “The current situation really needs to change.” A more human form of shelter and his own little house as soon as possible: that's what Steven dreams of. “Just be my own boss again and pick up my life. Isn't that too much to ask when you're 70?”

Homelessness very hard for older people: 'It takes a heavy toll on your health.’

Homeless 65+? There are no reliable figures about this target group, but they are certainly there, says Esme Wiegman of trade association Valente. She herself knows the example of a man who lived with his very elderly mother until she died. Then he ended up on the street.

The target group is diverse, she outlines. Sometimes the elderly end up on the street for economic reasons, sometimes they have been struggling with addiction or psychological complaints for years. “These people don't really belong in a homeless shelter, but have to live in a (supervised) home as soon as possible. This also applies to other target groups. Being homeless takes a toll on your health.” The cabinet recently came up with a new approach, which means that homeless people must move on to a home more quickly.

In conversation with Steven

Care manager Harro Koeleman van Kwintes will talk to Steven (70) on Monday. A hotel or a private room (as the homeless in the Amergaard do get) for the elderly homeless? “I will definitely look into that. Actually, I think that every homeless person should have their own room, when you are 70 all the way. He is pleased that money has been made available in the new coalition agreement for a new homeless shelter with single rooms.

Koeleman recognises the signs that the shelter is very full. “It has never been this busy and we have had more incidents lately. Unfortunately, hotels are overcrowded, making moving difficult. The great thing is: our employees pull mattresses from everywhere so that homeless people don't have to sleep outside. However, it must be checked that someone like Steven can just lie on the bed.”

---

Please share this article when you are able to, the issue of homelessness is huge the world over, the more all of us can be made aware that this is an ongoing problem that doesn't only happen at Christmas, it is an all-year round and growing issue. I can only fear what might be happen as a result of the current cost of living crisis that all European and UK nations are experiencing.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for sharing it.

I am fundraising £5000 towards Steven's recovery journey. You can donate the cost of a coffee through this site, which is personally linked to me. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stayingaliveuk All money raised will exclusively be used for Steven's recovery journey and I promise to keep you posted on his progress.

Michael ~ bio.link/stayingaliveuk

Update 02 August, 2022

City Councillor, Rachida Issaoui, in Amersfoort shared an update on Facebook.

"Yesterday I spoke to homeless Steven de Groot at the Eemplein . I wanted to hear how he is doing before my holiday. Since the last time I spoke with him (physically), a lot has happened, media attention has brought everything into a rush.

During my conversation with the mayor, I also really advocated that the elderly homeless get a place on the Plotterweg. Fortunately that will also really happen. Steven has also had a lot of conversations with Kwintes, the mayor himself and he is now in the client council. This council has been stopped for a year.

We hear Steven well, because at our earlier conversations he said: "I don't care which council I'm in, but the situation at the Smallepad has to be different".

Monday August 8 Steven is moving to the Plotterweg, I'm happy about this, but we're not there yet. I'll follow how things are going here and will also visit Steven . after the holidays To his room with shared kitchen and shower.

After my holiday I'm rolling my sleeves again, because the situation on the Smallepad can be much better, for the homeless and the professionals. 

Steven de Groot also thinks so and says: "We have to be good for all those people there". 

To be continued...

Let me start by making it crystal clear that you will only be able to host a LinkedIn Audio Event if you have 'creator mode' enabled. However anyone is able to join a LinkedIn Audio Event and joining events together with creator mode enabled is a really great way to ensure that you get the ability to host LinkedIn Audio earlier than most.

Creator Mode Help: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a524035

Once 'creator mode' is on, LinkedIn will eventually and automatically provide you with the ability to host a LinkedIn Audio event. There's no timeframe on how long this will take, I had creator mode on for months and only after attending several LinkedIn Audio events and checking daily did I notice that 'Audio Events' was enabled. I received no notification and there was no indication that I had gotten the feature. Now I have LinkedIn Live, Audio Event and Newsletters as part of my Creator Tools.

Now that I have it, I can start hosting audio events. In my humble opinion, I believe the 3 major platforms for Social Audio will eventually be Clubhouse (obviously number 1), Twitter Spaces and LinkedIn Audio. There are probably about a dozen platforms out there, but only these three I believe will have serious traction.

Clubhouse started this revolution and I do like Clubhouse, but the hype has slowed down, well you would expect that, but their level of innovation is off the charts, they are setting the standard and that's why I will still like to be involved somehow. I don't believe I will be hosting many rooms though, but speaking in some rooms is definitely on the Agenda.

Why is LinkedIn Audio a bit different from the others?

• One huge difference with LinkedIn Audio it's available on mobile as well as desk/laptop. This is potentially very useful, for example I am able to connect my podcasting microphone to LinkedIn Audio, as it is already connected to my desktop computer. I am able to navigate LinkedIn to look at guest profiles without losing audio connection.

• Simplicity is noticeable. Maybe that could be a negative if you're used to the feature rich Clubhouse, but personally I like it. Less is always more and it means the learning curve is definitely shorter.

• Having attended other LinkedIn Audio events, the hosts have very cleverly used emojis as a way to stay engaged with the listening audience. On Clubhouse they didn't have emojis early on, so there they tend to use microphone flashing as a way to have listeners engage with the host.

• Because the audio feature resides inside 'events' it means there are some clear advantages to this. You are able to invite people in your own network to join the event and you are also then able to message them individually from the event page. When people who are not in your 1st level network join the event, you are also able to message them directly.

• On desk/laptop the host and attendees can also add comments, quite useful if you want them to add some questions. Hopefully they will add the feature to mobile, as of course most people join using their mobile phones.

• It is also possible to create a LinkedIn messaging group, but only with 1st level connections right now, hopefully it will be expanded to all attendees.

What is currently missing from LinkedIn Audio?

• Being able to record your room and conversations is a must really, both Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces do this and of course we want it inside LinkedIn too.

• However if you are using it via your desk/laptop it means you can use whatever recording software you may already have on your computer. I will definitely be trying that out.

• Discovery of audio events is terrible, at the moment the only way to find audio events is to do a search for 'audio events' or go to your network tab and scroll down until you see the 'audio events for you' section, where you can click 'see all' and have a full list of upcoming events. However I couldn't locate my own event on my list, but when I asked my wife to look she could see it.

• My biggest recommendation is having a new section on our profiles, showing the events that we are hosting or have hosted/attended. That way it showcases all your events, whether Live Video or Audio. Plus it should be available to navigate to from the top menu bar inside LinkedIn.

Images below of the two discovery options:

1. Search for "audio events" in the search bar and then select "events" from the different filter options.

2. Go to 'your network' tab, scroll down until you see 'audio events for you'.

Other potential advantages by being on LinkedIn with Audio:

• On Clubhouse users can create Clubs and they also are beta testing a brand new feature called Houses.

• On LinkedIn, we can create groups, which means you can suggest attendees to join your group and continue the conversation and keep them posted about upcoming audio events too.

• I have a LinkedIn group that I formed a few weeks ago called 'Social Audio Community' with the objective to grow the conversations on Social Audio. My very first LinkedIn Audio event is called 'Social Audio Community Chat', so I am making the two linked in some way, so there's continuity for listeners. From a branding perspective I am carrying through the red 'quote marks'.

I hope you'll be able to join a future Social Audio Community Chat and start getting ready for LinkedIn Social Audio.

https://www.linkedin.com/events/socialaudiocommunitychat-anyone6953695539892793344

Success! ツ

~ Michael - bio.link/stayingaliveuk

When I saw a tweet about this day on Thursday 30 June, 2022, my reaction initially was, oh no not another social media marketing ploy. 

I then reflected a little and I remember how excited I was when Facebook came about and how even more excited I was when Twitter emerged. I hadn't even considered LinkedIn properly and over time I did like LinkedIn the best, because of it B2B flavour. I threw myself into all social media feet first, my head followed later. 

I got clued up on all of it, sought out training in the USA, I remember how backward the UK was. At the time I was working freelance for a training company who provided online management best practice training, all text based. I told the MD that social media was important and it was going to get big. He dismissed it and said and I quote, ‘I am not interested in knowing what people have had for their lunch’. 

Many years later he hired me to run a LinkedIn training session for him and his staff. 

I even looked for a University course on Social Media and of course there wasn’t one. I guess I wanted to prove to businesses that I was legitimate and I had a proper qualification. The only qualification you need these days is a smartphone. 

So all my training was done online watching videos and attending free webinars laid on by visionaries in the US. 

I’m hugely grateful to them, without that knowledge I wouldn’t have been able to promote myself as a Social Media ‘expert’. 

But I had a massive wake up call. I went to networking meetings in Birmingham UK and every time I introduced myself as a Social Media expert the eyebrows went up and the comment I got back was, ‘oh no not another one!’

Didn’t matter how much convincing I tried to do, I was too early. Because of the negative responses I decided to focus on just one platform, LinkedIn. I have always been passionate about small businesses, after all I am one, or so I like to tell myself. It’s more like a hobby these days. 

I felt that I could help small businesses to stand out on LinkedIn. This led to ‘Social Selling’ a Udemy video training courseI created, lots of group and online training that I delivered until one day I came to the realisation and asked a big fat why? Why am I training people how to use products/platforms/advertising engines/data harvesters and I don't even own them. If they went belly up overnight, so would my business.

On top of that I noticed that most, let's say around 90%, of the business people I trained, never did anything about using the information they had learnt. That was massively demotivating, so based on those two realisations, I stopped all my social media (mainly LinkedIn) training.

Then we had the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal and that's when I got serious about doubting all social media. I started dialling down my Facebook (Meta) activity and although I haven't removed myself completely, I only use Meta's products very sparingly and once off WhatsApp, I've never got back on there again.

So how do I feel about Social Media Day 2022?

Well, a bit indifferent actually, I use it to for sure, but am I as excited about it as I first was? Definitely not. Have I jumped on and new social media apps, like TikTok, SnapChat etc. I definitely tried them, but soon jumped off them as they are of course highly addictive.

There is a massive exception and that's Social Audio. This latest development of Social Media has huge potential. I am a podcaster and a podcast listener and as such I am already a big fan of audio only and not video. I do believe once the current Social Audio incumbents settle their high initial product development, we can all start to use it with confidence and use a stable product. Fingers crossed this may happen by the end of 2022.

I have no doubt that in 2023 we will have a Social Audio Day 2023.

Hope to catch you on a future LinkedIn Audio show, Clubhouse Room or Twitter Space.

Enjoy!

~ Michael - bio.link/stayingaliveuk

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years, not mentioning the 'C' word, Social Audio is possibly the newest social media innovation of the the current 20's. 

You may have heard of Clubhouse, their meteoric rise to being THE social audio go to platform and the beauty of being focused on just that, nothing else, no distractions, no other innovations, just social audio, means they were the market leader, the innovator and solution of choice. They refused many takeover bids and even one by Twitter, which reportedly was for $4 billion yeah that’s billion with a B. Why didn’t they take that I wonder? Personally you must be slightly mad not to. 

I was late into the Clubhouse, it’s been a while since I played golf so nobody gave me the nod and wink. Never mind I did set up a profile, it was easy to do and simple. The whole platform was simples, yeah I say was, because with all social media products the engineers complicate the hell out of it. It’s not so simple anymore and then the surprise why the drop off?

The whole beta and by invitation only was a clever marketing ploy. People wanted in and were desperate to get invited. I just sat there and waited until all of a sudden someone I knew, although not well sent me an invitation, of course I was overjoyed and yes I got carried along on the novelty wave too, not for long though. I listened to many rooms and came to the conclusion that people’s egos were getting the better of them, the amount of compliments for so-called experts sharing their wisdom made me ever so slightly sick in the stomach, really it was cringe-worthy. 

Basically people that were hosting rooms just needed their egos massaged and all was fine, they would come back week in week out. Oh then the hysteria when a famous celebrity or musician would enter a room, oh my everyone was so excited! I still don’t know why the world is so obsessed by celebrity. They’re just ordinary folks with ordinary suffering, trying to ensure they have a better life than most of us. Good for them, yeah I mean that, I'm happy for them, really I am, honestly!

I did cohost one room on a Saturday morning and although it was interesting until someone joined whilst driving their car and because she couldn’t hear us very well, basically trying to get her to stop talking, she continued to share her life story of suffering at the hands of her estranged abusive partners. It was very very awkward. Basically it was a therapy session for her, I think she did actually feel better afterwards. 

This really put me off big time. I haven’t hosted a room since. 

Then other platforms started to join the fray, like Twitter Spaces, LinkedIn Audio, Spotify Green Room, Amazon Amp, Facebook (since withdrawn), Reddit, Wisdom and loads of others too. In my view in the end we will probably be left with just 3; Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces and LinkedIn Audio and why would you be on more anyway? Trouble is you have to decide which one you will major on in terms of hosting and then choose the other two for either cohosting or being a speaker.

It's no different to general Social Media, we were all faced with Facebook early on (2004) and then Twitter (2006), but we all said, well why would I want to be on both, one is plenty! But then - as businesses - we were told that these platforms are free marketing resources, so you better be on both. Then came Instagram (2010) and because it was a photo app, people started using that too. We all know what happened afterwards, Facebook bought up the competition. Many more social media platforms, messaging apps etc. started to join the sector and now we have a very confusing and full market of social media apps, platforms and marketing engines. 

I suspect, maybe like me, you have stayed with your favourite platform, possibly you have gone to some others and then decided to leave them after a while. Maybe like me, you detest Mark Zuckerberg and his lies in terms of selling our data and you have downgraded your activity on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram?

Social Audio is more or less following the same trajectory, big hype and excitement early, in this case it was Clubhouse, which meant lots of others started to launch their own platforms with some or limited success. Then inevitably there's drop-off in terms of engagement and activity. 

It's up to you, I recommend you check them all and decide where you want to invest your time in terms of hosting your own show and then adopt a couple of others for listening and contributing.

My own personal strategy for now, Host on LinkedIn Audio - when I finally get it - listen and contribute on TwitterSpaces and Clubhouse. That's it, all the others may be nice and interesting but I am not going to spend time learning and experimenting in them. I have learnt from my social media experience over the past 13 years, less is more.

If you wish to learn more and ask further questions, you can join my recently created Social Audio Community Group on LinkedIn.

Here's the link: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12669684/

Enjoy!

~ Michael - bio.link/stayingaliveuk 

In my lifetime I have only been impressed with leadership a few times. The 1st time was in my first job in London and he was my second boss in that company. I've never forgotten him, he shaped my confidence in work. I've had many bosses in my employment career, which lasted 28 years and I can confidently confirm they were all a major disappointment to me, I'm sorry to say!

As I have grown older, I start to notice world leaders and let's be frank, I don't know about you but I haven't seen or witnessed many impressive world leaders. Now I'm more politically aware, so I subconsciously compare world leaders and politicians to one and other, I also automatically compare them against my own values without even knowing that I'm doing it and of course I judge them. 

The 2nd time, many years later I was and continue to be impressed by Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister. 

And now I am pleased to report that my 3rd leader of choice is the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Let's just have a look at what makes him such a great leader.

Firstly, his communication skills. He's such a great speaker and has recorded at least one video (many days more) every single day since the war began on the 24th February. All of these videos are available on his Telegram channel and they are posted with English subtitles a few hours after they have posted the original in Ukrainian. He has also spoken to countless governments, addressing parliaments, nation meet-ups, like G7 and many more. He just speaks from the heart with passion and clarity. He doesn't beat about the bush, gets straight to the point and the world has indeed been listening.

He was offered exile by many international world leaders and he refused all of them, citing that he wasn’t scared, wanted to protect his nation and the nation’s inhabitants. Many experts predicted that Russia would conquer Ukraine in just a few short days, at worst a couple of weeks. Neither has happened. 

The whole world has rallied around him, yes some of the world leaders have taken their time and some are still in denial and of course a few won't publicly condemn the war, like India (that one shocked me - my mother is from India), but the majority are on his side. All of this thanks to his determination and unwavering pressure on western nations to supply weapons and impose sanctions on Russia. I'm not suggesting everyone's listening, but a whole bunch of them are. 

All of us (well, most anyway) are super impressed with his leadership style and his ability to rally the troops, civilians, international volunteers and many others behind the Ukrainian cause. It’s truly breathtaking. His confidence that Ukraine will be free from any Russian control is solid and never in doubt.

If only The West could do more without being in fear of Putin. 

The following text is directly from a video he released on 26 February 2022. This was 2 days after the war started and the first video that they added English subtitles to. The first two videos didn't, of course they were intended for Ukrainians and not for the rest of the world, but that all changed of course. The videos are of course completely destined for everyone in the world.

Why is it important to read this text? The speech, one of many, shows that very early on in this war, Zelenskyy told all of us that he would never give up to free his country. It also shows that very early on he was rallying the world behind the cause and succeeded. It's very difficult to ignore him and even hard to not support him and the Ukrainian people. It's very tough to watch the news feeds, to learn about all the atrocities that the Russian army is inflicting on ordinary people, but we have to listen and we have to watch. Russia will NEVER EVER be forgiven for what they have done and continue to do, generations will remember and learn about in text books and classrooms all over the world.

When I was a young boy at school in Amsterdam, the teachers had created a display at the back of the classroom, with photos of World War II and the innocent people in concentration camps. The pictures of starving and dying people and their eyes staring directly at me will always stay with me. The teachers wanted us kids to never forget what the German Nazis had done to the people of The Netherlands. My father who was a teenager during that War and the only son, hid in an attic for 5 years so as not to get conscripted by the German army, which occupied the country.

TEXT FROM ZELENSKYY'S VIDEO DATED 26 FEBRUARY 2022

"Ukraine's readiness to defend its state, our solidarity with each other and courage have disrupted the scenario of occupation of our country. The world has seen - Ukrainians are strong, Ukrainians are powerful, Ukrainians are brave. So it is not surprising that such people always have friends more powerful than enemies. During the day I spoke every hour with the leaders of states, friends of Ukraine. 

An extraordinary result was reached in relations with Italy. This is truly a new chapter for our states. The conversation with Prime Minister of the Italian Republic Mario Draghi our everything in its place. India is a traditional world power. Discussed with Prime Minster Modi the course of our repulse of the aggressor. Received full support. Thanked my and our friend Erdogan for the unwavering support to our independence and territorial integrity. We agreed that today the ban on the passage of Russian warships in the Black Sea is extremely important. They did it. 

I told a good friend of Ukraine, Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan that our country lacks oil and oil products. Everything is not easy but now everything will be provided. By the way Ilham and President Erdogan offered to organise talks with Russia. This can only be commended. And also the President of Switzerland, the Prime Minster of Greece, Prime Minister of The Netherlands Rutte...

It seems that Ukraine has gained the sincerity and attention of the normal civilised world. What is the practical result? Here it is - SWIFT. There is so much sense in this word for the Russian Federation! Disconnection from global financial civilisation. Our diplomats fought around the clock and with inspiration for all European countries to agree on a strong and fair decision to disconnect Russia from the international bank network.

We also gained this victory. 

This is billions and billions of losses for Russia - a concrete price for this vile invasion of our state. 

We always said: the truth is on our side. This means even the greatest achievements are possible. 

Today I spoke with the leaders of churches and religious communities of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; Metropolitan Onufriy, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; Sheikh Tamim, Supreme Mufti of Ukraine; Yaakov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine and his holiness Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church. All leaders pray for our defenders, for the souls of our heroes who gave their lives for our Ukraine and for our unity and our victory. 

And this is very important. 

You know, today was a very good day, sunny day in Kyiv. The day that the invaders tried to destroy for us like everything else in the country. But today is also the first day of the life of a girl who was born in the Kyiv subway this Saturday night. Now it's a shelter. We give a decent rebuff - I'm sure you see it in the news. 

I want to say just one more thing. We will fight as long as it takes to liberate the country. If children are born in shelters, even when the shelling continues, then the enemy has no chance in this undoubtedly People's War.

To Victory! 

Glory to Ukraine!"

~ Michael - bio.link/stayingaliveuk

In case you didn't already know, I've been on this 12+ month journey to reduce my spam/junk email and believe it or not some days I have ZERO spam/junk emails. Yeah I know, unbelievable right? It's been hard work and I’ve learnt a massive amount. When you focus on something with great attention more and more information gathers from the ether and finds its way to you.

Incredibly this week I received a ‘notice of data processing’ email from a company I had never heard of, but it has given me an insight into the rabbit hole of big data and the companies that are gathering huge amount of company information with the singular goal of selling it on to interested spammers. They all claim that they gather this information on the basis of 'legitimate interest', the biggest loophole that has been invented by countries' information commissioners. There's never any 'legitimate interest' in my view to send unsolicited emails these days.

I predict one day this loophole will be closed off, but it will need a lot of lobbying by citizens towards government institutions to do so.

Let's examine my rabbit hole. I have highlighted the company names that I have investigated and communicated with and what I discovered in the process.

COGNISM

The data processing email I received was from Cognism, I’ve never heard of them and what an incredible company name, it already sounds scam-like to me.

This is what their email said:

I used their opt-out link but also emailed them to ask specifically how they managed to get hold of my data and received the following email response:

They claim to have sourced my data from 2 companies, Coresignal and PIPL.

CORESIGNAL

Coresignal was the first company to explore and this is their 'about' statement on their website:

"Coresignal was founded with the goal of making large amounts of up-to-date alternative data accessible to any company worldwide. Focusing on firmographics and publicly available professional profiles, we believe that data is key to creating value and opening up never before explored opportunities."

Firstly a new term for my brain 'Firmographics', that's definitely a new one to me. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmographics].

Anyway Cognism were kind enough to provide me with the opt-out link: https://coresignal.com/opt-out/

MERGENT

Upon further research, I also discovered they use Mergent, so I emailed them:

“Hello, I have become aware that a data company Cognism states on their website that Mergent is one of their data sources. I am contacting you to request if you hold data on me or my company Staying Alive UK Ltd. If you do hold this data, I would like it to be removed as soon as possible, please advise how I may be able to request that to be actioned?”

And they did respond to my surprise and delight!

PIPL

Cognism also confirmed that they collected my phone number information via Pipl, another catchy name, my dog is called Pip!

This one is a huge data collector, this is what they claim:

“Pipl includes more than 3 billion online identities cross-referenced from more than 25 billion individual records. Our search platform gathers data from sources such as public records, business listings, marketing lists, phone directories, and crowd-sourced information. Pipl also extracts facts and relevant information from web documents, personal profiles, blogs, news articles, and publications (see PiplBot). Data gathered from all sources is cleansed, merged, and clustered to create more than three billion detailed online identities.”

Thankfully Cognism also provided me with their removal request page:
https://pipl.com/personal-information-removal-request

I received the following email from Pipl and they kindly attached 15 pages of data and/or web locations where they have collected my data. Makes fascinating reading!

Pipl also show on their website which companies they specifically collect data from, so I downloaded that list of no less than 300 sites that are but a sample of the sites they crawl to collect data. I'm definitely on some of those websites, so I will be working my way down the list slowly to make sure there's no personal data available to these awful crawlers. If you wish you can download the list HERE.

ZOOMINFO

There's one listed company in particular I was interested in ensuring they haven't got my details and that's ZoomInfo. Thankfully they also have an option to remove yourself: https://www.zoominfo.com/update/remove

The next company wasn't listed on Pipl, but whilst I was searching for my own email address using Google last year (2021), they came up with claiming to have my company information and indeed they still do!

ROCKETREACH

They are Rocketreach and I believed I had dealt with them back in November 2021, when I claimed my profile and also again in March 2022, but they still have my data and my suggested email based on their algorithm.

This their claim:
"Our service used by professionals to find other professionals. It is designed to open opportunities for you by connecting you with your next job, career opportunity or customer. To this end, we've created a professionally focused search index which you are a part of. This index is generated from publicly sourced data in a similar fashion to search engines like Google and Bing."

https://rocketreach.co/claim-profile/ to claim and then remove your profile, but I recommend you email them direct as well, as that has now worked as the claiming your profile route did not.

I sent this direct email to their customer support:

“Hello, I am trying to get all my data removed from Rocketreach’s database.
https://rocketreach.co/……
I tried to complete the form, but it won’t accept the above link.
Please can you urgently remove all my details, including from Google Search.
I look forward to your urgent attention and action. Thank you.”

To my total amazement I heard back from them quite quickly and they have indeed removed my profile from their database! Email below:

So there you have it. 4 companies, Coresignal, Pipl, ZoomInfo, RocketReach and likely many more of them, just collecting, collecting, and selling our data to willing spammers. I am fascinated how when I contacted them all, they were quite responsive about removing my details. Of course there’s nothing illegal with them collecting everyone’s data is there?

🤥

Hopefully it will start to improve things even further in my spam / junk email department.

If you are also interested in stopping unwanted email, I highly recommend removing your company email and details from those sites for starters, it may make a difference to your junk mailbox.

Success!

https://bio.link/stayingaliveuk

MERGENT CONTINUED…

PS. After publishing this I received a further email from Mergent by FTSE Russell, advising me that I needed to jump through a number of extra hoops in order to have my data removed properly. Just shows that they may be experts at collecting and selling my data, but have no clue how to have it removed. Their initial email and their confirmation after I jumped through the hoops successfully.

The dog was barking non-stop in the neighbours garden, it was drowning out the slow hum of traffic in the streets, nobody was attending the dog's needs or request for attention. Maybe it was lonely, locked up in the garden with no way back into the house? Who knows why it was barking and all of a sudden out of nowhere there is a shout from a man, I can't quite make it out, it sounded like he wanted someone to do something about the non-stop barking of the dog. It sounded like "sort you dog out" or something like that, but of course I could have made that up, it didn't help, the dog continued and maybe it sounded like it even got a little louder after that man's shouting.

The birds weren't bothered by the noise they continued singing as if there wasn't anything going on, they seemed totally at peace in their own little bird world. Were they singing because they needed attention from a possible mate or were they just happy because it was a nice day? Who knows why birds sing, granted we've all heard about the dawn chorus, they're definitely very loud early morning and then do they stop because it's no longer dawn or don't we hear it as much because the world wakes up and the noise of the world going about it's way drowns out their song?

In the distance you can hear school children singing and talking at the top of their voices, it's like each one of them needs to be heard over the other. It must be break time and they're in the school grounds, lucky as it isn't raining right now and the sun is out too. It's been a long winter, dull and grey, so we're all super happy that the sun is shining, children seem so much happier when they can get outside and play, it's their energy that needs releasing and the only way that can be done is by being out in the fresh air, running, cycling, playing football, up and down the slide, back and forth on the swings, it all helps to burn up that childlike energy. Oh how we wish to be a child again, no worries in the world, no money pressures, no responsibilities and no loneliness.

Margaret lives on her own now, she lost her husband, Patrick, 2 years ago to Covid-19, that Coronavirus from China, it was so sudden, they certainly hadn't expected anything like this, well who would have? Their lives had been planned out, they'd only recently retired and were looking forward to all the travelling they were going to do. No more, it's never going to happen. They had 2 boys and both of them were killed in the Afghan war, so cruel, so young and so soon. Jamie was a colonel and his patrol drove over an IED, Jonathan was a regular soldier and he got hit by incoming enemy fire, they were both out there on different tours, in different years, but out in the same horrible war-torn environment. And what was the point, it never freed the people there, the Taliban is back in control again and her sons gave their lives for nothing? It still hurts so much for Margaret, she thinks about them every day and now on top of that she thinks of her husband too, why were all these men taken away from her far too soon? She will never know the answer.

Her mind is heavy with thoughts of loneliness, yes she has a few friends, but her immediate family are all gone, she lives on her own and apart from the radio, the TV and the odd few meals out, she definitely feels very alone, alone in the world and alone in her house. The house is the worst thing, it's the same house where they all lived together, she can still hear all the sounds that use to reverberate around the house when the boys and her husband lived there, every day, she thinks she can hear their voices, she even thought she had gone a bit mad. She imagines conversations they use to have around the dinner table, she dreams about them almost every night and when she wakes up reality hits her hard, they were just dreams, they are no longer in the house. She's considered the befriending services that are offered out, but what good is it to speak on the phone to a total stranger, someone who you've never met and someone who doesn't know anything about you, your circumstances or who you are and what you are about. Oh, it's just such an awful predicament for Margaret. At times she's even thought about ending it herself.

One sunny morning, she got up early, woken up by the dawn chorus in her garden, the barks of dogs, the chatter of kids on their way to school, the hum of traffic in the distance and the light breeze flowing through the slight open window in her bedroom. People chatting in the street, commenting on what good weather we were having right now and the noise of bin men emptying the recycling bins that everyone had put out the night before. This is when it dawned on her, listening to all those noises, connecting the noises with the activities and appreciating the sounds in her mind, connecting those sounds to little stories of the lives, animal or human that were going on every second of the day, every second of the day that she could connect to those sounds in her mind and the realisation that we're actually never alone. All of the sounds we hear, create feelings inside of us, feelings we can hold on to, feelings we can experience and a feeling of being part of everything and that everything is part of us. There can never be loneliness as we're truly never alone.

https://bio.link/stayingaliveuk

I am receiving quite a few notifications on the Facebook mobile app (although I don’t look that often), asking me to do something with my mobile number, well I didn't think I had it on there, in fact I don’t have it on my profile, but in researching further I discovered it’s there in the background, stupid me. More about that in a bit, but first a few things to share for context.

I am not a big fan of Facebook and I am very suspicious of Mark Zuckerberg. He is exactly the same as any dictator who has ever lived and lied his way into becoming a billionaire, just think about it.

Facebook had 2.912 billion monthly active users as of January 2022, placing it 1st in ranking of the world’s most ‘active’ social media platforms. Nearly 3 billion people on the globe have happily shared their email and very likely their mobile number with Facebook. This data that we have so willingly shared is a forever unlimiting goldmine for Facebook, it’s shareholders and it’s advertisers. Facebook’s monthly active users equate to 36.8% of all the people on Earth today. I call that a pretty big dictatorship!

They (Facebook) have been accused of so many data crimes, but have never been prosecuted and nobody has gone to jail, okay they’ve had a few minor fines, which basically was pocket change for them. You can read the whole timeline of their crimes here: A timeline of trouble: Facebook's privacy record and regulatory fines, by Guild ~ 4 August, 2021

I have known for quite a long time that Facebook’s customers, that is the advertisers, not the users, have many privileges. One of the biggest one of those privileges is “custom audiences”. I have never advertised on Facebook, so I can’t give you the technical ins and outs, you can discover that for yourself, except to highlight that advertisers can upload either email addresses or mobile numbers to Facebook and they will do the happy job of matching them with the existing users on the platform.

Mark Zuckerberg has always claimed they don’t sell user data and in the true sense of that actual term, he’s probably correct, I’m sure in a court of law he would win that argument. But what do you call the matching up of data that Facebook has collected and telling its advertisers that they will do a match for them, as long as they upload the data they themselves have collected. TIP: If a website form asks for your mobile number, NEVER share it, even if it means you can’t go further on that form or at least demand that it should be optional only.

Let’s examine it all in a bit more detail, below is the actual help link from Facebook on why they need your mobile number. I’ve even included the link to the page, so if for whatever reason it gets revised/updated, you can read the latest version there.

https://www.facebook.com/help/251747795694485/

We may use your mobile phone number for purposes such as:

• Helping you log in. If you forget your password or the email address that you use to log in to Facebook, you can look either of them up by entering the mobile number associated with your account.

• Sending you SMS notifications for updates about activity on your account, promotions and account safety. SMS notifications can help keep your account safe through opt-in features such as two-factor authentication and text message alerts for unrecognised logins. You can opt out of all SMS notifications at any time.

• Connecting you to other people and content on our platforms through features such as People you may know.

• Providing and improving ads for you and others. We match your contact information with information that we get from other sources (e.g. when you make a purchase after seeing an ad on Facebook). This helps us improve our ads services for everyone within the Facebook community.

We don't ever sell personal information, including your mobile phone number, to anyone. Bear in mind that you can control who can see your phone number and who can look you up on Facebook. Learn more about how Facebook uses your phone number in our Data Policy.

We may ask you to confirm your mobile phone number because:

• You previously added the phone number that we're asking you to confirm.

• Time has passed since you last added or updated your phone number.

• We've received information from your device that helps us suggest the number connected to that device.

• You haven't added one yet, and we want to show you how.

Bear in mind that the phone number we're asking you to confirm will only be added to your account if you choose to add it.

Note: Once you've confirmed your phone number, you can adjust notification settings and control who can see your contact info. You can also remove a confirmed mobile phone numberfrom your account at any time.

ANALYSIS OF THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS:
The KEY sentence in the above help guidelines is of course: [“We match your contact information with information that we get from other sources (e.g. when you make a purchase after seeing an ad on Facebook). This helps us improve our ads services for everyone within the Facebook community.”]

The following are the instructions to advertisers: [“When we've finished hashing your customer list information, we'll let you know that your audience is ready to use. Once ready, you can immediately create an ad to reach your new Custom Audience, or create a Lookalike Audience to find new people who share similar behaviours and interests with your existing customers.”]

You don’t even need to have been a customer of someone, if any business who advertises on Facebook has managed to get hold of your mobile number, they can upload it onto Facebook and start targeting you with ads, plus it allows them to target others who are ‘alike’. The “hashing” they explain as, [“Hashing is a type of cryptographic security method that turns your identifiers into randomised code and cannot be reversed.”]

It’s good that they hash the data, i.e. nobody can then export it and use it for other means, but the damage has already been done, if someone has collected your information via a form and then uses that data (mobile phone numbers) to target you specifically with ads, it means that the advertiser has some “legitimate” advantage in getting very very close to you. I’m just not comfortable with this method of advertising and it’s something Facebook provides and supports. I for one will stop providing my mobile number to Facebook and stop providing it to businesses in their forms with the exception of course to certain payment providers. The difficulty we are all facing is that more and more websites are moving towards 2-factor authentication, which means we must provide our mobile number for text messages with codes or you can try and use an authenticator app, although I must admit I have always failed with these app for some reason, they just don’t work reliably at all.

I have provided for you below some instructions on how you can remove your mobile number from Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/help/124895950923762

To remove a mobile phone number:

1. Click in the top right of Facebook.

2. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings.

3. Click Mobile in the left column.

4. Click Remove below the number that you'd like to remove.

5. Click Remove Number to confirm.

WARNING: Never engage in the apparent “FUN” quizzes that people share that expose what type of flower you are or who your ideal partner is or some other ridiculous click bait that has you sharing your details either in or outside of Facebook. They are invariably hackers trying to spoof your account and post dangerous content on your feed and either tag all your connections or send them messenger messages with the same suspicious content, that could cause malware on their machines.

DISCLAIMER: Removing your mobile number from Facebook must be your own decision, I am merely providing you with some information, so you know what happens inside their advertising ecosystems, it’s better to be informed instead of remaining ignorant. The whole reason why we can use these social media platforms for free are due to the data they can harvest from us to their benefit.

Any questions, let me know.

https://bio.link/stayingaliveuk

The Return of History

Created by Graphic Designer @MrPatrickMulder

The Return of History

Created by Graphic Designer @MrPatrickMulder

Expletive Word

Created by Graphic Designer @MrPatrickMulder

These images have not been used for a real Time Magazine Cover, they are a series of artworks created by Patrick Mulder. Patrick is a Graphic Designer and this is his explanation for creating the series of 3 images.

“My TIME artwork has gone viral - so I thought it would be appropriate for me to write a little about it. The image is one out of a sequence of three I created on the day Russia invaded Ukraine. I felt the official cover by TIME was uninspired and lacked conviction.

I wanted to create something that added to the conversation around the invasion of Ukraine and captured the public mood. It wasn't originally intended to be a TIME cover. The finished image was so powerful, I felt that it deserved to be framed in an equally powerful way.”

The tweets to confirm his comments are embedded below, including a Twitter Audio message.

I wanted to create something that added to the conversation around the invasion of Ukraine and captured the public mood. It wasn't originally intended to be a TIME cover. The finished image was so powerful, I felt that it deserved to be framed in an equally powerful way.

— Patrick Mulder 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇦 (@MrPatrickMulder) February 28, 2022

Some final reflections on my TIME cover artwork. pic.twitter.com/h3lAkyIgPs

— Patrick Mulder 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇦 (@MrPatrickMulder) February 28, 2022

I have been on quite a journey of discovery over the past 12 months with identifying, reporting, blocking and permanently suppressing spammers. I am finally achieving some results and improving my process too.

To begin with it was quite a laborious process until I discovered SpamCop.net. Taking the raw source of the email and pasting it inside SpamCop means they do a lot of the heavy lifting for me. They identify the source of the email and where the domain is hosted and they will report it direct to those sources. Super easy to do and highly recommended, the service is free. Because it also provides me with the email addresses that they report it to, I will then also email some of them direct as a belt and braces and engage in a direct communication, especially with the email client provider.

This has resulted in a lot of successful unsubscribes, being added to email suppression lists and getting the offender banned from those email services. That last one is a very good feeling.

The only area that is still a real issue is Google's mail servers themselves, but thanks to my communication with some mail client companies they have pointed me in the right direction with that as well.

This is the link to report spammers direct to Google: https://support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse

Let's take one specific example of a spam message I received recently to illustrate how this process works.

This opportunistic spammer does exist on LinkedIn, here, here and here. This is a legitimate company, but I suspect doing some illegitimate things. One of their services is, no surprise, "but we also find data for marketing and business development". I guess I was one of those bits of data they mention on their LinkedIn page!

Step 1: View the raw source code inside the email and copy it.

Step 2: Paste it inside SpamCop and below is the result.

It may look a little daunting at first, but it will improve with practice. The only part you need to worry about is pressing the process button inside SpamCop.

Step 3: I do have a specific email address for Amazon ec2-abuse@amazon.com, who will get back to you if they conclude that the instance has used their servers. I will post the outcome at the end of this article once I hear back from them.

Step 4: As you can see there's also some reference to GoDaddy and they have an email address, but prefer you to add the details to a report form. https://supportcenter.godaddy.com/AbuseReport?

This means sending the email anyway via SpamCop, but then also doing your own report direct with GoDaddy.

Step 5: Report the unsolicited email to the Information Commissioner's Office, other similar organisation are available internationally.

Step 6: If SpamCop also reports that the email has come via a Google server, then I would also complete their form, in this instance it hasn’t come from their servers.

Using these 5 or 6 simple steps has meant that I have been able to significantly reduce my spam and in fact some days, I get zero spam emails. Can you believe it? I can't. I never thought this would be achievable, but it is and does require small but habitual steps every single day. It has just become part of my daily routine and doesn't have to take long at all.

Hope this helps a little and please do get in touch if you need some assistance. I will gladly give you some direction and all it will cost is the price of a Coffee.

Best, M ツ

https://bio.link/stayingaliveuk

This popular phrase was made famous on the London Underground. If you use the Tube for your commute every day, you probably hear the words "Mind the Gap" many times each day, possibly every time your train stops at a station.

It's a pretty simple phrase and we all know what it means - reminding passengers to watch out for the gap between the train and the platform on the Underground, which to be fair can be quite big sometimes.

The origins of "Mind the Gap" on the London Underground dates back to 1968. It came about all because it was discovered that an automated message made much more practical sense than station attendants and drivers having to warn passengers all the time.

If you have ever travelled on the London Underground you will undoubtedly have heard it.

There is another meaning for this phrase in my own dictionary and all because I am reading a book titled the Gap and the Gain, co-authored by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy. It claims to be the High Achiever's Guide to Happiness, Confidence and Success. I'm not 100% sure about that massive claim, but it has changed my thinking considerably.

I first eluded to this in my article a few weeks ago. https://www.stayingaliveuk.com/blog/2022/1/your-mind-is-conditioned-in-the-gap

So in this article I would like to go a little deeper into the concept of the Gap. Most of us live in the Gap and you will be able to trace this back to your childhood. During our childhood we had the Gap pointed out to us millions of times by our parents, our siblings, our teachers and society at large, so much so that you have believed all your shortcomings, shortcomings that someone else pointed out to you and eventually they conditioned you to accept those shortcomings as truth and that you probably were not really good enough.

Don't get me wrong parenting and teaching are probably THE toughest jobs on the planet. Children don't behave, after all they are children, but the whole adult-child things is the wrong way around. Children are creative, adults are not. Adults try to stick to the "rules", children don't understand the rules and certainly don't want to follow them. Children can entertain themselves for hours with just their mind, adults need things and money to entertain themselves. Children's creativity are pushed down, in order for them to learn the rules of the road, the road to misery, the road to unhappiness of unfulfillment and the road to a likely mid-life crisis.

Don't take my word for it though, have a listen to the late Sir Ken Robinson in his Ted Talk of 2006, which has had 72 million views, "Do schools kill creativity?". Sir Ken makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

I'm sorry the Sir Ken is no longer with us, I wish he had become the educational minister of the world.

Another visionary is Sadhguru in India. He has established a few schools to change the education paradigm, this is what he says:

“Our social structures have created extremely complicated survival processes. A child’s ability to look at life with utter freshness and involvement is slowly disappearing. It is the duty and responsibility of our educational systems to bring that back. Education can never be a profession – it must be a passion. In the process of education, it is very important to see that the child does not lose his joyfulness, his spontaneity, or his ability to be truthful without any fear of consequence. At the Home School, we are striving to create the necessary platform where education is not about loading the child’s mind with information, but about making the child’s mind capable of razor sharp perception, capable of knowing life in its full depth and dimension. Education is about expanding the horizons of human experience and becoming inclusive. Only in a state of inclusiveness can the empowerment of education become a bounty all of us may cherish.”

– Sadhguru.

All aspects of the school are designed to kindle the innate urge within every child to learn and know. The prime focus is not only on developing a child’s intellectual capacities, but also to provide opportunities to explore other dimensions of life.

More specifically, the aims of the Home School are:

• To provide children with an inspiring and loving atmosphere that is devoid of fear, ridicule, and comparison.

• To provide children with the opportunity to take up responsibility for themselves and others, in order to develop in them, a greater sense of commitment and enable them to contribute to the world in which they live.

• To allow a child to grow with an uncluttered intelligence so that she/he can perceive and experience life as it is, without distortion.

• To mould children into sensible, respectful, and vibrant human beings who have the necessary confidence, openness and willingness to question themselves and the world around them.

The school’s pedagogical methodology encompasses a myriad of direct and indirect processes to achieve the above.

Their Co-Curricular include physical disciplines, fine and performing arts, community service and a totally different approach to education. You can examine some of it via their website: https://ishahomeschool.org

Here the Gap is significantly narrowed if not even eliminated. How wonderful would it be if there were no Gaps in our lives, when we didn't see the Gap in ourselves and in others, that our focus would be more on the Gain.

I lifted this paragraph from the Gap and the Gain book:

"Happiness is a byproduct of realising that you are the destination. You are enough and you have enough. You are worthy of love. Your viewpoints and judgments of your own experiences are infinitely more important that anyone else's judgments of you and of your experiences."

I will always remember this Phrase by the late Wayne Dyer, who I learnt a huge amount from:

"Your opinion of me is none of my business".

There has been so much pressure on us in our lives to perform, to achieve, to succeed, to demonstrate our wealth, to acquire possessions, to be better than others, to show off our superiority, to attain awards all to satisfy our ego, our ego which has been trained to believe that we can only be good enough when we achieve success and wealth.

After all this is what we're being shown every single day, whether it's the media serving up stories to satisfy our fascination with celebrities, TV serials showing us how the wealthy live, billionaires travelling to space, social media feeds filled with false stories of achievements, celebrities showing off their wealth and I could go on, it's all around us 24/7. The Gap is showing up every single second.

That conditioning is inside of us, we need to unhook our neurones from the Gap and instead examine the Gain.

The Gain is where we know without doubt that we have already achieved, we achieve every single day, we have millions of examples when we have achieved. Focus on what you have done right and you will witness more things that you have done or will do right. Squash the Gap, daily, reframe, reframe, reframe, don't accept comments from others as truth, know yourself more.

Let's examine a very simple example from my own life. I love Yoga, I have always loved it and today I am grateful to be able to attend a Yoga class twice per week with my wonderful wife.

We do a new routine every 4 weeks. The first time we do the new routine, it's hard, we don't know what we're doing, we are faced with some impossible poses (asanas), it hurts, our limbs, muscles and brain don't comprehend the new routine. We have a choice, we can feel deflated, frustrated, annoyed even at our inability to perform at our best. But as each week goes on, we get better at the new routine, by week 4 or 5, we know every single pose and we do our best to achieve it.

The Gap is when we feel we can't do it. The Gain is when we know that we are doing Yoga and it's of benefit to us, whether we can't master the pose yet, we're there and we're trying. The Gain is when we know that in a few weeks time it gets easier, it always does, we will master it, we will surprise ourselves.

How is the Gap showing up in your daily life? Are you able to find the Gain instead? Can you find the Gain in most aspects of your life? How good does it feel when you are able to master that? No rush, start small, start by finding just one every single day or maybe once per week, it's up to you. I assure you by finding the Gains, you will build a mental muscle that will grow exponentially and then you'll be able to spot the Gains automatically and you won't be able to see any Gaps any longer, because there are none, there are only Gains.

Let me know!

https://bio.link/stayingaliveuk

00:08:00 Reading time.

I'm a Dutchman living in the U.K. now for almost 45 years. When I arrived I was a teenager and teenagers aren't really into politics. Once I turned 18, I have never been able to vote in general elections in the U.K. because I am not a British Citizen, despite the fact that all the policies, laws and behaviour of politicians have affected my personal and working life in the U.K.

My father got the whole family a permanent residence permit back in 1978 and despite having that and thanks to Brexit, I still had to apply for the EU settlement scheme, bizarre, I did and of course I was accepted.

The only place I can cast a vote is during local elections, which usually are a big waste of time and I'm getting very close to not bothering any longer.

I rarely comment publicly about politics, although I have been doing in the past few years. I guess when you are moving into the Autumn of your life, you take more notice of the news and are more sensitive to a sense of what's right and what's wrong. The sense of what's right and wrong gets instilled into us usually by our parents and the impact of growing up with siblings. I could probably write a book about the "unfairness" I believed I experienced when growing up as a twin and comparing what my twin sister used to get, in terms of clothes, presents and even our Birthday cakes, yes we each had a different cake! Of course when you're a kid you believe that your siblings always are treated more favourably compared to yourself.

"Fairness - the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is right or reasonable".

The U.K. has a very big value in terms of "Fair Play" - (fair and honest treatment of people), it probably is the cornerstone of British life and shows up in many areas of sport, business and life in general. The Brits have a reputation for queuing for example and detest queue jumpers, they also detest the Germans on holiday, who are known for leaving their towels on sun loungers at dawn in order to reserve their lounger ahead of anyone else getting to the pool or beach in the morning.

The U.K. also detest bullies, who can be found in school playgrounds, inside corporate buildings, in homes, in the media and of course in government.

Witnessing how the U.K. is governed and how politicians on opposite sides treat each other is actually quite awful. The spectacle that is the House of Commons, where abuse is hurled across the floor might make good TV and headlines but it isn't really a great recipe for governance of the U.K. and yet it has been accepted as a way of British Life, albeit a very destructive one.

Following on from my previous article about our conditioned mind, it's hardly surprising that many British people follow the example of behaviour in the House of Commons and regards that it is quite acceptable to hurl serious abuse at each other on Social Media and I witness this especially on Twitter, specifically aimed at politicians.

At the time of writing there's a huge story unfolding in the U.K. where it has been alleged and in fact you may even say, it has been proven without a shadow of doubt, that the Prime Minster Boris Johnson, has himself and his No.10 Downing Street colleagues not followed the rules and have had regular parties at that address, whilst the rest of the U.K. was either in Lockdown or some other special restrictions to stop movement and social contact.

A lot of people broke the law during this time and were handed fines, here's a headline of some of those stats.

"There were 807 fixed penalty notices issued for breaches of Covid rules in England and Wales in the week between May 15 and May 21 2020.

Police in England and Wales have processed total of 117,213 fixed penalty notices for breaches of Coronavirus restrictions up to 20 June 2021."

And although Boris Johnson has agreed for an enquiry by one of his aids, Sue Gray who is the Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office. A grand title, but she reports to Boris and therefore whatever report she writes, it will first have to be seen and read by Boris himself before it is released to the wider public and Parliament.

In a recent (19 January, 2022), Prime Minister Questions Time, which normally take place every Wednesday afternoon at 12 Noon, the leader of the opposition Keir Starmer of Labour made this very damning statement at the start of his very first question to Boris. See statement and question below.

"First he said there were no parties, then the video landed blowing that defence out of the water, next he said he was sickened and furious when he found out about the parties until it turned out that he himself was at the Downing Street garden party. Last week he didn't realise he was at a party and surprise, surprise nobody believed him. So this week he's got a new defence, nobody warned me that it was against the rules, that's it nobody told him. Since the Prime Minster wrote the rules, why on earth does he think this new defence is going to work for him?"

Boris basically batted every question posed to him away by stating that we had to wait until such time when the Sue Gray report comes out.

He appeared very bullish and almost defiant in the House of Commons compared to the day previous when he was interviewed by Sky News in a hospital on 18 January, 2022, see video clip below.

ITV (National U.K. TV Station), did a half hour report on the current state of affairs, the details of the parties and the current sentiment across the country. You can probably only watch this if you’re in the U.K., it’s titled “Is the Party Over?”

Politicians at the highest level of office, whether we look at the U.K. or the U.S.A are known for their bully tactics and behaviour. I don't know Boris, all I know is that his public behaviour in politics has been that of aversion, greed and delusion one of the 12 cycles on the "Dependent Origination Wheel" I shared in my article a couple of weeks ago.

Sañkhāra: Mental Formations,Fabrications; Concoctions; Will to Live, lit: Put Together Habits and Patterns of Mind, Aversion - Greed - Delusion.

It is very clear that his mind has been conditioned throughout his life, since being a young boy into adulthood that the behaviour he displays is okay and that if he manages to create enough diversion around the current issues and the spotlight upon him, he will manage to get through without any collateral damage to himself or his reputation.

Trouble is "Fairness" as mentioned earlier is in the British DNA and therefore it is going to be a tough climb for him to get out of the pit that he has dug for himself. It's not just this particular story though, it has happened before with Brexit, he lied to the British People then, made a load of promises and many of those have not been delivered.

That's why the polls are against him, I have included a few below.

Despite all these allegations and media coverage, despite some ministers putting in letters of no confidence to the 1922 committee and despite the challenges from reporters and opposition leaders, he deep down believes he hasn't done anything wrong and expects that the Sue Gray report will probably vindicate him. This time though it will not wash with the British people, this time it has gone too far. During the restrictions, people died, people grieved, people were lonely, people were in deep pain and all whilst Downing Street partied.

Boris' conditioned mind will unlikely give in, but eventually the British people will vote and that vote will take place first in local elections in May 2022 and in the general election in May 2024. Then it will be the time for the British people to get their revenge on the political elite, who rule as if there are different rules for them compared to the rest of the British people. They always forget who they actually work for and who pays their mortgage, their holidays etc.

I made a prediction on the 7th January that he would resign, see video below and I might be wrong about that now, now that I have seen that Boris has no moral compass, no sense of guilt and no humbleness about his actions and those of his staffers.

Boris the bully will likely survive, but the Brits hate bullies.

We will see...

https://bio.link/stayingaliveuk

ps. You may enjoy this study on fairness on two Capuchin monkeys.

pps. pps. Since I published this article, even more parties were revealed, this time a Birthday Party for Boris! The content below explains the "fairness" of that act.

Josephine sets a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent coronavirus packing.

Together we can beat this. In the meantime let's all wish her happy birthday (twice) whilst washing our hands. #BeLikeJosephine #StayHomeSaveLives https://t.co/xmDOw60hhV pic.twitter.com/yl7uxe9lhh

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 21, 2020

Josephine has significantly better writing compared to Boris and that tells you a lot too! In case you're struggling to read either, I have written it out for you below.

Dear Prime Minister, I want to let you know it is my birthday today but I am staying at home because you asked us to. I think mummy and daddy might have to cancel my party but I don't mind because I want everybody to be ok. Please keep working hard to keep us all well. Are you remembering to wash your hands? Lots of love, Josephine - aged 7 (today) ❤️ wash hands X

______________

Dear Josephine

Happy Birthday! I am glad to hear you are staying at home, though I am sorry to hear about your party. We have all got to do our bit to protect the NHS and save lives, and that is exactly what you are doing, so well done! You are setting a great example. We are working round the clock to keep people safe, and if we work together we can send coronavirus packing. And once we have done that you can DEFINITELY have a party with your friends! In answer to your question - I'm regularly washing my hands with soap and water for 20 seconds: the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice!

With best wishes - Boris Johnson.

And a “Report Update", was published on Monday 31 January, 2022 and you can download it in its glory HERE.