Zen Tools - Latest Articles

Why Insight Alone Does Not Change Behaviour - Locking In The Gains

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 01:00:00 -0400

Insight Changes Understanding, But Not Jurisdiction. This article explores why insight alone does not change behaviour, not by dismissing thought awareness, but by showing what must come after it if change is to hold under pressure. There is a moment in inner work that is both clarifying and deeply unsettling: when pressure arrives - nothing reliably changes! Insight alone has a limit. This article sets out the steps you have to take to lock in the gains derived from awareness and insight.

The Mechanics Of Inner Conflict - Not Confusing Signals As Instructions

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 01:00:00 -0400

No Internal Signal Requires Immediate Obedience. Most people experience inner conflict as something emotional: tension, anxiety, guilt, hesitation, self‑doubt. It feels personal and psychological. Something about you seems divided. One part wants one thing; another part resists, criticises, or quietly undermines it. But inner conflict is not primarily emotional. It is mechanical. Here's how to deal with the inner mechanics of internal conflict...

Master The Season You Are In - The Key to Fulfilling Your Purpose

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0500

To fulfil your purpose, you must first master the season you are in. One of the biggest mistakes you can make in life is focusing all your energy on the next season instead of learning to master the season you are in. We tell ourselves life will make sense when things change - when we have more time, more money, or more certainty. But the fulfilment of your purpose doesn’t begin in the next chapter. It is being shaped in this one. Most people don’t have a “life problem.” They have a seasonal misalignment problem. What season are you in right now?

The Inner Weight of Shame - Sustained By Attentional Fixation

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0500

A Mind That Is Continuously Engaged In Self-Surveillance. Shame is one of the heaviest inner burdens a human being can carry. It does not announce itself loudly or demand attention through drama. Instead, it settles quietly into your mind, reshaping how you see yourself, relate to others, and interpret your own inner life. The inner weight of shame is not simply emotional pain; it is a persistent sense of being diminished, exposed, or fundamentally flawed. Using the Zen Tools framework of thought-awareness, this article offers a way of understanding shame that neither minimises it nor medicalises it. Our aim is not to eradicate shame, but to loosen its grip by changing how your mind relates to it - restoring perspective, space, and agency where shame has quietly narrowed them.

Does Prayer Work? The Psychology of Prayer, Meditation and Outcomes

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Reality Is A Complex System Of Countless Interactions - Including Yours. So does prayer work? The problem is that the question itself is usually framed in a way that guarantees confusion. We tend to ask it as if prayer were a tool for controlling reality - a mechanism for producing results - rather than a practice that reshapes the human mind that meets reality. Once we look at prayer psychologically rather than transactionally, the picture changes.

Living in Survival Mode Without Surrendering Mental Authority

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 04:24:38 -0500

Living in Survival Mode Without Surrendering Mental Authority

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Clear Thinking When You’re Just Trying to Stay Afloat. Many people today are overwhelmed because they are living in survival mode - not temporarily, but as a persistent condition of life. For many, this is no longer tied to a single crisis. It emerges from something quieter and more enduring: financial fragility, economic volatility, political uncertainty, eroding institutional trust, rising costs, and shrinking buffers. The problem is not that survival mode exists. The problem is that living in survival mode was never meant to. Zen Tools has developed a solution that provides a clear, executable framework designed specifically for people living in survival mode.

Manifestation Without Magic: A Practical Model

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Manifestation without magic is not a softer or more intellectual version of popular manifestation culture. It is a different model altogether. Popular manifestation teachings tend to frame reality as something that responds directly to thoughts, emotions, or vibrational states. They encourage constant internal monitoring - belief, mood, visualisation - as though these are levers that move the world. When results appear, the model feels confirmed. When they do not, the explanation quietly turns inward: insufficient belief, hidden resistance, misalignment. Manifestation without magic takes a cleaner stance and it rarely feels dramatic. It feels calm, grounded, and quietly effective. That is not superstition. It is clarity in action. Here's how to apply it.

Staying Committed When You Can't See Progress - The Psychology of Grit

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Uncertainty Is Not The Absence Of Progress, Only The Absence Of Reassurance. One of the most destabilising experiences in modern life is not failure, but uncertainty and staying committed when you can not see progress. It’s the moment when you’re doing the right things, for the right reasons, over a meaningful period of time - and yet nothing appears to be changing. No visible results. No reassurance. No feedback to confirm that your effort is working. Many long-term efforts fail in the same place, not at the beginning, and not at the end, but in the silent middle.This is where most long-held intentions quietly collapse. Staying committed when you can’t see progress is not a test of character. It is a test of understanding. Here's what you need to know and what you need to do.

The Battle For Your Mind - How To Win Inner Freedom In A Digital Age Of Distraction

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 23:00:00 -0500

From External Events to Inner Events. We often think of “events” as things that happen out there: the traffic jam, the rude comment, the delayed email reply. But what truly shapes our experience is what happens "in here" in your head - the internal cascade of thoughts and emotions that each event provokes. In the battle for your mind, these two forces, the reactive self and the reflective self [The Wise Advocate], are constantly contending for control of your attention. Every notification, irritation, or anxious thought becomes a potential pivot point. This is where the battle for your mind turns from survival to mastery. Here's how to win that battle:

How to See Your Thoughts Without Becoming the Story

Wed, 3 Dec 2025 11:11:46 -0500

A Practical Guide to Thought-Awareness. You can spend your life inside the stories of your mind without ever learning how to see your thoughts clearly and objectively. Most of the stuff we tell ourselves is, at best, a guess at the truth, and at worst, complete rubbish. There is a shift that changes everything: instead of being inside the narrative, you see the narrative happening in your mind, not as you. This is the foundation of mental clarity. This article shows you how to see your thoughts with awareness.

The Collison Decision Matrix - A Simple Framework for Better Choices

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

The Collison Decision Matrix Is A Practical Everyday Thinking Tool. Most of us spend a surprising amount of time worrying about decisions. From small ones such as what to wear, what to eat, what to text someone to much bigger one like changing jobs, ending relationships, moving house, choosing a path in life. Some of us overthink; others rush in and regret it later. What if there was a way to tell, before you decide, whether you should slow down or just go ahead? Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe, a global financial technology company, offered one of the simplest and most useful tools for this. It’s become know as The Collison Decision Matrix, and it’s built around just two questions:

The Power Of Asking The Right Question

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 23:00:00 -0500

The Power Of Asking The Right Question Lies In The Quest For Insight. To experience the power of asking the right question you must develop the practice of asking questions. The best way to improve the quality of your questions is to treat it as a thinking skill - a skill to be learned and developed. Asking the right questions helps you uncover what’s beneath the surface, and that’s where the long-term big break-throughs and opportunities lie. Here's how to ask the right question that will reveal the right question you need to ask.

Site Pathways

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Here is a site pathway to help new readers of Zen-Tools navigate the material on this site. Each pathway is based around one of the many key themes covered on this site and contain a 150 word introduction to the material and a prioritised list of 5 recommended articles. Each article has a subject introduction together with references to the relevant scientific or academic authority, and contains practical action points with full supporting material.

How To Live With Contradiction - Beyond Thought Let Stillness Speak

Wed, 8 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

A major impact on so many peoples' lives is the situational contradiction of unfilled realistic expectations. So where does all this leave us? Well here we are, with mental equipment that is more limited than most of us realise, living in a world of great complexity that operates in a way that we struggle to get to grips with, and that constantly exposes us to contradictions, taunts us with paradoxes, mysteries and inherent ambiguity, and underlying all of this is a feeling of deep uncertainty. Uncertainty is what we cannot bear. Uncertain, we feel helpless, a prey to forces we cannot control. We want to feel secure and in control. Here's how your brain works and why it struggles with contradiction, together with the tools and resources you have and how to apply them.

How To Trust The Process Of Mindfulness - Right Now

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

In mindfulness, the process isn’t some distant goal — it's what is happening right now. When we talk about how to trust the process of mindfulness the credibility of the process is heavily dependent on the first-hand experience of people who have already trodden this path before us. In this short article we are going to draw from their experience in a series of simple practices and reflections. Here are some simple practical steps to help you trust the process of mindfulness.

Inner Mastery For Outer Impact - Mental Clarity For Effective Action

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 07:25:00 -0400

Insights only matter if they translate into consistent action. In a world crowded with quick fixes and motivational soundbites, the theme “Inner Mastery for Outer Impact” calls us to something more enduring: the integration of inner clarity with outer practice. This theme is based on the collection of about 100 articles in the "Walking the Talk" series on Zen Tools and is deeply anchored in the philosophy that true transformation and meaningful external impact emerge from inner mastery. Between stimulus and response lies a space, and in that space is the possibility of freedom. The work of inner mastery lies in expanding that space. Here is how that happens.

The Wise Advocate - Helping You Achieve The Very Best Outcome

Fri, 8 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The focus of your attention in critical moments of choice either builds or restricts your capacity for achieving the best outcome. When we talk of 'The Wise Advocate' its easy to think of the consigliere in 'The Godfather' or 'The Sopranos' or similar dramas based around mafia bosses. In fact we all have such a counsellor - but with a more benign intent - and it is an aspect of our attentive mind. This is a mental facility that has been known about and used by wise leaders and a minority of lay people throughout history. There is no "fluff" here, this has a solid scientifically verifiable neurological foundation. This is very real and it is a life changer! The Wise Advocate is the voice within you that can help you make the best decisions about all the things you care about: your relationships, family, community, workplace, in fact any significant area of your life. Here's how to activate and engage with that voice.

Trust The Process - Beyond The Cliche

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The phrase "trust the process" has become a cliche, the woo-woo mantra of the "self help" industry. Those three little words feel like they ought to mean something useful but hidden behind them are a number of assumptions that prompt important questions: - Who should I trust?
- Why should I trust?
- On what basis should I trust?
- What is this process I am to trust?
- Whose process is this?
- How was this process defined and established?
- What's the evidence that this process isn't just wishful thinking and it really works?
Here's how to answer those questions and what it really means to trust the process:

The Dopamine Delusion - Why Anticipation Beats Achievement

Thu, 3 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The thrill we feel is not in the having, but in the wanting. The more we have, the more we want. The more things we acquire and the easier things get for us, the more discontent we feel. The more spoiled we become as a society with technology and our easy first world lifestyles, the more we complain. To paraphrase the U2 song, we still haven't found what we're looking for. Ultimately, the greatest achievement is to stop chasing all the time and to find joy in the calm that arises when you are doing things that are worthwhile, because they are in alignment with your core values, and are of benefit to others. Here's how to get your brain chemistry working for you rather than against you, and how to put it all together.

The Power Of Silence Is Experienced In Your Use Of Language

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Practise the "Beneficial Neurological Delay" for optimal comprehension. The power of silence is experienced in your use of language, specifically: - How you formulate the words you use to think and interact and reach out to other people. - How accurately your language represents the factual truth of the source experience. We are talking about semantics. There is a specialisation within this field of enquiry known as general semantics which is the study of the total mind-body neurology included in human language. Here is an important thinking skill to internally “mastermind” your verbal reactions by taking full advantage of the power of silence...

Dealing With Setbacks - 5 Questions To Help You Face Discomfort

Tue, 3 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

How To Counter The Cognitive Shock Of A Setback. Setbacks challenge your instinctual desire for control and comfort, making it unnatural to respond with calm or acceptance. The reason for these instinct driven responses is "cognitive shock" which occurs as your conceptual, thinking brain tends to stop working and you just can’t think clearly. During cognitive shock, your “old” brain, which is based on survival and defense, takes over, and these emotions can cloud judgment and intensify your perceptions of the setback. So when your clarity becomes obscured by the dark and swirling energy of emotional distress, it is helpful to have some concise reminders to bring you back to the solution. Here are 5 questions to help you face discomfort and build your resilience.

Why Praxis Is The Key To Living A Successful And Stress Free Life

Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Praxis Is The Process Of Taking Informed Action To take informed action you need to be prepared with information, knowledge, education and insight. Informed action is objective action that: - Seeks to eliminate all hijacking of your brain from inherent cognitive bias and all other known cognitive distortions.
- Disregards social media based popular ideology.
- Avoids partial truth and always tries to understand the whole picture based on all known data.
So to assist you in the process, here is my quick guide to helping you focus on and apply praxis to Zen Tools material.

The Power Of Working With The Front Line

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 01:00:00 -0400

How To Exercise Influence Without Authority In Complex Systems I first discovered the power of working with the frontline when I was working as a business troubleshooter on large projects, programmes and business units that were failing. The first step in these situations was to undertake a quick diagnosis to find out the root cause of the issues and to gain early understanding of the potential solutions. Initially the client would want me to talk to a cross section of senior management which of course I did, and then I would always ask to meet and spend time with the people at the frontline. That is to say the people who actually did the work! The people at the frontline always know what the issues are and the solutions. Here are 3 scenarios for benefiting from the power of working with the frontline.

Dealing With Distraction - Learning How To Live With Your "Attention Autopilot"

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Living With Your Attention Autopilot The good news about your Attention Autopilot is that it will keep you safe. It is continuously scanning your immediate environment for threats. The bad news is that it is also programmed to look out for potentially interesting things to bring to your attention. The worse news is that it doesn't just scan your external environment it also scans your internal thought stream... Like a curious child, your Attention Autopilot will be continuously throwing stuff at you saying: "Hey look at this!" It's good at spotting threats but indiscriminate in what it thinks is "interesting". You can't stop it. It is what is and it does what it does. As the adult in your relationship with your Attention Autopilot, its your responsibilty to train it to leave you alone when you're busy.

The Time Of Your Life - Recognising Moments Of Alignment For Action

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 09:53:05 -0400

How will you recognise your moment of alignment for action? In this article I want to look at our relationship with time and in the context of the two main themes of this site, firstly as a thinking skill and secondly from a mindfulness perspective. I want to side-step the potential rabbit holes of the metaphysical and philosophical speculations that surround this subject and to focus on some practical suggestions for how you can improve your relationship with time and thus improve your health, wealth and happiness. Here are some practical action points:

The Metagame Approach to Second Order Thinking - 5 Guiding Principles

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How To Position Yourself For Survival & Success In A Complex Environment We treat life as though it is a complicated system, and our thinking skills and mental models are focused on understanding its moving parts in the belief that this will increase our control of the outcomes of our decisions and actions. But unfortunately this is an illusion. Why? Life is a complex system that functions within totally different parameters, so whilst we may gain a measure of control it is limited, and ultimately we set ourselves up for failure. The metagame approach to second order thinking combines two sets of thinking skills that address the unpredictability of modern life within a complex system. The purpose of this article is to offer some guiding principles that will position you to survive and thrive in this complex environment.

Outcome Over Optics - Long Game Outcomes Over Short-Term Ego Gains

Tue, 4 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500

The Day I Learned To Focus On Outcome Over Optics I have never forgotten the day I learned to focus on outcomes over optics and figured out a very simple way of saving myself several hundred thousand dollars. At that time it was standard business practice to buy a new car every one to two years. The reason for this was all about optics, put bluntly, ego and status. If you could afford to change your car frequently you were signalling that you were doing well and making money. But this vanity came at a huge cost. Here's how I had my "light bulb" moment and saved myself a fortune whilst maintaining the optics at a vastly reduced cost and optimising the outcome that I wanted with a long lasting high quality car. Since then, I have applied this strategy to other areas of my life and have saved huge amounts of money. Here's how it works:

The ETTO Principle - Why Near Enough Can Be Good Enough

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0500

How To Balance the Efficiency-Thoroughness Trade Off The ETTO Principle describes the inherent trade-off between working efficiently and working thoroughly. This trade-off is something that affects us all both in our working lives and also in our personal lives. We are all under pressure to perform and to deliver. Expectations are high in an environment of ever-increasing competition. Here are two practical tools that you can use to manage this trade-off and that will help reduce your stress and feelings of overwhelm.

Master The Art Of Drawing The Bow

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Focus On Process Not Outcome In so many areas of our lives, we focus on the outcome, not the process that we follow to achieve it. In the western world, we are conditioned to pay less attention to how we hold and draw the bow and instead we focus on hitting the bullseye. You can’t control where the arrow lands but you can master the art of drawing the bow. Are you focusing on what truly matters?

And So This Is Christmas

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0500

There Is No Path To Peace - The Path Is Peace Thich Nhat Hanh, the renowned Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, and peace activist, often spoke about peace as a state of being that begins within oneself and extends outward to the world. Here are some key points from his teachings on peace:

Curiosity Skilled The Cat - Optimize For Interesting

Mon, 2 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Curiosity Fuels Excellence The old adage, “Curiosity killed the cat,” warns of the dangers of venturing too far into the unknown. But what if we reimagine it not as a risk but as a gateway to developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills? By embracing the phrase “Curiosity skilled the cat,” we shift the narrative, recognizing it as the foundation for how to think effectively. Here's how to optimize your thinking skills by exercising your curiosity into things that interest you.

Let Stillness Speak - Living Within A Complex System

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 04:18:18 -0500

To let stlllness speak is to learn it's first major lesson: you are not your thoughts. To let stillness speak is about stepping back from the constant chatter of your mind and allowing a deeper, quieter presence to communicate. We spend our entire life imprisoned within the confines of our own thoughts. We are quite literally lost in thought. To let stillness speak is not about some woolly, fuzzy, feel-good vibe. This is about accessing a consciousness that lies deep within you - far deeper than thought.

Understanding Complex Systems Thinking - It's Not Complicated

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Understanding, and being able to work with, complexity is an important thinking skill. We are all working with complex systems, and we do so every day. The biggest one is life itself. We automatically lean towards a fairly mechanistic view of life that sees life as a complicated system, and this in turns leads us to having expectations based on our perception of how things will work out. Inevitably our expectations are frequently unfulfilled and we get frustrated and anxious. We treat life as though it is a complicated system, whereas in reality life is a complex system, and so we set ourselves up for failure.

Stay On The Bus - When To Keep On Going

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

The Helsinki Bus Station Theory Have you ever started a new project, initiative or role with a big vision and a determination to make a difference? Initially you were full of enthusiasm and highly motivated to break new ground. Yet after a while you get discouraged as you realise that what you thought was your own special individual approach is very similar to the efforts of many other people. Then it gets really tough as you find that what you thought was your own unique journey is identical to the work of thousands of others. The key to succeeding in any long term creative activity lies in understanding the operations of Helsinki’s main bus station!

Zen Thoughts Email Series

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Conversations With A Friend Zen Thoughts is an email series of 50 short messages spread over 3 months. The messages are written in the style of a conversation with a friend who is going through a tough time. The messages offer practical mindfulness based suggestions to help you see your situation in a fresh light and to offer proven practical resources, all of which I have used and found helpful. This series is free and there is nothing on sale here! I hope that something here resonates with you.

How to Get What You Value by Changing What You Measure

Tue, 13 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Give Up Control & Gain Influence To Get What You Want The metrics we choose to focus on can significantly shape our outcomes, sometimes in ways we don't intend. The challenge is to make sure that you are measuring the right things and with the right metrics. The bigger challenge is that those things that create the value are often hidden or invisible. If you do not understand, or can not see, the things that are creating the value you will struggle to measure them. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to this distinction and to offer some practical suggestions as to how you can identify and monitor these critical intangibles.

How to Become A Master At Overcoming Hard Moments

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 08:15:52 -0400

"The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It's because they lose again and again and have learned how to deal with it." This quote from Roger Federer has got a lot of coverage in social media and deservedly so. I am not very interested in tennis, but I have always taken great pleasure in watching him play in major tournaments. In common with each of the top players he had a remarkable capacity to focus on the shot in play and to put everything into that shot. Then, regardless of the outcome of that shot, he put it behind him and played the next shot as if his life depended on it. To become a master at overcoming hard moments when dealing with specific tasks in your working life and in your personal life you need to learn these basic skills:

Drop The Story - Deal With Your Demons and Transform Your Experience

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:41:44 -0400

Are you living your life from the stories you tell yourself? Learning how to drop the story and deal with that voice in your head can be a game changer. When you can do this you will have a powerful tool for breaking free from self-imposed limitations, improving performance in all areas of your life, and increasing your overall well-being. In this article I show you how and why you have these thoughts and to give you the tools to drop the story that is holding you back and making your life a misery.

Standing In The Gap Between No Longer And Not Yet

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 08:02:00 -0400

Standing In The Gap In Conditions Of Imposed Change. This is about imposed change and surviving a dire and desperate situation where you are stuck in a difficult or seemingly impossible set of circumstances and it just goes on and on and there is no end in sight... No-one would chose to live like this but millions of us do and are living in conditions of change that are imposed upon us. We have hope, even if only a little, the flame still flickers for a brighter better future. We stand in the gap between no longer and not yet. But how?

Preparing The Ground - For Things You Can Not See

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0400

We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the ground. The phrase "preparing the ground" is a metaphor for making the necessary preparations to create the favourable conditions for something to happen or succeed. The business as usual approach tends to focus on tangible things, things you can see, but these basic principles for preparing the ground can also be applied to things you can not see. Things such as how to:

Thrive in unforeseen chaos, disorder and disaster.
Position yourself to identify and exploit unseen opportunities.
Stand in the gap between the reality you experience now and a future reality you may aspire to.
Play the long game.

Here is a brief overview of each of these situations together with access to extensive resources for preparing the ground in each of these scenarios...

Easing The Weight Of Expectation

Sat, 25 May 2024 08:01:42 -0400

Don’t you often feel like you are carrying the weight of the world on your back? Our start point is understanding that the ego has a very clear idea of how things ought to be, and its intention and expectation is inextricably linked to circumstance. It has no sense of interconnection and the bigger picture. As a result of this we favour the visible, the embedded, the personal, the narrated, and the tangible; we scorn the abstract. When reality doesn’t match that expectation the result is frustration and pain. Here are some practical guidelines for easing the weight of your own expectations.

Coram Deo - Living In Consciousness

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

In you there is a dimension of consciousness far deeper than thought. It is the very essence of who you are. Coram Deo is about living in consciousness. It is a Latin phrase which literally means “to live before God”, "to live in the presence of God" or "to live face-to-face with God". The phrase first appeared in the late 4th Century Latin version of the Bible known as "The Vulgate". For readers not aligned with a Christian perspective, and who are followers of other faiths, or who are not aligned with any faith tradition, we can see this as living a daily life that is aligned with the highest consciousness. In this article we are taking a closer look at:

- What Coram Deo means.
- Three "Pegs In The Ground" to understand why this matters.
- Two "Frames of Reference" for how you can live this.
- Key Benefits of why you would want to live like this.

The Power Of Patience - Why You Need The World's Toughest Quality

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Nothing in the world can take the place of patience. Patience and persistence are omnipotent. In everyday life, patience is often overshadowed by the desire for immediate results. We live in an era of instant gratification, we want microwave results where waiting even a few seconds for a webpage to load can feel like an eternity. From a bigger picture perspective and beyond the annoyance of everyday frustrations, the power of patience in difficult circumstances is that it fosters resilience in the face of adversity which allows us to weather setbacks and failures without losing sight of our objectives. Patient people are resilient people who persist in their efforts. Here's how to develop the power of patience.

Demonizing The Other and Personal Acts Of Compassion

Mon, 1 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0400

What Does Demonizing The Other Mean? Demonizing the other refers to the act of portraying a group of people or an individual as inherently evil, threatening, or inferior. It often serves to justify discrimination, violence, or marginalization against the targeted group. This behavior is commonly observed in conflicts, political rhetoric, and social dynamics where one group seeks to vilify and dehumanize another. A current example of this is the response of many people towards the Israeli military action against Hamas in Gaza and the devastating effects of this action on the Palestinian people and their property. The use of dehumanising language against Israel has given rise to wide spread anti-semiticism. Israel in turn has adopted similar language against the Palestinian people whereby Palestinians are blamed for their own victimisation, and cease to be considered human. This behaviour have been seen throughout history. So how should I respond? What can I do to alleviate the suffering of others?

Why You Should Embrace Anomalies - The Incredible Value Of Disconfirming Evidence

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 01:00:00 -0400

Is Your Desire To Be Right Greater Than Your Desire To Have Been Right? An anomaly is a deviation from what is expected or commonly regarded as the norm. It often appears as an unexpected observation that defies conventional wisdom or established theories. It is frequently regarded as an abberation, a nuisance or an inconvenient interruption to a long cherished assumption. There are two fundamental reasons why you should embrace anomalies, and they are both related to your long term health wealth and happiness: [1] The identification of new and unrecognised opportunities. [2] The avoidance of ignored risk and disaster. Please read on to find how to do this...

Amazing Grace - The Majesty And The Mercy of Freedom From Your Pain

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"I once was lost, but now I am found, was blind, but now I see." The hymn and popular song "Amazing Grace" was written 250 years ago by John Newton, a former slave trader who in 1748 nearly died in a shipwreck off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland. Folk singer Judy Collins released what became a very popular a version of this song in 1970 and described it as: "a song of hope and healing. It has a feeling about surviving terrible things. But it gives you a moment of hope. Sometimes that's all you need, isn't it?" In this brief article I want to offer some practical suggestions as to how you can experience this amazing grace in your life.

The Transformative Power Of Acceptance

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Experience The Power Of Acceptance. This website contains about one million words. You could read every single word and it wouldn't make any real difference to you. You might become better informed, but that won't change you. There is one word in amongst the other 499,999 words on this site that does have the power to change you and to transform your life - if you choose to act upon it. This one word describes one simple teaching and one powerful practice. That word is acceptance.

Inversion - The Power Of Opposite Thinking

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 00:00:00 -0500

How To Avoid The Unwanted Outcome. The power of opposite thinking, also known as inversion, lies in its ability to stimulate creativity, enhance problem-solving, and provide a fresh perspective on challenges. It is especially useful when launching a new initiative or attempting to resolve a difficult problem. Instead of focusing on how to achieve a desired outcome, you consider the opposite – how to avoid the undesired outcome. Here's how to do it:

Are You Aligned With Reality? Or Do You See What You Believe?

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 04:28:28 -0500

We tend to see that which aligns with what we believe, and to act upon that rather than acting on reality. Being aligned with reality starts with a clear and accurate understanding of the world. It means perceiving and understanding the world as it truly is, without distortion or delusion. Alignment has been described as: "The key to success nobody ever taught you. The person who aligns themselves with the general principles of the world goes further and faster than the person who doesn’t." This sounds simple but is hard to put into practice. Here is how to do it.

The Law Of Response and Outcome

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

A New Approach To A New Life At time of writing we are entering a new year which is traditionally a time of making resolutions to change our behaviour and improve the quality of our lives. And yet powerful as this motivation is, it remains an aspiration, a figment of wishful thinking without a clear focal point for personal action together with steps to making it happen. The law of response and outcome provides that focus. Are you are ready to move beyond aspiration and wishful thinking?