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Archive for the ‘Personal Development’ Category

Ten ‘Ageless’ Marketing Ideas

I recently re-discovered a booklet for consultants containing oft-attention getting, and hopefully to some extent business generating, concepts. Some ideas seem universal, but need to be kept up-to-date

  • Charity events, should be selected in consideration of which services being supported might have personal relevance in the future
  • Community gardens, come with a built-in implication of watching for what varieties and substances are being encouraged to grow (more…)

How Deep Is Your Bucket List?

For a long time, the most common expression featuring the word bucket was ‘kicking the bucket’. A somewhat humourous metaphor, it essentially serves as salve for the ominous image of the end of life.

In recent times, the bucket has been kicked over to a more positive, forward looking concept – albeit still relating to the end of one’s road – the ‘bucket list’. One suspects that longer life beyond work years has something to do with this growing popularity. (more…)

More on Rewriting One’s Life

Anyone who takes writing seriously knows the importance and value of rewriting. A fresh perspective on something recently written will almost always allow for a more objective eye and ear to the words on the page. Indeed, one of the most valuable tips I’ve received as a writer is to speak the words aloud, as audible speech draws attention to rhythm issues not necessarily evident in a string of words which look good on the page.

In follow-up to a recent post, here are some additional tips about “Rewriting Your Life”, based on a series of short articles in the current edition of Psychology Today. (more…)

A Fork in the Road

At our Toastmasters meeting yesterday, as chair my selected theme was ‘A Fork in the Road’.

Certainly the expression has a highly conceptual value, both literally, and widely as figurative, symbolic representation.

The primary reason I picked this as theme had to do with recognizing that a portion of the meeting would be devoted to an annual rite of a Toastmasters club, (more…)

Life Lessons from GRIMM

It’s interesting how the length of a TV series season has evolved over the last 50 years. Into the 1960s, there were some with seasons of more than twenty-six episodes: Perry Mason, The Wild Wild West, and Lost in Space are three examples (all on CBS). Nowadays, depending on the network, a season usually varies between ten and twenty-two episodes, although certain shows at times have had more (Frasier being an example). But I digress… (more…)

PowerPoint Presents…

If there’s been a development displaying tech prowess in making presentations, a pillar for years now has been PowerPoint.

From my years in the financial services industry, in which those conducting seminars and training sessions had this tool as almost de rigueur, I noted two main scales of adoption: based on adeptness in using the technology, and based on adeptness in visual presentation. Some of us were more comfortable than others with the projection process. Some were better than others in visual effectiveness. (more…)

Man vs. Intellect

Men are more renown for displaying sound and bluster than women. This is probably a carryover from ancestry, when competition for females in the past favoured a display of physical attributes. (Or, at least, so we’re led to believe.)

The representation of men in film and television – dependable bastions of enlightenment to be sure – has, over the years, seemed to reinforce this archetype. The entertainment media has frequently embellished this with layers of male naiveté, such as in family situation comedies. (more…)

What’s the Story?

Once upon a time, long before the age of the printing press, not to mention modern mass media, communicating ideas occurred within groups sitting around campfires telling stories. Now that scenario is largely restricted to campgrounds, or organizational retreats, or the plots of youth-oriented horror movies. (Or the occasional summer blockbuster – remember the opening scene of Jaws?) (more…)

Do I Remember This Correctly?

In the current newsstand edition of Psychology Today we are taken back to the theme of how valid are our memories.

Two main categories of investigative commentary emerge:

  • Recalling vivid episodes from the past, the further back the more effective, can provide benefits to our lives now
  • Sensory based recollections have the best chance of being accurate, given the challenge in general of being true

(more…)

They Are Not Tripping

According to a report in the April issue of The Insurance & Investment Journal, the travel industry is seeing many incentive trips for sales leaders sailing into the sunset.

A number of top insurance firms in Canada have announced, or are unveiling, plans to veer away from such programs, beginning with industry giant Great-West Life. (more…)