There must be a place in the middle!

Had the most interesting weekend....read a lot, thought a lot, listened a lot (really like that Jose Gonzales album), even wrote a lot.

I am fascinated by belief and fundamentalism.... those who think they really know... the ones who really believe, i have learned to be very careful of these people, to question everything but not adopt questioning and second guessing as a lifestyle.

The book above is called SHAM, and it's an diatribe against the self help movement, but it's valuable as an alternative point of view.

It rails equally against the twin self help groups of victimisation and empowerment and examines the relationship and effect of both on individuals and modern society.

Victimisation is the "disease" mentality (typified by groups like alcoholics anonymous) of labelling things like alcoholism or obesity a "disease" which absolves the "sufferer" from either guilt or responsibility, talking about some "gene" which causes these things

Alternatively the empowerment movement (typified by the tony robbins of this world) leads people down the road of telling people they can do, be or have anything in the world they desire, which is not true either) He does make an interesting distinction between the concept of potential and reality...in other words you could (theoritically) become president of the united states... but we all know you won't. he says these guys sell potential as reality and that's why they are so addictive (it's a disease you know) and peddling hope is not that difficult to a world hungry for answers..

I enjoyed Roisin Ingle in the times on saturday.....and Chris barrows blog.... they are very open about how they are getting on..... maybe a bit too much but i like it....

there's a middle ground for everything..... between the stiff upper lip and the blubbering fool

between the niave glomp who accepts and believes everything and the hardened skeptic who believes nothing,

between all absolutes.... does this mean there is no absolute truth...... perhaps... does it mean that nothing matters.... no.... what does it mean then?

it means an enquiring mind is a good mind....but maybe we mix up enquiring with simply seeking to prove what we have already decided.

which puts us right back in the hamster wheel again.

I have real writing to do...hope it turns out better than this

Can't speak.....

am in the middle of a most interesting experiment, was on my feet all day today, my throat is full of razor blades and it kills me to speak...thus i shall try to get through the next day while speaking a little as humanely possible. this will be interesting for me as i am one of the greatest yappers in history.

I realise that a big change in my life in the last few years has been around the areas of endurance, courage, stickability, persistance and not giving up so easy. it would have been possible to not work today, but self employment through a conbination of fear, ambition and nescessity forces me to stretch myself and be there on days when i don't feel like it... thus i had the experience of getting up with hangovers before christmas and having to work (as opposed to staying in bed) and this week i have had the experience of forcing myself to do my duty rather than taking the easy way out... it's a major change from ringing in sick and getting a cert.

however it is still hugely important to take care of myself and not to overdo it... (ah yeah..laugh away) so over the next day or two i am taking a vow of virtual silence and am going to rest up and catch up on some writing and tendersw and stuff i need to do.

Did you recognise Sharon?..... Jesus does she look good for her age

Paul.

got there!

I was'nt brilliant, or inspired or amazing or stunning or anything like it, but i got there, I did'nt run away... stuck it out and eventually emerged out the other side
what are we goin to do today brain?


same thing we do everyday...... plan to take over the world.

Very Quickly

I only have 2 minutes, this is exactly what life feels like today.... I have to be on my feet in an hour to run a day long course in management skills and everything in life and work and my head feels all over the fucking place.

the thing about showbusiness though is that the "show must go on" and if this business is anything it's showbusiness, so i am going to get out there and burst through the day and put on a fantastic day for these people

later dudes

another new year

I have been a most reticent blogger for the last few weeks.... mainly due to a combination of business and apathy,
but i have many new years resolutions and this is one of them...to at least make an effort to write the diary, the online one a bit more regularly... it's bloody fascinating now for me to go back through the archive now ans see what was going on...for anyone else i imagine it would be a bit like gargling diesel but then this was for me in the first place.

Here are the resolutions, each one is run on a daily basis, i learned years ago never to say never and never to give up on or commit to anything forever.

I am keeping a journal every day.
I am going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week.
I am getting in 3 or 4 runs per week. We started at 20 mins... up to an half and hour now...watch out new york.
I have not smoked since the turn of the year.
Neither have i consumed that alcohol stuff.
I am working away..... and it's starting to fill up again rapidly.
I am keeping in better touch with my friends and being more assertive.

ah there's loads more....business is going to be mighty..... the house is a happy place... i'm in a good spot myself..... I am in love with the whole feckin thing.....what more do you want eh!

oh...and if i had to choose between you and Angelina Jolie....... i would choose you....and if you believe that you're a bigger feckin eejit than i ever thought before.

Happy New Year!

It's been a bloody busy Christmas..... had a lot of fun.. but it was a bit frantic at times heading here and there, and i really don't relax well outside my own house.

read a bit, listened to a lot of music.... the green day DVD and CD was the soundtrack to my holiday... also really liked the magic numbers and KT Turnstall, the Kaiser Chiefs were a bit of a dissapointment.

so i plan to have a few lazy days now before beating back into things on Thursday.

I have a few new year resoolutions, the main one is to get fit for the hard training that will begin around the middle of february,
i also intend to double the turnover of the business again this year, have a few nice breaks, and be kinder to myself!

i want to be as close as i can be to the people who are most precious to me, and enjoy those who bring fun to my life

as Jim Morrisson would say..... let it roll baby roll!

It's Christmas

Hello boys and girls.

It's almost Christmas and the world is a wonderful place, I have had work business replaced with the general madness of this time of year....truth is I love it.

This year I met so many wonderful amazing people that i did'nt even know last year, and those that i did know continue to reveal amazing depths and talents that nobody ever knew they had.

the years business was brilliant, next year will be even better.

I am giving the football one final major shot.

so from Jan 1st, I have to get rid of a few things from my life and add on a few more.

Alcohol has to go
Cigarettes have to go.
weights need to be pushed (feckin gyms)
running has to be done (OMG).

having said that...the side benefits will be huge.

No Hangovers.
More money
better health
fit fitter fittest
and I'll be a babe (ok maybe not a babe)

having put all that done i'm not sure whether i'm looking forward to the football or the side benefits the most.

finally have the wireless broadband installed at home, so perhaps i will be a more regular blogger

enjoy it and have a wonderful christmas

Paul.

Nearly Christmas

had the lovliest laziest weekend, did a few things on sat and on sunday did nothing but drink coffee, read the papers and practice a few magic tricks (which i am definately improving at)

was wondering over the weekend about reality, what it is, how it works etc, there was another wonderful robert winston show about the relationship between god and science on BBC 2, I really have no belief and i blame that mostly on those looneys in kentucky and alabama who will reject any sane evidence and still go with creationism as a belief system.

this intelligent design bullshit, it's not that i have a personal problem with them, let them believe what they like, it's just 3 things

1. They reject outright that anybody but them could possibly be true believers
2. there are soo many of the fookers
3. your man bush is one of them so they have significant political clout.

god save us all from the fundamentalists, regardless of their creed.

it's those who are certain that they are right that are surely the most dangerous

strange times.

I can't believe your man Roy Keane is moving to Celtic, all my worst nightmares have come to pass, I have to make myself the same promise regarding Celtic as I made regarding the Republic of Ireland after Saipan, namely I will not go to watch the club while he's there.

Roy Keane sums up for me everything thats cold and horrid in a human being

he intentionally goes out to hurt people
he has no compassion
he has an ego the size of a small elephant
he cannot take others into account
(and nowadays he's not a great player either)

I imagine wee gordon strachen will have to leave shortly as well, now that dermot desmond is picking the team

anyway........ apart from that all is well

do i love gadgets or what?

I am sitting on the floor in my sitting, writing this on my new powerbook, which is connected to the net via the bluetooth in my mobile phone, (the wireless broadband should be here tomorrow) and i'm navigating with my new cordless mouse.

it's still going to be very busy on the run up to christmas, but i think the worst is over, there's kinda a nice combination of work and fun left and I'm looking forward to it, was worried about today but it went so amazingly well...

ho ho ho

it's friday and it's wonderful

hey....... how's it going....it's almost the weekend.

my beauty is 13 tomorrow......time to forget all the sweet childhood stuff and embark on what you might call "the adventure of a lifetime"

she's the best kid in the world and I love her to bits...... my mates tell me that i am in for a hard time....that 13 to 85 is the most difficult time in a girls life....and her dads.

I do have hopes for her though.

I hope she is always her own woman.
I hope she is always independent.
I hope she never has to rely on any man for anything. (and that i will always be there for her)
I hope she finds happiness inside...and not spend her life searching for it outside
I hope she's lives up to her own unique beauty....and not someone elses concept.
I hope we're friends when i'm 90

ok....now for the party

What a laptop!

Those of you who read this rubbish occassionally will know that earlier on this year I set myself a particular goal and that the reward for achieving that would be a new Apple 17" Powerbook.

Well the good news is not only did i pick up the laptop yesterday, but i'm actually using it today to write this blog

now it's time to set a new goal and plan a new reward
it's gotta do with a quarter and here's the reward







cheers

paul

Saw this a few years ago, loved it!

To Sacrifice the Gift

Giving your best is really important, Steve said very little about perfection, but he did infer that we all have great gifts and that it is important to do our utmost to preserve and develop the gifts we get.

Take the gift of friendship for example, some people are willing to throw that away at the drop of a hat.... when they find that others are not as perfect as they would like them to be...they can discard them for not living up to thier own exacting standards.

Life is a gift...... make the best of it and remember its far too short to be spent wondering about the past or the future.

This gift is meant to be enjoyed right now.

Sure we might only be here for the same length of time as Steve.

Shoot the messenger!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I--I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference

Maggie and Fergie

Hello.

Were you ever wrong about something, but to admit it would be so hard that instead you lash out at the messenger.

I have so many things going superbly in my life right now..... it really is the best time ever, but one of the hardest things about improving life is that it is a lifelong process, you rarely get to accept yourself without thinking about what might be......if....if i did this...or stopped doing that!

I know this is not making a lot of sense! But i now see my life as a constant stream of choices, everytime i get the choice to go either left or right.....and sometimes the correct road...the one that you know will bring you closer to your goals is a tough bastard of a thing, and the other road looks a lot more attractive....nice and cushy and downhill......which one to take?...... which one to take......yeah I know I know.

that Robert Frost fella was only a gobshite......cos he was right.......two roads diverged in a yellow wood.....and I have to take the one less travelled by......so its easier to rant on about the messenger.....Robert....than to actually take the first steps down that road.

anyway......here's a few pics of Maggie and the Duchess of York.....maggies the one on the right

Paul.

What a day!

hes got no hair.....but we dont care

Went to parkhead last saturday for the first time in yonks...... not a bad day...watched the game from the directors box......we won 3-0....went to the players lounge afterwards.....had a lovely meal....and even had a drink with some of the rangers players back in the hotel later that night.

best day in a long time

gotta go

FEAR - Face Everything And Recover or Fuck Everytthing And Run

This blog started out as an opportunity for me to throw my thoughts out on paper (virtual) and have some structured way of keeping me in touch with myself, I know that some people have a wee look every now and then and thats ok too, but untimately it helps me to straighten out the spagetti in my head and bring a bit of clarity to my thinking. I want today to be about some of the stuff i have learned over the last two years of training and coaching with hundreds of people and lots of organisations and businesses.

1. There is no such thing as a perfect life.....its just bollix, there is no such thing as a life without pain and expecting one is just plain stupid, sure there are ways of managing the chaos that is our lives, but to expect that we can sail seamlessly through it is just crap..... life is a lot like the weather, sunny spells, rainy windy days, the odd heatwave and the odd hurricane. The most important thing is to keep going and to try to keep learning.

2. Most people have not got a fecking clue, they dont know how to enjoy sunny days, they dont know what to wear in the rain....as billy connolly once said...theres no such thing as bad weather, theres only the wrong clothes, they keep expecting the heatwave to break and they wont evacuate and hide during the bloody hurricanes.

3. Most businesses are run on a wing and a prayer (including this one although it is improving) Businesses are started and either grow or die....if they die they are not businesses anymore...if they grow they grow upwards, outwards, inwards, anywards without any real plans or thoughts. most businesses have no marketing plans, no sales plans, no defined management structures (with real accountability) no Human Relations structures....they are basically just all over the place... the ones that survive through all this have 3 things, decent products (which could be better) some customers (which could be more and more lucrative) and the drive and energy of owners who are mainly still thrashing around in the semi darkness but have becme good enough at it to make a good living from it (I am one of those myself too).

4. Nothing stays the same! Thurber said "most men lives lives of quiet desperation, others not so quiet" he was dead right...people who do the same ol same ol all the time claim to have lives of contented happiness....its not true.....there is a huge degree of frustration in everyone of lost opportunities and the only way to get rid of that is to immerse yourself in something new, and do it often.

5. Physical exercise is good for you. People who exercise and mind thier bodies are a million times happier that people who dont......period.

6. Everybody is afraid. everybody......and the only way to get rid of it is to keep taking on the things you are afraid of........FEAR has to acronyms (i am not a big fan of acronyms but i like this one)

Face Everything And Recover

or

Fuck Everything And Run

even if you fail you will feel a lot better about facing it.....at least you will have had a shot.

7. There is a huge hunger out there within people for survival, for ways to cope with the chaos and stress that is modern living....you can see it being avoided everywhere by the increases in alcohol consumption, drug use, workaholism and many other forms of avoidance (or Fucking everything and running like hell)

I know people are searching like hell for ways of surviving and coping with the whole bloody thing.........perhaps I can find a way to help.

Finally if any of this makes sense to you.....please send a link on to a friend.

Lose the Pic!

Have been advised to just lose this and get something more professional taken,

not much point in paying for business advice and then not taking it, so i shall get a new gorgeous one taken where you shall see me looking somewhat more businesslike (as opposed to the cover of a country and western album)

la bella vita I think is the phrase......

talk soon

Paul

Where is he off to.........

WOOHOO

I have never been this busy in my entire bloody life, the to do list is full, but at least I am getting through it, Ciara starts here on Monday, I cant wait! there is so much to do and i will have to learn to delegate and follow up. There are an awful lot of dates to be organised and an awful lot of people to be contacted.

This week has flown, even taking the bank holiday into account and I will be flat out until late tonight, I am also really proud of how Maggie has made a success of her job, she is doing an interview with RTE TV on saturday and it does not knock a feather out of her.

I have extablished a link with a video production company, this guy is a fecking genius and is exactly who i need right now, and he lives only about ten miles from sligo, so the future holds DVDs and downloadable video from the website and what the gurus call "passive income"

I have to create that future - but am starting to realise where I am off too.... time to jump out of the bowl.

Paul.