I’ve always been fascinated by the concept and application of leadership. One thing I’ve learnt in life is leadership is not only possible by those who are super confident, good looking and rich.

If we look closely there are unassuming leaders all around us; some in places which may seem rather unlikely.

Let us look at some of the examples of leaders, who are out there leading this very moment as a guide to how you too can be a leader.

And on what scale you would like to lead is entirely up to you. It can really be that small or that big.

Yes, you did read correctly.

Leaders of local car wash businesses

Over here in the UK, there are a numerous car wash establishments. I have been going to one in particular for the last 7 years. The main reason I go to this one is the people working there are extremely hardworking and are very good at washing my car. Underlying the employees working there is a leader. This individual stands out from the rest. I constantly see him assertively giving instructions to his employees in a language I don’t understand. When customers come, he will smile and have a quick chat with each one to see how they are.

Lessons from this type of leadership – Leaders of local car washes give instructions confidently to their employees and are also the main customer facing person in the organisation.

Religious leaders

If you walk into a Church, a Temple, a Mosque, a Synagogue or any other building of prayer, you will find a leader. This can include individuals such as Vicars, Priests, Imans and Rabbis. Such individuals lead prayers and congregations. Lay people usually look up to such people to lead ceremonies such as christenings, weddings and funerals. People usually feel they can confide and talk about personal matters with such religious leaders.

Lessons from this type of leadership – Religious leaders make themselves available to the people they lead and use their knowledge of certain areas to lead activities, which can have a big impact on people’s lives.

Teachers in schools

Teachers are an extremely important part of a child’s development early on in life and are often strong role models for children. For this reason teachers are natural leaders. The bigger the class the bigger number of children there are to lead.

Lessons from this type of leadership – Teachers have the ability to communicate to large groups and also talk on an individual basis. They can instruct and put their foot down when required if behaviour is not aligned with the discipline they expect.

Life Coaches

Life coaches help people become unstuck from problems, to help them live better and more wholesome lives. A person who has decided to seek help from a life coach is usually willing to take a ‘student’ position and allow the life coach to help her/him.

Lessons from this type of leadership – Life coaches demonstrates their ability to lead through talking a person through their problem and depending on the situation, either subtly or in a more pronounced way, suggest and persuade alternative ways of thinking and behaving to that individual.

Local entrepreneurs who develop and launch new products

A local entrepreneur is someone from your community who has an idea of a new product. At this stage it is just an idea in his/her head. As this person ponders and wants this idea to become real, the individual then sets out to make it so. This may include writing a business plan, doing market research to validate the idea, and then finding the resources to develop and launch the product.

Lessons from this type of leadership – The local entrepreneur is visionary and understands that in order to achieve something of value, one needs to have a vision of what they want first; and then they can figure out the details of how it will be done.

The neighbour who is putting up his/her own shed

DIY activities are excellent examples of leadership on a smaller scale. For instance, you might have a neighbour who is putting up his/her own shed in the garden. The neighbour (like the local entrepreneur who has a vision) has an idea of what he/she wants the shed to look like and where to place it. After purchasing the shed, the neighbour proceeds to put up the shed and does so over 1 week. You might also see a partner helping to put up the shed.

Lessons from this type of leadership – The neighbour has demonstrated strong project management abilities and is not afraid to work in a team.

Your turn

• How can you use the leadership skills demonstrated by the leaders in this post to lead in particular aspects of your life?
• What activities in life are you currently leading and how exactly are you leading?
• What others types of unlikely leaders can you think of?
• Please share your valuable views and experiences in the comments box below.

Photo Credit: MDGovpics

Note: This is an amazing guest post written by Kath Roberts. Please show this brilliant lady some love!

Self awareness is both underestimated and frequently exaggerated. Many people like to believe they are self aware yet fail to practise these five critical steps.

Step 1 Pay Attention.

One of the most essential and necessary parts to personal growth and development is the importance of staying 100% focused.

Think about it, when was the last time you paid attention to the taste of the food you were eating for lunch?

How often do you sit eating a meal without distraction from what’s on the TV?

Equally, how often do you go about your daily tasks distracted by feelings regarding your life, your relationship or perhaps lack of one, needs and desires, or just being fearful about what might come to pass?

When your thinking subsides for a moment a space of stillness arises within you, bringing a doorway into your being.

Most of us live in a world of constant mental abstraction, conceptualisation and image –making. In this world of thought we’re immersed in a continuous stream of mental noise and internal chatter.

We think about all our problems.

We think about all our past pains.

We ponder all our uncertainty for the future.

We think about how little time there is.

We think about doing more and booking our next holiday just to escape from it all and get some peace!

We lose ourselves in a frenzy of doing, then thinking, then more doing and anticipating and the more we do the more complex our world gets and the more we choose to suffer as a result.

So follow the first step, make intimate friends with the present moment. When you don’t allow yourself to be possessed by your thoughts or distracted by your gadgets you’ll find things around you gain a certain “newness” and “freshness” to them. The quality and depth of life returns and we begin to appreciate the beauty of nature and the small things in life that bring a certain richness like the smile of a stranger or the kind word of a colleague or just a walk with the dog.

Step 2 Learn To Speak The Truth.

When you do this, irrespective of the fact that it tends to be in our moral code, you align yourself with an amazing power. Passing along gossip is not necessarily speaking the truth. Words, believe it or not, have power and so vigilance over what you say, both to yourself and others, is imperative if you want to personally  grow.

When you can speak about your own inner experience your words bring you in closer union with others. We all love authenticity and sincerity in others because it’s such a rare commodity in public and professional life these days. We feel better about ourselves when we speak truthfully and we become seen as someone who can be trusted. Truth builds self esteem like nothing else and as you become more aligned with your real authentic nature, others will relate to you more.

When we are in a position to follow our hearts first then engage our heads in any decision-making process, we open up a channel for honest engagement. Think of it as your soul speaking directly to you, which is always more loving and kind.

Step 3-Get Clear On What You Want.

Many people never even get past this step because they fail to give sufficient time and focus to getting clear about it. The majority of folks live in a state of constant fear, focussing their attention instead on what they don’t want and then wondering what happened when life reciprocates those thoughts beautifully by providing the physical evidence.

Be specific and learn to verbalise and write your goals down in the present tense, imagining as you do that they’ve already been achieved. Many people know this but very few people do it.  It makes all the difference to a successful outcome, combined with all the other steps.

Making your needs and wants known is a necessary process of manifesting them.

Step 4 Lose The Victim Tag

No one causes you to feel bad other than yourself. We can’t always avoid life’s ebbs and flows and this means stuff happens that we don’t always want but we always get to choose how we want to respond. Blaming others for what happens to you is a cop out. When we seize blaming others for our self created experience we begin to see reality with an entirely new perspective. We literally get a quantum dose of personal growth.

Victims are helpless and you are the master of your destiny and the captain of your soul as the saying goes.

Think about it, what’s the difference between 2 identical twins, both raised in abject poverty, identical family circumstances, both get the same standard of education and attention from their parents. One goes on to become a self made millionaire and social philanthropist, whilst the other remains in the local neighbourhood turning to drug selling and crime as a means of thriving.

It comes down to choice and responsibility for ourselves but if you want to live a more fulfilling existence, free of guilt and full of positive life affirming experiences then you need to take full responsibility for your experience. That starts in believing it’s all possible and then learning to love and respect yourself enough to choose personal growth and doing the right thing over ego satisfaction and outside influence.

Step 5 Always Keep Your Agreements

When you set an intention to keep your agreements you begin to recognise how much harmony or disharmony you  are creating. In a nutshell when you don’t keep your agreements with yourself and others it becomes a heavy burden to bear. You fall into the trap of not liking or trusting yourself very much then speaking harshly to yourself, all leading to a cycle of excuses, disappointments and the dead end road to regrets.

Don’t let that happen to you!

Practise these 5 steps continuously and you’ll be well on your way up the self imposed mountain of limitations, expanding your horizons, self awareness and consciousness to view panoramic delights of transformative proportions.

Your turn

• Please share your valuable experiences and thoughts in the comments box below.
• How have you increased your own self-awareness to help you improve your life?
• Please also share this post on your favourite social networks.

Kath Roberts is a life and business coach, internet marketer, blogger and midlife rebel. She spent 13 years in recruitment at a senior level assisting others with building their careers and identifying top talent for her clients and her own business and now she’s advocating  flying solo, being your own boss and creating inspired work, the stuff that lights you up. Her unique talent comes from her love of personal development, coaching and a desire to inspire others. She’ll help you find yourself, then be yourself then find the work you love to do. She is an energiser, a ray of positivity and a guiding light in an ocean of possibilities that’s because she’s living her purpose. You can find her at: http://www.alchemy4thesoul.com/blog or http://www.makeworkplay.co.uk

I’m currently going through the ‘Overcoming Fear: Sticking It to What’s Holding You Back eBook and Audio Program’ and wanted to write a review on what I’ve covered so far.

The program has been created in collaboration between Justin Mazza the personal development coach, Mohamed Tohami who is renowned for his interviews with successful people and Lisa H. Wright, the mother, blogger, runner and happiness seeker.

The program is made up of the following:

1. A 49 Page eBook entitled ‘Overcoming Fear: Sticking It to What’s Holding You Back’.

2. 4 audio interviews with top experts.

3. 2 free bonus eBooks entitled ‘The Guide to Being Human Pt 1’ and ‘Get out of your own way: an original workbook for inspiring change’.

Below are my thoughts on what I’ve read and heard so far.

The main eBook

The eBook has a very interesting beginning and the first chapter is devoted to explaining how we as humans are born into a world and have been indoctrinated by the society to be in a certain way, to act in a certain way and how the seeds of personal limitations are created at this time.

The second chapter is a powerful one and helps you to reignite your dreams and to appreciate that time doe’s move on, and to use having less time as a motivator to get into action.

One aspect I liked is the explanation, that although it may be too late to do certain things such as becoming a professional sports star, you could become a coach, as an example of how you can still achieve some of your dream now.

Chapter 3 then goes into fear and expertly explains the different types of fear. When I was reading, I could appreciate all the types explained. Chapter 4 proceeds to discuss that what could be keeping us back in life is a fear we might just succeed at what we want to do. I agree totally.

Chapter 5 is an excellent explanation on how fear is related to underlying beliefs and how fear allows us to become aware we have such beliefs in the first place.

The next chapter contains many nuggets of wisdom and explains how we should allow ourselves to dream again like we did as kids, look for happiness from within, move on from the past, and be grateful for what we already have.

The eBook then proceeds in the following chapter to explain further how the universe is unfolding exactly as it is supposed to, and what really hit it home for me was to understand how the world will not wait for us. It will keep changing. We can decide to change too. However, the world will not wait for us.

Chapter 8 explains how to rather than resist what you don’t want as this is how we create pain, is to instead shift our focus totally to where we currently are, and to let go of expectation.

The next chapter gives practical ways of how you can use fear to demonstrate courage such as not hesitating for too long, as this gives time to our minds to rationalise the fear and reasons for why we shouldn’t proceed.

Rather than doing this, you can train your mind to act quickly in those situations where you would usually hesitate, and act on the desire of the present moment without letting worries about the future start.

The book proceeds to discuss worry as also being a form and explains useful ways to deal with this such as embracing uncertainty, which are normal aspects of everyday life. Included, are a great set of questions you can ask yourself to help you become more comfortable with uncertainty.

It teaches to stop comparing yourself to others and remain focused on you and what you are doing and to take small steps when working on overcoming your fears.

The book ends with a list of great things you can do to step out of your comfort zone, practical ways of first establishing limiting beliefs you may have about yourself and then replacing them with more empowering ones.

Audio Interview with Guy Finley

The audio interview I’ve heard so far is conducted by Mohamed Tohami with the world famous and best-selling self-realization author Guy Finley. This interview is around 1 hour along and below I’m writing just a very brief overview of it.

Guy talks about his life and how he hadn’t set out to be successful.

He was born in a successful family. He grew up with people who were successful and saw them treat others badly and witnessed a lot of self-centred activity. He knew there was something wrong with the world he lived in. He expected these successful people to be more compassionate, but rather they were the opposite.

He talks about his intense love of music and how it allowed him to express his emotions.

Guy explains how he was a successful composer. In the eyes of others it was making him a success. However, it wasn’t bringing him contentment. Guy realised the more he got, he didn’t get free.

He then quit the music business and travelled to the Far East and India and met people who could shed light on the contradiction he witnessed in his life.

He teaches to firstly seek the truth of ourselves, and how dissatisfaction arises when we try and look for ourselves in all the wrong places, i.e. outside of ourselves. He explains how intrinsic value of a human being is found in the heart and mind of a person and in relation to what is divine.

He talks about fear which tries to crush love. One particular thing he mentions really struck a chord with me. He says to not listen to the negativity of the past. People act from the love of what they do and if they persist, they will realise nothing can get in their way.

He discusses how all negative thoughts and feelings are lies and if there is a wish for you to make a change, the divine in us will create the opportunity to change.

What I liked was how Guy explains resistance. For instance he talks about how an event happens and we judge it as being bad. At this moment something deep inside us resists that moment. This resistance is the father of the fear that takes control of our life.

Wrap up

I still have 3 other audios to go through and read the 2 free bonus eBooks.

However, from what I’ve gone through so far, it is clear this is a solid program based upon years of experience of the creators. It is full of high quality practical advice, which when applied in life will no doubt help people overcome their individual fears.

For this reason, I can definitely recommend the program. You can find out more and order the program at this page.

My friends, it’s over to you.

How has fear held you back in life? What was the fear about and what did you do do to overcome it?  Please share your valuable views and comments in the box below.

My friend and top life coach Amit Sodha, recently published a guest post I wrote for his brilliant Unlimited Choice blog.

In the post I break down the concept of bravery and how you can be brave to overcome challenges in your life.

I hope you enjoy the post and if you do, please feel free to share it on your favourite social network(s).

Photo Credit: D. Sharon Pruitt

Once when we were little, we went to school…

Most of us at some time for a certain period of our younger life have been to school. We have been a part of our education system within our own areas as a pupil.

My own views on education are that every child in the world deserves a decent one. We all need to find our own way in life, earn a living and look after ourselves and our families.

A good education can be important in ensuring we are qualified to do jobs that require knowledge and skills in certain areas.

School is great. School is brilliant!

However, I have doubts about how much school equips young people with life skills, which essentially will serve us for the rest of our lives.

To explore further, let’s for a moment use an example of a hypothetical young women called Jenny who is in her mid-twenties.

She has a Bachelors Degree in Business Studies, and a Masters Degree in Marketing. She has a good job as a marketing consultant for a growing company. She is living in a nice apartment.

On the face of it, she has everything a young person her age might dream of.

However, on the inside things are different.

She is self-conscious about the way she looks. She is lacking confidence in her ability to succeed. She is suffering low self-esteem and is feeling depressed.

This isn’t really something new. She was a quiet girl when she was young and wasn’t very assertive when at school.

However, she now needs help.

How many of you can relate to this girl? I know I can.

Why school can be a place where we learn how to deal with this

Its obvious Jenny is suffering from emotional problems.

My biggest question is what could have her time at school done for her, to equip her for the ups and downs of life?

How much do schools teach confidence building?

How much do schools teach that shy kid who sits in the corner to speak up?

I don’t want to be mistaken here. I’m sure there are tens of thousands of teachers in the world, who try and help those kids who lack confidence. I’m talking about a more generalised view here.

My point is schools could teach some of the skills, which would have helped people like Jenny later on life.

My extra school curriculum

1. Teach kids that grades are important but so is their self-esteem

Getting good grades is a big part of going to school. Kids need to get grades in order to get into good high schools, colleges and then universities.

However, schools can teach youngsters they are still somebody if they don’t get certain grades. A child’s self-esteem is a given, good grades or no good grades. Schools can emphasis a type of teaching where kids are encouraged to appreciate their selves as valuable young human beings.

2. How to be confident

When we become adults and decide to improve our lives, we learn ways of increasing our confidence, such as doing exactly those activities that we are fearful and hesitant to do. So why cannot, simple lessons be given to young kids at school, especially those who avoid or dread certain activities?

If they could be taught the more they do the activity the easier it will become, then surely this must help?

Or am I missing something here?

3. Basic skills in how the thought-feeling-behaviour cycle works

There is a basic cognitive model at a top level that governs what we experience. Usually events happen; we then have thoughts about those events which cause us to have to feelings, and then feelings cause us to act in certain ways.

By the time we’re adults we’ve created loads of these habitual reaction cycles, which can cause us all kinds of problems. It’s only when we consciously bring to light what is happening in these cycles, do we learn ways of breaking them.

Now, if kids in a very simple way were taught, this is how humans generally react to things and act, and how it can also lead us to having some problems, and then shown some ways of choosing to respond in different ways, then surely this can be a good thing.

4. Use of humour – on ourselves

When I was kid, I would do anything to not be laughed at. How about if kids were taught to laugh at themselves sometimes?

What would be great is if they could learn to laugh off mistakes, and appreciate it isn’t a big deal if they didn’t get it right the first time. As long as they made an effort then they can always try again.

5. Real happiness comes from within

With schools being geared for getting good grades, in order to then get good jobs, make money and buy nice things, there is a certain implication in all this. It suggests happiness will come when we have succeeded ‘externally’ and have amassed wealth. However, as many adults come to realise, nothing further could be from the truth.

Kids could be taught that although it is excellent to have aspirations and visions for a good life, working on those things which make us worry like fearful activities, will increase their happiness.

So to would learning to appreciate all that each young person already has, as would working on improving on their capabilities, rather than perfecting them.

In conclusion

I know this post is over-simplified. And of course kids being kids, their brains are still not mature.

However, I refuse to believe that such things cannot be taught in some way to younger people. So my message to schools is: Please teach kids more life skills.

My friends, it’s over to you.

How useful was your school at teaching you life skills? What else would you add to the extra school curriculum?  Please share your valuable views and comments in the box below.

Photo Credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery’s photostream

“I am convinced that when you SPEAK from the HEART you give yourself over to a higher power. The churchmen of my childhood wired themselves into this power each time they were called upon to read passage, pray and perform ceremony. The net result was an emotional, compelling and authentic service.”

~ SPEAK from the HEART

I absolutely loved and heartily recommend Bobby Livingston’s book, entitled  SPEAK from the Heart: How to Master the Art of Public Speaking in 7 Easy Lessons.

He advocates a simple yet powerful approach to public speaking; namely speaking from the heart.

Bobby’s obvious passion for public speaking comes through in his writing. What I found great about his book, is how he builds up the art of public speaking by giving examples of people who found it difficult to speak publicly, and whose performances were completely transformed when they spoke from the heart, such as Sir Winston Churchill.

Bobby through his writing enables you to believe that you are also capable of such amazing feats.

The book is split into easy to read lessons of which there are 7 in total. Each has its own objectives, then the actual content of the lesson, and then a challenge at the end.

The challenges throughout the book are excellent, which guide you step-by-step to help you prepare yourself for giving a speech and then actually delivering it. Each challenge helps to increase your confidence in public speaking. What Bobby does at the end of each challenge is to ask you question, so you can really reflect on your performance.

What I appreciate about the book, is that Bobby really emphasises how public speaking is a creative art and not just about getting up to speak, and how doing so creates a strong energy between you and the audience!

He talks about the importance of removing those bad habits that we all get into, and get rid of the “ums”, “ers”, “ahs”, “you know”. We’re all guilty of them, but saying them certainly does not help giving an elegant and fluent speech!

He discusses about speaking correctly grammatically, and how to slow down your speech and really enunciating your words for dramatic impact.

Bobby explains how you can increase your confidence by using words that convey conviction, belief, passion, and purpose. This creates a positive “energy thread” and the more positive you begin to feel the stronger and stronger your message becomes.

Bobby includes a sample speech, which you can use to do the challenges throughout the book.

Another brilliant challenge in the book is speaking, recording yourself and then listening for the areas where you can make improvements.

“So how do you improve this situation? Importantly, you first need to recognise you punctuate your speech this way. Listen back to a recording of yourself and take note.”

~ SPEAK from the HEART

Who isn’t mesmerised by an inspiring speaker? With such a person, who wouldn’t to hear them speak?

Bobby explains in useful chunks how you can achieve this, through developing the skills of an actor to then bring into your speech, such working on your emotions, and demonstrating these to go with the changes in your speech.

He shows ways of accessing moods and becoming aware of them by listening to classical music. For instance, if the music is conveying sad and angry moods, then as you’re sensing these particular emotions, say words that come out of your mouth.

The book also effectively explains how to use the power of eye contact, gestures and body movements, and expertly teaches how to use these when giving a speech, to support and express further what you’re saying.

One approach I liked in particular was practicing responding to the different sounds in a piece of music such as tension and intuition. He explains how our gestures become visual images, which are then, are appealing to our audiences. However, he also explains how not to use body language and what could be considered to be off-putting to the audience.

“Eye contact is exactly the same. In my professional opinion it is extremely powerful. A fleeting gaze can be inclusive, personal or confrontational. It adds impact, force and purpose. If you had a head teacher at your primary school like I did you will know exactly what I mean.”

~ SPEAK from the HEART

He teaches about posture and what makes an honest approachable stance and what makes a fearful one. He describes the importance of appearance and hair when speaking and how to achieve the appropriate effect depending on the type of audience you are speaking too.

A great section is how to make your voice more powerful through making changes in volume, and tempo to ensure you are heard and the words you say sound interesting. Modulation is also explained as varying tones and pitches can add warmth, sincerity and passion to our speeches.

He teaches good techniques on how to write a captivating speech, and explains the key components that make up such a speech along with what needs to go in each part, so your speech has a seamless flow.

Other aspects covered are how to develop understanding with your audience, so that you gain trust with them and are able to create momentum and gain commitment from them. This is particularly important if you are giving a speech in a sales context for instance.

The book ends with a great exercise on evaluating professional speakers and Bobby has included an evaluation guide to help you do this. And then there is an exercise on evaluating yourself!

SPEAK from the HEART is easily the best text I’ve read on public speaking. I would like to congratulate Bobby Livingston on his quite brilliant book.

You can order the book from Amazon.

Please note: I have no affiliate connections with this book.

Have you had experiences with public speaking? Or have you thought about giving it try? Please leave a comment and share your experiences and thoughts on this fascinating subject.

For all of you who do cold calling as a part of their work, I have written a guest post over at Mazzastick.com, the brilliant personal development site run by Justin Mazza.

The post is entitled How To Use Anchoring To Help You Make Cold Calls. In it, I teach how you use can use the powerful technique of Anchoring to help you increase your confidence, when picking up and talking on the phone.

If you find the post helpful, please show your support and leave a comment at Justin’s blog and/or share the post with your followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or your favourite social network.

Photo credit: bfishadow

I’ve written a guest post over at the Meant to be Happy blog, which is run by my friend Ken Wert.

Ken is an amazing individual, who shares his wisdom, experience and knowledge at his blog, to help people find true happiness in their lives. He also happens to be one of the biggest bloggers in the world, in the area of personal development.

Recently, he was Winner of Steve Aitchison’s Best Personal Development Blog for 2011 award.

The post I have written at Ken’s blog is entitled 5 Ways to Break Through What Keeps You from the Life You Want.

In this post, I talk about how you can overcome worst case scenario thinking, so that you continue to grow and develop as an individual.

If you find the post helpful, please show your support and leave a comment at Ken’s blog and/or share the post with your followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or your favourite social network.

          Photo Credit: SigNote Cloud

My mate Deeone Higgs recently undertook the 7 Links Challenge.

I have to admit I was excited about  Deeone’s post about the challenge. He had cleverly perked up my interest, by telling me that he had a surprise in for me.

Well after checking out his post I knew what he meant. He has bestowed the honour of nominating me for the 7 Links Challenge. He had also nominated me for his 7 Random Facts challenge.

I was absolutely thrilled to be nominated by Deeone and was grateful for his appreciation of my work. So, I left a comment at Deeone’s post telling him how excited I was at being nominated.

For those who don’t know about this, a blogger is awarded a nomination to do the 7 Links Challenge, which involves looking back at 7 of our posts belonging the following categories:

1. Most beautiful post
2. Most popular post
3. Most controversial post
4. Most helpful post
5. Post whose success surprised you
6. Post you felt didn’t get the attention it deserved
7. Post that you are most proud of

After sharing these posts, the blogger then has to share the award with 5 other bloggers.

The 7 Random facts is pretty self-explanatory, and the blogger has to state 7 random things about himself/herself.

After reading Deeone’s post and commenting, I went over to my other mate Justin Mazza’s blog Mazzastick.com to see what he had been up to. I saw he had also taken up the 7 Links Challenge. When I reached the end of his post, I saw that Justin had also nominated me for the 7 Links Challenge!

I had to take up the challenge now!

My 7 Posts

Most beautiful post

I’ve selected the post My experiments with change because this post captures the true essence of the message I want to get across to people , which is you can change, and contains real examples of how I personally created change in my life.

Most popular post

My post popular post is The Lost Art Of Stepping Out Of Your Box, which is a guest post at Stuart Mill’s blog Unlock The Door. Up until now it has got 67 comments! Thanks to everyone for making it the most popular one.

Most controversial post

I’ve selected Forgiveness is a key ingredient to freedom for this one. In a way, this post was quite beautiful and it has got a great reception from readers. However, I did have to think a few times before clicking the ‘Publish’ button in WordPress because it covered an area that is very sensitive to some.

Most helpful post

This post has to be my guest post entitled Meditating yourself to transformation at Zeenat Merchant-Syal’s blog Positive Provocations.

Post whose success surprised me

This one has to be If you know ‘why’ then will you focus on ‘how’. I did believe people would find it interesting, but I never expected it to get the amount of attention it has.

Post I felt didn’t get the attention it deserved

I felt What Stutterers can learn from Entrepreneurs didn’t get the attention it deserved. With this post it was a message to other people who stuttered that if I can become an entrepreneur, then so can they. However, it hasn’t had many visits except from my friend Ruth Zive! Thanks Ruth.

Post I’m most proud of

Ten Tactics to Deal With Stammering. This post was a strong message to people who stutter, that there were many things they can do to improve their lives.

7 Random Facts

1. I’m red-green colour blind.

2. I’m left handed.

3. Some people think I’m extroverted but I’m really very introverted.

4. Some who know me to an introvert don’t know I can be extroverted.

5. I love accents, especially American ones!

6. If I wake up after 9 am I think I’ve wasted too much of a day.

7. I’ve always wanted to go to China.

So there you have it. My 7 Links and my 7 Random Facts.

My 5 nominees for the award are as follows. To all, please don’t feel you need to participate, but if you choose it, it would be wonderful! You can either participate in the 7 Links Challenge or the 7 Random Facts challenge, or both.

My Nominees

Bellaisa Filippis

David Stevens

Melanie Kissell

Debbie Bills

Rob White

Well done you 5!

If you have liked any of the posts I’ve shared above, then please leave a comment in the box below and/or share it with your followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or your favourite social network.

I’ve been following Stuart Mills for a while now. He is a top-notch personal development coach, and is the owner of the brilliant Unlock The Door blog, which is dedicated to help you unlock the solutions to your problems.

Stuart has published a guest article I wrote for his blog, called  The Lost Art Of Stepping Out Of Your Box. In this post, I talk about how you can change the direction of your consciousness, to help you get ‘out of your box’, and become unstuck from problems you may be facing.

If you find the post helpful, please do leave a comment at Stuart’s blog and/or share the post with your followers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or your favourite social network.