John's Blog

  The Power of Your Inner Voice: A Guide to Personal Development Your inner voice is one of the most profound mental tools you possess. It’s your constant companion, shaping your thoughts, guiding your decisions, and influencing your emotions.  Yet, this mysterious presence often gets misunderstood. Some might label it as self-doubt or negativity, but your inner voice isn’t inherently evil. In fact, when harnessed correctly, it becomes a critical ally in your journey toward personal growth and sustainable success. In this blog post, we’ll explore what the inner voice truly is, dispel myths about its nature, and share five actionable ways to use your inner voice to elevate your life.  What Is the Inner Voice? The inner voice is the stream of thoughts, ideas, and reflections that runs through your mind. It’s the voice that narrates your life, comments on your actions, and processes the world around you. Psychologists often refer to it as "self-talk." Far from being an...

  We walk in darkness to cloak our brokenness, but the light is calling. Trauma, rejection and scarcity aren't just events in our history, but they are evil alchemists too. This nasty trio turns your mental juices into depression, makes your heart circulate bitterness, and turns your hope to expect only failure - for one reason only - to keep you in the dark. We mistakenly believe that darkness is our friend and will tend to our wounds, but the darkness only lets them fester. Darkness keeps us separated from others too, just in case someone points out our weakening state and offers real help, real solutions, real love. It's in light that we find healing. It is in light that we discover our worth. Yes, I know that those that hand a hand in breaking you claimed to represent the light. But it remains, in their brokenness, their attempts to help you failed. Forgive them. Forgive them and seek your wholeness. We can't find it by night. We find it in the light. We find o...

To you, one of God's unique little kids, I want to say that different does not mean seperate.  Often people sitting on the fringes of society feel disconnected from the rest of the world. They sit on the fringe because they are different, and others draw away. These are people that dont blindly accept tradition as truth, unwilling to conform just for the sake of agreement. These oddballs look at life from an angle that most ... well, let's just say, that most have never considered.  Fringe life is a lonely and a trying place. Even though most fringe-sitters have friends, it's a meeting-by-appointment arrangement, as the friends dont really want to expose others to the one-of-a-kind perspectives. So, "fringees" dont usually get invited to the big get-togethers, and live in solitude, sometimes by choice, sometimes not.  Take courage you special biscuits, I want to tell you something. The world in which we live is shaped by the odd dreams of artists and inv...

There are no hop, skip, or jumps to greatness. Success in life is a systematic process, where one step follows the next. You can turn the speed dial any way you like, but you can't miss steps.  Have you heard the one where the computer programmer comes home with six cartons of milk. His wife, with a belligerent look on her face , says: "I told you to bring one carton of milk, and if they have apples, bring six." "Exactly," said the husband.  The husband and programmer, in this story followed his wife's instructions in the same way that he would program a computer. A computer carries out instruction one line at a time. If the supermarket didn't have apples, he would have brought home only one milk carton. This addition to the computers instruction is called a "condition."  Some people would argue that the wife implied that the husband should bring home six apples if the store had them in stock. Yes, this was implied, but a computer...

So, imagine you're the winner on a game show and you get to choose your own prize. The options are a bottle of water and a fat diamond. Which would you choose?  The answer is obvious... the diamond, of course.  Okay, let's change the situation. Imagine that you were lost in the desert for a few blistering hot days, and suffer from dehydration. Which one would you choose between the bottle of water and the diamond this time? The diamond would be of little value to you, as you are lost, dying, and unsure you would get out of the desert alive. In this situation, you value the bottle of water more than the diamond. This method of putting a value of something, is called utility value. Utility is the value of an object, knowledge or a person, determined by how useful it/they are in the "now" situation. This way of valuing something also offers an insight to Maslow's hierarchy of Needs model.  Most people live by utility, and plod around Maslows lower levels of...

Get out of the box - Part 3 - Principle rules Precedent.  If we are fortunate enough to overcome the first limitation of our paper prison, the lack of instant feedback, then we need to deal with the 2nd wall limiting our growth: allowing precedent, our past experience, to rule our judgment.  "I tried it, but it didn't work" has become the anthem for those unwilling to work their way out of the rut. We use this excuse to pardon our failure and to justify our lethargy.  It's time to admit that weak and uninformed attempts at bringing about change are NOT "proof" that the method, recipe or principle doesn't work, but is infact evidence that we are not really willing to change.  There is nothing new under the sun. Everything that is, was. Everything that was, will be.  I promise you: someone somewhere has successfully achieved what you want to attempt, and they have the right laws, principles, and methods for you to duplicate the success.  Gett...

"Know thyself" is a critical key to success in life, love, work and play.     Success is like programming a journey on a GPS, it wants to know where you're going, and it wants to know where you are in order to pick the best route.    For the most part, people will clearly tell the success-GPS where they want to go. However, defining where they are - not as simple! The task of self-discovery can become a complicated and draining process when left in the hands of beginners.    "Well, I don't need self-development. I'm happy where I am." Okay, then you had better be happy forever more with where you are, because any change must come from within.     You can only take out of a bag that which is already in it. What's currently in your life-bag produces the life you have. If you want something else from life, you will first have to put something else into your life-bag.     Choosing what to put into th...

You are not a product of your past, but of the choices and actions you take now.     As a ship moves, it leaves a trail or a track of its travel through the water. You can easily tell where the ship has been by looking at this disturbance that we call a wake.     As much as we can see the ship's past path by observing the wake, it has no direct bearing on the ships movement now or its progress in the future.     It would be ridiculous to claim that the resulting wake has an influence on the ships current direction.     To claim that your life now is a product of your past, is to claim that you have no power to influence your actions or decisions.     Your life is a product of the now. You live as you choose to behave in the moment.     When looking at a clock on the wall, mindless of the countless times the hands have travelled around and around again, we call the time as we see it now.     Your past is...

"All your arty words and clever philosophies mean nothing to me.   "Your 'I am' and 'peronal truth' crap has no relevance in my life, or anyone elses for that matter.   "I work and live in the real world. I have what I want and I'm slowing down for my old age.   "I don't need you and all your motivational bullshit, because I'm already motivated." He smugly sipped his beer and slumped into his chair.   "Check!"  Previously, I would have kept quiet, and left the ignorant to their devices. However, this is the year of the teaspoon. So, buckle up buttercup, because here comes a stirring.   "You sit confident in the things you have amassed in life; car, house and a seemingly secure job.  "You are lulled into complacency by objects that break, rust and are stolen, and think you're better off for it. Really?   "You think 'I am' is empty and disconnected, when your view of self is direc...

So, what's the purpose of laws? We have general and specific laws. General Laws are set in place to help govern the general population, and to create a certain level of predictability.  What do I mean by predictability?  If we consider traffic laws, as a example, you quickly realise that knowing the laws, and assuming other drivers know the laws, we gain an ability to predict what other drivers are thinking or are going to do. When everyone follows the laws, we know cars will stop at red lights, allowing us to go safely. Indicators gives us insight into people decisions and we adjust accordingly. Speed limits help us evaluate and predict how we should join the flow at a junction.  Following the laws allows us to "prophesy" about peoples intended driving behaviour. However, if drivers intentionally or unintentionally break the laws- chaos follows!  Laws, however, are not physical forces controlling our behaviour. Laws are cognitive ideals that require...

Why are we really here? To pay tax and then die?   Goodness! I hope there is a lot more to our existence on this odd little rock than death and taxes.     I used to observe those people that had clicked into a sense of their purpose with wonder.  Trying to find the common key to unlock my own destiny, I noted that just as many of the purposeful where devotees to some form of religion as those that were not. Spirituality did not seem to be a factor in discovering purpose.    A factor that did separate the purposeful from the rest was the intense sense of self they had.    The purposeful have a clear image of who they are, and embrace it without remorse, and without arrogance. Identifying their talents and abilities, the purposeful unashamesly pursue excellence, allowing their gifts and talents to carry them to the top of their field... and in no uncertain terms - to make a shit load of money in the process.    In contrast,...

How well would you fare in the Dragon's Den?  Inspired by the TV show, where entrepreneurs stand in front of potential investors to ask for money for a share of the business, I started to wonder ...  Not that I'm starting a company and need investment. No, I wondered how I would fare in front of a panel pitching me, and what I believe about the world and all in it. I'm not one to be easily swayed by the opinions of others. I past needing validation from people a long time ago. I wanted to know: if I was "the company," would people choose to invest or not. Cowardness, or fear of the truth or (maybe) both, caused me to forego a panel of real people. Instead I elected a panel of mirrors.  I took the tall, thin mirror from the hallway. In my mind this mirror represent a tall, thin man, experienced in business, especially finance, intelligent, and maybe a little mean and a little cold.  I took the rectangular mirror with its pine frame from the bathroom....

Life and love don't get meaning from ckearly written definitions. Life and love get meaning from principles.    I watched a documentary of a man, who once played Jesus of Nazareth in a movie, in search of the real Jesus. In the documentary, the actor told of how he researched every portrayal of Jesus he could find, because he wanted to get the "character" just right. He wanted to portray Jesus perfectly.     In the movie, the actor puts very little into the actions or emotions for the character of Jesus, choosing rather to only imply action, emotion and intent, leaving the character of Jesus open to interpretation.     The actor knew that viewers would project their own meaning and intent onto the character.      In the reviews, critics and fans called it the best movie of the life of Jesus ever made. It would have to be so ... because the actor gave us "our own version" of Jesus... we would have to award it the best rendition ever...

So, I believe my mission in life is to play the role of a teaspoon🥄. Yes, you read that correctly. Why a teaspoon, you ask. Well, I am.  When, for example,  making, a cup of coffee, and you have all the ingredients in the cup, you add the hot water, but do you drink it straight away?  No, of course not. You take a teaspoon (should be called a coffee spoon for this example 🤷‍♂️😁) and you stir...  The ingredients need to be stirred to properly mix them, giving a happy flavour experience all the way to the bottom of the cup.  In my mind, the teaspoon🥄 brings nothing nor removes anything from the cup of coffee, it is used to stir. EFG 😈  I believe people (yes, you are a people) have everything they need for life and godliness already. Sometimes people (you) just need to be stirred a little to remind you, to permeate you with the full coffee flavour throughout your cup of life.  Public courses, books, articles, videos, and one-on-one ...

A Self-indulgent post by John Usher She stepped through the door and awoke the dragon. The conversation stalled as she entered the training room. She was awkward and uncomfortable. Although, thinking back, it was probably because I was openly staring. She introduced herself bluntly and sat down in the front row. Delicious eyelashes generously framed big, curious, beautiful eyes.   I instantly realised that I was in pain.

What is “Life Average?” Each of us has a list of responsibilities and roles that we perform every day. The number of roles will vary from person to person depending on age, ambition and personality traits. For example: you could be a child, a parent, an employee or an employer. Maybe you are sporty and hold some activity roles too. Perhaps you are a spouse, or maybe you are single. All these roles work together to form our own identity, who we are, and will shape our personalities.