JustDonal

10/08/2021

Exercise is a key part of maintaining a strong and focused mind. The attached video offers a key tip in how to achieve your goals when exercising, all about visualising/seeing the finish line, whatever that line is in terms of the exercise or workout you are doing.

Ever wondered why you can’t meet your fitness goals? Behavioural scientist Emily Balcetis turned to elite runners to find the answer. She proposes a strategy that consists of changing your visual focus. Video journalists: Izabela Cardoso & Fernando Teixeira Executive producer: Griesham Taan

05/07/2021

Holding a monthly coaching session for Malaysian students in Ireland. Amazing young people and great attitudes on life and its possibilities 👍🇮🇪 🇲🇾 👍

Hello everyone! We have been collaborating with the lovely people from ICCM and I would like to present Different Perspectives! 🥳

A Monthly Discussion where 16 members are able to have a session with Donal Crotty, the General Manager of ICCM and also a Life Coach and Mentor for 7 Years! 🤯

This event is serve as a SAFE PLACE to allow students to discuss about controversial topics which will be facilitated by Donal. ⚔️

Even if you have nothing to discuss about, do feel free to join us during the session and we are sure you will learn a lot from the discussion! 💡

This is a MEMBERS ONLY event, but you can join us as a member anytime on our website! 🥰

21/05/2021

We live in a world where we too often take half baked information and define/share it as "Truth" or "Fact". We share/dictate our sense of rightness and with the help of social media, we affirm and delude. This condition is know as the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Alternately it is worth appreciating what is "Intelligence" and the relevance of humility in its measure. The following video defines in brief and simple terms what is the Dunning-Kruger effect and the context of humility as relates to intelligence.

We all find it difficult to admit when we might be wrong. In an increasingly polarised world, it seems as if people are becoming more convinced of their own beliefs and less willing to contemplate other points of view. But could this be to the detriment of our intelligence? In the third part of our....

19/01/2021

Many feeling tired with the fear and stresses of Covid19 and associated lockdowns across the globe. Very insightful article on the 7 different types of rest we need to recharge & manage our energy levels. Worth a read...

Are you getting your seven or eight hours of sleep a night — yet you still feel exhausted? Here’s why that could be happening, according to physician Saundra Dalton-Smith.

04/01/2021

2020, What kind of year did we just experience? Many will want to forget and yet most of us will forever remember. Time to move on...ya...

So its 2021 and in football parlance, we are at half time of the global crisis. We now have a much greater sense of outcome and optimism, even in just feeling that we are over the worst. So do we hunker down and wait the second half out, just defend our status quo. Or do we take life in our own hands, be positive, adapt and choose to make meaningful changes in our lives, our relationships, our careers. Not about new years resolutions! About our lives now and every day forward! About using reality of circumstance to reflect on our lives and making meaningful changes.

Not good/bad, right/wrong, just Life & Choice. Starting by looking inward, gaining self awareness and taking that understanding to change our behaviours and in effecting the people and the world outside us. The one we can control and influence. We can do it alone or find a friend or mentor or coach to help us along the way.

So what is it to be? Your Choice, Your Life! Be amazing in 2021!
# #

As a point of reference I have selected the following article on the choice of positive thinking. It was written in 2020 pre Covid Crisis and by a Dentist, so more practical thinking and less psycho babble.

“ Every December 31, millions of people make resolutions for the new year. Many succeed in following through with their resolutions for at least two weeks, while some actually make it to the end of January! The numbers continue to decline the further we move from the start of the new year. But why do we resolve to make these resolutions at this particular time of the year? The holidays are stressful enough, and they’re coupled with the end-of-the-year chaos most of us experience in our dental practices. Who needs a resolution to think about?!

As winter winds down and spring is hopefully around the corner, many of us seem to be lagging, dragging, and overall, unhappy. Life happens. As we progress through it, we have some wonderful successes, some dreadful failures, and lots of stuff in between that we describe as OK, not so good, or bleh. Sometimes, when we go through a not so good period with a few failures thrown in, we can develop negative thinking that quickly becomes a habit. Even when things are pretty good or successful, our habit will not let us celebrate the good because we focus on what bad could happen or what did not happen.

What we have is a bad attitude, kind of an offensive illness, that keeps us fixed in our negative mindset. Negativity attracts negativity and can turn into a vicious cycle. Too many people waste time trying to control everything around them and become upset when things don’t go as expected. The only thing we have complete control over is our thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs. Perhaps all we need is an attitude adjustment.

Positive thinking is an attitude that focuses on the bright side of life and expects positive results. It completely resets your mind. People who think positively anticipate such things as joy, health, and achievement, and believe that they can overcome obstacles and difficulties to achieve their goals and dreams. Positive thinking is not something that everyone follows. Some consider it nonsense and criticize those who follow it. However, there is a growing number who accept positive thinking, believe in its effectiveness, and practice it daily. To use it in your life, you need to adopt the attitude of positive thinking in everything you do.

Our attitudes are contagious. We are affected by the people we meet, whether they are our fellow team members or our patients. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through words, thoughts and feelings, and body language. Have you ever heard someone smile on the phone? Have you ever met someone new who made you feel great? It’s no surprise that we want to be around positive people and prefer to avoid negative ones.
When your mind is negative, chemicals are released into the blood that lead to more unhappiness and negativity. This is the path to failure, frustration, and disappointment. Life is hard enough, so why add to it? Instead, add positive, optimistic, and encouraging words into your conversations and practice positive body language. Strive to use words that drive away negative thoughts. You will change your mindset from negative to positive, and you will attract more positivity.

The science behind negativity

Humans are predisposed to negativity. We pay far more attention to dark emotions such as anger, sadness, pain, and disappointment than we do to good feelings such as joy, gratitude, and contentment. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and evolve depending on what happens in our lives. As a result, if negative thoughts are repetitive, your brain will connect synapses that weren’t previously stimulated to associate those thoughts with other behaviors and turn them into habits. Negativity is addictive, even though positivity feels so much nicer.
Tips to turn negativity into something positive

• Take time for yourself—One of the most difficult things dental professionals find is making time for themselves. It doesn’t have to be much time. Twenty minutes here and there can add up through the week. In time, you will notice a difference. You must decide to take care of yourself because no one else can. Meditating might be the best way to clear negativity and bring about emotional recovery. Meditation revitalizes the mind, makes one more resilient, and rids the body of harmful chemicals that cause stress and anxiety.

• Practice kindness—Kindness has also been proven to make us happier and less stressed. Kindness is contagious; think about when someone pays it forward. If someone is kind to you, you will be inspired to pay it forward and the person who receives your kindness will feel the same, and so on. Kindness inspires gratitude and makes us more inclined to be grateful. If you are struggling with positive thinking, do a good deed for someone and you will notice immediately how great you feel.

• Be thankful—Studies have proven that gratitude makes us happier because it floods our brains with dopamine, the chemical that has the potential to drown out negative thoughts and anxious feelings. Gratitude also invokes the law of attraction, and like attracts like. If you make an effort to be grateful, you’ll be blessed with more to be grateful for. Having an attitude of gratitude is using the power of positive thinking to its highest level.

• Stress less—I know, this is easier said than done. Stress is usually the sole cause of everything that goes wrong in our lives and it’s usually self-inflicted. If you work too hard, you won’t be healthy. If you sleep too little, you will be exhausted. And if you neglect your family and friends, you will feel lonely. How do you balance everything? Rid yourself of most negativity by choosing to relax. Eat better, exercise, drink more water, and get more sleep. When you do bite off more than you can chew, ask for help. And remember to make time for yourself!

Whether you’re having one of those days or it’s a problem that has cropped up out of the blue, you can handle this! When you focus on adjusting your attitude and seeing it differently, you will handle things better and stress less. You will see an increase in positive experiences and feel more at peace. Try it, and your family and team members will notice. Be a magnet and attract the positive!”

Written by Natalie Kaweckyj, BA, LDA, CDA, RF, CDPMA, COA, COMSA, CPFDA, CRFDA, MADAA, is a senior moderator of the Dental Peeps Network and a past president of the ADAA.

22/11/2020

Why is it we spend so much of our lives running from our weakness and doubts, trying to be that better person without ever really reconciling with who we are and being comfortable with that person.

Stimulating article written by a good friend and Transformative Coach Antti Vanhanen, where he offers us an unusual choice in how we could see and choose to reconcile with the part of us that feels weak and helpless. https://www.facebook.com/devilinagoodman

Rethinking Emotional Intelligence and Cleverness

Who doesn't want to become stronger and more clever?
Almost everyone! But why do we want that? Could it be that it's mainly because we feel weak and stupid. Where else would the desire come from?

The desire or goal to be strong and clever is the direct result of not wanting to feel weak and stupid. But is getting stronger and more clever what we really want? Is it a goal that we would want no matter, or does it just seem like what would fix the discomfort of feeling weak and stupid?

This is the trap with goals - no one ever questions them.
Most people never once stop to ponder whether their goal is what they truly want or if that goal just serves as a symbol of relief for their suffering.

Take a second to consider how long it takes to achieve a major goal: months, years, or even decades, right? I don't know about you, but that seems like an absurd amount of time and effort to fix a feeling. Especially when you could fix the feeling right this moment, in a matter of minutes, hours or days.

So How?
Well instead of trying to fix or avoid the feeling, go at it head on.
Don’t try to control it, fix it, analyze it, or cope with it. Just feel it fully. Drop all stories of what it means and where it comes from, and just get really, really familiar with what the energy of being weak and stupid feels like. And then be with that energy as if it is going to last forever.

If that sounds like the dumbest thing you have ever read on the internet, allow me to extend an olive branch:

Staying with that energy does NOT make you more weak and stupid. It won’t impede your progress. It won’t stall your life.
It isn’t about giving up. What staying with the negative feeling does is it stops the endless rat race of trying to fix yourself and to become something else - something better.

When you don’t accept yourself as who you are, your energy will be depleted and weakened, because you are not fully present in the moment. You are trying to escape the discomfort, which means you are emotionally on the run. It’s hard to build anything truly sustainable and useful when you’re constantly on the run from your experience. However, when you meet the energy that is trying to make you escape where it arises and give it your full attention, it will soon dissipate - just like every feeling you have ever felt has.
And once it has naturally dissipated, there is no longer a need to run, escape, analyze or fix. You will be centered with your feet firmly planted underneath you.

This is the position of power. From here, there’s nothing you need to do, but there’s nothing you can’t do.

What happens then? Absent of the fear of being weak and stupid, you will be more present. This means you become more aware of any situation, which makes you more clever, not on the basis of a conscious thought or need, but inherently within yourself. It also means that you will be less driven by fear, which makes you more courageous - which is to say emotionally stronger.

So you see, the things you seek are already within you. You just need to stop running to let them shine through and just be present in the amazing person you are!

I am not here to solve your problem. I am here to provide you with the clarity you need so that YOU can solve the problem yourself. The moment you find your own answers is the moment you reclaim your true power. And it start by seeing what is true.

30/07/2020

HOW DID YOU END UP LIKE YOU ARE IN YOUR LIFE? DID YOU PLAN AND EXECUTE IT OR DID YOU JUST LIVE IT & WHAT FROM HERE? ( 5 min read)

Had a great conversation yesterday with a good friend and Transformative Coach Antti Vanhanen. Main topic was how we as human beings, despite our emotional realities, try to manage our lives in logical, rational, analytical and structured ways. And yet so much of life is non structured or linear but is serendipitous. Question then as to how we manage life in its serendipity. So to a wonderful article I would like to share from Antti . You can catch him at https://www.devilinagoodman.com/

THE ROLE & LIMITATIONS OF THE HUMAN INTELLECT

have you ever wondered what the role of the intellect is in our lives?

- Is it to lead us forward?

- Is it to make decisions?

- Is it solve problems?

If you look at the world today, the intellect is often seen as the single most valuable part of the human mind.

It’s treated like the ultimate problem solver and the great inventor, because of the ability to think logically and analytically.

Even our education system seems to prioritise the intellect at the expense of everything else. We are steadily placing less and less emphasis on the arts, creativity, and intuitive thinking - almost as if the intellect is the only valuable raw material worth cultivating

There’s just one problem with having the intellect be in charge.

It was never designed for that purpose.

The intellect thinks linearly. “Step 1, then step 2, then step 3 and we’ve reached our goal.”

The problem with this is that life isn’t linear. Life is a living organism, which makes it thoroughly unpredictable and nonlinear.

If you doubt this to be true, just think about how you met your husband or wife, how you got your current job, how you ended up living in the place you live or how almost any big project or company was started.

Look closely and you’ll see that almost all relationships, big projects and companies are created in a thoroughly nonlinear fashion. That is to say, not one of them went exactly according to plan, no matter how much time planning experts had spent outlining the plan.

Chance always seems to play a significant role in anything slightly more complicated than running to the supermarket to go buy some milk.

This nonlinear randomness is the fundamental nature of life, and it’s why a linear thinking system is not very well suited to be our guiding tool.

So what is the role of the intellect?

The intellect is like a radar or a lookout system that prevents us from running into an obstacle or falling off the tracks.

It’s essentially a “veto system” in that it’s best designed to simply be a check whether or not what we’re doing and where we are going makes sense.

What I mean by that is that almost all our actions are driven by instinct, but sometimes - do to our state of mind - our instincts drive us astray.

In those moments, our intellect can jump in and say:

“This doesn’t make sense - I see trouble ahead. I’m vetoing this!”

In other words, the intellect makes a fantastic servant but a terrible master.

Fortunately, we already have a fantastic guidance system that you might call your intuition or gut feeling that already points us in the right direction.

In fact, intuition is how everything in the universe is created, and it will guide you, too.

All you need to do is trust it.

Happy reflections,
Antti

07/07/2020

COVID-19 PROCRASTINATION – Fearing What … Time to choose, GET OFF YOUR ASS, WAKE UP YOUR MIND –

As my fellow Irishmen U2 wrote in their famous Song “You've got yourself stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it”. And like many, I have found myself stuck in the moment over these past 4 months. When I think of all the times I just wanted time to do stuff I wanted to do, but time was something I felt I didn’t have. here I was, so much time on my hands and doing what? For me it was addiction to the news and to social media. I became an expert in so many things, filling my head full of irrelevancies, getting paranoid about stuff way beyond my control or influence. Sure I was learning stuff and even doing other stuff… but but but whaaaat? As a wise person once said, “It matters not how we got here, but what we choose to do now that we are here”! Not sure who that wise person is as googled and cannot find. No Matter, I like the saying and it speaks to me. Hope it may speak to you also!

As to ?!? With the support of my wonderwoman Carol, I chose a month back to get off my ass and to wake up my mind. Using advise from many Guru’s and most specifically , I started a process of change which I have called . In reality what it means is getting up at 5am each morning, doing exercise, gratitude, meditation, learning, productive work and a bit of breakfast, all completed before 9am. For me a drastic change from a lifetime of being a . In business BS one might call it a paradigm shift. We are currently on day 25 as missed out on a few days where celebrating life got the better of us. I hope to share with you our experiences in a few months, so I can talk in terms of having done versus aspiration. However for now, I would like to offer some inspiration and 2 possibilities for you to consider. I found both inspiring in differing ways. One is angled from a business/professional growth/choice perspective (article below), the other from a personal growth perspective (youtube video attached). So please join me for circa 22 minutes on a journey beyond the Virus.

This particular article was written by a good friend of mine, Edward Montgomery from Belfast. I worked with Ed for a number of years in Helsinki before we both moved on in differing geographical directions. Ed is an amazing event organizer and marketing dude, but also famous in work circles for his scribing and occasional wit. In this article he wishes to inspire by offering the context of what is Lego and moving on from CoronaVirus. Cannot help myself, it’s all about “Thinking out of the box” Well go on, read for yourself. Enjoy!!!

(10 min read)
CREATIVE DESTRUCTION - how Lego can inspire us to think differently about our business, post- Coronavirus

This is the third Lego phase in my lifetime. Phase 1 was during the mid 80’s and I distinctly remember opening a Post Office set on Christmas Day and getting help from my big sister to build it. At the time it felt like an epic battle between boy and brick. I had other sets that were recently found in a box in the garage of my parental home that required some minor surgery to return them to their original glory, including the Lego Police Patrol Squad (6684) and Lego Cement Mixer set (6682).

Phase 2 was a much shorter episode, back in 2002 when I was studying for my MSc. Lego had just released some new Star Wars sets (could it get any better??) to coincide with the release of Episode II and I needed a break from Java so found solace building Set #7201, the Final Duel II.

It was only a few months ago that the original creator of the Lego minifigure sadly died, Jens Nygaard Knudsen. He was the designer behind the creation before its public release in 1978. The joy this has created for countless numbers of kids (and adults) around the world is his lasting legacy. I wonder how his bosses felt when he presented his idea? Thankfully his vision was accepted and signed off, with continual development over the decades, alongside many merchandising deals related to major motion pictures released, plus many other configurations.

Becks & Blocks

Earlier this year, global footballing legend David Beckham was interviewed on US television about his late-night Lego building obsession. At the end of the clip, you will see Jimmy Fallon present him with the largest Lego set as a gift, lucky Becks! Beckham says building Lego “calms him". The same goes for me, David.

Ice Ice Evan

I remember watching a documentary about the US Navy Seals and what amazed me was their calmness during battle situations. With bullets flying and frag grenades exploding, they were ice cool under extreme pressure. One Seal explained “calm breeds calm, stress breeds stress, so it’s crucial to stay calm". Over the years I met various ex Pats who were former US military personnel, now in business. They were hired due to their expertise in specific areas, but also for their ability to handle pressure, invaluable in the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Rolling Stone contributor, Evan Wright, wrote a series of articles, later turned into a book called Generation Kill (also turned into an HBO mini-series). It detailed his time riding in the back of a Humvee during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the US Marine Corps. Wright often rode in the lead Humvee. One of the Marines that he rode with was Brad Colbert, nicknamed “Iceman" due to his ability to stay calm during battle.

Lego Creator Sets

My third phase of Lego construction came about with the patter of tiny feet. Both of whom love to build Lego. Well, one is more of a builder, the other is more of the destroyer mindset, finding great pleasure in dismantling what his brother has just built. In our house we have the glorious balanced matchup between, the creator and destructor. Recent favorite purchases are from the Lego 3 in 1 box sets.

According to Wikipedia, Lego introduced the first 3 in 1 sets in 2007, branded as ‘Creator'. Allow me to explain, as the name suggests, each box contains 3 different variations for people to build from the same pieces, what a toy technological triumph for its legion of adoring fans. Our boys find great pleasure re-building these sets, multiple times each day. And yet this story gets even better, as each set often contains additional, secret sets, with instructions available online. (Personal favorites are the Dinosaur 3 in 1 and the Outback Cabin).


(T 2 inspecting the retro 80’s Lego)

Lego and business are very similar
• Building blocks are your Employees
• Instructions could be classified as your strategy
• The Lego City would be your supply chain and customers, an epiphytic eco-system, dependent on one another.
• A full set of bricks gives stability and security, when considered in a business context, would its various functions, housing competent employees.
If a brick or 2 falls off (employees leaving), then you find new bits to add to the set.

From Creative Play to Creative Destruction

At the end of April, I was listening to an economist talking about Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist, who was explaining Schumpeter’s theory of Creative Destruction.

To summarize Schumpeter, he said that the whole system of capitalism is in constant flux, one great battle between the innovator and establishment, where the innovators are constantly trying to outwit the status quo.

Creativity is the way forward

Therefore, an economy is not in a state of equilibrium, as textbook economics suggests, but quite the opposite. The natural conclusion from ongoing innovation is that the economy is in a permanent state of change. We are in a state of almost constant chaos, where new products, techniques and ideas are constantly undermining existing ones. Think of those online businesses with no capital assets – AirBNB, Uber and Deliveroo.

This is what Schumpeter, termed ‘‘creative destruction’’. This implies that recessions are the necessary product of innovation, and what Schumpeter was implying was that capitalism eats its young and, in so doing, it constantly renews itself (the ‘creative' part of creative destruction).

Schumpeter said the economy can be explained, the growth in the economy can be explained by new businesses replacing old businesses, adapting to a changing environment and almost evolutionary economics. Essentially, Schumpeter was talking about continuous innovation.

The M&S 2 in 1 Creator

Naturally this reminded me of the Lego Creator sets, finding different builds within the same box. So back to the subject line, how can we learn from Lego? In March 2020, the much loved high street brand, M&S did not sell and deliver their food products, when purchased online. You could place an order online, but you had to physically go to the store to collect your order, a process I never quite understood in the era of Amazon. However, in May 2020, M&S announced a partnership with Deliveroo – Great pivot M&S because I miss your double chocolate cookies, a craving that isn't quite fulfilled by their competitors. Nothing quite matches up to their delectable and devilishly delicious sugary debauchery! My wife predicted this back in March saying M&S would suffer if they didn’t keep up with the other high street retailers.

Cookies by Bike

M&S had one business plan, their Classic – you buy in store or online, but collect your shopping regardless of how you made the purchase. Now they created a new option, Plan B – bingo! Brought to you by the beauty of the internet and bearded hipsters on bikes.
Apply this theory to your company. How do you change what you are doing to stay in business? How do you rearrange the pieces to build something else? There are many other examples of companies pivoting, either due to national need, or by their own philanthropic plan to help out during this crisis. From manufacturers of alcoholic drinks, now making hand sanitizer, to F1 teams making ventilators.

Our new Normal

As we take our first (virtual) steps in the age of the ‘new Normal’ we will need to reinvent ourselves, our social lives, our careers and for business leaders, their companies. Will you as an executive, listen to the Creative Destructors in your company, or from external consultants, if you can afford them? As employees, possibly furloughed right now, have they faith that during their hiatus from work, your bosses are re-writing the company playbook and strategy to survive and thrive?

Calm, Creative Destruction is Called for

Remaining calm under pressure is key, easier said than done. ‘Remembering times when I was under significant pressure and stress, my creative factory would shut down with too many items swirling around my head and I needed help from colleagues.
Being able to think, brainstorm/blue sky thinking should be the first thing you do each day. Schedule a ‘daily thinking cap session’. Companies who quickly pivot now and see an opportunity will still be around when this pandemic has receded.
Remembering Jens Nygaard Knudsen, what will our legacy be to the world and how we re-built our businesses? Since 1978, Lego has largely been continuously innovating and Schumpeter would approve.
You need your creative destructors more than ever, those people who see things others don’t.

(T & T-Rex, the inspiration for this post)

Thank you Ed Montgomery and thank you to your beautiful boys. Have seen some of their amazing transforming work with Lego!

And to my second offering for Inspiration. As part of my learning process I have been doing a lot of reading, watching and researching about our amazing brains and how we are not stuck with what we have, but instead how we can develop and grow them, irrelevant of age. The whole research area of Neurogenesis and Neuroplasticity is pretty new and offers us a completely different insight to our brain’s potential. However in this video rather than focusing on all that is amazing, I offer you Sarah Bond Chapman and her 7 secrets on the what we can do to Turbocharge our brains, the “wake up your mind” bit! Just 12 minutes, Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUL5o-1Yawo