Ignore the Haters

Lebron James has a lot of haters.

But he goes about his business, trying to make himself the best basketball player in the world and attempting to lead his team to an elusive NBA championship.

Adele has a lot of haters.

But despite not being the “normal size” that’s expected of a female musician, she’s revitalised the recording industry and touched the hearts of millions with her voice.

Tim Tebow has a lot haters.

But despite his so-called deficiencies, he kept winning and led his Denver Broncos into the playoffs in a remarkable performance last season.

How to Start a New Habit

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One of my favourite stories from my Senior Minister Mark Conner is the story of a church youth group leader who wants to encourage his youth group to read the bible more.

He starts by challenging each of them to touch their bible once a day for a week.

“But don’t open it, or you’ll be kicked out of this youth group,” he warns.

Of course, to touch their bible, they need to know where it is, a challenge for most teenagers, especially considering the state of their rooms.

The following week, he issues an additional challenge.

“Now I want you to open your bibles every day.  But don’t read a word, or you’ll be kicked out of the youth group!” he sternly says.

The Magpie and the Mirror

Mirrored Aggression (Photo credit: tuchodi)

I was walking through the car park at work and observed a magpie attacking its own reflection in a car’s side mirror.

“Stupid bird,” I thought to myself.

I thought for a moment about how silly birds are attacking themselves and then I realised that maybe we’re not that different.

How many times are we our own worst enemies?

What Are You Going To Do With Your Extra Day?

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2012 is a leap year, giving us 29 days in February.

That’s a whole extra day!

One of the biggest complaints that I hear is that we don’t have enough time.

Well, how does an extra 24 hours sound, because it sounds pretty good to me?

As far as I can see, we have a choice.

We can carry on as if it’s just another ordinary day, or we make sure that we don’t let this opportunity pass us by to do something special.

What are you going to do with your extra day?

500th Post

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This is the 500th post on the Better Life Coaching Blog.

It’s a big milestone for me and I can’t believe that it’s come so quickly.  This blog has been going for almost two years now and it’s been quite a ride.

When I first started blogging, I couldn’t have imagined writing so consistently or reaching such a large audience.  If only my high school English teacher could see me now.

My aim when I started this website was to inspire, encourage and equip others.

What I didn’t realise was that I would be inspired and encouraged by my readers, in what has been a truly amazing journey so far.

In reaching 500 posts, here are a couple of things that I’ve learned along the way:

Inspirational People – Jeremy Lin

Jeremy Lin

I admit it.  I’m a sucker for a great sports story and in my opinion, New York Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin is the sports story of 2012.

In just his second season, he’s set the NBA alight, recently winning the Eastern Conference player of the week and breaking Shaquille O’Neal’s NBA record for points scored in his first 5 games as a starter.  He topped off his meteoric rise with the game winning three pointer this week against Toronto with 0.5 seconds left on the clock.

So who is Jeremy Lin and why is he so inspirational?

It’s Never Too Late

It’s never to late:

• to go back to study.
• to change careers.
• to reconcile a relationship or start a new one.
• to get yourself super fit.
• to change a bad habit.

The 5 Love Languages

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In 1992, Gary Chapman published the 5 Love Languages and it has since sold over 5 million copies and been translated into 40 languages.

As an experienced marriage counselor, he had noticed that everyone has a prefered way of receiving and experiencing love and wrote this book to assist couples to better understand themselves and their partners.

A few years ago Karen and I learned what our love languages were and it helped us to better connect and taught us how we could more effectively express our love for each other.

I’ve used them since with many others and it’s been a joy to see couples learn how to give and receive love more purposefully.

Here’s a list of the 5 love languages and a brief description of them each:

The Best Time to Say Sorry

Late last year, we bought a coffee machine that came with a milk frother.

It’s become a favourite device of mine and we use it on a regular basis.

After I’ve made Karen and myself a cup of coffee, I have a decision to make.

Do I clean the milk frother now or do I wait until I need to use it again?

I can do it now, but it’s inconvenient and I want to drink my coffee.

Or I can wait until later, but it will be a little bit harder to clean the longer I leave it.

It’s much the same as apologising.

The Boy Who Learned to Swim – A Story About Continuous Improvement

A little boy once wanted to learn to swim.

His parents took him to the local swimming pool and enrolled him with an instructor.

After a few weeks, he had learned the basics of swimming and could perform a few strokes, travelling a few feet before stopping.

His parents cheered and clapped.

But the boy thought that he could still do better.

So he kept going to swimming classes and after a few more weeks, he was able to swim across the little pool that he was learning in.

His parents cheered and clapped.

But the boy thought that he could still do better.