Where Are You Going?

On any journey in order to know where you are going you need to know where you are, and more importantly if you’re heading in the right direction. If you look at the route you take to go to work, the shops etc., it is pretty easy to tell if you’re going the right way because you either get to your destination in a reasonable period of time or you don’t. However, if we look at our lives as a journey things aren’t quite so clear cut.

Have you ever wondered how a friend or colleague strikes it lucky, gets that promotion and gets the girl that you could only dream of asking out while you feel like life has passed you by?

“The point of a journey is not to arrive” – Rush

In life coaching and also other therapeutic professions one of the first things we do with a client is to get them to perform a timeline exercise by drawing a line on a sheet of paper representing their life and to mark the point at which they saw themselves at. This serves as a starting point for discussion.

“Life is a Rollercoaster, just gotta ride it” – Ronan Keating

Looking at the “timeline”  taking the start as birth and the end as our demise we are interested in where the person makes their mark. Now you can take a purely analytical approach and go for a literal expression of where you are by estimating the point you are currently at by making an educated guess as to your life expectancy. Alternatively you could take the approach of a more holistic view and make a guess as to where you see yourself.

So where do you see yourself on your own personal timeline? How does it make you feel? Are you surprised or shocked?

Life is rarely ever a straight line. The choices we make and our circumstances mean that our direction is constantly changing but always moving towards our destination. If you think of the events in your life as a set of “mini journeys” then the end of one journey is merely the beginning of another in our ultimate journey of existence.

“Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.” – The Dalai Lama

Now that you know where you are, where do you want to be? What would you like to achieve?

Take some time to think about what it is that *you* want in your life. Find something that will give you an opportunity to “level up” as a person whether it be finding happiness, learning something new or seeking new experiences.

The purpose of life is to live, learn and love and not  just merely exist. Our lives are shaped and defined by the collective experiences we go through. We are influenced by the things and people around us in the same way the tides are affected by the moon. Remember that we are made of the same stuff as the universe and that the possibilities are limited only by our imagination!

So, where do you want to go today?

One Small Step

When Neil Armstrong took his place in the annals of history as the first person to set foot on the moon little did he realise the monumental impact of his statement. While the act of setting foot on the moon was down to one man, it was not without the efforts of countless people working behind the scenes for almost a decade to realise John F. Kennedy’s vision.

One small step for man… One giant leap for mankind…

The cold war of the 1960′s was a difficult time for the two major superpowers. Both sides were  in competition with each other to prove that their political ideologies were the best and attempt to sway the smaller countries towards their ideals. The idea of putting a man on the moon was a direct challenge to the potential threat of the Soviets taking up a dominant position on the moon.

When John F. Kennedy announced the plan to land a man on the moon he inspired a nation to rise above the norm and aspire to take part in the greatest engineering task since the building of the Pyramids. Kennedy threw down a challenge to the nation and the people took it on with relish.

The important thing here is the motivation that Kennedy’s speech had on the American people.

Throughout history there have been many people with the ability to motivate people towards great goals and some not so great…

So what can you take on board when deciding on how to achieve a career/life goal? As a student of life coaching, one of the things you need to do when working towards a goal is to start with the end in mind and break down the goal into easily achievable steps.

1. What do you want to achieve?/Where do you want to be?
2. What skills do you need to get there?
3. What level are your skills currently at?
4. Take the first step.

In order to achieve your goals you need to be realistic in your expectations. For example there are countless so called “talent” shows on TV where ordinary people try to be something they are not. This is where setting realistic goals is important, if you set a goal that you can achieve the greater your chances are that you will succeed.

Try not to be disheartened if you don’t quite reach your goals. Life can be hard at times and it it easy to be disappointed and simply give up. Don’t look at the failures but instead look at the positive things you have learned on your journey and how far you have come.

Taking a small step can result in a giant leap in your life! So stop dreaming and start doing!

2011 – That was the year that was!

Well it’s New Year’s Eve again and it’s time for me to take a retrospective look at the year that was 2011 and what it was all about…

The start of the year was filled with some trepidation in that I had only just started a new job and was already facing an eye operation. As I was on probation it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse as within minutes of going under the anaesthetic I started having complications and had to revived immediately. I won’t forget the night I spent in hospital shaking violently from the anaesthetic. It was literally third time lucky before I had my final operation. In the end I spent almost 3 months off work due to complications and waiting for the next available surgery slot. I’ve also had to learn to live with only seeing things in “one-half D” as the sight in my right eye hasn’t returned to what it was. C’est la vie!

While returning to work after being off for so long presented its own challenges, it took a while for me to get back into the groove and find my mojo. But it’s just like riding a bike, you never forget (unless you’ve never ridden at all…!).

As far as holiday’s went I stayed home and carried on working while the rest of my family stayed in sunny Somerset for a few weeks over Summer. This didn’t mean that I had no time off, in fact I had 25 days leave to use up before the end of the year! So I’ve had more time off than most people get to have!

2011 wasn’t all full of doom and gloom there were some good things too. Although I had missed seeing my all time favourite band Rush on their Time Machine tour due to lack of cash and steep ticket prices I was able to get involved in designing and managing the Rush convention website http://www.rusheucon.co.uk/.

Because of shift rota’s I was in no position to make the pilgrimage north of the border to Glasgow. A shame really as they’re a great bunch and I haven’t seen many of the gang since 2007. I’m involved in the refresh of the site again for next year’s convention, hopefully the gods of Olympus will smile on me and say “You can go Mike!”. One thing’s for sure I’ll need to get some serious drinking practice in so I can get in shape for the carnage that is EuCon!

I also got involved in hosting not only my own website but also a Minecraft and Garry’s Mod server http://www.nightmaresurvival.co.uk/. As a result of this I succumbed and finally got myself a copy of Minecraft. Hopefully in the next year I’ll be in a position to upgrade the server.

To be honest most of this year has flown by with constant work and lots of laughs in between. When I think of some of the places I’ve worked (like “Spacely Sprockets”) and how people were treated I consider myself to be very fortunate to be where I am. My wife says that I’ve always come home from work happy and that speaks volumes! It also goes without saying that when you get a *nice* Christmas bonus and not a year’s membership in the “Jelly of the month club” (National Lampoons Xmas Vacation) makes for a great end of year gift.

Looking back I think that this year has probably been one of the better ones I’ve had. There are more ups than downs this time. Back in 2010 I was at the threshold of hell with all the problems of being out of work during a recession. This year I feel like I’m clawing my way back slowly and am finally on the road to recovery.

So here’s wishing you all a successful and prosperous New Year wherever you are! Now where’s my beer

Backing Up Your Minecraft Server Worlds

If like me you are running a Minecraft server you’ll appreciate the necessity of maintaining good solid backups of your data in case of a crash or after being attacked by griefers*. There are literally dozens of variations of server backup scripts out there based on the ones at the Minecraft wiki.

The majority of these scripts will happily backup a single world. However, if you are running either the “nether” world or other worlds alongside your main one then you may have difficulties.

Voxel Sunset (or how I became addicted to Minecraft XD)

For the last 5-6 months I’ve been involved in a number of projects relating to web hosting. As my kids are compulsive gamers I had setup a dedicated minecraft server and on the back of that built a website (http://www.nightmaresurvival.co.uk) and community forum. But in all that time I had never actually played Minecraft. At least until now…

Noir – Chicks with Guns!

If you think that all that anime has to offer is a never-ending deluge of fluffy monsters and contests then think again! Noir kicks some serious butt!

an awesome storyline coupled with first rate character development

Originally aired in Japan in 2001 as a 26 part series. Noir is a story filled with mystery, suspense and shock revelations. The story centres on Mirielle Bouquet, an assassin by trade, tall, blonde and deadly with a message to contact a young girl called Kirika whose past life is shrouded in mystery…

All About Broadband Faults but you were afraid to ask… Part 4

In Part 4 of the trilogy I’ll cover some things that bug the hell out of Technical Support agents.

Lie To Me

One of the worst things you can do when speaking to Technical Support is to lie. Ok maybe lie is a tad harsh, lets say being “economical with the truth” about their setup and what they have done.

All About Broadband Faults but you were afraid to ask… Part 5

In Part 5 of of the trilogy I’m going to explain the importance of doing diagnostics when asked to so so by Technical Support.

Diagnostics and why they matter.

The first step in troubleshooting faults is to perform a diagnostic check by running through various tests. For example when you see the Doctor he/she will ask you what you think is wrong and from that ask a series of questions to narrow down the cause of your illness.  We come across may examples of people who are simply unwilling to perform any diagnostics when they are having problems with their internet connection.

All about Broadband Faults but you were afraid to ask… Part 3

Tips and Tricks

In this final part I’ll cover some invaluable tips and tricks on how you can get the best speeds and stable connection possible.  I’ll also cover some tips you can use when dealing with your own ISP and how to get them on your side.

Being cheap will cost you dear in the long run…

All about Broadband Faults but you were afraid to ask… Part 2

Now we come to the “How To Fix” part of the guide. I promise I’ll try and make it as painless as possible.