True Happiness isn’t all about Money

It has been a productive and busy week with several highlights, the main one being the Mental Resilience Keynote talk to the staff of April King Legal. This was my one-hour version featuring tips and techniques to help develop World Class Mental Resilience.

The great thing about this is that CEO Paul King found me on Linkedin, we met just over a week ago to discuss the brief for the talk, then I delivered it on Monday. The feedback from all the staff present including both Paul King and Jonathan Maskew was extremely positive.

What a great team Paul has built up. You could feel the fabulous atmosphere in the room and the interaction to the slides, techniques and video clips was positive and enthusiastic. We are now in discussions regarding working together to help build great mental resilience within the team.

Momentum is building

It is so exciting that I am now being found on social media and this seems to be happening more and more. This reminds me again of the flywheel effect where it takes a huge amount of time and effort to start a very large flywheel moving, but once it gains momentum you only need to touch it occasionally to keep it going.

The snow this week has been a challenge but as I look out of the café window I can see the snow melting and disappearing and that is a joy to see. As a child I loved snow, as an adult I have mixed feelings because it stops everything.

I came across this amazing true-life story of a man whose life changed in one moment. (Excerpt from an article dated October 20, 2010).

The five-star chef

“Narayanan Krishnan, all of 29 years old now, does what he was professionally trained to do as a chef. Feed people. Only Krishnan does not do this in the swanky confines of a 5-star hotel.

Every day, he wakes up at 4 am, cooks a simple hot meal and then, along with his team, loads it in a van and travels about 200 km feeding the homeless in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

Krishnan feeds, often with his hands, almost 400 destitute people every day. And for those who need it, he provides a free haircut too. He was selected as one of the Top 10 in “CNN heroes 2010” list.

An unsung hero

According to CNN, 8 years ago, this award-winning chef with a five-star hotel chain was all set to go to Switzerland for a high-profile posting. On a visit to a Madurai temple, he came across a homeless, old man eating his own human waste. That stark sight changed Krishnan’s life.

Much to the dismay of his parents, CNN says, Krishnan abandoned his career plans and decided to spend his life and his professional training in looking after those who could not care for themselves.

He has provided more than 1.2 million hot meals through his non-profit organisation Akshaya Trust, and now hopes to extend this to shelter for the homeless too.”

What a great example of sacrifice

Wow this story blew me away because this man had it all and yet gave it all up to help others. I do believe however that he will be very fulfilled and happy because of what he is doing. I have often said that the ‘true way to happiness is helping others.’

I believe if you can spend some of your time helping others and making a difference then true happiness can be found. I have come across many stories of millionaires who have committed suicide. These were millionaires with more money than they could spend but that wasn’t enough!

Thoughts for the week:

1. If you feel that you aren’t seeing the results you want, it may be that the flywheel is gaining momentum and the results are on the way.
2. When things are tough and it’s not all going well, this is the time when you need mental resilience.
3. All successful people have a story of pain to tell. They may be successful now but ask them to tell their story and there will always be stories of long hours, hard work, pain, wanting to give up and mental anguish.
4. Just keep going and one day you will start to see the results of your hard work.

Well that’s it for this week have a wonderful weekend and stay positive.

Warm regards

John

Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience available here
http://www.jdmindcoach.co.uk/product/off-the-wall-how-to-develop-world-class-mental-resilience/ (Special offer. Put in code 10POUND when prompted to receive a signed copy for £10 including postage and packing – UK only)