AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
 
Say it in the
present tense, or it
can never happen.
 
You see, ‘I am’ and ‘I have’, are now.
‘I will’, is in the future and
can never happen.
 
Say it in the
present tense every day and
watch it happen.
 ‘I am’ and ‘I have’, are waiting now
for you to say these words, and
​watch it happen.

​Day 435 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

​THE JIGSAW OF  EVERYONE
 
Without you, this world
would be incomplete.
Like a thousand-piece jigsaw
your absence is
all that we would see.
That one empty space.
 
It is because you are here
that everything is complete,
and all is as it should be.
 
You are irreplaceable.
You are the one that makes
everything worthwhile.
You are the one that we all need.
For without you
our jigsaw is nothing.
 
And when we understand this,
we understand inclusion.
We understand everything.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.  What does your piece of the Jigsaw look like?   Draw it. Describe it.
2. What is the overall picture on the Jigsaw of Everyone? 

​NICHE MARKETING
 
Joe Karbo, famously said that
‘you know more about something
than half the people in the world’.
 
What do you know about?
What is your passion?
Where is your experience?
Where is your joy?
 
For this is your purpose made real,
by design and by chance.
 This is your expert position,
and your gift to share.
Half of the world is waiting.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.  What do you know about?
2. What is your passion?
3. Where is your experience?
4. Where is your joy?​

THE INCLUSION PRAYER
 
I always pray for everyone
in the world.
‘Please help everyone’
It's  an easy prayer!
 
It’s not that I’m lazy.
It’s just that I know
that for all to be well,
we all need to be well.

​Day 432 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION

The great transformation
of your life is about to begin.
You will see things
in a different way.
You will think about things
in a different way.
You will relate to others
in a different way.
 
And there are no words
to describe this transformation.
For all words limit, and reduce
what you are about to become.
 
Your transformation has begun.
Hold the seed gently.
Be quiet. Walk slowly.
Give this process a chance
to take root in your busy brain,
and predictable life.
 
For you will never think
the same again.
You will never act
the same again.
You will never be
the same again.
 
Today you have received
the invitation of all invitations.
Begin to get ready.
Clear the decks.
Be willing to grow.
For everything you do
from now on, will speak
to you of transformation.
 
The words you hear
will be of encouragement
for your transformation.
The people you meet
will be the helpers
for your transformation
 
And every day will give you
the next stage,
the next piece, and
the next step forward
in your transformation.
 
You  have nothing to do
but to be ready,
to be open,  and
to say yes each day,
to your great  transformation.

​Day 431 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

TIME PLAY
 
Time Play is a personal development
application, when we recall an event
or a time from our past,
and place it in the present.
Something from ten years ago
for example, becomes relevant now.
 
The process gives us a
more complete picture of our life
and a broader context of
what was  going on at that time.
Time Play also offers us fresh
insights on our current situation.
 
Places, people, relationships
and activities from  our past,
are present with us today.
All become re-discovered,
re-created and re-positioned.
Our past and present are one.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.  Try the Time Play application. Recall a significant    event from your past.
2.   Place this in the current context. 
3. What does this suggest for your view of the past, for your present and for your life as a whole. 

THE GOD WORD
 
God is everything
and yet, nothing.
God is what we know
and what we don’t know.
God is what we believe
and what we don’t believe.
God is the word that is 
beyond and within all words.

​Day 429 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

PET PROJECT
 
I dropped off my car as usual,
 at my local garage for its service.
Yaz and the boys always
look after me.
 
I asked Yaz about his red TR5
that still sits aloft, overlooking
us all, covered in a dust sheet.
It’s Yaz’s pet refurbishment project.
 
I get a similar response every year when
I ask ‘How’s the TR5 coming along?’
‘Too busy mate. Too much to do.’
He sighs.
 
I know how much Yaz loves
that  bright red iconic car...
Sometimes we are all too busy
to focus on our pet project.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.  What is your Pet Project?
2. What  is the dream that you would still love to see happen?

​Day 428 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

SITUATIONAL   LEADERSHIP
 
We all behave differently
in different situations,
and with different people.
We are not the same person
at work, as we are at home.
It’s like when we play cards.
We respond to the hand that
we are faced with.

​ We adapt to situations,
the culture, the key factors,
and the expectations of others.
But what do we do, when their
values do not align with ours?
What do we do, when we disagree
with what is said, or expected of us?
Do we twist or stick?

​Day 427 of Des McCabe's Personal Development Exercises

​SPEAKING ENGEGEMENT
 
When my dad was getting older,
we used to meet up
every few days, for a coffee
in the local café.
 
He didn’t have much news
for me, and I’m not sure
that my updates were
really that riveting for him!
 
But we read the papers together,
commented on the football,
and both knew that
 we didn’t need to talk.