Posts Tagged Self improvement
Garbage in Garbage out
Garbage in garbage out
Garbage In, Garbage Out (abbreviated to GIGO) is a phrase in the field of computer science or Information Communication technology. It is used primarily to call attention to the fact that computers will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output.
The underlying principle was probably cited by the inventor of the first programmable device, who said:
On two occasions I have been asked,-”Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?”
Charles Babbage Source
Of course you won’t get the right answers out if you put the wrong data in. That makes sense right? You can’t expect to get good answers coming out when you are entering rubbish!
So, if this logic applies to a computer then do you think that it may apply to our very own computer? Our brain if you will!
When I was younger we had a poisonous ritual that we used to undertake as a family every night that constantly fed garbage into my brain. We would all get in from work, sit down in front of the TV (first mistake) and take it in turns to complain about how bad our respective days had been. Common topics would be bosses at work, people we worked with, how unfair it was that somebody got a promotion, the lousy journey to work, the rotten journey home - the list was almost endless. After this was out of the way, we would then sit and watch the news just to top up on the junk.
Of course this was just one of the rituals, or habits, that used to be part of my life and so you can see the kind of effect these had on me, I’ll give you my view of the World at that time.
- I’ll never get a worthwhile job because I didn’t do well at school
- I can’t start a programming business as I didn’t do maths
- I couldn’t do that, I’m not qualified
- I’ll never stop smoking because it’s one of the hardest things you will every do
- The World is a violent, scary place
- People from other countries hate us
- There’s not enough to go around
- If I can’t be bothered to work the government will look after me
These are just a few of the things that I used to think and as you can see they are not the most empowering of thoughts are they? If you think about it, our brain is like a huge library that we use as a source of reference - about ourselves and the World we live in. That is why from this day forward you MUST remember…
Garbage in Garbage out
So now it’s time for my usual question. How do we turn this around?
Well if you go with my library analogy from earlier, then you need to stock your shelves with more positive and empowering reference material. Here are the main steps that I took.
Step One
The first thing that happened was I totally changed my environment - I moved to a different city and lived with friends. I didn’t plan this or know anything about this at the time but in no time I started to be and feel a bit more positive. I found when I went home that I didn’t want to complain about work or the journey as I had quite enjoyed them - a big change.
Obviously you don’t have to be this extreme but you may want to think about how you can change your environment, or at least to change the conversations you have within your current environment.
Step Two
I decided that the old phrase “No news is good news” was a great philosophy so I totally stopped watching, reading and listening to the news. I decided that if it was important enough - then someone would tell me about it. I can’t think of anything that I have lost out on for not knowing - but I have gained so much.
My friend Peter Sage has a great way of looking at the news which is this. It’s the same stuff happening over and over, it’s just happening to different people.
Is there any wonder this keeps happening if we are being programmed by watching the same stuff over and over?
Thinking about it now - why would I have watched a TV show that just focuses on the pain, suffering and bad stuff that’s going on in the World? It makes no sense!
Step Three
Jumping forward a few years…I remember the first time I went through Tony Robbins’ Personal Power II course. This is a CD based, self development programme that spans over 30 days and takes you through a process for changing your life. One of the things that stuck in my mind was when Tony said that he had read over 700 books in the area of self development and as he started to put good stuff in, eventually good stuff started to come out.
So with this in mind I started to read as many books as possible - especially autobiographies as this allows you to see how other people think and deal with situations. I also listened constantly to anything positive that I could. On my iPod, in my car, on my PC at work - basically whenever possible - and guess what? As with Tony, I was constantly feeding good stuff in and eventually good stuff started coming out. The way I spoke changed. The way I viewed myself and those around me changed. But most importantly - the way I thought, and so, the life I created around me changed - in a big way.
Step Four
I guess the latest thing to change is my level of appreciation for everything in my life. I really do feel blessed for everything and spend a little time in the morning being thankful for it all. My body, my health, my family, my friends, my house and where I live, my skills, my company - everything I can think of. I then love to actually tell people how they affect my life and how much I appreciate them - this really eliminates the garbage, whilst giving you an amazing connection to yourself and to them also.
Why not give it a go for yourself? For each person that you meet or even just pass in the street. Think to yourself, and project to them, what is amazing about this person - what is truly beautiful. After a while you’ll find that things start to happen and people start to treat you differently.
Do this for a week and see the effect it has on your life for the better.
Where I am now…
Oh yeah…and by the way - here’s how I think now in comparison.
- I can do or be anything that I want to be
- My software company has done well over the last 20 years without the maths, so what else could I do that they told me was impossible
- Smoking was the easiest thing to stop
- The World is an amazing place to be discovered
- People from other countries are just the same and welcome me as I do them
- There is abundance all around - all you have to do is to learn how to see it
- I am worthy, unique and special
Wow - it’s not until you write stuff down and really think about it that you realise just how much of an effect something has had on your life. What I’ve been talking about is super powerful - especially if you suffer from a negative view of life as I used to do.
Whether you do or not. Have a think now and see if there’s any garbage you could get rid of and what you could replace it with instead. This can have a profound impact on your life for such a simple change.
Have fun
Tim xx
Lunchtime shocker
Posted by timtom in Coincidence on March 24th, 2009
It was sometime in 1995, I had just discovered Sheffield and was travelling over twice a week to go out clubbing and to see my new girlfriend Jodie. I had met Jodie in the club one night. She was being bothered by this guy who was trying to chat her up, so I stepped in, gave her a wink and started dancing between them until he went away. We got chatting and over the next few weeks we became friends then ended up getting together.
Jodie’s family were so lovely to me, they instantly made me a part of the clan. They let me stay over at weekends and included me into the family activities, the best of which was Sunday dinner. Her Mum was an absolutely fantastic cook and used to produce us a gorgeous banquet that I used to look forward to every week.
At this time I was still living in Boston and working at an engineering company near Peterborough as a production manager. My duties involved; managing the warehouse, purchasing steel and components, taking orders and producing sales invoices. It was a big commitment travelling to Sheffield twice a week but my heart was there in the shape of Jodie, my friends and the clubbing scene that I loved so much.
It was one Sunday afternoon and we were sat in the living room watching TV and chatting. We could hear a bit of a lively discussion going on in the kitchen but this was quite normal so though nothing of it. I then heard “That bloody Tim” in the middle of it all and I suddenly went cold. We looked at each other in confusion, not sure what was going on.
Jodie’s Mum shouted us in for lunch; we went into the kitchen, sat down and waited. There was a strange atmosphere and I could tell that whatever they were discussing hadn’t yet been resolved. The food was dished out in silence and we started to eat. Jodie then said “I heard you talking about Tim, what’s the problem?” They both broke into a smile and said “Not your Tim love, we were talking about your uncle!” I breathed a sigh of relief. Her Dad then explained that his brother had an engineering company that had gone bust.
It was then that my brain started whirring away. An engineering company….. her surname was Smith…. Gone bust!!!
I then asked her Dad where his brother was based. “Peterborough” he said. I was then certain so I asked “Is his business called “Tim Smith Engineering by any chance?” Her Dad stopped and looked at me. “Yes it is, why do you ask?” I told him that when I am taking orders I put them in the job folder. On the front of the job folder is a stop list of companies that we no longer deal with. At the top in bold letters is “Don’t deal with Tim Smith Engineering – Gone bust.”
I sat there in shock - it proper freaked me out.
Think about it for a minute - what was the chance of this happening?
- I came over to Sheffield from Peterborough for a random night out with friends. I loved it so much that I kept coming over.
- I met Jodie while trying to help her out in the club
- Her uncle is number one on out stop list
Spooky spooky
Have fun
Tim xx
Leave The Past In The Past
Hello friend 
I was out for a walk this morning when I remembered about one of the first lessons I learned from Tony Robbins.
Before I get started I’ll tell you a little tale from my past.
I was 17 and had recently passed my driving test. I was out for a drive with my girlfriend when all of a sudden I noticed the car behind me getting closer and closer. As it started fill my rear view mirror I noticed that the guys driving were threatening us.
I was concentrating so much on what was going on behind me that I started to drive erratically and swerve all over the place. I managed to mount the curb and once I even crossed the white line which resulted in furious horn blowing from the oncoming vehicles. In short I was all over the place and out of control.
In that sense life and driving are much the same. I spent a lot of my life living looking backwards and re-affirming how bad everything was and more importantly how I didn’t like myself or the way I dealt with certain situations. Trust me when I say that you can never move forward whilst you are looking backwards - you will crash eventually. I know this all too well - on many occasions.
So I can imagine you’re thinking what should I do then. That stuff really did happened to me - I can’t just erase it.
This is true but it is a fact that you can only look in one direction at once. If your looking to the future then you can’t look back into the past at the same time. Makes sense right? There is a great way to use this which is to design your ideal future, then to live there by visualising it in as much detail as possible. Try to imagine what it would look like, smell like, feel like, sound like or maybe even taste like - get all of your senses involved to make it as realistic as possible.
I wrote down everything that I would want in the life of my dreams. Where I wanted to live, my dream car, the kind of house I wanted, what I wanted to do, my ideal weight, my ideal fitness level, the kind of people I would want to be friends with - everything I could think of. I then spent a fair amount of time visualising and being thankful for having these things in my life already. I would imagine I was driving my dream car - even though mine was an old banger. I would look through design mags for house ideas. I would even visualise myself speaking in from of groups of people.
As you can imagine you start to get a pretty vivid picture in your mind after a while. So much so that after a while I would have periods where I didn’t even think about the bad stuff. There were also times when I realised I had achieved one of the things that I had written down originally which gave me a huge boost.
This brings me up till today - about 7 years since I heard this lesson for the first time.
I’m by no means perfect but I’m a 1000% better than I was back then. I have my own house where I wanted to live near the country. I had my dream car but didn’t like it so got a regular one for now! I am my ideal weight and fitness. Most importantly - I am happy
Oh yeah - to finish the story….
In the end I had to stop at some traffic lights. Even though I was scared - I had a good look in my mirror and it was then that I saw it was two of my crazy friends, showing off in their Dad’s car. They had chased us for a laugh, so there was never really any threat - apart from the threat I was to myself (and everyone else). Again, not unlike in my life!
So I ask you - Would you set off for a car journey without a destination? I don’t think you would, would you? Of course not - so why do we journey through life without a clue where we are going, with no destination?
I would like to ask you another question - Have you got a destination, a vision of where you’re going? If so then why not review it, give it a spring clean then reaffirm where you want to be.
If you haven’t got one then now would be a great time to start thinking about where and who you would like to be. After all - you are worth it my friend
I’ll be going into much more detail on the power of visualising and goal setting in future postings - I hope this story has whetted you appetite.
Have fun
Tim xx
Lost Generation
Posted by timtom in Feelgood videos on March 20th, 2009
Hi and wow
It’s the first day of spring and it couldn’t be a more gorgeous day for which I am incredibly thankful and grateful - how is it where you are?
My good friend Richard just sent me this video which is really cool so I thought I would share it with you.
It reminded me that there is always more than one way to view anything. It also reminded me that you always have a choice in the way you think about it and the meaning you give it.
It doesn’t matter where you are now or what situation you are in - you can usually turn it around in some way, if not totally. The only limiting factor is the way you think and the choices you make on a day to day basis.
What are you going to turn around starting NOW?
Have fun
Tim xx
Patrick Henry Hughes - Inspirational Story
Posted by timtom in Feelgood videos on March 18th, 2009
Hey there - how ya doing?
Today I saw this video on YouTube and it touched me incredibly deeply.
I’d been having a challenging day with technology when I came across Patrick’s story. To say it made me feel a little silly for thinking my day was a complete disaster was an understatement.
Patrick literally laughs in the face of adversity and focuses on the gifts he has got - what an example to us all. This amazing little soul lives a rich life and achieves the most incredible things with the help of his dad.
One of those moments when you realise you have no problems
What a pair of hero’s eh! Don’t people just blow you away at times?
Have fun
Tim xx
Feeling the Power of Purpose
Hello there my friend
Wow - am I having an amazing week after launching this blog - truly amazing.
To be totally honest with you I had been struggling with my energy levels and motivation a little since last summer. I bought a house and renovated it which totally wiped me out - both physically and financially. I’ve had to work pretty much 7 days a week to pay things off and get caught back up after not working for 3 months whilst doing the house (a bad idea in hindsight). To make things worse, I had a run of family problems which were also very draining.
In October I was feeling so tired that I went to see a friend of mine who is an expert in nutrition. He tested me and found out that I was in stage 3 of adrenal exhaustion - that is dangerously low on energy. No wonder I was feeling so rubbish.
Anyways, I was slowly starting to feel a little bit better so I took advantage and started to research internet marketing and thinking about this blog.
All of a sudden, since I’ve been writing these posts, building up my social networks on twitter and facebook and designing the blog I’ve totally woken up. To be honest I feel like I’ve got too much drive - it far outweighs my current energy level. It’s like I’ve literally been plugged back into the World. I’m struggling to sleep with excitement and can’t wait to bound out of bed to get started each morning. - FANTASTIC!!!
I was trying to work out what is was about what I am currently doing that has caused this amazing turn around. Then in the gym this morning it became clear….
I have found my purpose, my passion in life.
After all my searching, trying to find what I really want to do with my life - it kind of crept up on me from behind
It pretty much combines all of the things I love
- Since I was a child I really loved helping people
- I love building communities
- I am a huge fan of self development
- I love to connect with like minded people
- I have a deep interest in self esteem and self image
- I love designing, video production, writing, the Internet, software, technology and research
- I adore people and the thought that I could make even a small difference in the quality of someone’s life just lights me up inside
I feel so lucky to have discovered my passion and want to thank you for your support and I also want to thank all of the people who have encouraged and pushed me - I really appreciate your help.
Something for you
Before I finish - I want to ask you a few questions in the hope of being able to pass some of my new found passion on to you
- Are you living the life you desire and deserve?
- Ideally what would that life look/sound/feel like?
- What are your passions - what gets you fired up and excited?
- What skills or interests do you have that fit in with this vision?
Please give this gift to yourself and spend and hour or more answering these questions - you are worth it!
Good luck
Have fun
Tim xx
Paul Potts Audition
Posted by timtom in Feelgood videos on March 15th, 2009
A soul tingling story of an unassuming mans victory. Another musical morsel - turn up your sound and enjoy a real treat
Have fun
Tim xx
Thanks for the weather
Posted by timtom in Coincidence on March 14th, 2009
It started out as a normal Thursday morning. We got up, went about our normal things then I took Edith to have her stitches out. She had a mole removed from her leg 10 days ago and now was time to go back and finish off the job. I thought I would make the most of the time and take my broken laptop to my friend’s computer shop which is near the doctors. It had self destructed a week ago and although I had installed a new hard disk, I was having trouble installing windows.
The doctor took Edith’s stitches out, commented on how well her leg had healed and told her thatshe should be ok to go to the gym as long as she didn’t do weights or anything. Result! I dropped off my laptop to the shop, had a quick chat with my friend and went home.
We had been at home for a while when I got a call from my friend John. John is a trainer of car salesman and had called to say that he had found Edith a job in Manchester and would it be possible for us to come over to his office in Wakefield to have a mock interview. Of course we dropped everything and shot over there as he wanted to leave early.
She had her interview which took longer than we first thought, this took us to 4pm. It was then that we realised we weren’t going to have time to go home before going to Manchester for the Shore Slocam talk that we had tickets for. I decided to call Richard who we were going with and arranged to meet him half way. Now, during the afternoon the weather had been almost theatrical. It had started off a lovely sunny day, which had slowly turned to black skies, thunder and lightning and eventually the heavens had opened for a dramatic downpour of a finale. All of this looked great from our prime seats next to the huge windows on the first floor of my friend lovely offices, but it was now time to go out into the real world and run the gauntlet to the car.
We said our thanks and goodbyes and walked downstairs. I opened the door and couldn’t believe how hard it was raining. 3…2…1 go - I just went for it and ran full speed towards the car with Edith following close behind. We jumped in then Edith suddenly started freaking out. The sudden dash had popped open her stitches and now blood was coming out of the open wound. I calmed her as best I could and got her to breathe deeply to stop the panic. This was really her worst nightmare come true bless her.
We decided to go to the local chemist and ask their advice. We explained that we had this really important talk we wanted to go to and asked them if her leg would be ok or if we should go straight to the hospital. The lady in the chemist started to panic and said that we needed to go straight to the hospital to stitch it back up to save any infection. They patched it up the best they could and strangely didn’t charge us a penny. We got back into the car in a despondent mood. All of a sudden Edith was in pain, she had to have more stitches which would involve her worst nightmare - injections, and we couldn’t see Shore speak. At first we were a little upset but then we started asking. Why does the universe not want us to go to this talk? “Maybe we would have had a car accident” was the thing that popped into my head. I immediately called Richard and asked him to be drive extra safely. We then thought that maybe we had been on enough talks and courses and maybe the universe was telling us to just go for it and work hard tonight. Whilst speaking about this I suddenly remembered about my laptop. I called my friend and asked if he would wait until I got there - he agreed. I asked Edith if she would mind me picking it up on the way and she agreed as it would only add 5 minutes to the journey.
We got back to Sheffield, picked up my laptop and headed off to the hospital. I dropped Edith off outside Accident and Emergency so that she could get in the queue and parked my car. I was running back when I started thinking about how long you have to wait. I had stitches in my head a few years ago and I was in there for about 4 hours in total - not quite the night we had been dreaming of eh, but never mind, her health was the most important thing now! I opened the door to A&E, walked in and couldn’t believe my eyes. Edith was the only person in there. After a five minute wait we were directed to another area. A nurse came out and said follow me - I’ll do that for you now - WOW!!
We told her about the whole episode and how the chemist had told us that we should go straight to the hospital because it needed stitching and how we had missed the amazing talk that we were going to see. She said that we could have gone as you aren’t allowed to re stitch a wound as it could lead to infection and we could have got this done afterwards - we were gutted. She cleaned it up, popped on some paper stitches and a dressing and she was done. She told Edith to be careful with it for about 4 days then said “Go on the talk - you’ll be ok!”
We looked at the clock - it was ten to six. I ran and got the car, picked up Edith then we had to make a quick decision. It usually takes between an hour and a half and 2 hours to get to Manchester airport from Sheffield. We decided that it was better to see half the talk rather than not at all and went for it. We filled up with diesel and set off in anger. Now, if you’ve ever driven across Snake Pass from Sheffield you know the deal. You get another slower car in front of you and you are stuck, apart from a few passing places which makes it really hard to just go for it.
Well believe me I was going for it. My trusty V6 was screaming away and my traction control light was flashing like a strobe on my dashboard - I was at one with my car and totally in flow. We came up to Ladybower and got stuck behind 2 slow cars. This was great though as this is one of the few passing places and with a quick downshift and a generous stamp on the gas pedal we were once again in the lead. I was so involved with actually driving that I hadn’t really notice something quite strange. I fact I didn’t realise until we started coming into Glossop and stopped driving so hard. We had only seen two cars between Sheffield and Glossop and it’s six thirty on a work night - now that’s weird. I rang Richard who couldn’t believe it as we were only a short distance behind him. He called us once again when he was there and gave us directions so that we could drive straight there. We arrived, walked in the back entrance and straight up to the registration table. We signed in, walked in the room and sat down just in time to hear shore being introduced - we had made it….
Shore’s talk was absolutely incredible and touched us both deeply - we were so meant to be there and it was during the first break that we realised why things had happened in the way they did.
Remember I said that I picked up my laptop. Well….
- If Edith leg hadn’t popped open we would have gone straight to Manchester and I wouldn’t have picked up my laptop. It wasn’t even in my thoughts until we got nearly to Sheffield.
- My friends shop doesn’t open until 10am the next day and I have a really important meeting at 10, plus I needed to set it up before I went.
- The work that I will do at this meeting will ensure me a cheque for finishing the project.
- Without this cheque we would go under and have caused unbelievable stress and problems. WOW - how cool is that. The Universe re-arranged itself so incredibly to make this happen.
Just think of the things that occurred.
- The outrageous rain that made Edith run for the car, popping her stitches open.
- The people in the chemist who advised us wrongly and sent us back to Sheffield.
- By searching for an answer I remembered about my laptop.
- The nurse saying “Go on the talk - you’ll be ok!”
- The unbelievable lack of people both in the hospital and on the roads.
I hope that this story both entertains you and backs up your belief that there is an incredible, undeniable force out there. A force that, once you are in alignment with who you truly are and move towards your goals and dreams with faith and trust, will make things happen effortlessly for you. So when I say “Thanks for the weather” - you can see what I mean :o)
Oh yeah just before I finish I forgot something.
I put my ticket in the car park machine at the hospital and without paying a penny it said “Paid - proceed to exit”
Thank you Universe - Hehehe
Be your amazing self and have lots of fun
Tim xx
Tony Robbins - TED
Posted by timtom in Feelgood videos on March 8th, 2009
I’m a huge fan of Tony and find this talk really inspiring. He is discussing the invisible forces that drive us.
Have fun
Tim xx
Searching for a programmer
Posted by timtom in Coincidence on March 2nd, 2009
It was in the summer of 96, I had just moved from my home in Boston to Sheffield and just started working at CSSD – a computer shop below the flat I was staying at. I had just popped in and asked if there were any jobs going for computer programmers and they surprisingly said – actually we are looking for someone at the moment. That could be a story in itself but something much stranger was afoot.
Faris, who was one of the owners, came back off his honeymoon and we started working together on various jobs. We soon became a fantastic team and the jobs started rolling in. To keep the flow of work Faris had started going to lots of networking events and it was while at a meeting in Grantham that things started to get interesting.
Faris met a guy called Alan at the meeting who was offering a complimentary service to us. We wrote software and built customer PC’s, while Alan’s company provided networking solutions. They had hit it off and decided that it would be cool if we worked on a project together which was fantastic for both parties. Over the next few weeks Faris worked on site with Alan as they installed a large network into a company in Lincolnshire. We were supplying the machines and they were installing all of the cabling and configuring the network. Obviously they spoke in length about how we could best work together and Faris told Alan all about me and what we could offer them in the way of software development.
The job took them around 3 weeks after which Faris returned to work in the shop. About 2 weeks after that we got a call from Alan who was excited about a new contract he had landed which involved a large chunk of software – fantastic. I sent Alan some examples of my work and he sent me the basic specifications that he had done whilst at the sales meeting. It was while I was reading the spec that I started to get a strange feeling. It was a feeling of déjà view, like I already knew exactly what they wanted – maybe a glitch in the matrix eh!
The final piece came though later that week. I had sent Alan a demo of what I thought he wanted but it wasn’t quite what he expected. I then asked Alan if they had an existing system and if possible could I get a copy of it. He said that it shouldn’t be a problem and he would get onto it. He told me that they had an old DOS based program (this was the operating system that computers used before MS Windows came along) that they really loved. The only problem with it was that it couldn’t connect to their main customer’s system which was now a mandatory requirement.
I waited a couple of days then an email from Alan appeared in my inbox with the program attached to it. I opened the email, extracted the program, set it all up and double clicked on it. It was then that it hit me – at the bottom of the screen it said “(c) 1992 – Tim Neale”. It was my program that I had written for a farming company 4 years earlier when I was back in Boston. Wow – this completely blew me away. What was the chance of that happening?
- I moved to Sheffield after one night out to follow my dream of becoming a DJ
- I was staying at my friends flat that just happened to be above the shop
- Faris went to a random networking meeting in Grantham an met Alan
- Alan had somehow got the contract from the farm that I worked for in the past
I immediately called Alan and said “Do you know what my full name is?” He said no so I told him the story which completely freaked him out also.
I ended up getting back in touch with the people who ran the farm who were more than a little surprised to hear from me and overjoyed that I would be writing their new system. They were holding off for ages because they loved the system that I had written them.
When I spoke to the lady who owned the farm she said that she had been trying to get in touch with me for ages.
How amazing is the way she managed to find me - or maybe just coincidence?
Makes you think eh!!!
Have fun
Tim xx
