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Men: Get More Confidence!
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Cults are Fun, Easy and Popular
I'm fascinated by the phenomenon of cults, and our inherent vulnerability to the influence of charismatic leaders. The topic also touches on another personal interest, the human desire and ability we have to embrace supernatural and unsubstantiated beliefs.
My personal definition of the term cult is:
A derogatory term for any religious or philosophically-based minority group whose core beliefs and values you don't personally agree with.
Yes, I know it's a little different from the wiktionary definition, but I want to emphasise that cultness is in the eye of the beholder. It's a derogatory term, rarely used by the members of the cult in question, although they may use it freely referring to other cults; just not their own. When you're in a cult, you don't see that it's a cult. So when someone else uses the word cult, what they really mean is that they don't like the … Continue reading…
The Survivor Approach To Dealing With Difficult Neighbours
Over the last few years, I've inadvertently adopted a strategy for dealing with troublesome neighbours based on the theme of the reality TV show Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. Well, maybe not so much outwit and outplay, but outlast seems to be working for me with these people:
Cranky Old Men
First up was nasty neighbour Charles. I first met Charles while exploring the common property soon after buying my apartment. He a relatively short man around his mid 70s, with dark black hair, and a slight arch in his back which suggested that he was past his peak and was now growing shorter rather than taller. At first, Charles oozed charm and smarm: he was very friendly and welcoming in a rather disarming kind of way.
But things turned nasty only a couple of weeks later at the first body corporate meeting. The hot item on the agenda … Continue reading…
How to Write and Present a Winning Speech
I won the Best Speech award (again) at my Toastmasters club last meeting, for a humorous speech entitled Share The Love. I love delivering funny speeches, because I get to make people laugh, I'm able to live in the moment, and I get distracted from self-consciousness by the story-telling. In short, I get to feel free. Plus I can tell immediately that the audience is engaged when they laugh. Even if they're not laughing, they seem to be paying attention, and either way I'm in the zone having fun.
Now I know it was just a regular club meeting; it's not like I won a humorous speech contest or anything yet, that's coming up in a few week's time. But here's my process for writing and delivering a humorous speech:
Pick A Painful Story
The essence of public speaking is to tell a story, and make a point. Story-telling … Continue reading…
Share The Love
Have you ever noticed that in any reasonably large group of people, there's always one person who you just don't seem to get on with? One person who gets in your face, and just doesn't seem to agree with you or like you, no matter what you say or do? How do you deal with them?
Earlier this year I went to a Shamanic Practitioner's training course, up near Byron bay. The purpose of the course was to learn shamanic healing techniques for dealing with spiritual, emotional and sexual problems. I had been lured by the promise of dealing with three of my biggest bugbears: guilt, fear and shame. It was one of those courses where you just know everyone's going to wind up getting naked.
This was a residential course lasting 6 days, in the beautiful, warm Byron hinterland. There was a lot of stomping, pillow-hitting, tantrum-throwing and … Continue reading…
How (and Why) I Went From Christian to Atheist
One of the greatest challenges of my life has been the journey of discovery that led me to abandon the religion of my upbringing, and the core beliefs about myself and the world around me that went along with it. Although tremendously challenging, the journey has also been one of the most rewarding; which isn't surprising since it's when we step outside our comfort zone and encounter challenges that we truly grow.
I was raised in a conservative church-going family in middle-class Australia. Every weekend my parents would take me and my two older sisters along to our mildly-progressive local Christian church. I went to Sunday School every weekend where I learned stories from the bible, learned to close my eyes when I prayed, heard about Jesus, sang cutesy Christian songs, and generally ran amok as often as I could. I was an energetic little boy, and the thought of … Continue reading…
A Practical Guide to How Your Brain Works
Given that our brain is where the thoughts, feelings, ideas, beliefs and decisions that guide our whole life arise I think it's helpful to have a rudimentary understanding of how it works so we can use it more effectively.
Your brain is the most complex system in the known universe. Over eighty billion massively interconnected neurons form the most complex parallel-processing biological computer imaginable, and it's right there in your head controlling your every move. Nobody fully understands how it works, which isn't at all surprising when you consider that we're using our brain to try to understand itself. That's like a computer trying to understanding itself. So I can hardly do it justice in a single article but here's a rough guide to the features I think are most important.
Consciousness and The Mind
The mind is a function of our brain. When people talk about “the mind”, they … Continue reading…
How to Write Damn Good Fiction by James N. Frey
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How to Become a Confident Man
I've been working like a man possessed for the past few months on a new project to help men build self-confidence. I know what it's like to lack confidence as a man, and frankly it sucks because every other area of your life suffers. Sure, I learned plenty of coping mechanisms so that at times I may have appeared confident, but that wasn't what was going on inside. Some days, it still isn't. And since this has been one of my greatest challenges in life, I want to help other in guys facing it too.
Self-confidence is an awareness that you have the ability to rise to whatever challenge life throws at you. It's also a sense of being at ease with yourself in any situation, and with who you are as a man. Confidence is the single most important asset that a man can possess, because it determines … Continue reading…
Thanks for your support during Movember! Here's the result...
Hi folks,
Thanks heaps to everyone who supported me during Movember.
Here's the final visual mo growth result:
With your generous support I raised $425 for awareness of men's health and to support sufferers of prostate cancer and depression, two of the leading illnesses affecting men. My team raised a total of $851 dollars, which is an awesome result.
If you've been waiting to see the final result before making a donation, it's not too late to donate via credit card by visiting my mospace page and clicking Donate To Me.
Now the only question is: should I keep it? Vote here:
Should I keep the Mo?
- No way, fungus face! (84%, 16 Votes)
- Hell yeah, it’s sexy! (16%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 19
Loading ...Thanks again,
Graham
Update: I'm not one to want to be swayed by popular pressure or anything, but the poll result was pretty … Continue reading…
Please Sponsor Me and Support Men’s Health In Movember
Hi folks,
I'm growing a mo' to raise funds and support awareness of depression, prostate cancer and general men's health during Movember. You've probably seen the funky ads on TV with the stylish guys and the great moustache's. Here's your chance to participate by sponsoring me! I started out like this on Day 1:
And here's the progress so far on Day 12:
Well, I seem to be getting there. It's been a rough week this week; two days wiped out with headaches, and to add insult to injury I broke a string on my strat. But you can help cheer me up by supporting my mo-growing efforts by donating on my Movember Mospace page. Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible so donate now!
Thanks in advance for your support,
Graham… Continue reading…
