by Sunil Bali, 27-09-15

The saying "you should never buy hair grower from a bald salesman" reminds me of the magic bullets, quick fixes and secret formulas that are peddled by so many self-appointed success gurus.

As someone once said, "The big problem with self-help is that there’s usually too much help and not enough self."

Research by Dr. Andrew Meltzoff, Professor of Developmental Psychology at The University of Washington, concludes that we humans are not born with a clean slate. In fact, quite the opposite, we’re born with all we need to live a happy and fulfilled life. The problem Meltzoff says is that our innate tendency for self-discovery is suppressed by society’s mantra of self-improvement.

He argues that we are human beings and not human becomings, and that our focus should be on self-discovery and not self-improvement.

In his book "The Scientist in the Crib", Meltzoff concludes that we should forget what we’ve been taught, so we can remember what we already know and are born with.

Meltzoff’s prescription for self-discovery, creativity and optimal living is to get back into the spirit of the sandpit of our childhood, smell the crayons and do things which capture our imagination and ignite our spirit.

As the French poet Charles Baudelaire said, "Genius is nothing more than childhood recaptured at will."

….. now where are those crayons.

Hat tip to creative genius John Caswell

Humour

My local store tells me that there are less than 100 sleeps until Xmas day, so here a couple of festive funnies …..

Insomniacs: Look at the bright side ….. only 2 sleeps to Christmas.

A couple were Christmas shopping and had arranged to meet at midday. The shopping centre was packed but the husband was nowhere to be seen.

The wife was quite upset because they had a lot to do. She waited for 15 minutes and became worried because he was coming on his motorbike and there had been an unexpected thunderstorm. The wife phoned her husband’s mobile.

In a quiet voice her husband answered, "Do you remember the jewellers we went into about five years ago where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we couldn’t afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day?"

The wife choked up and started to cry and said, "Yes, I do remember that shop."

He replied, "Well, I’m in the bar next door."

Ps. I’m speaking at the Institute of Leadership and Management Conference in London next month. It’s my only scheduled public event for the next twelve months. There are 6 tickets left. If you’re interested, click here

Love

Sunil

www.sunilbali.com