Promote what you love

What we focus on becomes who we are.

The way we view situations has a significant impact on how we respond to them. Focus on something in a negative way, and the situation is compounded. Focus on something positively and options are realised.

There are those who see the glass half empty, those who see it as being half full, and those that see no glass at all.

We call this perspective, and perspective has a powerful impact on how we respond.

If we always do things in the same way, we should never expect to get a different result each time. To change the reaction, we have to change the action.

The term “Garbage in, garbage out”, is a true definition of a comparable REACTION based on a comparable ACTION.

There are some powerful keys necessary to change our perception:

1. Don’t use a hammer to crack a peanut

Many people just crash through life like a bulldozer. Anything in the way becomes a target. Using a hammer on a peanut, will do the job, but there’s nothing left to eat. As a chef I learned early on, that every knife has a particular job, and using the right tool gets the right result. Not every comment needs a response, and not every situation need your input. Sometimes the best response is no response.

2. Centralise your thinking around the good stuff

Peter pan found his “happy place”. Some years ago, I learned a truth from a friend of mine, who oversaw multiple projects and thousands of people. In the midst of a crisis, a member of staff stormed into his office with (according to them), an urgent problem. My friend’s response to them, was “that’s not a today problem”. Good management requires good timing, and a clear focus. Before diving into a new problem, spend time considering past successes.

3. Never react intentionally. Respond thoughtfully.

The only time we need to react is if we are in the path of a truck. Otherwise, consider the options and outcomes before a response. Reacting out of emotion will only inflame the situation. 

Never send an important email in anger. 

Never post a thoughtless comment on social media, 

and never let your frustration be evident in your language.

None of these reaction will improve the situation, in fact on the contrary, you will likely have further issues to deal with.

4. Filter all your input before accepting it as finite

All our actions are filtered through our emotions. If past emotions are part of a negative experience, it will likely flavour and colour our opinion. 

Some of those opinions will betray us, and others will enslave our thinking. The conversation of the “inner man” is our key counsellor. No amount of external information will change our “inner counsellor” until we teach it a new language. 

The language of love.

Disappointment has many children, but only one father – unrealistic expectations. 

In the search for new perspective, we need to start promoting what we love and quit bashing what we hate. Not only will it bring empowerment, but a healthy new perspective. Criticism is never constructive, critical thinking is. By thinking through a problem, we then respond with postivie solutions. 

Why Lessons Repeat Themselves.

Repetition is the way of life.

• In learning, repetition enforces understanding and then application.
• In behaviour, repetition reveals strengths and weaknesses
• In relationships, repetition provides opportunities to grow 
• In life repetition deals with character and attitude

The one constant in life is change and the pivotal point in change is our response to it.

Life has a way of repeating lessons until our response in mastering it becomes second nature.

In fact, it has been said that life is the only classroom where the test is given before the lesson. We learn primarily through testing; how often we take that test, depends on how quickly we learn the lesson.

The hallmark of maturity is whether we "respond" or "react". Life events, have a way of building us up or tearing us down, the way we respond, (and what we learn from the situation) determines how often we need to take the lesson again.

• If you want to understand how a person remains so patient in adversity, take a snap-shot of their life. I guarantee they will have faced trial upon trial, suffered majour disappointments and loss.
• If you want to understand why a person is so content, consider they're past losses, lack of privilege, possessions or times of lack.
• If you want to understand why a person is compassionate towards the terminally ill and suffering; ask about their personal losses, bereaved loved ones and personal suffering.

Some of the greatest lessons learned in life, have been revealed in times of extreme hardship and personal loss. Those lessons which often repeat themselves, do so, not to inflict further pain, but to create in us a greater capacity to help those yet to be tested in a similar way.

I can't recall just how many funerals, casualty wards, hospices, or bereavement centres I have attended. I often ask myself why? but have learned some fundamental factors in such testing times:

1. Unlike taking a test in college, in life; there isn't always an answer to the question

2. Passing the test of life, does not exclude one from sitting it again and again!

3. The one test which we all re-sit daily; is ATTITUDE....

4. The test is never the problem, its our response to it

5. If you think you've passed a particular subject, get ready for the new revised version, it's currently under review, and on its way to you, in plain brown packaging.

The one sure permanency in life is change. Are you ready for life 101?

A Testing Life in Film

Nearly Paleo

NEARLY Paleo

"Diets don't work"

A paleo lifestyle is only as effective as the application and daily maintenance of the philosophy. If there isn’t a comprehensive grasp (revelation) in the cost benefits of eating healthy, a long term (lifetime) benefit is unlikely.

It starts with WHY the lifestyle is necessary, and finishes with WHAT we DO about it?

All this culminates in the items we purchase and consume on a daily basis:


· Whole raw organic fruits

· Tree nuts

· Vegetables

· Meats

· Fish and Shellfish


So what are the benefits of increasing raw fruits and vegetables into our diet?

• Cooking depletes vitamin and mineral contents significantly, particularly enzymes which are destroyed. Hence raw foods are better quality, and more nutritionally enriched. 

• Cooking also damages proteins and fats, and enzymes which aid digestion. 

• Raw foods increases satisfaction, improves energy needs and provides our daily fiber needs.

• Raw foods are packed full of natural sugars, salts and flavonoids, which minimise artificial additives. One of the reasons processed foods are packed full of additives, is due to the destruction of natural flavours, and keeping qualities. Our body is designed to deal with natural by-products, not chemically induced products. 

• The time saved in long drawn out cooking processes, is a precious advantage in eating raw. As a trained chef, I have spent years in complicated and skilfull techniques. These days, I appreciate the skill, but have adopted a more reasonable and enlightened approach, and my body appreciates my change by healing itself.

• Prior to adopting this philosophy, my rubbish bin would spill over on weekly collection, whereas now, I need collection once every 2-3 weeks, and even then the bin isn’t full. Why? I use less packaging, less containers, less waste, less processed foods, therefore less garbage to recycle.

• The weekly shopping bill has reduced significantly whilst the quality of diet has increased. Also, a reduction in power bills, cooking oils, sauces, and a more informed attitude to the products that I choose at the store. Also less trips to the store, saves on fuel and stress. What’s more, the use of the compost bin has declined as almost the entire product is used, fresh daily

• Perhaps the greatest benefit is noticeable in my health:

 I have seen a reversal of type 2 diabetes

 Attained my goal weight in under a year

 Maintain my goal weight on a daily basis

 Have no desire for supplementary or binge eating

 My general health and appearance has improved

 All blood levels are normal and well balanced

 Medical intervention and doctors’ visits are on a need basis only

An increased use of raw foods in one’s diet, reduces the risk of diseases, colds and flu, as well as improving the body’s ability to deal with stress and pollutants.

Life is all about balance, and as long as you use the appropriate rules of hygiene during storage and preparation, your body will appreciate the way you nurture it. Keep a diary of the foods you eat and any noticeable effects the changes have on you, a simple adjustment in your daily routine will reap all the rewards.

FINALLY - Paleo is FREE, although there are people who profit from the lifestyle, YOU are in control of what, when, where and how you purchase your foods! No sign up fees, no branded clothing, expensive commercials or subscriptions (unless you choose). Paleo is a lifestyle choice.

Sign up for my face book page NEARLY paleo and get some great ideas, recipes and helpful links

Men Have Sheds.....and women go shopping

Why Men Have Sheds – and woman go shopping!

I hate generalizations or profile and gender fixing, as we may share the same sex, but we are all different aren’t we? But are we?

Most men that I know have a systematic way of dealing with things. It’s a process that allows us to deal with things in the order they need to be dealt with. It may not fulfill the protocols that the opposite sex may have chosen; neither are we necessarily as tidy or organised (I said maybe), as our counterparts, but to us, it makes clear sense and fulfills our understanding of logic and procedure.

Men are by and large practical and motivated by sight and taste; this is not the case with woman. A woman is motivated by what she hears and feels. 

This is why woman wear make-up and men tell lies.

A woman will walk into a store and engages with the stock, by touch, feel, smell, hold up, spin it round, stretch it, try on, put back and start the process all over again, until the store closes. A man will, walk strait to the shirt or trouser rack, spot a  colour, size, price and head to the check out and pay. He will rarely try it on (as it wastes good time). He will then go home to his shed (or den).

Men are hunter gatherers, who are wired to bag a bargain and move onto the next. We are on “an expedition”, with a clearly defined target, and once we have bagged it, we are done! 

During the expedition, we are not being rude or ignoring people along the journey, as in truth, we don’t see them due to our single focus. Occasionally, something will grab our attention for a fleeting moment, but normal service soon resumes.

Within our potential (apparent) dis-organised state, we are comfortable. Move something from where it belongs (even if it is on a table top, behind a door or piled high), our process is thwarted and frustration sets in, as we try to organise and prioritise our cave. 

Comments such as, “OK then, I’ll just leave your stuff where I find it” and “It looks a mess” or “I’ll put it back where I found it” even "Well I wont bother again" are wielded like a baton, as if somehow and some way it will punish us! 

By leaving things the way they were? 

Seriously, that’s all we ever want!

As a youngster, I was raised in a pit village where miners would work all manner of ungodly hours and shifts. I was always fascinated by how many of them would have pigeon lofts, in which they would keep racing pigeons. Others would have rickety sheds, knocked together with corrugated sheeting, coal conveyor belts, plywood and other odds and ends.

The “shed” would always be built at the bottom of the garden, or in an “allotment” (a rented space usually away from the housing in the woods).

I could never understand why the men would forgo the pleasures of a warm home, with electricity and all the mod cons for an easy life, but they did.

I recall visiting some of these “sheds” and there were no attempts to make it homely! They had a converted oil drum on which to burn wood and boil a kettle. A rickety chair, piles of horse racing chronicles, a biscuit tin, radio and hobby materials. They often had compacted earth floors which smelled of tobacco and damp, yet they were a refuge for solace, a special retreat, a safe tower.  

We all need a shed! 

A place where things just are and yet don’t have to be. 

My Mistress Sea

My Mistress Sea

My earliest memories of the sea were made during our annual trip to the east coast of Yorkshire.
That pungent assault to my senses; of seaweed, salt air and sand, are seared forever in my consciousness.

A two hour journey by bus through the winding tree strewn roads, were eventually betrayed by a glimpse of that ever demanding mistress, the sea.
Oh how we screamed with joy as our eyes caught the first glimpses of the twinkling lights, the green blanketed Atlantic. With each bend we turned, a deeper shade of her was revealed until at last we could smell her. A profusion of salt laden, fish and chip promise that was her harbour and refuge.

With never a minute to spare, our compass was fixed on the bleached sands and frothing waves that seemed to whisper "come home!". With almost a year in-between visits, I always sensed a kind of betrayal and remorse for having been away so long. Never a moment to spare as I ran to her pleasures, her embrace, the rekindled love affair that could never satisfy that yearning to belong. To be home, once again, alone.

Hours would pass as the sweet scent of fulfillment would lure me ever more into this solitary place. Passers by would smile and chat whilst amidst their gaze, a life long yearning and friendship was cemented. No playground nor entertainment could equal the immense pleasure that she afforded me. From dawn to dusk, her embrace would captivate and consume each waking hour of each passing day.

From time to time other events would capture my gaze; a scurry of seagulls, a returning boat with a parasol of gulls vying for bait and bilge pump waste. Yet it was fleeting and never permanent, as our friendship would be. In the heat of the day, we would often share an intimate moment where sea, sand and surf, would become one. At times I would disappear beneath the waves of foam as silence engulfed my senses, and the world faded from my focus, and all too quickly return.

Her cold breath would be shaken from my body by the stark contrast of the mid-summer sun, as I rolled in the baking sands, only to emerge like the crumbed plaice and chips that warmed our belly later that day. It was the best of all times! It was like theater, and hot chocolate. Warming friendship that never waned even into the cold winter nights that were to come. I found in her a lifelong escape from the mundane. My rescuer in times of trouble, my life support and means of recovery.
I found in her an interpreter of language without a word being spoken. Counselor of life and guru of peace. Mistress, lover, confident and life giver.

The passion she reveals is unlike any other. Power, might, strength, and a call to deafen the most delicate ear. From a trickle at tides turn to a bellow amidst the rocks at high tide. One cannot ignore her, as she attracts and draws us ever deeper into her gaze, with whispers of promise and enticement, as that glint of mystique is forever about her. Trapping us, beguiling us into a lifelong commitment and promise, never to betray her, to leave her, or cheat.

Holder of secrets and lifter of spirit, forever open for discourse.
Whatever time of day or season of year, she is forever that pool of solace and sharer of faith.


I have shared her moods and she mine. Heard my anger and swallowed my tears, echoed my cry and yet held forever my trust, integrity, reputation and hopes for a new day to come. At times I hear the call of generations gone, of ancestors and sojourners that too found in her a lifeline too strong to break. Separated only by time, we share a bond, a commonality, a friendship, a love.

And yet today, many years have passed, many oceans crossed, many lives come and gone....

That pungent assault, that breath of enticement bid me closer and closer, as I once again rekindled our love in drawing from her wells of refreshing.
Just a glimpse,
a gentle embrace of her salt kissed lips and I am home!

Creating Initiative in a team!

Ordinary people find problems, above average people find solutions.

Were common sense really common, we would all be the better for it, sadly it’s not! What turns an average team into an above average team is having and taking the initiative.

Can people be trained to have initiative? Of course, but it’s always easier to just find and hire them. As a trainer, mentor and coach, I prefer the challenge of developing people to take initiative. I have always taken on apprentices in whatever organisations I have led. Interns, trainees, temporary staff, youth leaders, work experience and trade skills. The same rules apply. It requires initiative, to initiate initiative.

Either one provides a culture of initiative or the opposite of it will evolve. Humans have a propensity for taking the path of ease. Like water, we gravitate to the least point of resistance.

Regardless of team size, organisational resources, finances or skill set, the same principles apply. Individuals can implement the following strategies by engaging a coach or mentor to keep the accountability process fluid.

• Form a vision team

Ideas people are great! They bring colour and texture to the big picture. If you are personally threatened by someone dreaming bigger than you, it’s not for you. Creating a vision team will loosen the reigns and increase responsibility and resources. Detailed people are freaked out by such teams, (with the why, what, how, when and what if questions) which is why a Strategy team is a complimentary initiative.

• Establish why boundaries are a great resource

Good leaders that delegate do not give away authority lightly. Delegation must always carry with it accountability, with responsibility. It would be foolish to give your toddler a shiny new bike and let them use it whenever and however they chose. Learning to ride safely, requires insight with oversight until a relationship of trust serves both the rider and the gift.   

• Establish a “no failures” culture

Unless we appreciate failure as a learning tool for success, we will instil fear of failure in those around us. Repetition is a learning process that empowers us through the familiarity of the process. This puts us at ease whilst building confidence. By persistence, the snail entered the ark

• Value training and development

Performers on a high wire act have all the freedom they want, but there are immutable forces at work that must be obeyed in order to complete the performance successfully. The difference between amateur and  professional is training. If the budget does not prioritise consistent training, development ceases.

• Mentor mentors

People are more likely to initiate in others if they learn the key to being mentored themselves. Mentoring is relationship based and focused on instilling wisdom, experience and networks which support skill advancement. Every leader should develop leaders (see my site for pedagogy) 

• Strategy team

Keep in mind that the purpose of these groups are to build initiative, which in turn develops ideas that will mobilize people. Visionaries gravitate to fellow visionaries, but without the strategists, what started out as a vision can quickly become a dream at best and a nightmare at worst. Imparting the vision to strategists with a clear preferable future is the leaders responsibility. Finding tangible ways to achieve the vision is the role of a strategy team. Accountability and responsibility for the outcome is not given away, as initiative evolves and ideas flow.

• Celebrate milestones together

 Corporate celebration is critical in keeping the team focused and empowered. Public affirmation of “a job well done” is powerful, as is rewarding key initiatives. With over thirty years in training and development, I can concur; that teams who embrace positive and public affirmation of progress, build strong connections and ownership of the vision.

• Find it? Fix it!

Initiative is about responsible action, and the best way to initiate this initiative is burn it into the culture of the organisation. I once sought the advice of a seasoned leader in a large organisation, in regard to his selection process of his interns. His response was startling yet wise. He looked for individuals that voluntarily picked up litter and waste, or solved practical issues without being asked. Since then, I have made it a point of saying, “every problem YOU find, YOU are responsible for fixing”. No one else to blame, no one else to delegate to, (unless a specialist is required), initiative is about ACTION.  Once this simple principle forms part of the organisations culture, initiative grows and ownership ensues.

Tony Mckeown is a director and owner of coaching 4 life ltd. His services span academic programme management, course design and moderation to public and private training organisations. He also provides itinerant ministry and leadership training for none profit organisations and churches world wide.  

The Two Most Important Days In Your Life

Recently, I have been writing articles about time and the value we place on it, in the way we live out our days. One cannot help but be challenged by the magnitude and impact that time has on us, especially in the seemingly judicial way that it is allotted to us.


Sure, there are significant and life changing events that happen during our lifetime, (such as meeting our life partner, the birth of a child, the discovery of lifelong friendships and other fortuitous events), yet none more so than the two most important days in ones life.

I can point to several humongous events that have shaped my life and the way in which I live out my days, but without doubt, two specific time frames have served to direct my life, and for that reason, I believe they are the two most important days in my life (and perhaps yours too)!


The first most important day of my life, was the day of my birth.

It took place in a season in time when the world was changing as a result of the Second World War. Resources had been rationed, my home town recovering from the re-build needed as a result of heavy and consistent bombing. Prosperity was for a selective few and communities still worked for the common good.

All of these environmental issues, served to fashion the world which I entered into, yet had little impact on the effect upon the Kairos time-frame, although it was marked by the Chronos schedule with a chronological date, which I celebrate annually each October.

Without this event, the second most important day in one’s life isn’t possible. All that life is and can be, is dependent on the magical event of conception, gestation and safe birth. The first most important day in ones life!

The Second most important day in one’s life, is equally as important. 

None of us where ever created to fill in time, or occupy space until we die. Socrates said. “The unexamined life is not worth living”, yet all too often, life is not examined by us (to the point of self-discovery) and we are the poorer as a result.

“The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings”. Henri Frederic Amiel

Many events impact the way we live and a multiplicity of circumstances shape the way we live, yet unconditionally, the second most important day in one’s life, is the day we discover WHY we were born!

I do not believe life is haphazard nor is the individual’s part which they play in it. Therefore, whilst the most important day in one’s life is life itself, the second most important day, must be the day we discover what we are to do with it.

“In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years”. Abraham Lincoln

Many people are pre-occupied with “Making a living” and miss out on “Making a life”.

My world is consumed with individuals who struggle to find purpose and meaning to their life and as a result, fill their day with pursuits rather than reason. Many have a fatalistic view on life and as such, use time as a means to an end. I believe this is living life in its poorest form.


“We do not remember days, we remember moments”. Cesare Pavese


So here’s the challenge, when all is said and done, it’s not what’s said, but what’s done!

As you are reading this article, we can assume we both share the most important day (our birth), but do we share the second most important day WHY?

Life is more about making an impact than it is making an income, and as Albert Einstein once said, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”.

All Out Of Booooos

All out  of boo's and I don't mean booze!

You gotta love the Aussies!

Recently I was watching a game in the N.R.L. where my local team were playing a match. At almost every opportunity the crowd would jeer and boo when any one on the opposition got the ball. Later on towards the end the commentator said, "Well it sounds like the crowd are all out of boo's!" 

As hilarious as the comment was, it got me to thinking. Why do people boo?

"When they boo you, you know they mean you". George Halas

Gladiatorial games were introduced to Rome in 264 BC, when the sons of Junius Brutus honoured their father by matching three pairs of gladiators. 

In 65 BC, Julius Caesar commemorated his father, who had died twenty years before, with a display of 320 pairs of gladiators in silvered armor.
Most matches employed a senior referee (and boy do they get a good booing at every game). We know the practice was used frequently in theses games in the crowd voting process as to whether a gladiator lived or was put to death, so its connotation is to derive displeasure with an outcome. Audience participation often determined whether a competitor lived or died. The crowd decided by booing or cheering  the wounded gladiator
by yelling 'missum' or 'mitte' (release or send away) as a gesture of mercy and conversely yelling 'iugula' (to kill).

When the democratic reformer Cleisthenes came to power in the sixth century B.C., audience participation came to be regarded as a civic duty.
The audience applauded to show its approval and shouted and whistled to show displeasure.

Historically, there is lots of conjecture and myth in its regard, however it appears an old English word boo was first used in the early 19th century to describe the lowing sound that cattle make. Later in the 1800s, the word came to be used to describe the disapproving cry of crowds.

Hoot, another onomatopoeic English word, was used as early as 1225 to describe the same phenomenon. Ancient Greek and Latin both contain words resembling boo that mean "to cry or shout aloud."

"A boo is a lot louder than a cheer. If you have 10 people cheering and one person booing, all you hear is the booing". Lance Armstrong

Back to todays usage!. It is regularly seen on the news as a negative reaction to politicians speeches, sports players, poor performances and outcomes, but almost guaranteed whenever Australians play sport, and an odds favourite whenever the National team plays superior opposition. Booing has become an art form for many, but is it as effective as its counterpart, "cheering and applauding", in terms of affirmation and encouragement? I think not!

Nice to see your home fans boo you! Thats what loyalty is all about" - Wayne Rooney

Human nature responds to encouragement and affirmation, and has been said " One can't strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

Bosses, leaders and team members will always get more superior outcomes in the long term by using terms of empowerment, than a means of degradation or disapproval.
There is nothing more disappointing than living in a negative environment. It saps creativity, persistence and consistency. It demoralizes both the initiator and those in its environment, so whilst in the right environment, an appropriately delivered boo can be funny, encouraging and a true consensus of the crowds feeling.

"Studying cows, pigs and chickens can help an actor develop his character. There are a lot of things I learned from animals. One was that they couldn't hiss or boo me." -James Dean 

Does it change the course of a game? 

Elect or depose a candidate?
Determine whether someone lives or dies?

Well who really knows, certainly in the game I was watching, No!

The outcome was a resounding victory to the opposition, but it didn't stop the crowd booing the victors off the pitch...........

"If I would have paid for a ticket to watch myself, I would have booed myself too" - Randy Johnson

Healthy Rejects.

We are a wasteful society and many of the kitchen habits that we observe, serve no economic nor health conscious purpose. Many of our habits in food preparation are not based on nutrition but on cultural preferences. Having worked as a chef (for more years than I care to remember), the customer is not overly concerned with nutrition, rather than theater.

Over the years, I was trained to cook food which was enticing to the eye and tantalizing for the palette. Rarely were people concerned with nutrition or health care when dining out. As a result of this, most chefs prepare the prime cuts and discard, or process them into other dishes. These days, we are smarter and more educated in the ways of food preparation and nutrition; never the less, these cultural habits die hard.

Your local supermarket are more likely to buy in their vegetables pre-packed, so the goodness has already been leached out of the vegetable in its natural state, so you will have to find a local grower or greengrocer who will sell them whole and unprepared. If you are cheeky like me, I ask for the discarded stuff as they will only get binned as waste.

Here are my top ten rejects that I never throw out.

1.       Broccoli and Cauliflower stems and leaves

Full of goodness and great in minerals and plant sugar, leaves and stems carry the nutrition to the flower head, but provided awesome flavour, texture and colour to a meal. Leave them attached to the flower and cut off as you need them. Cut them into bite size pieces and blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, cool in cold water and add to your stir fry. Great with the flower or on their own.

2.       Beetroot leaves

Fantastic washed and mixed raw with your other salad greens such as celery leaves, lettuce, beansprouts and rocket. I drizzle virgin olive oil and pink Himalayan rock salt, cracked pepper and Moroccan seasoning.

3.       Cabbage outer leaves

Why discard the dark green outer leaves? They are full of iron and taste fantastic when treated as you would Norrie or Sushi sheets. Cut the vein out of the centre, blanch in boiling salted water for 30 seconds and plunge into cold water and lay flat in the fridge for an hour or so. Lay flat, rub sesame oil on one side and fill with a mixture of sprouts, grated veges, sliced meats of seafood and roll up like sushi. Wrap in cling film and slice when cold.

4.       Potato skins

Fully ripened (not green) skins are an excellent source of vitamin c and roughage. Scrub them well and either rub olive oil into them and bake or cut and boil. Even in creamed potatoes, that nutty earthy flavour is a bonus. Alternatively, peel them and store in water until you have the oven on next and toss in salt, seasoning and roast.

5.       Orange and lemon skin

Never miss an opportunity to zest and grate the skin off citrus fruit. Why peel and discard it? I use a potato peeler  to remove the skin and infuse in olive oil to use on salads, deserts, and in roasted root vegetable. Alternatively, I eat them whole, yep skin and all.

6.       Lettuce outer leaves

You can cook lettuce, yep that right and its great. Instead of breaking off the outer leaves and throwing them, rinse them and roll them into cigar shapes and plunge in boiling salted water. Remove when limp and season to taste. Alternatively, fill them as with the cabbage leaves and  serve them hot, cold or as an accompaniment to a meal. They don’t keep too well due to water content, but serve straight to the table and what an addition to any meal.

7.       Garlic and onion skins

Save all the hassle of peeling and chopping, put them whole into stocks, soups, sauces etc. Not only do they add flavour but they add colour as well. Of course, they are not too good for chewing, but they work well in the garden in plant drinks, mosquito and greenfly repellent.

8.       Fennel stalks and leaves

Most stores sell the fennel without the stalk (bulb only), but the stalks and leaves are fantastic in salads, soups and stocks. The smell is great and fits well when chopped and tossed in olive oil and salt as a salad. The larger stalks can be woody, but cut in to small pieces, blanch and cool and you won’t know the difference.

9.       Pumpkin skin and seeds

Butternut, Green Skin and  Buttercup are great winter squashes. I bake them whole and eat skin and all. The seeds can be scooped out and roasted, and sprinkled on salads. They make great soup when cooked  and blended, and require no flour or thickening. Add nutmeg and cinnamon and turn into pumpkin pie. Don’t waste the skin by peeling it away, before cooking, cook it first then remove it, if you prefer. As with most vegetables, the vitamins and minerals generally lay under the surface, so capitalise by leaving it in place. Just wash before use.

10.   Celery leaves and crown

Most people throw the good parts away when eating celery. Always leave the stalks attached to the crown (base) and cut stalks away as you need them, then put into a polythene bag and into the fridge. Cut the leaves away as you need them and use in salads, stocks, soups, sauces, and in stir frys. When all that left is the crown, use it in stocks, or in your roast pan to flavour gravies and sauces. Sometimes, I use the crown as a roast vegetable with parsnips and carrots.

Postscript:

As with all foods these days, one should NEVER blindly trust that what you are buying is free of harmful pesticides and chemicals, regardless of what it says on the label. Buy local and support local and where possible - GROW your own or get into a cooperative where you can exchange goods for services. My last resort is a supermarket. Eat seasonal, Bottle or freeze in season, buy bulk and most of all, don;t be fooled by tags such as "organic", "healthy", and other marketing trends. Remember, eat foods that don't need a label where practical.

RUT OR GRAVE?

The only difference between being in a rut and being in a grave, is a grave has an end to it.

Many people get stuck into a rut and the same old same old lifestyle of events and none events, a bit like "Ground Hog Day:. Is that you?

There are many benefits in hiring a life coach, but those benefits need to be honestly assessed and achieved. This is primarily achieved as a result of a good 360 degree assessment of the clients (your) needs.

Coaching is primarily about asking questions; questions which are both insightful and empowering.

Anyone can ask questions, but the timing and relevance of them, can build up and pull down. Finding fault is easy, finding solutions is an art and strategic in the discovery of self and one’s preferable future.

Prior to engaging a client, I establish a clear picture of the client’s willingness and motivation to achieve their preferable outcomes. If these cannot be readily defined at the outset, the outcome is more likely to be that of a dream than a vision. Not all business is good business, particularly when one considers we are dealing with PEOPLE not PRODUCTS. The outcome must be a win-win or the process can be a long hard slog.

Here are the key questions I always ask prior to taking on a client. 

If the client cannot initially answer them, then we are at base camp, and preparation needs to be done, prior to taking the journey.  Of course, there is NO magic formula, as all manner of “life” issues can affect the way one sees things today. Tomorrow’s perspective, could be vastly different.

So, are you ready for a collaborative and strategic coaching partnership? 

Can you answer these questions now?

1.       Why – Do you need a life coach?

2.       What – Do you want to achieve?

3.       What – Is, and has been stopping you to-date?

4.       When – Do you want to achieve this by?

5.       How – Will achieving these goals look and benefit you?

Once we have a consensus on these questions, the next phase is to build a strategic plan of action, with a clear risk assessment, highlighting the road blocks and likely objections that will surface during the sessions, and hold the client accountable to it.

This is the crucible of all coaching. 

Coaching is not just recognising ones strengths and weaknesses; it is the planning, execution (and most of all), the accountability process. Few individuals ever achieve their full potential without accountability. 

Why? 

Because human nature is like water, it naturally takes the least path of resistance.

An old proverb goes like this “Man is born to strife, as surely as sparks fly upwards.” Coaching keeps one honest, accountable, and focused.

Are you ready for that?