At a friend’s birthday last night the service at a Michelin awarded dining venue in Mayfair was, quite frankly, appalling. One of the members of our group had heard of this blog that HG & I have started and asked me if I’d name and shame it- my answer was “no”, because our blog is about positivity. Whilst it would be very tempting to have a rant, I am a strong believer in the powerful feedback mechanisms of positivity and negativity that exist in human behaviour; in emotional wealth and how to control it.
If you look at a young child you will see our natural ways of being are positivity, contentment and peace of mind- because young children live for the moment, in his or her truth. We cannot get anything positive out of a negative mindset or thoughts. By changing our energies to positive, we attract more positive people and events into our lives to support us in reaching our dreams and goals. I believe part of this is simply a matter of reconnecting with that childlike innocence with which we were born. (NB- Last night’s end result of breezily mentioning to the maitre’d whilst he put my coat on me that the service hadn’t been like my last trip, was him handling me his business card and a promise of a complimentary visit next time, where we would be “looked after”. A wonderfully positive outcome, no?!)
In keeping with the “January blues” and positivity theme, this month’s All Eyes On Him focusses on someone who has provided millions of people around the world with a daily anecdote to provide a smile to their face, make them feel positive and appreciative of the incredible world we live in, AND to reconnect with that childlike innocence. Neil Pasricha started a blog in 2008 titled “1000 Awesome Things” which is a countdown of all the great things that we come across in our daily lives that we don’t always acknowledge.
The website www.1000awesomethings.com became a global platform to life’s little wonders, accompanied by Neil’s colourful and sometimes comical commentary, to joys that everyone can relate to- finding money in your coat pocket, the smell of new books (one of my favourite things!), sleeping in new bed sheets….
His blog following grew rapidly, leading to two Webby Awards (a major accolade in the blogging world) and a book deal.“The Book of Awesome Things” was a number 1 bestseller for 30 weeks and will be added soon to my Amazon wish list; a follow up 2nd book is due Spring 2011, whilst the blog has had over 25 million hits!
The video below is Neil’s TEDx event talk and provides a heart warming insight into his story and how “1000 awesome things” started. Despite reaching dizzy heights of success through his website and book, and of using the power of blogging to spread optimism, Neil still has the same lifestyle as before; a 9-to-5 job in the Canadian suburbs of Mississauga, Ontario; doing “regular guy” things- seeing family, hanging out with friends. Now that, really is, awesome.
ALL EYES ON HER 
February 9th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
The following link takes you to a video based on motivation and what makes us tick. I find it wonderful and thought it might be of interest.
Kind regards
February 9th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Thank you! Great vid! SK xx