Author: admin

What a busy week and I’m sure yours was too, so what better way to relax than fly to Ireland and build a table tennis table.

Now, whilst you may think that’s an odd-ish way to spend a weekend, the facts are simple. I popped over to see my mum and step-dad and deliver No.1 son for a short holiday. They have a space for a table tennis table and for reasons beyond me had decided to buy one.

You’d think that screwing together lots of little wheels for the carry frame, adding flange B to pivot C and then wondering what happened to A would be simple stuff…

All was going swimmingly until we had to attach the two massive halves of the table to the spindly plastic frame, and then we needed time for a re-think. Table tennis balls are tiny and lightweight, but the tables they ping and pong on are hefty chunks of real estate, not to be messed with.

Having almost put my back out trying to lift the table tops up to the vertical and then having grown an extra pair of arms to allow me to wield a nut, a bolt, a table and two cheap bendy spanners, it was time to shout ‘Stop!’

This was madness. Me, a table tennis table and two pensioners (albeit relatively fit ones) …what could possibly go wrong?

I decided I didn’t want to find out, so I cancelled Operation-Broken-Finger and suggested they ask the nice man in the shop to complete the job.

A good call and we all sighed with relief, knowing that we had stopped trying to do an impossible task. This made me wonder:

A) How long do you take before saying ‘stop’..?

B) What task are you wrestling with, that this week you could stop, or re-think?

Saying ‘stop’ requires presence of mind and a willingness to explore alternatives. It’s not admitting defeat either, it’s simply delegating success.

So, this week, what task will you stop, re-think, or delegate?

Have fun! I’m not off to play table tennis!

Physis is a concept that we can use to describe our ‘life force’ – the well-spring of energy that powers us forwards. There’s a whole chapter about it in my latest book, called Bouncing Back, and this week we’ll look at ways to increase the flow of our physis.

Our physis is there all the time, like a dam of water, and our job is to open the sluice gate a bit wider to increase the flow of energy.

So how can we increase the flow? Here’s an extract from Bouncing Back:

We can –

1. Accept that we have an unlimited supply of physis, so we don’t have to conserve it.
2. Accept that we are thoughtful, talented, lovely people. We may have a sense of what our talent is…and we can explore and find out more.
3. Accept that other people are often misguided or ill-informed and can be safely ignored. They may have great intentions and yet still manage to limit us – so we can give them a cheerful smile and then head off in the opposite direction!
4. Stop feeling like a fraud and feel fabulous instead. Don’t whisper it, shout it loud – we’re magic people who have smiles and skills and a place here in the world.
5. Check the facts. We can confirm what we need to know, check assumptions and be reminded that our successes were just that!
6. Allow ourselves to be flexible in the case of knock-backs. We can grit our teeth, grumble, take a break and then re-plan the re-plan of the re-plan.

We can also upgrade our self-talk to empower ourselves by choosing new affirmations for ourselves. There are 20+ in the book and here’s a selection for you to choose from:

I can make a start without knowing the whole path.
I can follow my heart and do what makes me happy.
I can ask people for help with tasks.
I can share my dreams with my supporters.
I can go gently on myself.
I can take time to think.
I can live my life.

Our physis is there to power us forwards and we can help ourselves.

What will you do this week?

Have fun!