Victor Frankl, the well-known neurologist, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor taught us that meaning comes from something in our lives that is as yet undone. During his time spent in a concentration camp he realised that having a purpose is the very essence of what keeps us alive, and that when one loses purpose and hope, one’s prospects diminish.

When someone voices an idea that runs strongly contrary to current popular opinion, it is typically ridiculed and/or ignored. If however there is enough groundswell of support for the new idea, or if it is being championed by someone with enough credibility, then the new perspective has the ability to disrupt both our thinking and our outward lives. What initially results is a strong polarisation of opinion, both in the public and amongst the experts themselves.

This is a little two audio minute clip I recorded for the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. It looks at how to distinguish between what is, and what is not worth worrying about. Perhaps not directly relevant to the normal subject matter of this blog, but certainly indirectly so - as your health and well-being perhaps ARE worth worrying about... ;)  https://soundcloud.com/ssisa/why-worry-by-clinton-gahwiler    

I remember a consultation many years ago, when as a keen but inexperienced young psychologist I was working with a gentleman in his 60’s who had had a heart attack. Prior to the consultation I had noticed that my whiteboard pen had run dry, and (without asking) decided to borrow one from the office next door.  

I have a client who is plagued by indecision. He is desperate to lose weight, but keeps changing his mind about which eating plan to follow. While being very vocal in criticising the various plans, the reality is that due to his never fully committing to any of the options for a reasonable amount of time, he has never actually been in a position to properly evaluate their effects on him.  

I did a quick internet search to try and find out how long we have been weighing ourselves. The answer proved elusive, but I did get inundated with references to both why we should and why we should not weigh ourselves daily. What IS it about weight and kilograms that has gotten our society so obsessed..?!  

The previous entry describes the ‘loss vs guilt’ bind that people might find themselves in when faced with tempting snacks. Psychologically, this scenario presents a much more complex conundrum than we might give it credit for. If however one is determined to act in accordance with one’s longer term values (and to break the habit of giving in to one’s immediate urges), then a good start is to develop a pre-emptive plan for coping in high-risk situations.    There are no rules to how such a plan should look, but it would do well to include the following three components:  

I have a client who struggles in social environments that have lots of freely available snacks. Her pattern is to approach the situation with wonderful intentions of staying ‘good’, then to make one mistake, after which she typically gives in totally. She is very aware of this pattern, but describes it with a sense of absolute hopelessness, believing there is nothing she can do about it.  

A year ago I wrote a list of review questions for the year gone by. At the end of the article I suggested that people write themselves a letter, to be opened one year later. I have in the past used this idea with a few clients, all of whom have found it helpful both in reviewing the year gone by, and in holding themselves accountable in the year ahead.   My challenge to you this year is the same, only this time round it comes with an invitation - if you don’t feel like putting you letter into an envelope and looking after it for a year, you are welcome to e-mail  it to me, and I will send it back to you in 12 months time.   

The terms self image and self esteem are often used inter-changeably. But there is a difference. To understand this difference, consider the literal meanings of the words – an ‘image’ is a picture, and ‘esteem’ has to do with how much we value something. Your self-image then is the picture which you hold of yourself, and your self-esteem – the value which you attach to that picture.