The power of commitment

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ Leave a comment
© Kekkoz

Here’s a great quote about the power of commitment, often quoted in part and attributed to Goethe.

It turns out it’s actually by William Hutchinson Murray, a Scottish mountaineer and writer…

“But when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money… booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”

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Michael Kinnaird is the author of Happy Guide, the result of a 20 year exploration into what works for health and happiness.

Read Chapter 1 “The Happiness Secret”
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Imagination and vision

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 1 Comment

A great talk for you on the power of your VISION.

Amy Purdy talks about the power of imagination. She explains how our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but by the choices we make. Imagination allows us to break down borders, to move beyond our circumstances, to create and constantly progress. This is an incredibly inspiring and moving 10 minute TEDx talk.

Free chapter

Michael Kinnaird is the author of Happy Guide, the result of a 20 year exploration into what works for health and happiness.

Read Chapter 1 “The Happiness Secret”
Or get the paperback…

Keep in touch

Get inspiration in your inbox from Happy Guide…

The elusive secret of happiness

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 48 Comments

Elusive secret of happiness
Elusive secret of happiness

A quick search on the internet reveals some confusion about what the secret of happiness actually is…

  • Keep changing something if you’re not happy, until you are (what exactly to change is missing information).
  • Make others believe they are the cause of it (!?)
  • Count your blessings while others are adding to their troubles.
  • Admire without desiring (!?)
  • Not to chase it. It’s like a butterfly so you must pay attention to other things and it will land on your shoulder (a smidgen of truth, but largely useless information).

These web results leave me dumbfounded! These aren’t the way to happiness, they’ll just confuse someone in genuine need of advice that works… Continue reading “The elusive secret of happiness” →

Rhubarb crumble and forests of food

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 2 Comments

© Kevin Buehler | Home-grown rhubarb straight from the garden with no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides

A few days ago, my next-door-neighbor who loves cooking made five big rhubarb, blackberry and blackcurrant crumbles, with the last of the harvest from my garden “food forest.”

She then gave them to other folks who live close by. You just can’t beat home cooking!

And you can’t get better food than organic home-grown food, straight from the garden and prepared right away. This food forest idea is one that’s taking off big-style.

It’s an idea that’s part of the whole permaculture revolution and it’s really a wonderful idea. What you do is just plant stuff in a forest type manner, and let nature take care of it, for the most part. Continue reading “Rhubarb crumble and forests of food” →

Six habits for health and happiness

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 2 Comments

Focus on health and happiness
© Margolove

We’re all in a different place right? All have different issues, problems, life experiences. And most importantly… different ideas about who we are and what we want and need.

And yet we are all human… two arms, two legs and so on. Our needs are the same really. The problem is that 99% of us humans are not coming anywhere close to meeting our needs…

Continue reading “Six habits for health and happiness” →

Why is it SO hard to change?

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 8 Comments

Change is hard, frustration
© Reuben Stanton

I was chatting to a friend the other day. His dad has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and we were talking about his options.

I told him 4 or 5 lifestyle changes to put into place immediately as well as how to research treatment options.

“Not a hope in hell of him doing that,” my friend said. I wasn’t shocked or offended. Many people would rather die than change their ways. And then he naturally asked “Why is it SO hard to change?”

“I HATE change”

The truth is that everything’s against us when it comes to change. That’s why I wasn’t even the slightest bit shocked or hurt by the response I got to my suggestions. I even overheard someone say recently “I HATE change!” with a passion that would surprise you. Continue reading “Why is it SO hard to change?” →

How to get rid of unwanted thoughts

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 696 Comments

© Kees de Vos

A friend of mine is plagued with unwanted thoughts.

He’s been diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and I can tell how bad he is at any given moment by the number of times he calls me — he says I say the same stuff as his psychologist but I’m a lot cheaper! :-)

I mean… this is a guy who is bordering on reckless in many areas of his life but is brought to his knees with fear from thoughts that are totally irrational…

If I told you what they were you’d think it was silly but these silly thoughts dominate his life completely.

I don’t believe in the OCD label, at least not in his case. What I see is an extreme example of the issues we all face — the inability to drive our own mental car, the inability to choose the focus of our attention, the inability to see thought for what it really is… Continue reading “How to get rid of unwanted thoughts” →

Automatic health

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 12 Comments
© Lorenia

Getting truly happy and healthy needs more than the occasional salad or infrequent exercise. It needs consistency in a way that works effortlessly.

The idea of automatic health has been floating around in my mind for a while, so I thought I’d put fingers to keyboard.

Everything that works is based on systems. The Earth goes around the sun in a predictable way and you can look at everything from biochemistry to business to electronics to whatever, to see it’s all systems.

What we really want more than anything is to feel good and be happy. Nothing can make up for not feeling good. And the fact is, that what we’re doing as a whole doesn’t have that result. The system isn’t working.

Continue reading “Automatic health” →

Human food

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ Leave a comment

© Woodleywonderworks

This post about human food is one of the most important. I hope you can find the time to read it and really take it to heart.

There’s no two ways about it, we’re all genetically different. Different races and even individuals vary in how they react genetically to the environment.

This really matters because some people just cannot eat certain foods and are much more susceptible to chronic illness like diabetes…

Genetic differences

There are lucky people like the Sardinians who seem to be able to be far more relaxed with their lifestyles because they’re protected by genetic factors thought to be caused by past inbreeding.

On the other extreme are the unfortunate Glaswegians in Scotland, who due to the industrial revolution have a genetic make-up molded by crowded conditions, causing a high rate of childhood disease. This caused fast selection for “over-active” immune systems, making certain chronic illnesses much more likely in later life. In fact, the life expectancy for Glaswegians is very low indeed due to this factor… Continue reading “Human food” →

Is it better to eat fruit before or after a meal?

~ Michael Kinnaird ~ 4 Comments

Louise asks…

“In Happy Guide, you suggest a piece of fruit before lunch and dinner. Is it important to have it before, rather than after? Personally I would prefer it after but I won’t if there’s a reason. Many thanks!”

© Pink Sherbet

Well, fruit eaten on its own will exit the stomach in about 30 minutes or so, so that’s how long it would naturally be there. When you eat fruit after a meal, it’s held back because meat for example, may be in the stomach for hours.

Eating fruit after a meal will definitely produce a less dramatic insulin response and some people argue this is good.

I don’t hold this view though… insulin gets sugar out of the blood and into cells, it’s a perfectly natural process. What is problematic is metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and over-production of insulin as a result…

This is something I want to do in-depth study of in future, but I may not get much further, because there’s just no science on it. There’s only one study of “food combining” and that was just about whether it improved weight loss. Continue reading “Is it better to eat fruit before or after a meal?” →