Turning Inspiration Into Action

by Ali on July 23, 2010

I’m back from nine unforgettable days in India, with my family (my parents, my brother and sister, and my fiancé Paul).

Our trip wasn’t just an exciting holiday. We were in Bengaluru (Bangalore) to see first-hand the work of Divya Shanthi – a small charity which has very strong links to our church. In particular, we were there for the dedication of their new baby home (which church members have been fundraising for):

Divya Shanthi Baby Home

The St Nicholas Baby Home (almost completed!)

And then we headed to Delhi and did some touristy things like visiting the Taj Mahal…

The Hales and Paul

From left - brother, Paul, me, dad, mum, sister.

I’ll be writing a bit about the trip itself, in this post and subsequent ones, but what I’m hoping you’ll take away from this piece are some tips on how to turn inspiration into action.

[click to continue…]

{ 20 comments }

Do You Care About Being Normal?

by Ali on July 7, 2010

One of the most significant shifts in my life in the past few years has been away from the norm.

To be honest, I’ve never been “normal”. As a teenager, I was bright, geeky, and preferred the company of other adults to other teenagers (who felt like a different species from me). But I followed a pretty “normal” track through life:

  • I went to school (aged 5 – 18)
  • I took my GCSEs (UK exams, taken aged 16)
  • I took my A levels (aged 18)
  • I went to university

And after university, I was floored. The “normal” path through life which “everyone” followed had suddenly vanished. There were way too many options.

So I did what most of us do when we’re scared and confused. I looked around at what seemed “normal”. What was “expected” of my peer group – not necessarily by ourselves or our families, but by the media and society.

  • I took the first job offer I got (even though I knew it wasn’t really “me”)
  • I moved away from home, and into London

For two years, my life looked pretty “normal”. I worked 8.30-5, and had weekends off. I didn’t find my job especially fulfilling, but that was pretty much what I’d expected of a job.

I found that I wasn’t happy being normal.

I slowly got into blogging, found people who definitely weren’t very normal – and who were happy about it.

It’s almost two years since I left my job – the only “proper” job I ever had – and became self-employed. It’s not a normal route. My friends from university have either stayed in academia or gone into employment.

And I’m a heck of a lot happier. And this is why…

[click to continue…]

{ 33 comments }

A couple of years ago, when Paul and I were discussing the future, we’d expected to be renting accommodation from 2010-2011 – probably a small flat. We were planning to save up slowly towards a deposit, and keep careful records of my earnings so that we could get a mortgage.

Last Thursday we moved into our new house; three bedrooms, a garden, very well maintained – and we’re not renting.

I wish I could say it was down to some hard work and ingenuity on our part. The truth is, it’s not. My parents bought the house in cash, taking on 20% of the equity, and loaning Paul and I the other 80%.

I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this. “Unentitled” is the best word I’ve come up with. I feel like I don’t deserve it, especially when most of our peer group are still renting or saving up for deposits. I feel like I’ve cheated, somehow.

[click to continue…]

{ 28 comments }

Who Says You Have To?

by Ali on June 19, 2010

Something I’ve become very aware of since knowing Tim Brownson is how often I say or think “I have to” or “I need to” when, actually, I don’t.

You probably do this too. Almost everyone does. I’m thinking of things like:

  • I have to clean the kitchen this weekend.
  • I need to phone my mother
  • I have to try a bit of that cake
  • I need to lose weight

In almost every case, it’s just not an accurate way to describe the situation. In particular, any time you start feeling that you have to or need to do something because it’s what society (/your friends/your dad/etc) expects, then it’s time to pause for thought.

The truth is, there aren’t many things which we truly need to do. And if you’re want a life which is meaningful and fulfilling to you, then it’s better to focus on what you want to do.

[click to continue…]

{ 26 comments }

Regain Your Balance ebook now available

June 11, 2010

If you’re on the Aliventures email newsletter list, you’ll know about this already.
For the rest of you, I’m delighted to unveil a new ebook, Regain Your Balance, the first product I’ve made specifically for Aliventures readers. The series on Balance has clearly struck a chord, so I hope this is just what you’re [...]

11 comments [ click to read article...]

Life: A Balancing Act

June 8, 2010

This is the third and final part in a series on “balance”. If you missed the earlier posts, they are #1: Rethinking the Idea of “Work/Life” Balance and #2: Balancing Work and … Work.
We aren’t born able to balance. We learn to sit up, to crawl, to walk. We learn to run, to ride a [...]

11 comments [ click to read article...]

Balancing Work and … Work

June 4, 2010

This is the second part in a series on balance. If you missed part one (Rethinking the Idea of Work/Life Balance), you might want to skip back and read that first.
Whether you love your job or hate it, there’s a good chance that you sometimes lack balance within your work. There are various symptoms of [...]

22 comments [ click to read article...]

Rethinking the Idea of “Work/Life Balance”

May 28, 2010

This is the first in a three-part series on “Balance”. If you’re not already getting this by email or to your RSS feeder, you might want to get the Aliventures RSS feed or sign up for posts by email (in the right-hand toolbar).
I’m going to hazard a guess that you’ve heard the phrase “work/life balance” [...]

44 comments [ click to read article...]

Four Steps to Making the Most of Information Products

May 25, 2010

Over the past few years, I’ve accumulated a lot of information. I’m not thinking here about the stuff in my head (that’s another post entirely).  I mean books, ebooks, audio files, course materials, blog posts which I’ve bookmarked, and so on.
Lots of those books sit gathering dust on the shelves. Maybe I read them once, [...]

19 comments [ click to read article...]

Screwing Things Up Isn’t So Bad

May 20, 2010

So, I was talking to the incredibly sweet, talented and generous Jade Craven at the weekend.
Let me rave about Jade for a minute, just in case you’ve not come across her yet. She’s the best and most prolific guest poster I know, getting slots all over the place for some terrifically value-packed posts. She’s an [...]

29 comments [ click to read article...]