How the power of play is so impactful on young people

Hello everyone! Hope you've all had a good August, I know I have!

I say that, as I was working during the weekday for 3 weeks from the 28th of July - the 19th of August. Not to mention that I got to enjoy myself doing other things over the weekends in between as well. I even had a an enjoyable holiday from the 20th and only got back home yesterday (the 28th).

Since I have downtime for most of today, I thought I'd do a post on here which is inspired by the Challengers' Impact Report of 2025. Especially how my life involves that place at the moment. It will mainly consist of how play is so vitally important to help young people with various disabilities navigate the world.

One of the core values at Challengers, is to NEVER exclude anyone regardless of how complex their needs are. This is done to ensure that they all fit, as well as interact with every other young person on scheme who all have similar needs to them.

Now, let's talk about inclusivity... What do we do at Challengers to ensure every young person feels included on scheme? The answer couldn't be much simpler, we provide a range of activities which are all accessible to suite every young person's need. Even if the activities are not accessible to some young people at first, we will always make every effort to make them accessible to those young people.

This also leads me to the next rhetorical question... How do all of the staff at Challengers let the young people have fun playing on scheme? We (as staff members) undergo regular safeguarding, first aid & crisis drills training to ensure every young person who comes on scheme is in safe hands & well looked after. To this extent, we get visits from Ofsted to check we meet the safeguarding needs that Challengers provides to young people.

And the big rhetorical question... Why are both of these things blended together so vitally important for young people to play on scheme? This is because we are dedicated to bringing laughter & smiles out of these young people despite the challenging behaviour that they present us with. Although in all of the schemes I've worked in, it's some more than others. Allowing challenging young people to play really helps them to become more happier, and they can demonstrate that (verbally or not) by interacting with us, as they rarely get so much of that much needed intensive interaction elsewhere. Some young people are even aware of how well we look after their medical needs, as we will always welcome them with warm arms into our schemes where no other place would due to how complex their medical or behaviour needs are.

To see the evidence for yourselves, I have attached the Impact Report of 2025: https://disability-challengers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Challengers-Impact-Report-2024-25.pdf

*I began this post on the 29/8, but didn't finish it until the 30/8*

Always look back on how far you've come

Hello everyone! Just a quick one for today, as once again, worklife is taking over me at the moment. Well, as of this Monday. And I had a busy rest of July doing other non-work related things as well.

On the 16/7, I went for a walk from Weybridge - Walton-On-Thames via the Thames Path after a busy afternoon of doing "non-work related things". It was also just over a year ago since I have walked on that very same path, as I used to go to college in the area, and I used to like walking along that path alongside the Thames during long breaktimes or if I've finished early for the day.

It was also a coincidence that I wasn't feeling in the best of moods throughout most of that day by constantly worrying about things like finance & what will happen for me in the future.

However, whilst I was halfway along the pathway between Weybridge & Walton-On-Thames, I stopped very briefly, turned round, and that's when a truthful thought entered my mind. It just kept telling me: "Since I was last in this area, I've done & accomplished so much."

That thought was indeed nothing but true, as during the past year, I have: 

• Worked alongside the Surrey PCC & her Deputy on crime issues in Surrey with other SYC members

• Attended/ran the SYC conference with other SYC members in Woking to showcase all of our hard work we've done with tackling crime in Surrey, as well as gathering views from young people across Surrey to help shape our key findings as evidence

• Joined the IOPC Youth Panel, and began working with members all across the country to gather views of young people on their experiences of the police, criminal justice system & the police complaints system

• Did my own fitness challenge throughout July of last year to raise some money for Mind

• Attended 2 Surrey Police Training Workshops in Ewell with some IOPC members, where we provided the police better strategies when it came to dealing with young & vulnerable members of the public 

• Jumped out of a plane from a staggering height of 13,000ft to raise vital funds for Challengers (I was even joined by the CEO & her wife too!)

• Registered with an agency, where I worked as an LSA in a SEMH school from November - May, and gained a better understanding of how SEMH affects pupils. Not to mention the emotional & inspirational journey I had been on in those 6 months as well with the school, as it went from a instructured & failing environment to a safe & thriving place to learn. (More blog posts to come relating to this...)

• Attended/ran the IOPC Youth Panel Conference up in Leeds, where we showcased all of our work on how we are making the police complaints system better for people to access, as well as how we are working with police forces across the country to form better working relationships with communities, young & vulnerable people

• Just for fun, I travelled to every major place in Kent that I haven't been to yet within just 1 week

• Went up to Parliament with a few members of the Surrey Youth Commission & the Hertfordshire Youth Commission, where we were joined by the Deputy PCC to have a round table discussion with some MP's about how vulnerable young people must be prioritzed by the government

That's definitely quite a few accomplishments I will be forever proud of! It made me feel a whole lot better about myself too by looking back at how far I've come to where I'm at now.

The morale of the story is: "Always look back on how far you've come, as it will help you to appreciate your accomplishments in the present moment."

If you've made it this far into the post, then thank you so much for taking the time to read through this, and I'll hopefully be back soon!

*I began this post on the 31/7, but didn't finish it until the 2/8*

How having structure & consistency benefits SEMH pupils

Hello everyone! Hope you've all been doing okay.

Since my my last post on here, I've been keeping busy with my weekday job in an SEMH school. However, as of the 23rd of May, I no longer work at the school due to no longer being needed for the final term. (I was working in the Y11's class, but they are on study leave now, and will be leaving for good in 2 weeks time) And since I'm now currently off work until my agency calls me in to somewhere else, I've got some time to be productive on here.

As the above title states, I want to talk about structure & consistency benefitting SEMH pupils.

There are 2 reasons for this post: Firstly, there has been some major changes to the school. Secondly, I've seen the positive impact those changes have had on the pupils & their behaviour.

When the school opened up after the Christmas break (8th of January), it had marked the start of long & difficult journey. That journey was to simply make the school into a better learning environment & as well as a safe environment for the pupils.

There were 4 minor changes that took place: New uniform, English & Maths lessons every morning & addressing the staff as "sir" or "ms". We even introduced something called "isolation" (IL for short) which is where pupils will spend half a day or a full day in a separate room to do their work. The intention of this is to help the pupils reflect on their behaviour. I'm delighted to say that it was a success! Or at least for most part.

On the 25th of February, there were 2 more changes to the school curriculum, and they were both major ones... A FULL timetable of lessons & the new warning system. The intention of the warning system is to reduce the pupils' behaviour, and is also made up of 3 warnings. If a pupil gets a warning 3, they go to the inclusion hub, and they have to do a 10min detention. Failing that, then it's an IL the following day for the morning. If not, then it's an IL the WHOLE day. Failing THAT, then it leads to a suspension.

During the 5 months that I've been a part of the new changes journey, I've seen how much more settled & calmer the pupils have been! As a result, there has been a reduced number of behavioural incidents, This is why having the consistent structure & routine really helps SEMH pupils to feel more secure in a learning environment, as they know that we care about their education, as well as their mental wellbeing.

Time travelling back to the 25th of November (when I had first started working at the school), I honestly couldn't believe how dysfunctional it was back then, where there were hardly any lessons going on, no timetable structure & there were behaviour incidents happening every single day. Sometimes even a few times a day. It was just insane. I couldn't even imagine how unsettled those pupils must have been feeling back then without the consistent structure & routine. They were scared, anxious & dysregulated (a cliché from that school). Ofsted even gave the school an "inadequate" rating, due to poor leadership & management.

To this day, yes, there will still be some pupil dysregulations, but that doesn't put a small dent on all of the positive progress the school have been making. If anything, the school is only getting better every single day! I'm also optimistic enough that Ofsted will give them a much better rating.

As a youth worker, it really makes me heart warmed to see vulnerable young people thrive in life. Especially those with a complicated background. 

How moral support can feel so positive & rewarding

Evening everyone! I thought about doing 1 of these posts that I literally come up with at the top of my head. And this post shall be linked to what I was doing yesterday.

So, 2 weeks prior, I got an email from the Samaritans Events Volunteer team, asking if I would be happy to cheer on cyclists who were undertaking the RideLondon event. Of course I gladly responded with a yes! I then yesterday headed up to Stratford City, East London, to hunt for the Samaritans cheering point.

This was now my 2nd time I got to volunteer at a major event with Samaritans!

As I arrived at my cheering point by the cycling track at the 95th mileage, I was warmly greeted by all of the rest of the Samaritans Events Volunteers, who clearly looked happy to be giving up their free time to come and cheer on the cyclists in aid of a good cause. I proceeded to get stuck in.

Where we were stood at, we could see that some of the cyclists looked done for the day, let alone done with the race. Our job was to ensure those tired cyclists powered on past us by feeding positive & motivational words into their mindset. Doing so served a single accomplishment of keeping those cyclists going through the pain barrier.

Without that hard-core moral support, those cyclists wouldn't be going anywhere, as they won't have any verbal fuel from cheerers to motivate their mindsets to accomplish something big as cycling 100 miles across London. This is why I think it's important that charities come together to bring their support for people doing challenging sporting events, as these people don't do them for nothing.

Now, some of you could be wondering why the hell I was at a major event up in London. It's not like I was up there just for the fun of it. Or just to see the cycling event. This was something that I had chose to be a part of, because I wanted to be involved with a charity I am passionate about. Plus, I genuinely feel positive when it comes to doing things for a community.

*This position wasn't where I was standing with the Samaritans stall*

Quote of the day... (Explained)

This has now been my 3rd recent post in about almost a month of absence... Yes, I did have a reason('s) why. Rather than waste this post rambling on about them, as could end up boring people. I am just going to cut to the chase by saying that I have been taking the lengthy time out to focus on myself. This is because I have, and will probably still have some very important decisions to make in my life going forward. I know for sure that it won't be an easy journey, but me being the determined & dedicated human being that I am, I'll find a way to keep pushing through without giving up.

Back onto the post. The chosen quote I have picked out for you all is called: "Mental Health... is not a destination, but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going." - Noam Shpancer, PHD.

Why this quote? Like I said before, I now have some important life choices to make which will require me, as well as my mindset to just focus on driving towards that route of my life journey. This comes with all the best intentions of me wanting to psychically & mentally drive myself down that road, so it helps me to keep within that pace of keeping myself in check that I am actually going down the right road towards my destination.

It's important to keep in mind that's it's not all about just simply getting to my destination in life, because it matters more of how I intend to control my own car (if you like) that will only teach me I must embrace the upcoming challenges stood in my chosen path, so they can be used as learning curbs which will all be part of me gradually becoming more successful in which way I tackle them.

A message from yours truly on NYE

Well, 2021 has slowly come and almost gone...

Personally, I think 2021 has been a decent year for me. In contrast however, I also encountered many personal struggles along the way too. (Reasons that I would rather not specify)

With all that said, I'll prioritize the T-minus 1hr year, 2022 (time as of writing this) to reflect and learn from my growth, struggles and journey, in order to slowly better making myself a step more successful in life. Oh yeah, let's not forget about my blogging business!😂

Anyways, I hope you're all having a good evening on the final night of 2021. Be sure you celebrate something that's at least worth celebrating if you intend to watch the live fireworks tonight!

Without further ado... Here's my inspirational message for you all:

 

"Now that yet another year is coming to a close end, take a bit of time to reflect on the good's and bad's. Regardless if you're satisfied or not, don't worry about dwelling on it, as you carry over into the 24th hour, meaning, NYD.

Once that first day of the new year has entered, you can begin to enjoy yourself, by making self plans for you to simply go out and chase down. Remember, every single day is ALWAYS a day closer to achieving something. Even if that something takes for as long as 3 years to achieve! I've been through similar, so I can totally relate to that.

Always use the past as a learning opportunity for your planned future, as the only legit way to succeed in life, is to make mistakes, so you'll be able to learn from them, as well as to become proficient at performing them correctly with practice. Explanation of a typical human function.

In conclusion and potentially, you only get to live once, so make as many plans as possible for you to go out and achieve! Life is how you create it!"

  

Sharing my perspective

Just a quickie, yet very insightful publish...

"Whenever nightfall comes... I use it as a way of reflecting on how my day has been that day. Regardless if it's been good, bad or even in-between, I still intend on saying something about it.

Then I use it to think about the following day ahead of me, in terms of what should I plan on doing or achieving something that following day.

However, if I may not end up doing what I intend to do the following day, there's always yet another nightfall to reflect on everything - Nothing has to be rushed, as you're within your own time frame."

Have a good night all.

My definition of "Everybody is running their own race within their own time"

Hello, I'm back once again from my break, reflecting on how I can improve on myself with this blog and what my upcoming posts will be...

Anyway, I hope you're all keeping healthy and well lately, as I now feel completely refreshed in terms of getting my new ideas going for blogging again.😁 

I know this is something which I keep saying a lot, but the truth about running a blogging business is, sometimes when I typically write too much within a short space of 2 weeks, my mind and thoughts will go "blank" as my brain will momentarily struggle with processing too much ideas, by holding all of my thoughts in just one place at the same time when I think about them. So this is why it is always a good thing, to just step away from my work, in order to allow my mind to calm down, by slowly clearing out my thoughts and to reflect on myself, to see where I could improve and why.

All of these mentioned statements are totally relevant for my post today, which is why I want to highlight the meaning, the reason and the benefits.

What does this quote mean and why?

The quote, "Running their own race within their own time" means that your are in the process of working towards achieving your goal, but you are doing so within your own time. This intention is also showing that you have the capacity of having the patience to wait a very long time, in order to make it all work out for you in the end.

Not only does it mean achieving your own goals within your own time, but it also means that you're able to ignore peer pressure from those around you, meaning, those who boast about being able to achieve their own goals within THEIR own time, because they have a strategy which works out for them. They're the kind of people who will say to themselves and possibly out load: "Oh, look how far ahead I am compared to everyone else. I must be the best person ever!" These are known, as narcissist people, who like to compare and degrade others, to make them feel good about themselves.

*Note to self: Always be careful with what you think about.*

This is where your mind will respond by saying: "Do you know what, I'm not interested in focusing on anyone else but myself, as I know I will become a successful person" Statements like these, will be beneficial to keep yourself focused on slowly chasing your success, as it helps your mind to continually talk to you, as you do it.

Most importantly, always be proud of how you choose to run your race within your own time, as it may very well be the best successful strategy you've found to help you become the person you will eventually turn out to be. Make sure you find a gap in between to be able to take a short moment to reflect on how far you've come, so you'll be able to thank yourself every time for when you've overcome a mental obstacle during your race. If necessary, use them as fuel to help you learn from those mistakes, to become better and better as you progress onwards towards to goal.

In conclusion, everyone has a right to be able to run their own race within their own time, as everyone finds different strategies to help THEM succeed the way that they want to. However, it doesn't give them the right to judge other people. NO ONE HAS THE SAME MINDSET. This is something I'm still working at too, by keeping myself and my mind occupied with blogging. One of the many hences I created this blog, so I can start investing in myself, but in MY own time, at MY own pace.

I think I've just about covered everything.

Thank you so much for reading through. I hope I've inspired you readers to take my useful advice to becoming successful, and please do feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments or in person.

I hope to publish again this week!😉

     

What goes through your mind when you've achieved something?

Hello all, I hope you've all had a good weekend and enjoyed watching the last of The Olympics. I'd say 4th place was decent for us to finish in, considering the competitiveness of the top 3 countries above us.

Anyway, this will be yet another related post to The Olympics, only this time, I'll be talking about what feelings, thoughts and emotions go through your mind when you've achieved something, as this is a BIG achievement when you think that it's just ordinary people (meaning you and me) doing extraordinary things!

When you finally achieve your very first gold medal after 8 years of waiting, you will first feel your heart jump out from your body, due to the shock that has just entered your mind which says: "OMG! I can't believe I've finally done it!"

You then become speechless, as your mind is still processing all kinds of happy emotions, which causes it to become increasingly overwhelmed with everything around you.

When it eventually settles enough by taking all of the emotions and the achievement in, your mind will keep saying to you: "I am so happy that I've managed to do that. This is something I will never forget, by always keeping it as a memory." Therefore, you still feel excited after what has just happened to you, so you feel the need to announce it to your friends and family, as your mind is telling you that it could do with more praise from other people, to help keep the proudness flowing inside of you.

Not only does it make you feel like that, the achievement can make your connecting people feel just as proud as you are, as they have your full support in everything. Believe me, it feels just as good to applaud people, when THEY are the ones who have achieved something.

This is what is known as using "Reverse psychology" because you share you intend to share your achievement news to your connecting people, so THEY can feel proud of you, in order to make YOU feel proud about yourself in that way.

With that achievement completed, your mind then says to you: "I'm glad that I've finally done that, but do you know what? I reckon that I can go one step better than last time!" This very mind statement will help engage your confident emotion to chase down and succeed that next step. My advice would be to keep repeating it over and over to ensure your mind to stick to it. (Meaning, keeping focused)

That concludes my post for today. 

Thank you for reading through. Please do feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person and enjoy the rest of your week! 

How does watching sport inspire us?

Happy Friyay people! We have now finished day 7 of The 2020 Olympics. I have to say, the UK are doing well, but at the same time, we could still be better, as we're only at the halfway mark during the duration of the games taking place.

Yes, my above title will be related to The Olympics, as I really find it fascinating how it can inspire us all around. Plus, I thought about selecting the most appropriate picture too!

My objective for this post, will be to further inspire the minds of other people, when I explain all of the how's and why's in my thoughts explanation.

  Why are The Olympics so popular to the public?

The Olympic Games have been an ongoing 4 year tradition, ever since its first games hosted in Athens - Greece in 1896. The games had a vary of events, such as: running, long jump, boxing and javelin.

Even though, technology was non-existent back then, so everyone had to use their own imagination to think of the many ways they can recreate THEIR own Olympic Games, by using sticks, walls and heavy rocks for the lifting.

Nowadays, technology is the most popular form of entertainment, so we were now able to use special gym equipment to help work us out and then make endless videos for other people's amusement, as well as inspiration. Plus, we have now got many newly invented events, such as: swimming, skateboarding, fencing and cycling.

Overall, the more games there are and the more people there are, the better the attraction. 

How can they inspire us and why?

By watching different athletes doing different sports, they perform them in such a professional way, that it makes your mind say "WOW! I love watching the athletes run like that. I reckon I could do that myself!" This is where your mind starts filling up with initiative ideas with training yourself up to become a just as good enough athlete as THAT person you watched. Your mind will keep on telling you to watch them, to help you become better an better, until you get to that stage where you're ready to progress onto Olympic level training. The same goes for any other sport.

Not only can you get inspiration from Olympic athletes, you can also get it from internet videos (YouTube) or on social media of other people doing these Olympic style training by using THEIR own initiative ideas which helps THEM train, until they get to the Olympic level. You never know, they could be your friends or family!

I think I've explained everything for today's post. Thank you for taking your time to read through. Please do feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person and have a great weekend!😊    

What is beneficial about "Looking forwards in life"?

I'm back!😁 

Yes, I purposely took a long and fore filling break, because A: I've been on holiday recently. B: I've been having trouble with what to talk about. This is why taking this lengthily break helped me to cook up new ideas for some upcoming posts...

In this case, this one is related to our defeat against the Italians 2 Sundays ago. I will admit, when we lost, I felt the tears running around in my head and they were screaming to be let out by me, as I was so whelmed up by everything that's happened during the whole game. In the end, I realized that it was only best to reflect on the team's journey during this tournament and looking forward in life. (Explanation coming up)

 

Fun fact: This is a popular quote which can be explained in many different ways!

What does this quote mean?

It means, that you acknowledge something great is eventually going to happen to you in life, but in order to achieve that greatness, you HAVE to keep looking forwards at your future and not think too much about what happened in your past, as you cannot change it.

What is beneficial about this quote and why?

If you keep reading this quote over and over again, your mind will eventually become so hyper focused on working on your plans and goals for your future.

Don't get me wrong, it is always a good thing to reflect on your life journey, as well as your past achievements, (if necessary) to help give your mindset some ideas on how to succeed for next time and do better than ever.

Furthermore, never forget about all of the obstacles you had to face and what you had to do to progress through them, as they will always be a useful reminder of your mindset tactics in favour of your success. 

What are the best examples to use and why?

One of them being what I was talking about previously. The England V Italy game. I can sense the players' heartbreak and frustration on how they succeeded in every game right up until the final, when the players got tired and were struggling to keep up. 

During their loss at the end of the game, they had the whole night to pause and reflect on their journey and how they can improve for next time. As this reflecting moment was showing on live TV, I can imagine the teary reaction of everyone else watching, as they can feel the players' emotions when THEY show them after their team lost. It was so powerful.

This is where they start talking on their social media platforms, that they were extremely proud of their tournament journey, their teammates and their support. In which, will help encourage them to look forwards to their next journey in life.

That's all for this post.

Thank you for taking your time to read through. Please feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person. Have a good evening!

   

A bit of Monday Motivation

Happy Monday peeps! I hope you're all having a good one. I was intending to post over the weekend, but I was having trouble with cooking up ideas for my next post, hence why I thought about something today instead.

I feel like giving my audience a bit of Monday Motivation to help boost their mood for the week. More to it, I suppose this would be appropriate to use the phrase "The milk of human kindness" If you know what that means?

 "Whatever happened yesterday, don't worry about it, as it's all in the past."

"Today is a new day for you to go out and achieve something closer to your goal."

"If you don't succeed on that day, there's always the next day, next week, next month or next year to try and achieve your goal."

"There is no race to achieving your goal, as the world will always keep on spinning." 

"If you think you can do it? GO FOR IT AND SMASH IT!"

That's all for today, thank you for reading through. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or in person and have a great week!

Why is it important to make yourself into an example?

I said I'll hopefully be back in 2 days time from my previous post... and I was right! Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying their week right now, as I currently am. Hence I feel like creating an exciting post today.

In this post, I shall be highlighting the several ways of "Making yourself into an example" as well as talking about why is it important.

*After reading this post, I guarantee that you'll be feeling inspired to give my advice a try!* 

  

How can you make yourself into an example?

• Be positive - This will reflect good on other people including yourself.

• Highlight your interests - This will encourage your audience to the same.

• Motivate your mood to the audience - This will help THEM to feel motivated with whatever they wish to achieve. 

• Give out a backstory - This will help people to understand you better, as well as praise you for your journey and inspire THEM to tell you theirs in order for THEM to be praised.

• Be knowledgeable - This will help your audience to remember and keep any useful advice for becoming THEIR own example figure.

Why is it important to make yourself into an example?

It is important, because you need to learn how to cope with your journey in order for you to become a successful person in life. This means that you MUST overcome the obstacles in your journey to help your mind become stronger and show no fear to anything.

Furthermore, by self tackling these obstacles throughout your success journey, you will be able to have the built-up confidence to express those feelings of courage, motivation and determination to anybody your audience.

As of such, you may wish to become an entrepreneur. (I suggest looking on Instagram would be a good place to start)

Thank you for reading through. Please feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person. Even if you wish to share your own example ideas with me.

I hope to post again sometime this week. Have a gooden!😉  

Why do people tend to rage over video games?

Personally to me, this is something which I've ALWAYS found funny about, so with that said, I intend on sharing my thoughts, as well as probably giving out some facts and advice to help you readers or other people you might know that can't help raging over video games.

Fun fact for you guys:

I used to rage over video games when I was a lot younger! Before I even knew it, I eventually grew out of this habit! More to the point, I no longer have an interest in video games.

How do video games cause rages?

They usually occur when one tries so desperately to complete some kind of mission without messing up or trying to win something, so it makes them feel accomplished at the end by acknowledging they have something to brag about to others to make them feel jealous. 

But, in order to do so, they have to insert full-on-concentration mode, as this method helps them to just focus on winning the game. This method is known to cause 'square eyes.' 

If one does lose at a game, in which they've been constantly focusing on for a long period of time, they will typically end up raging so heavily about it, as they've tried ever so hard to maintain their focus at winning the game, just for the sake of feeling proud and accomplished at the same time. It is especially worst when they play against one another in a battle game, as that other person might have the intention of winding that person up to be able to claim bragging rights over them.

What goes through a person's mind when they rage?

Here comes the interesting part... When one starts heavily raging at a loss of a video game, they get these thoughts of anger, frustration and upset, as they then feel that this is the absolute WORST moment of their life, so they start saying things like: "That is it! My life is over!" "I'm gonna kill you!" "Shut up and die!" "You know what... F*** this stupid game!" 

*I sincerely apologize if I sounded too over the top there. This was to thoroughly explain my point*

After their raging moment, they experience this feeling of wanting to get 'revenge' on the game by keep trying ever so hard to beat it, so therefore, they try hard even harder! However, this will only make them angrier.

 

How can you help yourself or others to keep calm?

One of the best ways of telling yourself or others when getting angry at video games, is by just simply saying: "It is just a game" With that said, there is seriously no real life accomplishment at winning video games, as it is all a creation made from a group of people. Plus, it is all based INSIDE of a computer/TV screen, meaning, nowhere to be found on planet Earth.

It is nowhere near the same accomplishment as winning a 400m race in the Olympics or winning an art competition, as these are all real life events. Does anyone see the difference?

Perhaps you can inform your rage gamer about all of the real life accomplishments you've managed to achieve, as this could inspire them to be just like you or achieve something of their own in the real world. These options will be better for their eyes as well! And... Feeling proper proud about achieving something too!

Thank you so much for reading through. Please feel free to tell me about a similar experience you might have had with this topic or other kind of advice to help out one another. That's all for now guys. I shall see you soon!

"You VS You"

Hey all, I was indenting to make a post earlier in the week, however, I've been keeping myself occupied with yet more coursework. In addition, my 1st Maths exam is only around the corner now!

Fortunately, I now have some time for myself at the moment, which means that I can fit in a blog post today.😉 

You're probably thinking to yourself: "What does this expression mean?" it means that you keep on saying or doing negative things to yourself to make you feel bad if you were to make a mistake, when really, YOU try to battle it, by taking your mind off it all and working on making progress to make YOU feel better again. Does that make sense?

Example 1:

You are currently enjoying your session at the gym, when all of a sudden... you make a mistake where you thought you didn't push yourself hard enough to be able to achieve your working out goal. (Whatever that could be)

At around this point, that is when these negative thoughts enter your mind and keep on saying to your inner self: 

"Do you know what, I really don't think I can do this, it is too hard for me" 

"I keep messing up all of the time, because I keep on repeating these silly mistakes" 

"If I cannot achieve this goal, then I don't think I'll be able to succeed in life"

This is where your better YOU enters you mind, by continuously looking for every single way to overcome your thoughts, in order to redeem your working out progression, so that you're able to maintain your focus and keep moving forward.

To do this, you need to stop right where you went wrong and have some time to think. I know this is not an easy task to do at this exact moment, as you're currently in no mood to think about anything. A top tip would be to think about how you have achieved your previous working out goals, then by using this strategy to do the one you are working on step-by-step. This way, you'll be able to achieve every little step, as it they allow you to repeat them over and over again if you don't succeed first time.

(Doing revision would be the exact same example given related to this one, as I still struggle with doing it now)

Example 2:

You are someone who has done some terrible things in the past, all because you were suffering from mental health difficulties. By now, you are a completely changed person, however, you sometimes experience these breakdowns of constantly feeling guilty, as these past times re-enter your mind to haunt you.

How can you help your better YOU to feel right again? It may sound simple, but again, not easy! Remember, when you suddenly begin to feel at your lowest, you will be in no mood to think about anything good. 

Talk to a friend/family member, counsellor or alternatively an anonymous help hotline number (if that makes you feel more comfortable) about these constant guilt thoughts, as you're helping yourself to battle your bad self, as well as inhaling all of that encouraging and positive advice to allow you look for further opportunities to improve on yourself.

That's all for today. Thank you for reading through and please feel free to comment or let me know about a similar experience you may have had. Bye for now! 

  

  

Lockdown... A whole year of reflection

Yes, the title illustrates this post as a whole. Also, I promise you, this will be the last time that I talk about COVID-19 and the lockdowns, as I'm sure most people have had enough of hearing those words by now.

However, today of all days, was simply just too important for this topic to go unmentioned, and here's why...

Today, (23/3/21) marks the 1 year anniversary of the EXACT date that the UK got slammed into a full on 'Lockdown' due to COVID-19 killing hundreds of people per day. (23/3/20)

Meaning, we were instructed to "Stay at home" as non-essential, restaurants and education places were forced to close for the foreseeable future. 
    

However, supermarkets and pharmacies had to remain open, as buying groceries and medicine was important for maintaining our well-being and health.

The only time we could leave home, was to go out for daily exercise once a day. (Back then, it was only within walking distance)

                                                                 

How did living in lockdown make us all feel?

I can imagine for most people, it made them feel lonely, bored and frustrated during the 1st month, with not being able to normally socialise with anyone, as well as not being able to go anywhere. To summarise all of the above with one word, we was all experiencing this feeling of "Isolation" as we had to "Stay home".

To share a personal insight with you all, I too, was struggling to cope to terms with being in lockdown for a short while, as I was constantly feeling bored all of the time with being stuck at home. I also didn't like the idea of my freedom being snatched away from me, as I love to go out and explore different places, this includes my education and time with friends face to face being snatched away from me. I eventually got SOOO bored, that I honestly had no idea with what to do with myself during my time in isolation, as I was doing the same routine over and over again. Further explanation in next subheading...

How did I utilise my time in lockdown?

One of the things I did to break my habitual routine, was watching every old episode of Coronation Street from 2008 up towards where I am now. I had to say, I found it very interesting how the cobbles' scenery was so different that long ago!😂 (Still laptop related) I was scrolling up and down the roads of different places on Google Maps to get from A to B. This significantly helped me to get better with my Geography!

Asides from my laptop, I thought I'd improve my cooking, by making a 3-course meal originated from various countries. Also, with cooking puddings too. I actually found cooking very therapeutic afterwards!

During the warm weather, I would sometimes go into my back garden to do a bit of sunbathing, to help me take my mind off the current COVID-19 related news. This also helped me to get my "Relaxation" mood on. Other times, me and my brother would help out in the front garden, by getting rid of all the weed and the bamboo (Don't ask, I had no idea why we had bamboo growing in our front garden?!)🐼😂 Anyway, this was a refurbishment task which we all decided to do, as our front garden was literally looking like a jungle.

Bonus fact: This was the VERY reason why I wanted to create this blog. 1: Because I am very passionate with sharing my psychological knowledge with you all. 2: This is just something which keeps my occupied during my free time.

What have we learned during our time in lockdown?

Ever since day 1 of lockdown, we have learned to help our minds to adapt to this sudden change of how we interact with ourselves, as well as one another from just one household. By doing so, it is very important that we check up on others by texting: "Hey, how have you been doing recently?" This kind of thoughtful message could really make someone's day, by making them think that their friends and family actually still care about them whilst in isolation. This is something which I like to do time and time again, as I am a caring and considerate person.

We have also learned that staying at home, doesn't give us an excuse to sit around and do nothing all day long. In exchange of that, we encourages ourselves to find more ways of unleashing our hidden creativity inside us. You'll never know, this may well could become your new favourite hobby!

Most importantly, we have learned that this ENTIRE nation has the capacity to come together and be willing to help out one another during these dark times. A heart whelming discovery to us all.💗

As of now, a whole year on from our first lockdown, we have been very successful with making the vaccine and giving them out to the public, that I believe half of the UK adults have been vaccinated already!

Thank you ever so much for taking your time to read through. Remember, stay safe and follow the guidelines. Hopefully we'll be out of this tunnel by the 21st of June!🤞 Bye for now.

  

The psychological benefits of working out regularly

First thing's first, it's been a long while... due to me keeping up to date with my coursework. But with that just said, I thought I'll share a personal insight with you with what I've been keeping myself occupied with these past 6 weeks. Which is planning and physically doing a fitness circuit. 

Why should I talk about my fitness circuit experience?

1. There is psychology involved.
2. You might seem curious about my progress.
3. It may inspire some of you to do the same.

How long have I been doing my circuit for?

I have started from the 18/1/21 and finished on the 5/3/21. Which lasted for 6 weeks. (As this was a 6 week training programme)

What did I have to do?

I had to plan out my own range of exercises from arm, leg, core and cardio on my exel diary. (Also including warm up and cool down) There was additional notes which had to be made to my diary, consisting of sets, reps, recovery and how did I do with the exercises?

In relations to physically doing the circuit, I had to film myself doing these exercises, by using a flat surface to set my phone up on, put a '10 second timer' on my camera so that I get a head-start when doing the workouts. (Yes, I had to take pictures for evidence)

Finally, I had to stopwatch myself doing the WHOLE circuit, which provided time evidence.

What were the psychological factors I encountered throughout my programme?

Even though it seemed like a walk in the park during my first session, I started to feel 'exhaustion' around half way through. This was because I haven't done a 9-exercise circuit in a long while, which explains why my body wasn't adjusting to this 'intensity' feeling just yet... I still had a long way to go... (I had to do 3 sessions a week)

During the 2nd & 3rd sessions, I realized that I had to mentally prepare my mind and body for the upcoming struggles of my 6 weeks worth of fitness, as this whole programme lasts for a long time.

Throughout the 2nd week, I just took every planned exercise in stride, as I knew I was still 'starting small'  to working my way higher and higher. Which all seemed fine. However, come the 3rd week, I was experiencing some 'mental doubts' which kept convincing me that I was never going to fully complete my current exercise, let alone the entire session. This is when my positivness kicked in and said: "You have to keep pushing yourself, just keep focused and work through the difficult process" This is the kind of inner message which really helps me to focus on achieving something.

By the 4th week, I was still learning to adapt to the going getting tough, as the process began to get harder. Plus, now that I was easily managing to do a certain number of reps - without breaking sweat, I wanted to increase them up by 5 more reps, to set a higher challenge for my current physical and mental strength.

The 5th & 6th week, was progressed with ensuring my mind to keep focused on the tougher workouts ahead, now that my newly improved muscular endurance had finally accomplished with the small steps. I kept on saying to myself: "Just keep going, pain is all part of the working out process" Fun fact for you guys: The more pain you feel when working yourself out, the stronger you will become. This is both physically and mentally.

At the end of every session, I always get this relived feeling that I've managed to complete the whole thing, as well as every single exercise. All thanks to my inner mentality for helping me to thrive in these workouts, by telling me to keep focused and the beneficial hard working abs I shall be eventually rewarded with, whilst working hard!

Were there any changes to my body throughout?

Not much, but I was apparently told by my mum that I lost weight. (I don't know exactly how much

though)                                                     

*These pictures were taken on my first day - 18/1/21 to my last day - 5/1/21. This is to show evidence of the difference 6 weeks has. Like I said, not much other than the slight weight loss, but I noticed my thighs got narrower*

 

Small conclusion: Working out is good for you, as it helps you to feel more powerful.

Thank you very much for taking your time to read through. It seems like my long disappearance wasn't a waste of time after all!😂 

Please do feel free to let me know about a similar working out process which you've experienced.

I'll try to post sooner, if I can.

My favourite life quotes

I thought about doing something relatively different for this kind of post; Since I personally think that everyone needs a fairly decent amount of hope from time to time. Which is why the above title explains my chosen topic.

*This is something which I very much struggle with already, and talking about it really does help*

 

*I also strongly advise everyone else to do the same, as one of my goals for this blog, is to encourage people to discuss their inner feelings more openly to a wider audience, so that they don't feel 'alone' by thinking they're the only ones who suffer from their demon thoughts*

 

(Courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/officialknowledgeispower/)

"Feeding your motivation"

In this post, I want to give you all a lectured insight, as to how you can "Feed your motivation". It actually turns out to be really simple! Just simply keep on doing what makes you happy. 

For instance, running makes you happy, and you have a keen interest of becoming a long distance runner.

But... to be able to reach that long-term goal, you need to have the dedication to work hard, as well as push hard to be able to get to where you want to be.

However... you also need to be aware that there are physical and mental obstacles, in which, you HAVE to face, as well as finding a suitable navigation (both physical and mentally) to boost your confidence towards the next level in terms of reaching your goal.

One way of doing so, is looking for inspiration around you. Watch some videos about that certain interest which makes you happy, to see if you can copy their tricks and tactics, in which, helps THEM to succeed in relations to finding their motivation. Or you can ask your friends and family to help give you encouragement, by telling you that they will ALWAYS be proud of you, for who you are, what you are and how far you've come and still progressing to for fill your motivation.

From time to time, you may experience these random depressing feelings, where you suddenly feel like you're not trying hard enough, therefore, you don't feel like you're ever going to reach your goal, let alone chasing it down. This is EXACTLY the type of feeling which can throw your motivation right off guard. To keep refuelling it, you need to convince yourself that these are all lies, in which, this depressed feeling is telling you. The best way to overcome it, is to keep on reminding yourself of all the progress you've made over the years. Alongside that, think of all the encouraging words your friends and family say about you, in purpose to give you that motivation, which will really help you to think more about where you want to be.

To put all of this long advice in basic terms - It's all about the focus! Only think about success!

(The above picture shows me finding my motivation; by working out)

Thanks for taking your time to read. Comment down below if want any advice on motivation and I shall be back soon with another post. Bye for now!   

How #Autism can REALLY help an individual thrive in life

This will be another highlighted post courtesy from a website. (The Sun)

Which will be illustrating how Katie Price's autistic son, Harvey, has recently been offered the amazing role of becoming a 'Train Announcer'.

We'll be looking at how having these autistic traits, can help you succeed, in terms of doing what you really love to do.

First off, let me just say... I'm autistic myself, so I can totally relate to how it works.

If you've been reading the same similar news, it explains how Harvey's form of autism allows him to remember, as well as memorize every single thorough detail in the National Rail train announcements, in which, a certain train route will be announced to help people travel from A - B on their route.

Overall, Harvey seems to have a strong interest about trains, and is also very passionate about how they work. With that said, he has an occupied intention to look up their history, routes and companies etc.

If anyone else who has these autistic traits, will only have room for one thing in their life - Success! In expansion to this, they have an interest, they look up ALL the information, facts and history of their chosen interest and will keep going until their brain has soaked up EVERYTHING they need to know about their chosen interest to be able to get involved in the type of career they've been aiming towards throughout ALL their childhood and young adulthood.

In addition, the article states that Harvey needs care 24/7, meaning, he sounds like he is low functioning on the spectrum. I need to point out this fact, because these autistic traits can be easily confused with having 'Asperger's Syndrome' (I might explain that in another post) Which sits on the highest end of the spectrum and again, allows people to be thoroughly detailed when having a certain interest, as well as chasing it down in order to succeed.

But having all of these complicated needs DOES NOT stop him from achieving his goals - Another type of message which needs to be spread out more.

That concludes everything I want to disclose on this post and please feel free to comment about any type of advice. See you all soon!

👇Here's the article link below:👇

  

 https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/13873712/katie-price-harvey-network-rail-train-announcer/