No.198 Of Tricks of The Mind

I performed a card trick on a friend yesterday evening. It was one I had learnt from Derren Brown's book Tricks of the Mind. It went well. In fact so well that said friend was looking behind her and above her for mirrors, cameras or anything else that might give her a clue as to how the trick was done. When she started checking to make sure the cards weren't marked I asked her if she had a trust problem and low opinion of men. She replied "No just a low opinion of you Mr P!". Ho Hum.

I have to confess that the trick when surprising well and I was just as gob smacked as she was. Well done Mr Brown! That's not an expression you hear very often right now.

No.197 Of Forgetting Secret Santa

Emmm so here's the end of another week. Well almost. Tomorrow doesn't really count because we have the Christmas Party and you can always wipe off that day - at least in terms of work.

We're doing the Secret Santa thing again this year. In all other years it's been rigged and I've no reason to doubt that this one is any different. The rules are quite clear however. You spend up to £5 and you don't tell anyone else who you have. In days gone by names have been drawn out to gasps and looks of horror and then all sorts of wheeling and dealing, bribery and blackmail took place to ensure that one person didn't have to buy for another or indeed did have to buy for A. Nother.

Naturally being a fine upstanding member of this organisation I have made no attempt to swap my name for anyone elses. Although I have to confess that this has largely been due to the fact that for a good while for the life of me I couldn't remember whose name I had pulled out of the hat all those weeks' ago. I think I've got it right. If I haven't some lucky critta will get two presents from Santa at Legal-Island and one poor sod will get none at all and it will all be my fault. Ah bah humbag hey?

Merry Christmas everyone....

No.196 Of Cycles....

Yesterday I spent all day in Dublin. I've still to try one of those rent a bike schemes where you can hire a bike for a few hours and return it to any one of a number of auto stations around the city. What keeps putting me off is the weather and the traffic in Dublin. You'll either get soaked or killed - a fairly good disincentive I suppose.

I met a lady called Krishna De in Dublin. She's in the top ten of Twitterers in Dublin. I liked her a lot and I expect we might do a bit of biz together at some stage. I met her on Twitter btw.

Loads happening today with meetings in Moira and Belfast not to mention catching up after yesterday's networking, designing a job spec for our Marketing post and a few Christmas letters out to those who have really helped or inspired us this year. It's amazing how quickly Christmas comes round.

Ho Hum Onwards...

No.195 Standing Up For Tony

Wow! What a weekend. On Saturday night a group of us went to the Laughter Lounge in Belfast. We sat preciously close to the stage but alas were spared a grilling from any of the acts. The comedians and compare were great. It's a superb skill Stand Up and it must be one of the hardest professions going.


I'm currently reading a book by Tony Robbins. I'm on a role at the moment. I've not read a bad book in a long time and here's hoping that this one is worth the time it'll take to get through 400 odd pages. Almost every trainer I've met in the last few months either knows Tony Robbins or more likely really raves about the bloke. He's not even 30 yet and never went to university. Emmmm


I've loads on for this week including some important meetings tomorrow and Wednesday. Should be fun. Hold tight. Here we go....

No.194 From Advanced to Zen

Ok that's it. No more jumping straight into a frozen car in the morning and trying to see through a tiny gap in the windscreen as I drive impatiently to work. Definitely not safe. As Jim Royale would say "Advanced Driver my Ass".

We're busy reviewing procedures today. A day likely to be heavy going on the brain but productive nonetheless.

A different weekend beckons involving entertaining friends, attending a wedding, a comedy club, Zen and who knows what else..... Isn't that what a good weekend should be about?

No.193 Of Work & Planning

It's plan, plan, plan at the moment as we try and straighten things out for next year. We're fortunate in so far as we have many options open to us and it's a case of working out which to select and act on. They're diverse too which is great. The more in the mix the better say I.

It's been an interesting year on the Island here with loads of development. One of our staff is returning to us later this month after 6 months away and I'm wondering if she'll recognise us. We've had a few personnel changes, a new training centre built and quite a lot of cosmetic work done too ("work done" as the euphemism goes nowadays). We now have a plaque on the wall as you walk in that says "Recognised by Investors in People" and great facilities which will hopefully attract new great staff as we continue to grow.

On the subject of which I'm busy at the moment drafting two job descriptions for marketing posts as our M&S team go on maternity leave early next year. Know anybody?

No.192 Of Mindmappers & Tricks of the Mind

Hah! We have Ann Forsyth, a Mindmapper, in today. She's probably going to tell us that everything we've learnt about how to learn since the first day of school is wrong. Lets see.


I'm busy drafting two new marketing posts for appointment next year.


I was reading Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind last night. This is fast developing into one of the best works of non fiction I have ever read. It's the kind of book that makes you want to rush home get something to eat and jump on the sofa and start reading. How often does that happen?