Posts (page 2)

Sunday June 8, 2008   6:45am

Wow! Unbelievable!

In England, a sunny weekend day is like gold dust.

“Cloud mostly to the south of London clearing this morning.

All areas then having a dry day with a good deal of sunshine.

26 °C…” says the weather man’s forecast.

So I'm following Romance Coach April Braswell’s advice and

going outdoors to do meet new people.

I’m off to the seaside early to beat the crowds who will

undoubtedly pack the trains to the coast. I’d rather meet the

locals.

Since I've not been very good at taking time to relax this year,

and since it was also raining in Paris last weekend, I'm turning the

morning into a mini-vacation.

No cell phone. No laptop.

Just a pad and pen, some water, my camera, and some sunscreen!

Back to more productive activities later tonight.

Have a great Sunday!

Yann

Yann Vernier – Personal Life Coach

PS: I hope the weather man is right! :-)

   I often deal with people who feel rather overwhelmed and confused, and like

to talk to get a bit of clarity in their life. Often they feel people around them

don't recognize them and that what's happening to them "is not fair".

In such situations, I normally insist on talking about their sleeping and eating

habits. This usually gets negative reception. From complete bemusement to

extreme anger. They don't understand why I want to talk about these "mundane"

topics.

"What has that got to do with it?" is the reply I most frequently get. Or something

very vague to change the subject like "Oh, I'm pretty healthy".

So I was pleased to read that researchers from Cambridge University (UK) and

UCLA have now clearly identified the connection between levels of serotonin

and emotional behavior.

Serotonin is a key chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) made in the body

from foods such as chocolate, and found in mushrooms, nuts and most fruits

and vegetables.

The results "suggest that serotonin plays a critical role in regulating emotion

during social decision-making".

In a nutshell, when you're hungry your serotonin levels are lower than when

you eat properly. And this has a direct impact on how well you keep your

emotional responses to "unfairness" in check.

Now you have an excuse to get that piece of chocolate!

All the best,

Reported in Science Express June 5, 2008 "Serotonin Modulates Behavioral Reactions to Unfairness", and in The Financial Times (UK edition) June 6, 2008.

If you're on Dave Lakhani's list, you'll already know about this.

The most quoted expert on influence, Professor Robert Cialdini, has a new book out "Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive".

For some reason, this was published in the UK about 6 months ago so I've had a copy for quite some time.

Probably the most exciting thing about this book is that it explains the research behind the theories. In plain English.

And in a fun and entertaining style.

Cialdini and his co-authors broke down the content into 50 sections. Each section details bits of research that led to specific nuances of the science of persuasion. And each suggests practical applications for business situations and for your personal life. Very neat.

It's an easy read. But not one you'll do in one seating. Each "chapter" is only 3 or 4 pages long. So you can pick it up, read it for 5 minutes, and instantly have several ideas you'll want to test straight away.

If you head off to Amazon now, you'll also notice that our own Kevin Hogan gave this book 5 stars too...

Happy Reading!

Yann
Yann Vernier - Personal Coach

Living in a big city like London brings all kinds of joys and surprises.

It's 6:15am and I'm heading to the office to deal with a little "problem" with
four-legged visitors before all the girls arrive. Seriously, everyone loves
Mickey & Minnie, what's the problem with having them pay a visit?...

I promise I will post something more interesting tomorrow.

Yann

Yann Vernier – Personal Coach UK

Legendary Romance Coach, Online Dating Coach April Braswell is responsible.

She made me do it.

(Don't you hate it when people can't take responsibility for their actions?!!)

I was going to write an interesting, clever, articulate post (and humble?)... But I have been so caught up with "time vampires" since my return from France yesterday... That I didn't get any further than writing a few bullet points on 3x5 cards.

And April bugged me so much to put a post up here that I was going crazy.

I'm essentially a listener (not a bad thing for a personal life coach!). I'm used to interactions where I take "stuff" in FIRST... And THEN I talk.

So the blog sequence - where I talk first then people comment - is not that natural to me.

In the meantime, April's mind seems to work differently. She's an endless source of funny comments, clever blog posts, networking ideas, and much much more...

Now, she's even telling us to attend shooting classes to meet more new people this summer...

Where will this stop?

Subaquatic yoga retreats? International tree-hugging expeditions? Virgin space trips to meet other (virgin) intergalactic lovers?

We'll see...

Yann

Yann Vernier - Personal Life Coach UK

Quick post as Vox keeps going down while I try to post comments... And I need to get some sleep.

I'm off to France to visit my parents in about 6 hours. I haven't been there for over 8 months so it will be a treat to see the family, enjoy some great food and wine, and catch up on Mr Sarkozy's latest misbehavior.

Actually, forget that last one :-)

My parents live in the middle of nowhere. Only an hour away from Paris. But truly the middle of nowhere. I'll have the laptop with me but I have no idea if I'll be able to get a internet connection there. If I don't, I'll catch up with Operation Blog Post when I return on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yann

Yann Vernier - Personal Coach

I was doing some research to find a niche that may be worth getting
into... and came across these interesting figures about the most
frequently searched health conditions:

(Source: ComScore, Inc. February 2008)

I imagine a few people in our group may have the experience or expertise to
help people searching these terms.

For the rest of us, this can be useful to create long-tail themed sites with relevant
affiliate links to *reputable and reliable* health solutions providers (don't mess with
people's pain).

Back to work!

Yann

Yann Vernier – Personal Coach

I haven't dropped out already...

I was held hostage by a mad contemporary artist.

Okay, okay. Maybe I was foolish enough to agree to help him in the first place... And ended up
spending *several* hours creating a website for him.

He's one of my close friends, a talented young artist from Hong Kong based in the UK. He has a
show coming up on June 6, so he wanted the site ready soon... Like tonight!

It's not perfect yet, and the html is a mess because he kept changing his mind... As you'd expect
from an artist I guess!

In fact, if you have any artistic friends... I strongly recommend you DON'T tell them you've designed
your site yourself.

You can check out the site here: Joe Joe Ngai

Let me know what you think.

I will resume regular postings and comments tomorrow... After a few hours sleep.

Yann
Yann Vernier - Personal Coach

This is a true story.

It happened just this morning.

You'll find it familiar in some way, I suspect...

I get to the offfice bright and early. There's a note on my desk from
the security patrol:

"There's a puddle in the basement".

I rush down there... Water everywhere. Everywhere. Hmm... Need to check
"puddle" in the dictionary. Call to maintenance company.

Let's start work.

"What's this ringing noise?"

It's only 8:30am. The switchboard is ringing... I'm intrigued.
It's on a timer and normally only kicks in at 9:00am. No staff here
yet. Let's take the call... Click. Click. Click click clickclickclick.
The damn thing won't let me take the call. Hmm... Need to check "timer"
in the dictionary. Call to IT company.

Let's start work.

"Yann, can I have a quick word?"

My receptionist just walked in... In tears... We talk. Well... she
talks and I listen. And she cries. And talks... Tough personal
situation, so I listen. I would probably like someone to listen to me
if I were in her position... I send her home. Hmm... Need to check
"quick word" in the dictionary. Call to temporary staff agency.

Let's start work.

"It's really hot in here, isn't it?"

I hadn't really noticed. But yes, it is a little warm. Let's check...
Air conditioning out of action. Hmm... Need to check "fully serviced
[on May 19]" in the dictionary. Call to maintenance company.

Let's start work.

"There's been a call for you..."

Another staff member called. Her plane was "slightly delayed"... She
won't be in before 10:30am. Hmm... Need to check "slightly" in the
dictionary.

Let's start work.

"Oh my... What's this?"

The building shakes. Deafening drilling noise... They're
digging the road right outside the office...

I look out. An enormous green truck is parked outside my window. In large
bright yellow letters, it displays the contractor's name:

Just one word.

You guessed it...

Murphy
  
 
 

Choose how you look at Life. Tragedy? Or irony?
Yann Vernier - Personal Coach
 
 

"Consistently and constantly force yourself to focus on
the ‘critically few’ proactive activities that produce
exponential results. Don’t get caught up in minutia & bullshit."

Wow! This hit me right between the eyes.

Caught up in minutia and bull...? Me? Err... Never! <blush>

This neat reminder is one of the "34 rules for maverick
entrepreneurs" internet wonderboy Yanik Silver has just
posted on his blog - inspired by his recent trip to Richard
Branson's private island.

I guess we would all get some inspiration if we got to
hang out with billionaires. What do you think?

The other 33 points?

Check out Yanik's post:
http://www.internetlifestyle.com

Enjoy!

Yann
Yann Vernier - Personal Coach