About John
John Doran is a Guidance Counsellor in the Patrician Secondary School and author of Ways to Wellbeing a programme promoting resilience and positive mental health for students nationwide and internationally. John recently spoke at the Zeminar conference in Dublin about something that is close to my heart:
Happiness is an inside Job.
In the talk he shares his 3 Pillars for a Successful Life and Happiness:
You are, you always were and you will be Enough
This gem comes from Br Colm O’Connell who shared it with John’s school, Patrician Secondary school in Newbridge. A secret that John would like every one to know. You see we were all born with only two fears, fear of loud noises and the fear of falling over. The rest we learn. As John says, Belief costs nothing and everyone can afford it.
The most important words that you ever hear in your life are the words that you say to yourself and believe. Engage with yourself in a constructive way. When you realise this, you are free to change your emotion to effort.
Develop an Attitude of Gratitude
A lot of people are always looking for the next phase of life or the next win without showing gratitude for what they already have. John coins the phrase Entitled-itious and believes that gratitude could be a good prescription for Entitled-itious.
I am a big believer in daily gratitude and celebrating the wins that you have already achieved. By looking back at these wins, it can get us through those days when life is stacked against us and we don’t see a way through.
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This is a big bug bear for me. In the race to get to the next part of their life, so many people forget to enjoy the life they already have. As John says “The destination will come soon enough for us all”. This could be as simple as just taking some time for ourselves. I am a big believer in enjoying the journey. There is no point focusing only on your end goal, if you are not enjoying the steps that will get you there. This can result in a sense of being underwhelmed when you reach your goal. You need to appriciate the person you are becoming along the way.
Life can go bye in a blur and makes no sense if its not punctuated.
Please don’t miss out on your one precious life!
John closes by sharing a great quote that a teacher once gave him and I think its so true.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSY9OZeUe5M
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