Blog – Harry Croose

One day at a time. (Master the day, Master your life)

Post author:Harry
Post published:March 27, 2023
Post category:Blog Personal Self-Help

ONE DAY AT A TIME (MASTER THE DAY, MASTER YOUR LIFE)

PERSONAL

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Written by Harry Croose

“Patience is not simply the ability to wait—it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.”

- Joyce Meyer - Tweet

Hi all, I hope you are well and are having a good day, I am finally back blogging I have had quite a few years of developing my goals and have now accomplished some more life experiences to share. I am hoping to post more in recent months in contribution to my YouTube Channel. (Please find on the homepage on my website). I am now back in Business! Here to give YOU another one of my insights.

Today’s topic is something I learnt from my many months of emotional healing and self-reflection. I am talking about the importance of mastering each day. We can get lost in our thoughts, our habits and consequently without meaning too, lose either hours in the day or lose the quality of the time in the day that we are in. Only to regret the fact that it is already Sunday evening and we have work tomorrow. The phrase “Master your day, Master your life” actually came to me in a dream or perhaps my subconscious saved in my mind somewhere as it resonated with me a lot. I used to spend a lot of time looking to the horizon, never present in the moment, always planning and looking forward to the future, but I realised I lost a key element to the creative process which is to be in the NOW.
I am here to give you 5 strategies that helped me understand this philosphy of being present. One quick point first though, you don’t have to necessarily agree with me on all points made, please read through and take whatever youfind valuable; I hope it inspires you to write and document your own thoughts, and I hope that you found it a positive and pleasant read.

1. Reflecting on your goals (plan your next few years)

It is incredibly important to reflect on your goals, and not only that to act upon them. Isn’t it just surprisingly how quickly time flies which is while it is pivotal to fulfilling your life objectives. Reflection is a great exercise that allows to you evaluate what you have done in your past, and what went well, and how you can improve for next time, refine your technique and be better and more professional.

Journaling is a great way, to document your stories, reflecting your thoughts and harnessing your inner power that we all have within us. With a clear detailed plan, with the right action you would be able to write the plan in the fabric of the world.

2. Remember the Present Moment (enjoy today)

The present moment is something that many of us don’t take into consideration enough of; we are all subject to this. The past and future are as much as it can be help our ultimately ideas made my humankind. Enjoying the present moment is a great way to ground yourself to make you feel less anxious/upset and allows you to master right now. There are different ways to enjoy the present, from keeping active and learning different things.

3. Focus on 1 or 2 goals at a time

One mistake many make is to start TOO MANY goals, and to not finish any or many at all. Focusing on 1 or 2 goals at a time, allows you to split your time so that you have much time allocated into each thing, this allows for you to for fill great progress in a few things of your choice.

4. Do what makes you happy

Ultimately in life we need to do what makes us happy, we can all be productive but if it doesn’t motivate us and gives us joy or any level of fulfilment it can effect your motivation as well as level of self-esteem. Happiness is a currency that is largely forgotten in this day and age, and I would strongly recommend to design your goals and master your day with this overarching goal of happiness and love.

5. Take ACTION on your plan + believe in yourself

Now you have lain the foundation of 1-2 goals with the gratitude of the present moment, and your own happiness. The most important task ahead, is to write your plans into ACTION and to believe in yourself even when the going gets tough! The most important thing is your consistency, the consistency of your goals is key for you to unlock the door of your potential. You have great potential, when you believe in yourself you will triumph.

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

To give you some suggestions that really benefited me through this obstacle. I want to recommend for you to start self-reflecting. Whether it be through…

– Journaling
– Reading Self-Help Books
– Reading Fiction Books
– Meditation
– Write your own story.

This will allow you to get what you read in theory, into practice. I want YOU, yes I am looking at you! To have a successful and happy and prosperous life!

Until the Next Blog Post! Take Care and Look after yourself!!

The Importance of Fair-Trade: (and why it benefits the environment)

Post author:Harry
Post published:February 10, 2021
Post category:Blog

HOW TO NOT CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK

SOCIAL

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Written by Harry Croose

"Someone's Opinion of You - does not have to become your reality."
- Les Brown - Tweet

For many months, now I was caught into a sneaky way of thinking, which held a lot of knocks to my Self-Esteem and confidence, but now am stronger than ever. Back in Business! Here to give YOU another one of my insights.

Today’s topic is something I learnt from my many months of emotional healing and self-reflection. A lot of this I’d discovered was that I was caring too much of the opinions of others. Now be careful now don’t take it literally, this phrase is often used when we are essentially fed up, but that is used in a mental framework of a victim. However, this phrase can also be used in as a way of releasing unnecessarily burdens that either you or others have placed on you.
I am here to give you 5 strategies that helped me get over this wall. One quick point first though, remember that other people’s opinions can still have large benefits. Just remember that their opinions do not define who you are.

1. Focus on yourself and your Needs

There is an annoying stigma in society, that if you are selfless you are great and if you are selfish you are a horrible person. This form of assumption, that allows unkind people to take advantage of you – due to your social complexes on ‘what is right’.

How to solve this would be to solely focus on yourself. I know right so selfish! But you need to fill your own cup first as it were, before you start helping others. I am not saying to go out your way to be unkind to someone (even if they deserve it) but merely to prioritise yourself other everything else, and yes even your family.

The more you invest in yourself today – the more you will be able to help them in the future. In fact, helping yourself first will likely mean you will be in a much better position to help others more so then even if you were too selfless of your own needs and desires.

This topic is such a big one that I have wrote a separate blog post here – How to fulfil your needs.

2. Establish Strong Independent Boundaries

Establish concrete boundaries in different areas of your life. Whether that be in the realms of love, relationships, friendships, money, emotions, psychology and so on. This mind does not necessarily come from a lack of confidence or self-esteem. I believe that a lack of secure boundaries in these sections of oneself can be one of many reasons that a lack of confidence/ self-esteem continues to manifest in your life.

How does this relate to how to not care what other people think? Well, people with what are considered to be weaker boundaries have an obsession of the need to be validated by others. (Hence you care what people think). Therefore, they require external environments to control their boundaries, which if you put it like that sounds ridiculous!

In human biology, we have a need to be in a pack of people, so we naturally have homeostasis of what the supposed conformed boundaries are. But remember that sometimes our human nature struggles to differentiate the difference between thriving and surviving in these instances. I want you to be thriving! So don’t use this as an excuse for you to be thriving! This brings be to my next point.

3. Change Your Environment

Life is too short. To guilt-trip yourself into staying in an environment that does not vibe with you. Remember the previous point you want to thrive! If that means moving friend groups, distancing yourself from toxicity, and moving towards an environment that you want. Then do it. Yes, it will take a leap of faith, to make such a drastic change.

If you can’t just change your environment, perhaps you are in a job, or in a position where you don’t want to be. Then I would suggest you change your environment in small stages. Whether it be spending less time with someone or retreating to nature to relieve stress. All of these steps will say to your mind, that you are the top priority, and will undo the extreme selflessness programming and will help you care less of what over people think.

4. Find Your Life Purpose

One thing that will not ground you more, on not caring what people think is to have a Life Purpose. A Life Purpose is either a big goal or a massive change that you want to make in your life, which is aligned with your personal values and needs. This is like your destination. This will allow you to make your own heading if you will to reach this said goal and make this aligned into reality. This could be starting a blog, write a book, start a YouTube Channel, to Rule the World!
If you have your own goal then you will DO things that will benefit YOU.

If you are interested in finding your life purpose then read my post; How to Find Your Life Purpose

5. Build Confidence and Self-Esteem

Building sufficient confidence and Self-Esteem is so important. This is the bedrock of success and happiness. If you perceive yourself to not have very good confidence and self-esteem. Firstly, you are confident and do have Self-Esteem – let me explain before you go jumping to conclusions. It is just that you have been convinced that you don’t by your external environments justified by your past experiences.

I have a deep belief, that we all have great levels of confidence and self-esteem. You know that memory-player in the back of your mind reaffirming what you believe to be – that is what is controlling your confidence and self-esteem.
This here is an important insight, “your THOUGHTS are not the same as FACT.” Just because you say, ‘you’re stupid’, ‘you’re not good enough’ does not mean it is true. In fact, all it is is a bad radio station and all you need to do is change the frequency. Which you can do easily! Let’s go backwards your confidence – comes from emotions, and your emotions come from thoughts. This is a very vital insight into your own mental psychology, that I hope you find very helpful. If you have the strong confidence in yourself – you will find that naturally your boundaries will be stronger and will be more protected from status-quo thinking, following the herd and victim mentalities which make you vulnerable to the effects on other people’s opinions. I have many blog other posts on Confidence and Self-Esteem so please use the search on the blog-menu and type in ‘confidence’. To find lots of posts, resources and mini-courses to help you.

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

To give you some suggestions that really benefited me through this obstacle. I want to recommend for you to start self-reflecting. Whether it be through…

– Journaling
– Reading Self-Help Books
– Reading Fiction Books
– Meditation
– Write your own story.

This will allow you to get what you read in theory, into practice. I want YOU, yes I am looking at you! To have a successful and happy and prosperous life!

Until the Next Blog Post! Take Care and Look after yourself!!

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The Phantom Frame: how it changes the picture of reality.

Post author:Harry
Post published:October 25, 2020
Post category:Blog Self-Help

University Dissertations and How to Write Them

Post author:Harry
Post published:May 21, 2020
Post category:Academic Blog

UNIVERSITY DISSERTATIONS AND HOW TO WRITE THEM

ACADEMIC

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Written by Harry Croose

" I write, because I don't know what I think, until I read what I say."

- Flannery O'Connor - Tweet

Hello all, I hope you are well today this is my sequel to the blog post ‘University Dissertations and How To Plan Them’ which you can check in the link below.

Today however, I am going to talk about the writing process, and how to essentially write well. 🙂 Again these our general points, for some dissertations their could be slightly differences in requirements, depending on your chosen degree subject. I am hoping these points will be very helpful and insightful all the same, here are a few points. 🙂 Remember that Good Writing takes as much planning as it does writing. 🙂

PREVIOUS BLOG POST ON DISSERTATIONS: 'University Dissertations and How to Plan Them'

1. Structure Before Starting

Make sure that you know how your Dissertation, is going to be structured. Look at examples Dissertations from your University, and better yet your subject, e.g. History.
You will be able to see how they structure their Dissertation and this will give you a basis sturcutre to begin the writing process. Structure also comes done to knowing the word count, and how to layout your essay. E.g. you could structured your essay knowing that your introduction is 2000 words, main body is 6000 and conclusion is 1000 words. This will give you a rough idea on how many paragraphs and points you will need to make to answer your questions.

2. Make a list of your quotes with References before drafting

This is an important bit of advice, that helped me compile my references and sources, you can even do this with any appendix or list of tables that you may have. With this list of quotes (wether directly quoted or paraphrased). You can decide which section each quote can go in, e.g. you can space out your quotations if you have 50 quotes (you could try and space out so that there is 10 quotes in each of your 5 sections); of course this could change slightly depending on the sections but it would be a great way of establishing some word count before even starting to write.
This helps me write a first draft as you feel as though you already have some word count, and not a blank page. A metaphor I would use is ‘dot to dot’ these quotes help you join your arguments together, and thus it is easier to focus on your first draft.

3. Look up other Blog Posts and Advice on Creating a Dissertation

There a loads of YouTubers and other blog posts as well as resources given to you by your Disseration Tutor and the Academic Team at your Univesity, to give you many tips and varations on writing style, if you watch enough of these videos or read enough blogs, you will be able to compile your own strategy and approach guided to you by the best tips that cater to your circumstances. Once you have taken their advice, into account you are ready to start writing.

4. Write a First Draft (even if it isn't the best)

Writing a First Draft early on in the process is important. Don’t feel as though you cannot do it, and you have to write the perfect draft first time. The first draft is mean’t to cement your core ideas and give you the template you need to adapt and add to afterwards. With the dot to dot strategy I described by pasting the quotes you want in each paragraph you should be able to easily join up the quotes and get a basic form of argument. Of course using , the point, evidence, explain, link paragraph layout may help, but again it depends on your essay and how you like to stylistically edit.

Plus, even if you dont have a lot of time left, at least you have a draft to submit. 🙂

5. Editing to the Dissertation Question and Your Own Criteria

This is quite self-explanatory but once you have wrote a first draft, you will be able to do edit styilistically to the assessment criteria and your chosen dissertation question and title. Double checking that you have stylistically answered your own question, is paramount to a successful dissertation. I would also adivce getting a family member, friend or just somone else to read your work, to make sure it makes sense grammatically.

Bonus Points

To give you some suggestions that really benefited me through Dissertation here are a few pointers.

– USB Backups of saved drafts and sections (e.g. Dissertation Save 1, 2 etc.)
– Create a contents page, and use headers to help structure your arguments.
– Create a new theory or line of argument in your Dissertation Topic
– Take advantage of Appendices, Figures and Tables in your arguments.
– Remember to critic and evaluate they are the higher levels of understnading and marks.
– Don’t forget the basics, the easy things are easy to overlook.

Hope you all found this highly useful, I am sure their are many points you couild think off, what other points would you advice someone writing a Dissertation, until next time take care all. 🙂

Harry 🙂

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‘The Sun Has Risen’: A Short Story

Post author:Harry
Post published:April 28, 2020
Post category:Blog Stories

'THE SUN HAS RISEN' A SHORT STORY

STORIES

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Written by Harry Croose

‘THE SUN HAS RISEN’

‘Darkness clouds the truth.’ That is what her father had said, well the last thing he had said, and yet as Sarah gazed up to the sky, clouds still remained supreme. Sarah could not deny that the clouds were majestic and in a way beautiful, but her taste for the sunlight had only grown after every passing night after night after night. Young Sarah was only 15 years old, in the tucked-away village of Dawnbrook, of the Southern Isles, named after the setting sun, yet she still believed that one day light would return, her father, he had promised her. Sarah’s blonde hair, reflected off the water, bogged in the streets, it was so shiny that even passing peasants gazed longingly at the long shadow she left behind, her Uncle even said that ‘she could light up a room – literally.’ She was, so they say, the last of her Noble House, the House Sigil of the Sun woven on her robes. The only good thing about the darkness was that if the peasants knew who she was, they would extinguish the last of their honour for just a mouldy bit of bread.

Because, of the darkness, there was anarchy in the province. All of the food shelters have been raided, and a large famine swept over the land. She couldn’t help the peasants even if she wanted to, because the moment they found out who she was… she would be blamed for the disaster; she only trusted her Councillors that were put in place guarding what was left of the Order. Lifting her Oil Lantern, to the Castle Gates, the guards let her in reluctantly, but told her that ‘if her Ladyship tried to help the poor again, she will become a Peasant.’ Sarah did not know why she tolerated their behaviour, but then she remembered the world is not safe anymore.
‘Good evening, my Lady. The City Guards, kept a close eye on you at any rate.’
Lord Arthur Blaze was a gentle kindly man, tall nearly 6ft 5, one of the few men she remotely trusted. ‘Forgive me for the interference, Lady Sarah, but my father entrusted that I keep you safe, ideally on this side of the Castle Gate.’
Lady Sarah gained her breath back, from the long walk to the nearby village, and put on the ‘Lady’ Voice. ‘I appreciate you looking out for me Lord Blaze, I was just making a personal assessment of the damages caused by the famine.’ She sighed deeply, ‘the darkness has taken more then what my fellow councillors has informed me. I may be a child, but while I am the standing Lady of the House Sunstall, I do not expect my councillors to lie to me – in future.’

She thought to herself darkly, ‘if there is a future’.

----------

With her robes, bellowing outside in the harsh winds, she walked tiredly to the Castle’s entrance. The Castle was a magnificent sight, the stone sparkled like stars from a sky long ago, and the cement was a pulsing crimson lighting up the valley, the only beacon of hope, Dawnbrook and the surrounding towns, and villages appeared to have. Sarah caressed the old oak door, it felt warm to the touch, she pushed open the door, as she entered.

The Great Hall was still by all accounts great, but it was bare and desolate now, all of the Gold, and Jewel encrusted decoration had been taken and smelted down for defence against either the oncoming darkness or to feed those who need it. The cobwebs hidden behind mantelpieces and glorious tapestries revealed that even the cleanest of places still had something to hide. ‘Good evening, Bethany, could you run me a bath upstairs, I will be retiring shortly.’ Bethany, a serving girl bowed her head smiling. ‘As you command Lady Sarah.’ Bethany turned away blushing slightly and went up the long flight of steps, each step had a message engraved on it, a message of hope such as ‘LIGHT THE WAY.’ or ‘BE A BEACON IN THE DARKNESS.’ Sarah clutched her fur overcoat agitated and tossed it aside. She strolled down the Great Hall and gazed at the nearby paintings. She gazed at the nearest one, a beautiful woman, with Blonde Hair and a White Gown sitting happily by the fireplace, by her daughter. Sarah let loose a few tears, she remembered why she always walked past this painting, it always made her cry, and yet there was a glint of hope there, somewhere. Her Mother and her Father after all were not truly gone, just lost. Then she felt a touch on her hand.

‘My Lady, I should have never lied to you, truly. I apologise. You can understand why I did though, you are not stupid, I just didn’t want you get upset.’ Lord Arthur Blaze was a man of words for sure, but not only that Sarah could trust on his loyalty to her house and this small Kingdom. Sarah turned trying to hide her tears. ‘I understand, why you did it, it is unfortunate that you have to lie about something so grave in the first place. How could my father, my uncle, my mother…’
Lord Arthur smiled, ‘I hear you, child, forgive me Lady Sarah, you haven’t an ounce of patience, we must wait here in exile, for this to stop. Your Father told me that I must protect you at all costs, all costs, even if it costs us towns, villages, perhaps even your very House and Name.’
Lord Arthur brandished a longsword onto the ground.
‘Your father embedded this seal onto this weapon, because he knew that one day you would wield it. You have potential in fighting, I would have thought that you would keep it on you, if you were going to every village to liberate them.’ He grimaced. ‘I am not saying you couldn’t in the reigns of your Grandfather or even the early years of your Father, but times our different. Sometime the greatest heroes know when to fight and when to stay indoors.’
Sarah perked up at that, ‘Speaking of indoors, when will day come.’
‘This night has been awfully long-winded.’
‘Soon’ grinned Lord Arthur, then we can finally do some justice to those in the nearby villages and towns, and finally we can go looking for your family.’ His cloak and his posh attire reminded her of his eternal optimism, and how many times he had been right. ‘Okay, well, good night, Lord Arthur, I will be retiring upstairs shortly.’

Arthur turned to her slowly, ‘For the last time Lady Sarah, please call me Arthur, I will inform you of our action plan in the morning, the councillors and I, are having a late night meeting tonight, Lady Elena from the Far West, will be arriving soon with a reinforced guard and extra provisions in preparation for the sunlight we have. All will be alright.’ He gave her the Sword. Sarah smiled at her Father’s Sword and turned to look at Arthur valiantly striding away into the council chamber, he hoped his light would never run out, but then she remembered she said that about her father.

---------

She went upstairs, to the fourth floor, to her bedroom, where a hot bath awaited her, she unrobed, plunged herself into the relaxing water, and contemplate the words of wisdom from Arthur and the discovery of the darkness in the nearby villages. If only there was a way to save them now, but she knew that she must wait for the day, that was when her power and her magic was greatest. She dressed in her night robes and got into her bed to do her nightly journaling and meditation, when she heard a distinct voice. A voice that carried out her name. ‘Sarah, Sarah, Where is Sarah.’

This voice did not appear overly friendly come to think of it, it sounded quite threatening. Poising a gaze to her sword, she dressed in her Robes, ready to fight. She smiled solemnly to herself, and with her sword equipped, she opened the door. Only the sound of swords slashing, and gales of screams greeted her, which pierce the cold air on this never-ending night. ‘But while the heir of the Sun still lives, Morning will reign.’ She said to herself in a whisper, as though the wind could here her. Her words warmed her and dissolved her fear. Her blonde hair rippled with an energy of pride, her sword turned scarlet in the air, as she spun around to see her foe. No foes were there, but she could hear them still, on their way up. She had no choice but to flee. There were too many of them, even with the powers she had, she was not strong enough, not without the sun. She climbed higher and higher until she reached the top of the castle. It was a peaceful view… once, and she vowed then when she returned to Sunstall Castle, the morning Sun would reign forever. She knew and just knew that the councillors were dead, perhaps that guard at the gate betrayed then all, they were few in number and he knew that. Then she before she knew it she was surrounded.

Guards streamed in like the plague, armoured in Darkness, their very shadows could be seen, even in the pitch black.
‘Give up now, little one. Join the darkness and meet the same fate as your Father.’
The clouds moved slightly in the sky, and a rumbling not from the sky, but from Lady Sarah began to erupt, her anger was evident, even to the blind. ‘Your pitiful darkness will end- shortly, as quickly as it begun. You are nothing more than illusions, to me. Be Gone.’
The Darkness laughed at her, but all of a sudden her words came true. The clouds parted and the dark greys that dwelled and leached on this land vanished, and the sun smiled down at her. Before she knew it she was levitating up in the air, her blonde hair glowing a bright gold.
The darkness retreated, and the morning sun finally rose, the land flooded with colour and joy. Sarah could sense it, feel it in her very core and soul. This mystical land had been renewed, at least in part, but there is so much to do, she must her find her family, in order to retain order and peace.

Sarah’s power grew, and so she rose again.

‘The Sun has Risen.’

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The Art of War: How to Win Every Battle

Post author:Harry
Post published:April 18, 2020
Post category:Blog Career Financial Health Self-Help

THE ART OF WAR: HOW TO WIN EVERY BATTLE

SELF-HELP

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Written by Harry Croose

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

- Sun Tzu - Tweet

Hello. I hope you are well, on this fine day. 🙂 Today, I want to talk about ‘The Art of War’ and how to win each of your battles. First, we must define what ‘battles’ are, this could be obstacles in the ways of your goals, this could be psychological, social, financial or personal, there are many topics and definitions on what battles are, and each battle is different to everyone. This is a few helpful tips, and guides to help you deal with your battles, and not only to win but to thrive. 🙂

1. Choose your battles wisely.

Remember to choose your battles wisely, if you have the option to avoid obstacles in your goals, it may be wiser to do so. 🙂 There are always other ways of winning that doesn’t involve you losing as much resources. (Time, energy and physical resources such as money). For example, you could learn for free on youtube, rather than spending thousands on online courses that may or may not be as valuable to your goals, and objectives.

2. Know the 'battlefield'

Once you know if it is a battle worth fighting, you need to fully understand the layout of the battlefield. This metaphor of a battlefield is helpful for you to understand, as each passing day, each passing moment the environment may change. The weather, the conditions, food, and supplies for your troops, hidden areas and opportunities to suprise your enemy when they are least expecting it. The battlefield, is always changing, adapting and evolving. If you know the battlefield and your own strength than you win.

3. Plan the worst-case scenario

If you plan the worse case senario, to losing this battle, and the steps to move forward even ater defeat, you will gain a hidden victory. If you plan ahead on what the battles ahead might be you may get additional insight into your own strengths, and from your apparent ‘defeat’ places in yourself that you need to work on. Yet do not be disheartened if you suffer defeat after defeat, if you remain patient, and cultivate your skills and change your perception on those defeats, you will be ultimatley victorious. While you must plan the worst-case senario be motivated by the best-case senario, and let that positive vision motivate you and inspire you and your metaphorical troops to war.

4. The Internal War (feed the positive not the negative)

An important fact in psychology is self-awarenss and the acknowledgement of hard truths, and in most cases the abandonment of beliefs that do not serve you, and your ideal goals. Remember, that your words and actions are the very essence of your being. Swim in positivity, but remember to always follow the current of the river, it is not easy to fight against the current. You must use the nature of your will and your internal compass to guide you. Trust in the process. 🙂 Feed on the positive dreams, goals and it will manifest.

5. Build Confidence and Self-Esteem to fight for what you believe in.

Building sufficient confidence and Self-Esteem is so important. This is the bedrock of success and happiness. If you perceive yourself to not have very good confidence and self-esteem. Firstly, you are confident and do have Self-Esteem – let me explain before you go jumping to conclusions. It is just that you have been convinced that you don’t by your external environments justified by your past experiences.

I have a deep belief, that we all have great levels of confidence and self-esteem. You know that memory-player in the back of your mind reaffirming what you believe to be – that is what is controlling your confidence and self-esteem.
This here is an important insight, “your THOUGHTS are not the same as FACT.” Just because you say, ‘you’re stupid’, ‘you’re not good enough’ does not mean it is true. In fact, all it is is a bad radio station and all you need to do is change the frequency. Which you can do easily! Let’s go backwards your confidence – comes from emotions, and your emotions come from thoughts. This is a very vital insight into your own mental psychology, that I hope you find very helpful. If you have the strong confidence in yourself – you will find that naturally your boundaries will be stronger and will be more protected from status-quo thinking, following the herd and victim mentalities which make you vulnerable to the effects on other people’s opinions. I have many blog other posts on Confidence and Self-Esteem so please use the search on the blog-menu and type in ‘confidence’. To find lots of posts, resources and mini-courses to help you.

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise. This will help calm the war within. 🙂

To give you some suggestions that really benefited me through this obstacle. I want to recommend for you to start self-reflecting. Whether it be through…

– Journaling
– Reading Self-Help Books
– Reading Fiction Books
– Meditation
– Writing your own story.

This will allow you to get what you read in theory, into practice. I want YOU, yes I am looking at you! To have a successful and happy and prosperous life!

Until the Next Blog Post! Take Care and Look after yourself!!

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The Vital Importance of Making Your Own Mistakes

Post author:Harry
Post published:April 16, 2020
Post category:Blog

THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF MAKING YOUR OWN MISTAKES

ALL

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Written by Harry Croose

"No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you are still way ahead of someone who isn't trying."

- Tony Robbins - Tweet

Hey, all I hope you are well. 🙂
Today I want to talk aobut a topic that is close to my heart, that has lead me towards a calmer life, the realisation that it is okay to make mistakes. The one negation in modern society is the coninuous strive for instant perfection, over the journey itself. In other words, a presupposition that they must be perfect instantly, and that they cannot make a mistake, perhaps this is becuase they don;’t like failing or making a mistake, but this mindsetiat best will make it more difficult for you to achieve lasting results. Remember just becuase you win the battle doesn’t mean you win the war. This is the main difference between intelligence and wisdom. 🙂 Here is a few key reasons why making mistakes is more valuable than constant winning. 🙂

1. Mistakes are how you learn.

Mistakes, are ultimately the only way to gradually learn. It takes plenty of time to learn how to ride a bike, drive a car, to craft an amazing essay and to write a world famous book. The greatest weakness of our generation is a lack of patience to our goals, followed by instant discouragement. This discouragement only fulls the deluded beliefs that you can’t do it. This becomes a reality once you believe it. But know this, remember the anlaogy that with every mistake, you are given another opportunity to re-stragetize. Once you understnad why you have made that ‘mistake’, you can try again and again and again until you beat it. Depending on what this is it make take more time then you would like, but know this if you believe that you can that is over half the battle.

2. The Distraction Trap - listening to others and not yourself

This distraction trap is one that we as a part of human race, we are prone to listening to others. Some may even give you wise advice. But remember this most people give you advice based out of their circumstances and experiences. Think about the metaphor of a massive map, we all have different destinations and goals, and different tracks that we have taken. Head advice when neccessary but remember to follow your own internal compass, that is the most important compass of your life; if you don’t review what is said to your own compass then you are the one who is truly lost. But again that is okay, as a kid wonders in the forest, sometimes it takes being lost for a while, before finding the truth for you.

3. The Trap of Arrogance and Ignorance

The Trap of Arrogance and Ignorance is a mistake of those who does not truly know. In other words, is grounded in in lose beliefs not grounded by their own truths. For example, you can not just truly that you hate Sushi, when you have not tried every Sushi dish, and every Sushi Restaurant in your local area. If you make this assumption based on one piece of food you once tried 5 years ago, can you see how you miss opportunities to uplift your wisdom. Imagine how many of these unconscious assumptions you have made, and if so, how many of these assumptions can you change in accordance to your goals. 🙂 This lowers your ego, makes you calmer, those that are attached to belief system that is alligned with their goals, they find inner peace and have a continual excitement. At the same time, it is important to be strong and grounded in your key core beliefs, but always be willing and aware to knock down huge pillars of belief to create new ones that can make you more flexible and thus more happy.

4. The Beautiful Appreciation of Mistakes and Wins

It is said, that those that ‘win’ when lessons are not learned, it is a hollow victory. Mistakes makes the wins more wholeful and thus makes vicotries worth more. A little bit of challenge excercise the mind and gives an exciting edge to the journey to achieving particular tasks. I ask you a quesiton is it worth it to win once and lose the war.
Or is it better to think long-term and win continously with strategic thinking.

5. Build Confidence and Self-Esteem

Building sufficient confidence and Self-Esteem is so important. This is the bedrock of success and happiness. If you perceive yourself to not have very good confidence and self-esteem. Firstly, you are confident and do have Self-Esteem – let me explain before you go jumping to conclusions. It is just that you have been convinced that you don’t by your external environments justified by your past experiences.

I have a deep belief, that we all have great levels of confidence and self-esteem. You know that memory-player in the back of your mind reaffirming what you believe to be – that is what is controlling your confidence and self-esteem.
This here is an important insight, “your THOUGHTS are not the same as FACT.” Just because you say, ‘you’re stupid’, ‘you’re not good enough’ does not mean it is true. In fact, all it is is a bad radio station and all you need to do is change the frequency. Which you can do easily! Let’s go backwards your confidence – comes from emotions, and your emotions come from thoughts. This is a very vital insight into your own mental psychology, that I hope you find very helpful. If you have the strong confidence in yourself – you will find that naturally your boundaries will be stronger and will be more protected from status-quo thinking, following the herd and victim mentalities which make you vulnerable to the effects on other people’s opinions. I have many blog other posts on Confidence and Self-Esteem so please use the search on the blog-menu and type in ‘confidence’. To find lots of posts, resources and mini-courses to help you.

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

To give you some suggestions that really benefited me through this obstacle. I want to recommend for you to start self-reflecting. Whether it be through…

– Journaling
– Reading Self-Help Books
– Reading Fiction Books
– Meditation
– Write your own story.

This will allow you to get what you read in theory, into practice. I want YOU, yes I am looking at you! To have a successful and happy and prosperous life! These techniques will allow you strengthen your reflective ability to contemplate your goals and strategies. 🙂

Until the Next Blog Post! Take Care and Look after yourself!!

Harry Croose,

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50 Things to do while in Lockdown

Post author:Harry
Post published:April 9, 2020
Post category:Academic Blog Career Financial Health Personal Reviews Self-Help Social

50 THINGS TO DO WHILE IN LOCKDOWN

ALL

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Written by Harry Croose

"Lockup all your love and go and throw away the key."

- Carrie Underwood - Tweet

Hello, all hope you are well. Especially in these times, if you are reading in 2020, with the Coronavirus lockdown. 🙂 I have had a few requests to write a blog post on things to do while in lockdown; luckily for you my fantastical followers, here it is. 🙂 Here is the long list, with an occasional elaboration, as to why I think they are possibly a great idea for you! 🙂

I will say this however if you have to do something, limit your time watching the news and social media. Awareness is important, but an overstimulation of negative headlines can do more damage them people realise to their psychology. Also make sure that you have a routine, and that you have a variety of things to do, that you most of all enjoy, but also tasks that give you the satisfaction of working towards your goals and dreams. 🙂

- THE LONG LIST OF IDEAS OF THINGS TO DO -

PLAN YOUR DAY – Have a To-Do List or a Goals Journal so you have particular objectives to complete so you are not just wasting your time, apologises for the bluntness there, but you no deep down what I say has an element of truth to it, espcially if you don’t have clear goals. I would recommend Google Calendar, to help with time blocking your days.
DEDICATE A WORK PERIOD (per day) – Spend a few hours every day doing tasks wether that be for your Work, School or University. Just make some progress it doesn’t matter how much. If you again plan far ahead, a few hours a day should be sufficent for you to get many of your tasks completed.
READ BOOKS – There are so MANY books, out there to read. 🙂 Take advantage of Amazon (depsite the new delays), books are a testament to education and mental stimulation, that will certainly keep you entertained.
Wether it be fiction or non-fiction, experimenting with different genres and authors is a fantastic idea.
LISTEN TO AUDIOBOOKS – Listening to Audiobooks, (especially from Audible), again it is amazing, and books can be obtained instantly, and can be listened to via the app. I would personally recommend The Game of Thrones Series and Harry Potter Collection for those who like fantasy. You would find thousands of books, from different genres all at very affordable prices at the moment during lockdown.
WATCHING YOUTUBE – You must have a YouTube account surely, listening/watching some of your favourite YouTubers for surely give you a laugh, education or whatever you are in to!
PLAYING VIDEO GAMES – Wether that be on your Xbox One, Xbox 360, WiiU, and Nintendo 3DS etc. There must be plenty of games you haven’t played or haven;t visited in a long time, perhaps you should play them game. The good news is it does eat up time, the bad news is if you get addicted you won’t have a lot of time for anything else – so be careful on that front. But it is lovely to play all together with the family from time-to-time.
COMPULSORY HOUSE CHORES – House Chores are neccessarily and everyone seems to dread it, but if you make it a routine in the morning (while let’s say listening to an audiobook), you can just get it done and chores might even become quite therauputic and relaxing after a while, rather than a nuisance. This includes, washing up, drying up, washing machine maitenance, hanging the washing to dry, changing sheets, and just generic tidying.
CLEANING/ TIDYING THE HOUSE – This goes beyond the normal house chore level, where you actually do a proper tidying and cleaning of the house, with a hoover, and polishing your surfaces. and sponging/wiping the floor. This again could be tiresome work but it is certainly fulfilling to get even just one room tidied to the best of your ability.
HOUSE/GARDEN (RE)DECORATION – Perhaps you have the resources already in your house to redecorate or even to just move the furniture round to give it a new feel to a space, especially being in lockdown it might be a rather good idea to change the scenery or the look of it, every ones in a while. (This also includes your Garden).
WATCHING DOCUMENTARIES – Education watching of documentaries is always good, is there a period of histroy you wanted to visit? There are plenty of free ones on YouTube, TV Channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. I am personally very in to The Tudor Period at the Moment.
WATCHING TV – A bit self-explanatory, a good show to watch is always great on occasion. Are their any shows to catch up on that you want to watch? Or any new ones?
WATCHING FILMS – The same as above, are there any films you haven’t watched. I would recommend Disney+ for that. 🙂
PLAYING BOARD GAMES/ QUIZZES WITH THE FAMILY – These nights are always fun!! Wether it be Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble, Frustration etc. Plenty of board games to play, you could even make a tournament of it, with prices!!
START YOUR OWN BLOG/WEBSITE – Why don’t you spend time, creating a blog/website, you can start one for absolutely free on WordPress. 🙂 Post regularly it may be entertaining for you and you may establish a viewership. 🙂
START (OR PLAN) YOUR OWN PERSONAL BRAND/BUSINESS – A great opportunity for you to establish a Personal Brand via Social Media while working from home. Some businesses may even find great opportunities in these period, despite the not so pleasant circumstances.
REVISE FOR YOUR DRIVING THEORY TEST – It is important you know. 🙂
SKYPE FIRENDS AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS – See if they all alright, organise to talk to them every so often even if it just a phone call, but Skype would be preferable.
BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA – Don’t add to the overwhelming numbers of negative posts and naysayers you have duty to yourself and your family to not be sharing unneccessary articles, that may prove detrimental to someones mental health. Be self-aware of what you are sharing, posting and if you do that you will be a beacon of hope online that people need in this dark hour in 2020. Make sure you also spend less time on social media though it has as already said become a rather depressing place. Filter out those who convey messages you don’t want and replaces them with those that allign with your way of thinking (a more positive ideal). This will change your personal algorthim both on social media and yourself.
WRITE DOWN YOUR LONG-TERM/SHORT-TERM GOALS – Refer to them every day, and take action accordingly to those goals, whenever possible.
SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY – An excellent opportunity to spend more itme with your family members, and to build upon the loving relationships that you have.
DEVELOP A HEALTH PLAN/ROUTINE – Perhpas you should try doing tha tone daily run or walk for exercise,
plan a personal gym in your back garden to get some fitness in. Even if it is for 20 mins or so, it is al lot better than doing nothing – keep active.
SPEND TIME IN THE FRESH AIR – Wether it be on your one walk to the shop or for exercise, or even just to open your bedroom window let the fresh air, you feel better for it.
WRITE A BOOK – Everyone has ideas of a story they want to write, maybe it is the time for you to write that best-selling novel. (Especially you Creative Wrting Students!!) 🙂
WRITE A SCRIPT – Same as above, maybe you want to become a script writer one day, perhpaas for Doctor Who or a show you would like to develop.
WRITE IN A GRATITUDE JOURNAL – Studies show that this has a massive positive effect on Mental Health, it work wonders, make a list of what you are grateful everyday no matter how small or how big.
CREATE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL – Create your own content, I believe everyone in this world has a gift to share with us all, why don’t you show us yours. 🙂
UPDATE AND BUILD A PRESCENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA – This would work wonders with the Number 26. Learning skills such as marketing and graphic design would improve your layout.
START AN ONLINE COURSE (SKILLSHARE) – There are plenty of online courses, for you learn different skills such as Art, Graphic Design, Business Coaching and so much more. Skillshare is very affordable if you use it. 🙂
START YOUR DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD (UK) – Even thugh you can’t do your residential, you can still strat your Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award for those in the UK, it takes up to 18 months to complete. Hopefully by then lockdown will be gone! But yes the Duke of Edinburgh on the CV will work wonders with a potential employer. 🙂
LEARN AN INSTRUMENT – Such as a piano, guitar or drums their are plenty of instruments to learn and to get good at, with enough persistance you may even be able to compose your own music.
LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE (DUOLINGO) – This would be such a help when you are able to travel again if you really wanted to go to Paris for example (Disneyland), learn French, a great opportunity, use Duolingo it is absolutely FREE and an amzing app. 🙂
PLAY DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS WITH YOUR FAMILY – For those nerds and geeks out there, me included, Dungeons and Dragons may be a good idea, a fantasy game involving the imagination, where you are the characters in your DM’s world, may be a great side campaign/activity to do. 🙂
RESEARCH JOB OPPORTUNITIES e.g. GRADUATE JOBS – Plenty of time to research opportunities for jobs and graduate placements (once lockdown has been lifted).
– ALSO FOR UNDERGRADUATE/POSTGRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES – Spend the time looking for your future academic plans, what course did you want to do and why? 🙂
LISTEN TO PODCASTS – There are plenty of podcasts to watch wether your taste is Drama, Comedy or Personal Development, there are plenty to select from. 🙂
LEARN ARTISTIC DRAWING/PAINTING ETC – Have you got a passion for art, or like to draw? Make your own artistic masterpiece!
LOGIC PUZZLES and RIDDLES – These are always good to get the mind challenged.
WATCH MOTIVATIONAL/ INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS – Enough said really, it gets you in the mood for doing your great things. 🙂
LEARN HOW TO CREATE AND EDIT VIDEOS (Adobe) – This is a great skill to learn wether in your own leisure.
LEARN HOW TO COOK OR COOK BETTER – If you can cook well, then trust me this skill with serve oyu for life (pun intended). May even win over a date or two! 🙂
PLAY OUTDOOR GAMES (IN THE GARDEN) – Playing football, Skittles and other outdoor games in your garden may be a great combination of getting exercise, having fresh air while also having lots of fun! 🙂
SPENDING TIME WITH YOURSELF – Just becuase you are in lockdown does not give you the excuse to be mean to yourself, make sure you are very kind to yourself no matter what circumstances you are in, and make sure you get the appropriate help if neccessary, your future self will thank you for it. 🙂
THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-GROOMING/HYGIENE – I know it is basic, but it is easy to forget, if you are not going out you may not put as much effort it, that is understandable and even logical. But you still need to take care of the basics, brushing your teeth, washing your hands especially, washing your hair and having showers/and or baths regularly. It will make you feel better, if you look after your body, your body will look after you. You will feel less groggy and more energised for your tasks and more excited for future prospects. 🙂
HELPING OTHERS IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD – Help others, you will feel good helping them. DO to others as you would hve then do to you. 🙂
VOLUNTEER – If you are brave enough like the NHS and other Key workers (#legends #NHS ) you could spend your days volunteering for example to help the homeless and help the elderly get their shopping. This is also part of the Duke of Edinburgh, and is an absolutely brilliant thing to do in this time, so long as you are healthy and able to do so. 🙂
STAYING HEALTHY: (FOOD) – Make sure to eat plenty and drink plenty to keep optimal hydration. Also make sure that you are eating the right foods more often such as fruit, vegetables, carbohydrates etc. But also giving yourself enough time for treats.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FREE TRIALS AND REDUCED PRICES – Online shops are reducing prices due to this crash and restriction of movement. So take advantage of that and buy stuff that would be productive towards your goals as well as your lesiure.
ENJOY SHOPPING (when you go to restock) – More so than not people are sacred at going out, but when it ocmes to shopping it is important that you do so. Be grateful with the pleasures you had when shopping in the past, with the awareness of current social restrictions.
PLAN FOR WHEN THE LOCKDOWN FINISHES!! PLAN AN AMAZING EVENT – An event for friends and/or family, also in general terms plan for when life returns to normal. 🙂
BE AWESOME, BE YOURSELF – Remember that you are legend always…

So there you have it, hope you found this list inspiring as much as it was long winded. 🙂
Speak to you soon, until the next blog post! 🙂
Harry Croose 🙂

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The Hero’s Journey

Post author:Harry
Post published:February 27, 2020
Post category:Blog

THE HERO'S JOURNEY

PERSONAL

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Written by Harry Croose

"The cave you most fear to enter contains the greatest treasure."

- Joseph Campbell - Tweet

Hello, my fellow readers, I hope you are well. Today we are going to be talking about ‘The Hero’s Journey’ and how prominent and helpful this narrative can be in not just your own artistic expressions, but also in your own lives, as a means of motivating and encouraging you to push you boundaires and to live to your highest values.
Here are a few points and ramblings, I have about this amazing theory created by Joseph Campbell, that I want to give special mention in this post. 🙂

1. Life is a Pack of Cards

You may have heard the ‘life is like a pack of cards’ metaphor, said in passing to descirbe some event or circumstance in your life. 🙂
I believe, that this particular metaphor is rather a good one, and can be a very useful image to help you approach certain situations in your own path towards world domination. (Just joking obviously).
Also you always get a couple of jokers in every pack of card which rings true. I am sure you can name a few jokers in your life, perhaps even more than 2! I think a Tarot deck is also a very insightful way of looking at events in life. Cards like ‘The Tower’, ‘The Lovers’, ‘Temperance’ and ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ to name a few, all of which tells a story through some very vivid artwork. 🙂

2. Seeing obstacles as opportunities, rather than challenges.

The perspective of seeing obstacles as opportunities rather than challenges, will also open a lot more doors for the hero. YOU will see that short-term hinderances may avtually become long-term gold mines for your goals, ambitions and dreams. 🙂 This simple change, I say simple but it can be challenging to make a habit of, can challenge the trajectory of outcomes and more importantly how you see YOUR outcomes. 🙂

3. Preparing yourself for your Journey

Would you seriously wanted to go on a 30 day journey in the Amazon Forest without preparing yourself with the appropriate equipment. If you do, you are either foolish, or Bear Grylls. Like in life, you need to make sure that you have the right balance of equipment, insights and wisdom to meet your needs and also to achieve your goals.
For example, you need to make sure that your health, wealth, your sense of purpose is at a good enough level in order for you to get the most out of your journey.

4. Find Your Life Purpose

Life Purpose is a very great way of being able to grow and develop as an individual. If you know yourself, then you will be able to create goals, and even better achieve them and this in turn will give you the sense that you have control in your life and you are learning to dancein the rain. If you have a STRONG CORE of life purpose then this will ground you even when you are in life’s hurricane. If you have not found oyur life purpose yet… keep looking. Never settle. Wise people keep looking for opportunities to grow, because staying still holds only room for stagnation and regression. The wisest people continue to look for opportunities even when they are content or happy. Remember that you can never really stop finding your life purpose.

5. Having fun. 🙂

Of course, when you are on an incredible journey fighting demons and saving all of humanity; you should try and make sure that you have fun every once in the while. Pretty self-explanatory really, do you need to me to explain to you how to have fun. If you do then this needs to be your top priority. 🙂

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

To give you some suggestions that really benefited me through this obstacle. I want to recommend for you to start self-reflecting. Whether it be through…

– Journaling
– Reading Self-Help Books
– Reading Fiction Books
– Meditation
– Write your own story.

This will allow you to get what you read in theory, into practice. I want YOU, yes I am looking at you! To have a successful and happy and prosperous life!

Until the Next Blog Post! Take Care and Look after yourself!! Take care fellow hero!!

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Harry Potter: Ranking the Books

Post author:Harry
Post published:January 18, 2020
Post category:Blog Reviews

HARRY POTTER: RANKING THE BOOKS

REVIEWS

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Written by Harry Croose

"Working hard is important, but there is something that matters more: Believing in yourself."

- Harry Potter (J.K Rowling) - Tweet

As a beautiful book series, Harry Potter has been an absolutely huge influence on my life. 🙂 Harry Potter when I was a child, started coming out as movies. I watched the movies first, and have finally come to discover the Harry Potter book series, that I have decided to pick up and read. I have been listening to the amazing Audible Audiobooks of the Series, read by Stephen Fry. There are 7 books, (8 movies) and in this series I will be reviewing and ranking the books, giving you a summary of my thoughts on each book. Also, I want to say I do heartedly prefer the books to the movies, although I do appreciate the movies in their own way. 🙂

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Deathly Hallows, a thrilling conclusion to the Seven Part Book Series. Whereby Harry, Ron and Hermione are certainly tested in their friendship trying to find and destroy Horcruxes. I did like how it was a bit of a change from the usual being based in Hogwarts, also it allows us to explore the Wizarding World much more, as well as Dumbledore’s Past. Funny enough this was the only book that I didn’t enjoy as much as the other 6 books.
I enjoyed the Battle of Hogwarts’ it was a very suspensive epic conlusion. I loved the Auras and how Hermione and Ron grew closer through their hardships. The Tale of the Three Brothers was also a very interesting tale, which set up the mood and the premise for the dark days to come once the Ministry fell.

I will be including full reviews of the books seperately. Once it is avaliable, there will be a link in the desription or you can find it in search format. 🙂

6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Philosopher’s Stone was a such a great opener, this is where we were of course introduced to everything, the Wizarding World, Harry Potter and his friends his rivalries with Draco Malfoy; the teachers and of course Lord Voldermort. “He who must not be named.”
I loved how the 3 heroes, Harry, Ron and Hermione formed their friendship. I also adored Gryffindor House and the side characters like Dean Thomas and Seamus. Crabbe and Goyle will good henchmen too. As I have got older however, although this book is still incredibly nostalgic, I do note the fact that Slytherin House seems to be noted as the ‘evil house’; even though that is not neccessarily the case with ALL Slytherins.
The story is really lovely and heartfelt when Gryfindor win in the end. 🙂 Also how they team up playing Wizard’s Chess, and Hermione’s problem potion logic puzzle!! It was great! 🙂

5. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, is an incredibly good book. I liked the fact it delve deep into the law of the origins of Tom Riddle and his ancestry (The Gaunt Family). I also loved the fact that Dumbledore and Harry’s character relationship developed especially tested in the Cave. I am not sure about Ron and Hermione’s relationship; although it felt a lot more natural in the books then it did in the films. The ‘Half Blood Prince’ was a good enough mystery to keep me intruiqued, but I didn’t find it as interesting as earlier books, which had more in depth mysteries. Dumbledore’s death was an impactful conclusion, but it left a lot of questions unanswered; which is part of the reason why I found Deathly Hallows less interesting due to the lack of info about Horcruxes.
That being said, I loved the Quidditch element of this book, and how Harry and Ginny;s relationship grew a lot more gradually, which unlike the film wasn’t rushed and seemingly out of place.
This is still a great book, but I feel with the tangents of Lavender Brown, and even Aragog’s (Hagrid’s Spider’s) Funeral, removing some of this writing could have left more room for more knowledge about Dumbledore, Qudditich and Professor Slughorn.

4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. A fantastic sequel to the first book. 🙂 Seriously love it so much! This was the first book that really got me into the Wizarding World Lore. There were a lot of questions answered e.g. how did Hagrid get expelled from Hogwarts. The opening of the Chamber of Secrets, and the mystery of what the creature is and where the chamber was located; along with how Harry can speak Parseltongue, (Snake Language).
I loved Gilderoy Lockhart he was a very commerical, funny person to add to the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, his character was a very unique addtion to the Wizarding World. Of course Severus Snape is great constantly trolling Harry in his Potions Classes. Qudditich has also been build upon with Draco Malfoy added to the mix as the Seeker of Slytherin Qudditich Team.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, is an absolutely amazing book, even better then the Chamber of Secrets.
I just love the premise of the book, being an escaped convicted from Azkaban. (Hence the title). Sirius Black to me is one if not my favourite character in the book series, becuase of how much of a badass he is, which is more pronounced in later books. Also, Hermione’s given a new dynamic with the additon to the time-turner, which I liked very ‘Doctor Who’ with Time-Travel. 🙂
Also, Remus Lupin’s character really gives even more depth to the past of Hogwarts, with the history of the Whomping Willow, and the rivalry of Snape and The Marauders. The plot-twist was amzing having ‘Scabbers’ be Peter Pettigrew the one who betrayed Harry’s Parents, Lily and James.
Qudditich dynamics again were really awesome, although I did find how the Dementors kept interfering with the games, I found a little annoying. 🙂 In this book, I really grow to like Ginny Weasley as a character, I found in the first 2 books, she was not quite the ‘damsel in distress’, that being said she wasn’t as fully fleshed out as many of the other Weasleys; such as Fred and George ‘The Weasley Twins’, who are comedy gold throughout I really like their banterous behaviour.

2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The only thing about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that I don’t like in comparison to Goblet of Fire; is that it is slightly too long in my opinion and a bit stretched in places. Apart from that it is a marvelous novel, what can I say Dolores Umbridge is a great antagonist. Putting Ministry Control into Hogwarts. Harry’s connection with the Dark Lord being stronger, is an interesting dynamic. 🙂 Qudditich once again, is at its pinical here ( Half Blood Prince also had good qudditich). Sirius Black’s death, the fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort is an amazing conclusion to the book. The Weasleys are great in this, as well as the unification of a lot of side characters especially Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley also becomes more of a figurehead character. Cho Chang as well is a great dynamic as a love interest throughout the story for Harry. 🙂 Dumbledore’s Army, and the Inquisitorial Squad is a great addition to the school, as it is constantly being patrolled.
The teachers fighting back as well especially the sassy Professor McGonagall is such a joy to read. 🙂

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by far the best Harry Potter book, in my opinion. It is the first time in Harry Potter that we are introduced to other Wizarding Schools, the Triwizard Tournament and the Qudditich World Cup. 🙂 Also Harry, Ron and Hermione’s friendship is also tested heavily, especially when Harry gets him name out the Goblet. The only downside to this book, I’d say is there is no Qudditich although i do understand why obviously it wasn’t in this book (given the Tournament). But the ingenius polot for Lord Voldermort’s return, the apparent appearance of Mad-Eye Moddy and the mystery of Ludo Bagman and the Goblins and Barty Crouch dissapearance.
The three tasks, are a great addition as well with the Dragon Egg Task, and the Merpeople (swimming int he lake) and of course the legendary Maze. I do wish the movie did include more bits from the Maze in particular especially with the riddle, and the addtional creatures, Harry had to fight. The Movie although awesome in its own adaptation did have a fair few plot points missing.
The Yule Bawl, was also a great addtion, to the dynamic at Hogwarts, especially when Hermione’s was asked out by Victor Krum in the library. 🙂 I also liked the fact that Cedric and Harry formed a close aquaintanceship and team in the Maze. But the tragedy of Cedric’s Death, Lord Voldermort’s return, and Harry seeing a shadow of his parents again. A phenomeonal book, I adore Harry Potter so much. 🙂

ONE DAY AT A TIME (MASTER THE DAY, MASTER YOUR LIFE)

1. Reflecting on your goals (plan your next few years)

2. Remember the Present Moment (enjoy today)

3. Focus on 1 or 2 goals at a time

4. Do what makes you happy

5. Take ACTION on your plan + believe in yourself

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

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HOW TO NOT CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK

1. Focus on yourself and your Needs

2. Establish Strong Independent Boundaries

3. Change Your Environment

4. Find Your Life Purpose

5. Build Confidence and Self-Esteem

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

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Harry Croose 2018-2019 All Rights reserved.

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UNIVERSITY DISSERTATIONS AND HOW TO WRITE THEM

1. Structure Before Starting

2. Make a list of your quotes with References before drafting

3. Look up other Blog Posts and Advice on Creating a Dissertation

4. Write a First Draft (even if it isn't the best)

5. Editing to the Dissertation Question and Your Own Criteria

Bonus Points

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Harry Croose 2018-2019 All Rights reserved.

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'THE SUN HAS RISEN' A SHORT STORY

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THE ART OF WAR: HOW TO WIN EVERY BATTLE

1. Choose your battles wisely.

2. Know the 'battlefield'

3. Plan the worst-case scenario

4. The Internal War (feed the positive not the negative)

5. Build Confidence and Self-Esteem to fight for what you believe in.

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise. This will help calm the war within. 🙂

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Harry Croose 2018-2019 All Rights reserved.

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THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF MAKING YOUR OWN MISTAKES

1. Mistakes are how you learn.

2. The Distraction Trap - listening to others and not yourself

3. The Trap of Arrogance and Ignorance

4. The Beautiful Appreciation of Mistakes and Wins

5. Build Confidence and Self-Esteem

Bonus Point. Start a Self-Reflection Practise

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Harry Croose 2018-2019 All Rights reserved.

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50 THINGS TO DO WHILE IN LOCKDOWN

- THE LONG LIST OF IDEAS OF THINGS TO DO -

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Harry Croose 2018-2019 All Rights reserved.

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THE HERO'S JOURNEY

1. Life is a Pack of Cards