Archive by Author

Bushy Park 10K (Time – 00:53:54)

4 Mar

Me and Prash with our medalsFirst race of the year, with 2 weeks of training and a busted knee, never really expected to break any records. But kicked off the season with a fairly good run of 53 minutes and 54 seconds in strong wind and rain. Bushy Park 10K is a relative easy run, no hills to really worry about and is great for first time runners. The 2 laps around the park is actually quite refreshing for the lungs. I also managed to rope in my brother-in-law to be, to run his first 10K race and he did an amazing job not only achieving a personal best but also pushing me along as I began to limp because of the knee. It was a relief to finish and had my wonderful fiancee waiting in the rain for us with a hot dog. Priceless!

You must be Aviva laugh!! Rip Off!

17 Jan

KnightHawk - My new car :)

I had to pick up my new car today and being the law abiding citizen that I am, decided to apply for Aviva’s Free 7 day Drive Away insurance to ensure that I had insurance on me when I drove the car away. Have to say, it is quite a good marketing tactic on Aviva’s part as you can apply for the free car insurance online, but to activate it you would have to speak to one of their customer services staff who will provide you Aviva’s insurance quote for when the free insurance expires. Fair enough I think to myself as I had already checked online on other insurance sites for quotes and knew what my rates would be.

Called Aviva up and spoke to a rather lacklustre customer rep, after she had taken all my details down and put it through the system, provided me with a quote of £5300+ for the year….I was like hold on, the car itself is not worth that much more and almost every quote I have received from other insurers have been either under or just over the £1000 mark. I have a few years no claim bonus and in no way high-risk. The quote was for a 1.4 Honda Civic Hybrid, a car that is on the low Insurance band. Do Aviva really expect anyone to take up this rather preposterous quote? No wonder they are not on price comparison sites. What was even funnier was that the customer rep didn’t even think it was weird to give someone such a ridiculous quote and was ready to provide me with a monthly breakdown, as if  I would be happy to throw down close to £450 a month on their silly insurance.

Aviva advertise that 10% of their customers paid £203 or less, fair enough, the other 90% probably pay £5000+ . Come on Aviva get your act straight, you win on so many levels by providing the 7 day driveaway insurance and then blow it all away with those outlandish quotes. I think there is a bug in your systems, you might want to fix it.

Thankfully my quote was not as bad as Daniel’s who was quoted £10575 for a 1.6 Honda Civic . Does Aviva hate Honda Civic drivers?

Bending the Universe – Will Smith

10 Jan

The universe is not a thing that’s going to push us around… We are going to bend the universe and command – and demand – that the universe become what we want it to be.

- Will Smith

Will Smith

Will Smith

There was a re-run of Men in Black on TV today and much to the annoyance of my 5 a side football team, I decided to stay in and watch it for the umpteenth time. Can’t help it, I just love anything Will Smith related. I remember listening to his music in the early 1990′s and watching the first ever episode of the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and every episode after that. The first movie I ever watched in the cinema was Independence Day. He is not only an amazing entertainer but his view of life is a fresh of breath air and he has always been one of my biggest role models.

He is quite possibly the biggest movie star in the world and according to Newsweek, the most powerful actor in Hollywood. But what drives him and how does he achieve his level of greatness? He doesn’t believe in impossible! When Will started acting, he made the choice to become the biggest movie star in the world. The first thing he did was watch the 10 top-grossing movies of all time and looked for patterns among them. Will has said, “I study the patterns of the universe.”

In the video below, Will Smith explains how to bend the Universe -

 

Will Smith’s Pearls of Wisdom about Life

Over the years in countless interviews, Will has shared with us a lot of inspiring and motivational quotes. Thought I had share some of my favourite ones below -

I LOVE LIVING. I think that’s infectious.

Greatness truly exists in all of us.

Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.

I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented, where I excel is ridiculous,sickening work ethic. While the other guy is sleeping, I’m working. While the other guy is eating, I’m working.

If you don’t dedicate yourself to becoming better every single day, you will never be able to communicate with people the way that you want.

The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is that I’m not afraid to DIE on a treadmill. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, but if we get on a treadmill together, there are two things:
1- You’re getting off first
OR
2- I’m gonna DIE
It’s really that simple

You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out and say ‘I’m gonna build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that has ever been built’. You say ‘I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid’. You do this every single day, and soon you have a wall.

If you are not making someone else’s life better, then you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other people’s lives better.

The first step before anyone else in the world believes it is that YOU have to believe it.

My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions

1 Jan 2012 New Year's Resolutions
2012 Resolutions

2012 Resolutions

Every year, like countless others, I sit down prior to the New Year and earnestly write down my New Year’s resolutions; needless to say rarely do I ever complete the list. I often get asked why I bother, Simples, even though I may never have completed the list I do at least get halfway through it.

Over the years, my new year’s resolutions have made me take up middle distance running, write poetry, grow spiritually, change careers, lose weight/gain weight, take part in flashmobs, help others, run seminars, find faith, grow a moustache, start my own business, gain qualifications e.t.c , so if anything, these lists have been major motivators in my life. I can honestly say that because of the lists I have never once been bored in the past 10 years.

With the beginning of 2012, it is time for me to create a new list and this year I plan to keep a blog of how well I am progressing through the list. This blog post is to motivate myself and others, if this has motivated you in any way, I am happy to have helped and would love to hear and share your story.

Philippians 4:13 tells us, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” John 15:5 declares, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” If God is the center of your New Year’s resolution, it has chance for success, depending on your commitment to it. If it is God’s will for something to be fulfilled, He will enable you to fulfill it. So with those words I wish you the best for your resolutions and have a really special New Year.

Niro’s 2012 New Year’s Resolutions (in no particular order)

Spiritual Wellbeing

  1. Read the whole bible and grow spiritually
  2. Attend the Alpha course
  3. Spend one hour every week reflecting and meditating on everything that has happened that week and plan effectively for the next week

Family & Friends

  1. Get Married
  2. Build stronger relationships with family and friends
  3. Make date night with my other half a permanent fixture every week and do something fun
  4. Keep in closer touch with mum, dad and bro

Learn new things

  1. Learn Photography
  2. Learn Dancing
  3. Learn to Cook
  4. Learn to play the Guitar
  5. Gain a recognised qualification in Marketing

Self Improvement and Motivation

  1. Set goals for 2012, put them in writing and go for it – DONE (17/01/2012)
  2. Be super efficient and super organised both at work and in my personal life
  3. Improve oratory skills
  4. Give a speech in front of 500+ people
  5. Master Neuro Linguistic Programming
  6. Read a book every 2 weeks

Health, Diet  & Fitness

  1. Stick to a strict training schedule at the gym and motivate others to keep fit and healthy
  2. Run 3 10K races and beat current personal best of 49 minutes
    Race 1 – Bushy Park 10K (Time – 00:53:54)
  3. Benchpress 100kg (minimum 5 reps)
  4. Lose the family pack and gain back the six pack
  5. Limit sugar and fatty food intake
  6. Get a full body checkup
  7. Have wisdom teeth extracted

Financial Wellbeing

  1. Become Entrepreneurial
  2. Create multiple streams of income
  3. Understand the basics of Finance
  4. Invest in shares
  5. Clear all debt
  6. Move into own flat – Done
  7. Buy a new car – Done

Creative Wellbeing

  1. Write 20 poems
  2. Take part in an Open Mic Poetry reading
  3. Blog atleast once a week
  4. Write the lyrics for a song
  5. Publish a book

Out and About

  1. Go somewhere beautiful on honeymoon
  2. Explore the quirkier side of London

Movember 2011 Day 30 – The End of the Stache

30 Nov

After a long one month, the time has finally arrived to bid farewell to my very well groomed stache. It has found a special place in my heart but following numerous complaints I have come to accept that the stache and me just don’t click. So, here is the final pic of me and my stache. I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart everyone who donated for helping me to raise money for the Prostate Cancer charity. I am still accepting donations at http://mobro.co/niroism.

Movember 2011 Day 31 - The End of the Stache

Movember 2011 Day 31 - The End of the Stache

Movember 2011 Day 21 – The Triangle Stache

21 Nov

After a week of proudly showing off my handlebar stache, I began to grow a bit bored of it, I needed to make a bigger impact. So time to improvise, create a stache that noone has ever seen before. After brainstorming for 10 minutes, I have now invented the The Triangle Stache (patent pending). My poor Fiancee had to spend the whole weekend walking around with me looking like I have just got off a YMCA set with my Triangle stache. All in the name of charity I assured her, so please if not for me atleast donate for my fiancee who is considering drastic actions!! Donate now – http://mobro.co/niroism

Movember 2011 Day 21 - The Triangle Stache

Movember 2011 Day 14 – The Handlebar stache

14 Nov

Time to man up I said to myself and chopped off the vertical perpendicular lines of my horseshoe stache that had provided me with a relative safety net from being pointed and laughed at. The handlebar stache was now born. Never have I felt so paranoid, it feels like everyone and their aunt Maggie have their eyes firmly pointed at my upper lip region. Everytime  I walk by I hear whispers from those around me. Quietly I think to myself how jealous they are of my Morvelous stache and turn around to give them another look at the black rug on my mug.

Movember 2011 Day 14 - The Handlebar stache

Movember 2011 Day 7 – The Horseshoe stache

7 Nov

I thought I had ease myself into Movember by growing a horseshoe stache instead of a Handlebar stache. It has been easy so far, the horseshoe stache has made me feel comfortable with the idea of growing upper lip facial hair and takes me one step closer to getting the facial features of one of my favourite wrestlers of all time, Hollywood Hulk Hogan :)

Movember 2011 Day 7 The Horsheshoe stache

Movember 2011 Day 1 – MoNiro MoFun

1 Nov

Yesterday I pondered to myself , I moustache a very hairy question to my Facebook friends or should I shave it for later when they are all asleep (puns cornily intended). I decided to ask them, the question was should I grow a tache for Movember or not, if yes, 10 of my friends should like the status. Less than 20 minutes later I had nearly 20 likes. So here I am on Day 1 of my mission to grow the gnarliest tache out there and to raise as much money as I can. (Sponsor me here – www.mobro.co/niroism)

To those who have lived in a cave since 1999, Movember was created by a bunch of Australians (anyone surprised?) and involves the growth of moustaches for one whole month. It has now been an annual event and has raised a lot of money for charity and raised awareness of Prostate Cancer.

Rules of Movember

  1. On “Shadowe’en” (October 31), the complete moustache region, including the entire upper lip and handlebar zones, must be completely shaved.
  2. For the entire duration of Movember [November 1–30], no hair shall be allowed to grow in the goatee zone (any facial area below the bottom lip).
  3. There is to be no joining of the moustache to sideburns

So here is a pic of me on Day 1, I will post regular updates with pictures of my endeavour, obviously not everyday as I do have a life.

MoNiro MoFun (thanks to Shabir Mo for the catchphrase)

Please spur me on by sponsoring me at www.mobro.co/niroism

Movember Day1

Movember Day1

Moor Park 10K (Time: 00:59:08)

25 Sep

I have to confess, I have been pretty bad with training this year, probably the worst I have been in years. I can actually feel the loss in stamina and the gain in flab, not a pretty sight at all. I did not take part in any 10K this year either and with the end of 2011 not so far away, I needed to complete a 10K. I was driving to my Fiancee’s house the other day and saw this big banner up for the Moor Park 10K, it was like it was placed there intentionally for me to see.

This event is based at Merchant Taylors’ School and the route begins and ends with a lap of the school playing fields. It is the biggest annual event organised by the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre and every penny raised goes directly towards the provision of the LJMC’s services of support and information for people affected by cancer.

This route has a total climb of 78 metres. Taking this into account, this route is equivalent to running approximately 6.8 miles on the flat. So no chance was I ever going to beat my personal best of 49:30 here. With absolute lack of training, I came to the race today hoping and praying that I complete the track in under an hour.

There were a huge number of starters, with me being in the back, the first couple of 100 metres went very slow trying to avoid other runners in my way. The flat ground was fairly easy, but the 1Km marker was nowhere to be seen, but then all of a sudden I came across the 2Km at 7 mins, no way was I running that fast. Then we proceeded to leave the school grounds and hit the infamous hill at Moor Park Golf Club, at this point my lack of training was completely visible or should I say audible, my heavy brething drowned out the cows mooing in the background. I ended up walking up the hill while some brave souls soldiered up it without even wincing once. Eventually managed to find my pace, but after a few more start and stops, I knew any chance of  beating my personal best was nigh impossible. As I ran to the finish line, I could see the clock tick to 00:59:00, so I legged it and crossed the line at 00:59:08. I fell to the ground in a pile of mess, with an expected embarassing time, but found solace in the fact that I did complete the 10K and that too in under an hour.

Lesson of the day – Train, train, train!!!

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 156 other followers