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How the Dickens Process Can Completely Change Your Outlook to Life

Last updated: January 12, 20232 Comments

The Dickens Process, named after the famous novelist Charles Dickens, is a unique approach to personal development and self-improvement that has been popularized by life coach and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

The process is based on the themes and lessons present in Dickens’ classic novella, “A Christmas Carol,” in which the protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Through these encounters, Scrooge is able to gain a deeper understanding of his own actions and motives, and ultimately transforms into a kinder and more compassionate person.

Similarly, the Dickens Process encourages individuals to take a reflective journey through their own past, present, and future, in order to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their actions. By examining past experiences and memories, individuals can identify patterns and behaviors that may be holding them back, and work to overcome them.

The process also involves looking at the present moment and identifying areas of their life that they are dissatisfied with, and setting clear and specific goals for how to improve them. Lastly, individuals are encouraged to visualize their ideal future and the person they want to become, and take action towards making that vision a reality.

Listen to Tony himself describe the exercise and how to do it in this YouTube video:

So how do you do this exercise?

  1. Close your eyes and visualize yourself in the present moment.
  2. Imagine a future version of yourself, 10 years from now, who has achieved all of your goals and is living the life you desire.
  3. See, hear and feel everything about this future version of yourself as vividly as possible. Imagine your surroundings, the people around you, and your emotions.
  4. Now imagine going back in time and visiting different points in your past, starting with the most recent and going back further and further.
  5. As you visit each point in your past, imagine how your future self would have handled the situation differently. Imagine how your future self would have acted, spoken and thought.
  6. Continue going back through your past until you reach your childhood. Imagine how your future self would have handled your childhood experiences differently.
  7. Finally, return to the present moment and open your eyes.

The idea behind this process is to help you gain a new perspective on your past and present, and to give you a clearer vision of the person you want to become in the future. By visualizing yourself as the person you want to be, you can start to take action to make that vision a reality.

Filed under: Thoughts & Experiences

Knowing When to Replace Your Padel Shoes

Last updated: January 06, 20201 Comment

Is it time for new padel shoes? Should you own more than one pair of padel shoes? Just which padel shoes should you buy anyway? Since your shoes are the only thing that comes between you and the court surface, they’re pretty important.

If you’ve been shopping for padel shoes lately, then you know – there are tons of options out there. New manufacturers are getting into the court shoe game pretty frequently now. I dropped by my own local padel retailer this week just to buy some overgrips for my racket. Next thing I knew, I had been lured into the shoe department by all of the pretty colors and fancy designs.

The Importance of Your Padel Shoes

Why is it important to wear padel shoes?

I often see players wearing running shoes to play padel. And I bet a lot of you do too. And if you’re one of those players who feels most comfortable playing padel in running shoes, I certainly do not have a problem with that. I think you should play in whatever makes you feel like you’re playing your best padel and if it happens to be running shoes that make you happy, then that’s what you should wear.

But for the vast majority of us, it’s pretty important to wear court shoes. That is, to wear shoes that are specifically designed for padel. This is because these shoes are made to give you the support, the cushioning and, most important, the traction that you need on a padel court.

We all know that padel requires, not just a lot of running around, but it requires that you make quick starts and stops, it requires a lot of lateral movement, and so padel shoes are made to provide you with exactly the type of support and cushioning that you need in these situations. And the traction that you need on a padel court is certainly much different than you would need if you were running, even if you’re out running on a road, because you do have these short starts and stops, quick steps, small steps, longer lunging steps, and so a padel shoe is really made to provide you with the best possible shoe for those special situations.

[Read more…]

Filed under: Padel

What You Need to Know About Cholesterol

Last updated: April 05, 20201 Comment

There are many misconceptions around Cholesterol that I want to tackle in this post. I have inherited high cholesterol levels and so I have a personal interest in the subject.

Typically doctors tell me that I need to eat healthy; as if I don’t already do so as an athlete. I understand that many people have unhealthy diets that worsen pre-existing conditions or even lead to specific conditions, but when you have a healthy athlete in front of you, dishing out generic advise like that is a bit nonsensical.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that humans need to survive. Your body makes cholesterol and absorbs it from the foods you eat.

When people talk about cholesterol in relation to heart health, they usually aren’t talking about cholesterol itself.

They are actually referring to the structures that carry cholesterol in the bloodstream. These are called lipoproteins.

Lipoproteins are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and protein on the outside.

There are several kinds of lipoproteins, but the two most relevant to heart health are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

[Read more…]

Filed under: Health & Fitness

Getting a NIE for a Newborn in Barcelona

Last updated: January 15, 20253 Comments

An important procedure that you need to do for newborns in Barcelona is to obtain the NIE card.

A NIE number is a “Número de Identificación de Extranjeros” i.e. a “foreigner’s identification number” in Spain. Expats moving to Spain need an NIE number to work in Spain, take out private Spanish health insurance and apply for Spanish state health cover. You’ll also need it if you wish to open a bank account, buy a car or set up a mobile phone contract in Spain.

The Decree (Real Decreto 338-1990) March 9th, establishes that anyone, of whatever nationality, resident or non-resident, who has any “official business” in Spain, must have a fiscal number (NIF/NIE).

To avoid confusion, if you apply for an NIE only, you will be issued with a white certificate that will assign you your unique foreigner’s ID number that is in the format of: A-1234567-Z  (i.e. letter-seven digits-letter).

Previously, foreigners arriving in Spain had to first apply for a NIE and then later apply for residency. However, rules are often changing, and applying for an NIE may now not be the right decision for you.

Should I apply for NIE or residency?

There is one simple question to ask yourself, which will provide you with the correct answer to this question, and that is: “How long do I intend to stay in Spain?”

If you intend to stay in Spain for more than three months then you should apply directly for residency, using the EX18 application form.

If you plan to stay in Spain for less than three months, then you should apply for an NIE number, using the EX15 application form.

The “NIE or Residencia?” question is no more complicated than that.

If you’re an EU citizen you will already have a NIE (green card), your baby automatically has the same rights. You need to download and fill in the form EX18. Don’t confuse it with the EX15 which is for obtaining a white NIE (short term, non-resident).

You will also need the following:

  • the birth certificate (original and copy, in multilingual format or translated by an official translator, issued within the last year and apostilled if issued outside the EU) or libro de familia
  • passport of the baby (original + copy)
  • passport and NIE of both parents (original + copy)
  • it helps if you bring the padron although they usually don’t ask for it
  • the “vida laboral” of the family member who already has a NIE or DNI

If none of the parents work in Spain, you have to demonstrate sufficient funds and private health insurance:

  • Sufficient funds of €9.400 (per one kid and one adult) in the family account or the account of person who already has a NIE / DNI (certificate with the bank’s stamp)
  • Private health insurance, contracted in Spain WITHOUT COPAYMENT

You will need to present these documents at the police department responsible for NIEs on Rambla Guipuscoa. The baby needs to be present but only 1 of the parents needs to come if you bring all the original identification.

You will also need to pay for the process, the form is called Modelo 790 and you can fill it in beforehand and bring it to the NIE center. After the appointment you will have to go out to an ATM to pay it and get the bank receipt showing it has been paid, then get back to the office to complete the process.

It is important to make an appointment (cita previa) beforehand. There are always limited spots available, so head over to the NIE appointment page on Monday morning at 8am for your best chance to grab one of those spots. If you try to get an appointment later on in the week chances are that they won’t have any.

Update June 2019: Unfortunately, the whole system of getting an appointment seems to have been turned into a scam whereby no public appointments are available, but you can get an almost immediate appointment if you go through any agency. Of course, the agency gets a cut of around €250. So even if you speak Spanish and have all your documents in place, you are currently forced to get an appointment through an agency and pay their fee.

I feel that this is a big disgrace on the part of the public authorities and it’s very unjust on expats. It’s a situation that is well publicised but nothing has been done to fix it so far.

Beware of scam websites like citaonline-extranjeria.com and extranjeria-citaprevia.com that deceive users into thinking that they can pay to obtain an appointment online, but do not actually provide this service.

Some people have reported that if you login with the Cl@ve system you have a better chance of being assigned an appointment. You can also try going to an office outside Barcelona, a list of which can be found here.

Filed under: Expat life

The Basics of Sport Massage

Last updated: October 06, 20222 Comments

sports massage for padel

As an athlete playing padel, part of my routine is massage therapy. I’ve already written about my foam rolling routine and TENS machine that are my daily way of keeping my muscles massaged, but of course, there is no substitute for real massage sessions with a qualified therapist.

Getting frequent massages might seem to be an unnecessary luxury at first glance, but I’ll show you in this article why it’s not.

Here are the top reasons why massage should be part of every serious athlete’s routine:

  • Massage can reduce injuries
  • Massage is beneficial to more than muscles

[Read more…]

Filed under: Health & Fitness, Padel

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