The JSPrice Perception

A recent Avaaz.org inspired protest (Image: UpstreamJournal.org) Part of the Christmas tradition is to watch plenty of family films. I'm sure during this festive season you've enjoyed the likes of Love Actually, The Holiday, Home Alone and The Polar Express. You may have also liked seeing the non-festive films you've not watched for many moons - one that I've not seen in ages and saw only the other day was Bruce Almighty. The 2003 comedy fantasy film features protagonist Bruce, played by Jim Carrey who considered himself unlucky with his job as a reporter not going as he hoped when dreams of becoming lead news anchor dashed as the role is given to another colleague, his love life with partner played by Jennifer Aniston while seemingly healthy, Carrey's character felt his life was stagnated somewhat and cries to God for help. Then by chance God, played by Morgan Freeman offers Bruce his role which he then thrived of. But with Bruce's power, which...

Angela Merkel (Image: Washington Post) How can we define what a 'person' or 'personality' is? You may have your own answers but you can't help but express these without stating fact. We have our own opinions and perspectives on what these terms mean, or through personal experience, we define the sort of 'person' or 'personality' that we are. We also may be narrowing down the both words mean by defining the 'good' and 'bad' of each. I have been thinking a lot about these two terms particularly this week as two accolades have entered the limelight which have gotten me to put my analytical cap on. The first accolade I want to go through is TIME Person of the Year. Whoever wins this, whether it is an individual or group of people, have spoken of their honour to be considered an influence in the only way they can. Whether this influence has had a positive impact on you or not, that is another point entirely. But this year, the acco...

HMRC letter (Image: The Independent) The tax system in the UK is a funny old business. Those who have to pay it (I'm focusing on Income Tax / PAYE here) know the drill. An employee receives a certain amount of money in the bank every month, and what is accumulated through the year is deducted from one's salary and into the government's hands where they'll then distribute to their different departments like health, defence and education. It sounds straightforward when it's explained this way, but of course how much we pay depends on what we earn. This is where things get complicated. If you're an employee, you know where you're at - your wage is set, and every month the pay you get is practically the same 12 times a calendar year. And this tax you don't need to submit to HMRC annually as it's already done for you by your employer. Yet, the employer has a different tax system to worry about which I don't want to delve so much into. You som...

Police officers in Paris (Image: The Guardian) Friday 13th is historically, superstitiously and apparently a day to fear. It is a day where everything is meant to go wrong, where luck isn't on your side. If you looked at the news at the start of the most recent Friday 13th, which just past, we may have placed those superstitions to one side when UK and US governments announced they finally targeted 'Jihadi John', the mastermind behind so-called Islamic State, ISIL or whatever you'd like to call the extremist group. This announcement brought cautious jubilation. Powerhouses from both sides of the Atlantic joined forces and orchestrated air strikes on these extremist sites in Syria and Iraq. They have ordered these attacks as they believed that this was the 'right' approach to win the War on Terror - Cameron used the term ' right thing to do ' for targeting radicalised, brainwashed, British citizen that is 'Jihadi John'. From both UK and...

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after China GP win, April 2015 (Image: Mirror.co.uk) In general conversations, how often do you talk about your achievements? It is crucial to discuss these on a professional level when talking about your path to where you're at today in order to impress your future clients. However, 'achievement' is defined differently, depending on how that individual classes it. Would you say that grabbing a bargain on a new shirt from the sales is an achievement? Would you say your child's success in school is also your achievement? Regardless how you answer these, there is never a limit to your success. A 'little' achievement is still a significant one - you did something that you felt the need to pat yourself on the back for, and self-praise must be celebrated. But what happens when people confuse achievement with arrogance? When you have done something significant that has been recognised by a wider audience, it is your reaction which ...

Boris Johnson with Jeremy Corbyn (Image: faz.net) Earlier this week saw the end of Party Conference Season and therefore kicked-off an interesting autumn of British politics. The past two weeks in particular saw a time of reflection. The smaller parties gloated about the noise they created during the previous general election campaign. Certainly they heated debates and caused a stir in how people looked at politics, but their causes are getting recognised. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats, that became a 'small party' overnight, showcased themselves as the 'defiant one'. Labour presented themselves as the 'rebuilding party', quickly forgetting last May ever happened. Ed who? However it was the Conservative conference that caught a lot of people's eyes. While the party's intention was to highlight this was the first Tory conference as a Tory-led government since 1996, the press decided to turn people's attention to 2020. Before the general e...

Jeremy Corbyn outside 10 Downing Street (Image: Islington Tribune) I like this quote from Canadian novelist, John Ralston Saul as quoted in his philosophical essay named 'The Unconscious Civilization': "Whenever government adopt a moral tone - as opposed to an ethical one - you know something is wrong." You can argue that this is a transition Britain may be heading towards. I'm thinking more of a potential Jeremy Corbyn Labour government from 2020. The thought of Jeremy Corbyn entering 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister has both delighted and horrified people in equal measure. He's only been leader for three weeks and already we've been given so many mixed messages about a man who has been an MP for 32 years and has largely spent this time out of the limelight. He has plunged into the spotlight and despite being reluctant to expose himself personally to the media hounds, he must now surely be aware of the task he has ahead of him. Corbyn cannot ...

Tony Robbins in Shallow Hal, 2001 (Image: LivingInCinema.com) I would like to share with you a personal account of my experiences so far in Life Coaching and how public relations, a part of the media industry I’ve been a professional in for the last three years, can learn from this particular branch of psychotherapy. When I first heard about Life Coaching, I was aware of it but knew little about it. One of the first times I heard the term ‘Life Coaching’ it was a film reference from the romantic comedy Shallow Hal. The character Hal, played by Jack Black, encountered Tony Robbins in a lift they shared which got stuck. Robbins played himself, an eminent Life Coach. He helped Hal rid of his shallowness towards women and see them from the beauty within using some sort of magical power. The exercise Robbins used in the film that magically evaporated Hal’s shallowness was fictional but even then I knew that Life Coaching has a powerful ability to helping an individual or group imp...