Paddy Murphy

From working with clients, I've developed a five-key approach to help people build self-confidence, and will soon be publishing a book about them. They are: Excavation: Unearthing the root causes Identify the moments that shaped your self-esteem, whether trauma, parental influence, societal conditioning, or past failures. Journaling, guided reflection, or a "self-esteem timeline" can help pinpoint key moments. Reframing: Challenging internalized narratives Many people carry outdated, self-limiting beliefs ("I'm not good enough," "I always fail"). So, we look at them, understand why you have them, and challenge them. Cognitive restructuring techniques, compassionate self-inquiry, and mindfulness can help rewrite these scripts. Foundation building: Developing core self-worth Instead of seeking validation externally, the focus shifts to intrinsic self-worth. Daily practices like self-affirmation, boundary-setting, and self-compassion exercises reinforce a stronger self-image. Empowered action: Strengthening confidence through experience Confidence comes from action; it cannot be done just by thinking yourself to a destination. Clients engage in "confidence challenges" (small, manageable actions that push them to do things outside of their comfort zones), taking ownership of their growth. Examples include picking up a new hobby, writing an essay about something new you've learned, or doing something in public that you'd generally avoid. Integration: Making confidence a lifestyle Long-term change requires consistency. Together, we develop a "maintenance plan" that includes reflection, accountability, and community support to maintain self-esteem.

Today's newseltter being prepared...

I think people should be making a bigger deal about the sister of Ireland's President being kidnapped by Israel.

@sidlowe The Arsenal player in front of him did it too...maybe Simeone just doesn't like Ben White, which is...well, fair enough

Can’t help thinking — and it’s not just Atletico, in fact it’s just about everyone— that it’s inevitable your badge will get trodden on if it’s positioned right in the middle of the mouth of tunnel where everyone is walking in and out.

You see in others what you see in yourself.

From today's article...

You'd think by now that America would want fewer school shootings...naw, let's make one that fits into kids' bags. Christ on a bike.

I'm very proud to be Irish...

@ITKSpace That's cool. Why did you get an LLM to write it?

Michael Olise has in recent weeks rejected multiple high-level PR and social media deals that would have instantly turned him into one of football’s most marketable global superstars, despite agencies presenting a clear pathway to millions and explosive growth on Instagram. These were not minor tweaks, they were full-scale transformation plans, a complete rebrand of his identity, a new profile name, a total visual overhaul to replace the plain purple profile picture, and a commercial strategy designed to unlock elite sponsorship deals, with internal projections suggesting his following could surpass 15 million within five months, placing him in the same commercial bracket as profiles like Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland or Lamine Yamal. Despite the scale of the offers, he rejected everything, no rebrand, no sponsors, no manufactured image, choosing instead to stay completely in control and deliberately keep his profile raw and minimal, with a clear intention to focus solely on football for now, a decision that goes directly against the entire commercial blueprint of modern football superstardom.

Because we get asked a lot. The Technological Republic, in brief. 1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation. 2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible. 3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public. 4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software. 5. The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed. 6. National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost. 7. If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software. We should as a country be capable of continuing a debate about the appropriateness of military action abroad while remaining unflinching in our commitment to those we have asked to step into harm’s way. 8. Public servants need not be our priests. Any business that compensated its employees in the way that the federal government compensates public servants would struggle to survive. 9. We should show far more grace towards those who have subjected themselves to public life. The eradication of any space for forgiveness—a jettisoning of any tolerance for the complexities and contradictions of the human psyche—may leave us with a cast of characters at the helm we will grow to regret. 10. The psychologization of modern politics is leading us astray. Those who look to the political arena to nourish their soul and sense of self, who rely too heavily on their internal life finding expression in people they may never meet, will be left disappointed. 11. Our society has grown too eager to hasten, and is often gleeful at, the demise of its enemies. The vanquishing of an opponent is a moment to pause, not rejoice. 12. The atomic age is ending. One age of deterrence, the atomic age, is ending, and a new era of deterrence built on A.I. is set to begin. 13. No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than this one. The United States is far from perfect. But it is easy to forget how much more opportunity exists in this country for those who are not hereditary elites than in any other nation on the planet. 14. American power has made possible an extraordinarily long peace. Too many have forgotten or perhaps take for granted that nearly a century of some version of peace has prevailed in the world without a great power military conflict. At least three generations — billions of people and their children and now grandchildren — have never known a world war. 15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia. 16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk’s interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn. 17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime. Many politicians across the United States have essentially shrugged when it comes to violent crime, abandoning any serious efforts to address the problem or take on any risk with their constituencies or donors in coming up with solutions and experiments in what should be a desperate bid to save lives. 18. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. The public arena—and the shallow and petty assaults against those who dare to do something other than enrich themselves—has become so unforgiving that the republic is left with a significant roster of ineffectual, empty vessels whose ambition one would forgive if there were any genuine belief structure lurking within. 19. The caution in public life that we unwittingly encourage is corrosive. Those who say nothing wrong often say nothing much at all. 20. The pervasive intolerance of religious belief in certain circles must be resisted. The elite’s intolerance of religious belief is perhaps one of the most telling signs that its political project constitutes a less open intellectual movement than many within it would claim. 21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful. 22. We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what? Excerpts from the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West, by Alexander C. Karp & Nicholas W. Zamiska techrepublicbook.com

Personally, that would perfectly fit the occasion.

...and this was born a Mogwai song

now that I can dance?

The greed of American politicians knows no bounds

A weak, low-testosterone man.

@demetriosns Ah lads, I love what yous do here on Twitter, but AI-generated bollox can die in the ocean.

Lam Cao - "Before they were Pearl Jam ... Pearl Peanut Butter Jelly perform "Even Flow" 🎸🥁🎶 One of my all time favourite bands! Love Jeremy and Black, but the Even Flow music video has some cool scenes to recreate." facebook.com/reel/966513582…

Signatures 🇫🇷 405.206 🇮🇹 252.823 🇪🇸 125.705 🇩🇪 46.288 🇵🇱 43.466 🇳🇱 39.304 🇧🇪 31.234 🇮🇪 25.112 🇸🇪 20.324 🇫🇮 18.420 🇩🇰 17.982 🇵🇹 15.929 🇬🇷 9.202 🇷🇴 3.438 🇸🇮 3.410 🇦🇹 3.124 🇧🇬 2.869 🇱🇺 1.904 🇭🇷 1.604 🇸🇰 1.127 🇨🇿 1.118 🇱🇹 858 🇭🇺 857 🇨🇾 750 🇲🇹 657 🇱🇻 464 🇪🇪 435 citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/de…

The European Citizens’ Initiative calling for the suspension of the EU/Israel Agreement has reached the necessary 1 million signatures! eci.ec.europa.eu/055/public/#/s…

God doesn't pick sides you closested amadán

@TheAnfieldWrap Operation Double Dick 'em

Thoughts on the team?

Operations Double Dick 'em! #lfc