Once we are aware of any one or more unhelpful thinking tendencies, we can then begin challenging unnecessarily negative thoughts and practise using different language which better reflects the shades of grey of reality, training the brain to move further away from instinctive black-and-white (emotional) thinking. Here are some examples of some typical black-and-white thinking styles and possible contrasting ways of looking at things.

When the smoking ban finally came into force on 1 July 2007, for the most part, it was quite well received by the English public. After all, England was the last country of the United Kingdom to implement the ban and many other countries (such as Ireland and the United States) had banned smoking in public places many years before.

I expect at some point in your life – perhaps more than once – you’ve said this. When you’ve said it, you most probably meant something like “I wish some significant good fortune will come my way soon!”

Reading the Daily Express on my flight to Spain on 25 June, I came across a small article on a poll carried out by the children’s literacy charity, ‘Volunteer Reading Help’.  In their study of 500 Chief Executives, Managers and other high earners, they found that hard work, charm, persistence, warmth, intelligence and a sense of humour were high amongst the ingredients for success. It also revealed that luck, fate and good timing also help.

As you work your way through the Legal Secretaries Diploma course, there may be a part of you that feels anxious about how you are going to secure a job as a Legal Secretary or PA. This is perfectly understandable, as you are only human. Rest assured that some of the other students will be feeling exactly the same way. The good news is that there are some excellent resources on offer when you decide to study through the Institute, and these include CV help, career guidance and access to a wealth of information that could really help you to move forward.

These days pretty much everyone who does some sort of research as part of their job makes extensive use of the Internet to find information. Keeping track of bookmarks and quoted text and managing passwords for multiple forums and research sites can become quite a chore. Here are SOME extensions you can install on the Google Chrome browser to make your work a little easier.

In our second article reviewing the pending reforms to litigation procedure, we will consider how justice will be accessed under a reformed system.

This article might create a strong sense of déjà vu for any litigator because civil procedure has been here before. The briefest look at history shows that in the last 100 years there have been 63 reports and inquiries into the civil justice system. Most of these reports focused around three perennial problems of cost, delay and complexity. If you have been following the previous Journal articles on litigation, you will already know that the two most recent reports were: - 1) Lord Woolf’s report delivered in 1995, entitled ‘Access to Justice’; and 2) Lord Justice Jackson’s report from December 2009 on civil costs.

When people who should not be in such work manage to slip through the cracks in the pavement and enter professions where vulnerable children or adults are involved, this is an issue that is always guaranteed to create a high level of controversy in society. After all, the vulnerable are the people we should always make every effort to protect the most, and when there has been a breach of trust, this is something we have to learn from and we must ensure the same thing never happens again.

With all of the recent celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, we Brits were able to remind ourselves of the fact that we have the most popular monarch in the whole world as our head of state. Indeed, other kingdoms around the world have felt a certain amount of envy as they watched our country celebrate with what we are best known for: pomp and ceremony. As for the republics in the world, let’s face it, we all know how certain countries love to lap our royal family up, and you definitely get the sense that these countries can regret their republican status at such times.

As citizens of the United Kingdom we can take pride in the fact that we live in one of the most liberal and tolerant societies in the whole world. This is one of the most fundamental reasons why so many people are attracted to the idea of coming to live here. Generally, British people really do try to be open to the cultures from other parts of the world, and the term ‘multiculturalism’ aptly describes the way in which people from many different backgrounds are able to live perfectly harmoniously.

Have you recently decided to return to studying after a long break? Perhaps it has been many years since you last found yourself in such a position, and now that you have enrolled on one of the Institute’s courses, you are hoping that you will feel enthusiastic right through to the end. Enthusiasm is a common emotion to feel at the start of a course of study, although it is sometimes difficult to maintain. Rest assured that there are ways in which you can control such emotions, and ensure that you remain steadfastly committed and enthused by the course.