Hey my friend—kindness… a superpower? Really?

In this longer, deeper episode of the Personal Development Unplugged Podcast, Cloughie explores why kindness is one of the most underrated forces for change—inside and out. In a world that feels increasingly self-centred, reactive, and short-tempered, a simple act of kindness can disrupt the noise and spark real transformation.

This is part personal confession (yes, Cloughie admits to being “a bit of a dick”), part gentle wake-up call, and 100% full of practical reflections to help you become more self-assured and more connected to those around you.

• Why kindness isn’t weakness—it’s proof of deep inner strength

• The surprising return on investment of a small act of kindness

• How to shift from frustration to compassion (even in traffic!)

• Why you sometimes forget your own kindness—and how to bring it back to mind

• A reminder to start by being kind to yourself, because that’s where it all begins

• How kindness feeds into your personal goals and dreams—if you choose to include it

• Reflect on the kindness you've received and how it shaped you

• Review your day for simple “kindness moments” (smiles count!)

• Set an intention to actively make the world a better place—starting today

This episode isn’t fluffy—it’s practical. It’s a reminder that we don’t need to wait for the world to change. We start with us. One kind moment at a time.

If this touched something in you, share the episode with someone you care about. https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/453-kindness-the-next-super-power/

Subscribe or follow to never miss a moment of mindset magic, deep musings, or a little friendly self-hypnosis. And if you’ve not yet explored all the free hypnosis at paulcloughonline.com, now’s a good time.

Because whatever you think you are… you’re more than that. Let’s fly

Shine Brightly 🌟

Paul

Hey there! I’d love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected].

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For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com.

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Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure.

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Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨

Music by Wataboi, DreamHeaven, ccjmusic, and others from Pixabay.

And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism

Hey my friend. Kindness, a superpower.

Really? This, I think, is one hell of a message to me, and especially what I see around the world and in my own world. And the guy who's knocking all sorts of stuff above me, you may hear his hammer going, but that doesn't matter. I'm going to show a little bit of kindness to him too.

But why do I think kindness is a superpower? You see, I think it's our impact, your impact, my impact in such a self-centered world that we live in now. And I have to ask the question, I ask myself the question of myself, why is kindness so hard to show? Or just being kind, hard to do? You know, when you think about kindness, the return on investment, if you want to look at it in business terms, is great. The effect is massive.

It affects you in your mind, your body, your emotions, your experiences. It affects other people's experiences, their mind. It affects everything.

And that's just people. What about if you're kind to little old planet Earth? Look after planet Earth. And you see, this is what got me.

We've all probably been out, if you drive anyway, but something similar. You're driving in a car, someone cuts you up. We're all driving nicely and they just have to push in.

They have to push in. And you get, oh, you give it a good old beep on your horn. And maybe your mouth off something and things like that.

But, you know, inside you're angry. You're angry. And you chose to be angry though.

Did I? Yeah, you chose because you didn't need to be. Because when you think about it, that cutting in probably added a second to your journey. That's it.

That's all it did. Maybe two seconds if it was a really big cutting in. So even if you let in, this is what told me a long time ago.

Even if you let in, say 30 people into the stream of traffic that you're driving, you're going to be a minute late, a minute later. But you've been kind to 30 people and it will rub off on them because next time they'll let somebody else in. Because it happens that way.

Might not get them all, but you'll get most. And I had, to me, it was a horrible example because it was a horrible example of myself not being kind. See, I parked and I thought I parked pretty well.

Parked my car and I was just about to go and walk away. And this person came along and said, excuse me, can you just move your car up a little bit, please? I can't get in. And I thought they said it like that.

I'm not sure whether they did or not. I thought there was a little bit of tone in their voice. And I looked at them and I thought, well, I will.

And I actually said, well, I'll move it, but I'm not moving it very much. I'll only move it a little bit. And then I did.

And then I walked away. And as I was walking away, I thought to myself, Cloughie, I'm going to swear here, you're a fucking dick. You're a dick.

What the hell's the matter with you? You're moving a car for God's sake, so someone could park their car and make it a little bit safer for everybody. So I turned around, try to make amends, go back and apologise. I thought it was the best thing to do.

I want to go back and apologise. They weren't bloody there, were they? They'd gone. Oh, dull.

I really wanted to do something, but there I am. They've probably got an impression of me, which isn't the one that I wanted to show. I've got this impression in me that I didn't want to have.

I didn't want those feelings. Now I'm guilty. Certainly wasn't kind.

But the good thing was the universe, the multiverse had a way of paying it back. Because the very next day, I was just about to pull into a parking space on my way to the gym. And I was waiting to get in because I couldn't get in because there was an old lady there, trying with a trolley, shopping trolley, to get a big bag of compost soil in her car.

She couldn't lift it. And she kept looking at me. And I got straight out.

I said, Don't worry, don't worry. Let me lift it in for you. This is my turn.

And I put it in there and I said, Please don't hurry back. Just take your time. It's not going to interrupt me.

And she was so appreciative that someone actually stopped and helped, not just looked. That's what we do sometimes and just watch. And she felt good.

Plus, it helped her. And I felt, well, I felt good. But at least I'd made amends.

And that was like, something good for me. Because I was really, I was guilty of being a dick. And the thing is, that kindness I showed to that lady, or any kindness we show.

Some people think, it's a form of weakness. But how can kindness be weakness? To me, I think it's a show of strength, inner strength, because then you're self-assured. Because you are prepared to help somebody else.

You know, it's an act of selfless service. I don't want anything from you. I don't want anything in return.

I'm just going to be kind. And if you go back to my previous podcast, not too far away, hashtag 451, all about being self-assured. And you can be self-assured in yourself and exude kindness.

You can become that kind person. And I know this is that note to myself. I had to, and I think that's why I wrote all this out, there's some notes about it.

But let's dive a little deeper, because I like to take the frame off things now and dive a little deeper. So here's a question to you, to you. Here's a question.

Have you ever been kind in your life? Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever? Of course you have. Think of maybe just one time. And what was the effect of showing that kindness? What was the effect? And I know what it was.

It would have been massive, even though it might have been hidden a little bit. Because you won't see where the ripples of the effect goes, how far it went into that person, into the people that they love, or the effect that had on their behavior, the effect it had on their emotion, their thoughts, their thoughts about themselves, about you and about others. And following that, just remember, how did you feel? Because it cost you nothing, did it? Well, it cost a little bit of time, a little bit of effort.

It didn't really cost you anything. But how did it make you feel? Now, you might say, oh, it made me feel nice, Paul, but get a bit closer to that, closer to that emotion. Because underneath that, oh, it was nice.

There's a little bit of awesomeness, isn't there? Just a little bit of awesomeness, because you go, yeah, that felt good. That really felt good. Yeah.

I want to ask you another question on a similar vein. Have or has anyone been kind to you, shown kindness to you in your life? Well, I know the answer. Of course, it's yes.

And just think, if you think right now, just think back to any one of those specific times, try to be specific, and think, how did you feel when you were shown kindness, an act of kindness? Wasn't it good? Didn't you feel, oh, a little bit special, maybe, or so thankful, gratitude that someone would put themselves out for you? And it might not have been that massive act of kindness, but there isn't really a measure of kindness, is there? Because kindness is just kindness. And it made you feel, well, what did you think about them? What do you think about them? What did you think about that person who showed you that act of kindness? Didn't you just feel so grateful, or maybe there's a bit of respect, underneath there's respect? And the thing is, as we say, how big does an act of kindness have to be? Because it's obviously going to be massive, isn't it? To make an effect. Yeah, of course it does, Paul.

What about a smile? Well, just a simple smile as you walk along. That's kindness, isn't it? Just to acknowledge somebody, a nice smile. Hey, how you doing? Good to see you.

That's nice, isn't it? Especially if it's genuine, of course, it's got to be genuine. But just that real genuine smile, I'm pleased to see you. Makes you feel good, doesn't it, when someone does it to you? Have you noticed when you smile at somebody, they smile back? And you can see on their face, there is a warmth there.

Maybe just a helping hand, maybe just a helping hand, just lifting something, opening a door, just being careful, just giving a little bit of help. And it can go from all that to saving lives. Because you don't know what your act of kindness might do, because that person might be on a downer.

And you've just shown them the door, the door to life. And you didn't know it. And suddenly you've become a lifesaver without knowing it.

And you didn't know how far the ripples of your kindness would go. And you never will, you never do. And it doesn't matter.

It's that act of selfless service, which you just do for no want of reward. But you just know, you're going to feel good about it. And that's the thing about it, you just feel good yourself.

And it's really, I guess, and this is a reminder to myself, I know, seeing the opportunity. And thinking about all of this, I was reminded of a story, a true story, told by a guy called Geoff Thompson, who is a lovely man who does lots of kind things. And he was getting a little bit frustrated about seeing all the, call it ills of the world, where you're getting like politicians who were taking things and not being true and all the falseness in the world.

And he was getting upset and his wife just said to him, look, Geoff, look out your window. He said, what about the window? He said, look out the window. This is where you live.

This is where you can make a difference. This is where you do make a difference. The people that pass by.

And also you make a difference to the people who email you, you take time out to speak to them, to write to them. So you can make a difference. Maybe you won't change those big things straight away, but you can make a difference at this level.

Everyone can make a difference at this level. So in some ways, what I'm saying is, can we incorporate part of our self-development or within our self-development, the act of kindness, which means actively incorporating within our goals, our dreams, and our daily actions. You see, we know when you look to a goal, a dream, an aim in mind, we always look for that ecology.

Every process that I do here and with a client has ecology in mind. Good for them, which is good for you. Good for others, the people around you and little old planet earth.

So one thing you have to do, I think, when you think about incorporating kindness, we need to go through that ecology. So when we're incorporating kindness into our dreams, our goals, our aims in mind, our daily actions, anything that we're doing with when we set our intention, we should first of all be kind to ourselves. Because if you can't be kind to yourself, you can't really be kind to others.

You have to start with yourself. And that is doing things like stop berating yourself if you feel you haven't lived up to your standards, your values. Just stop, pause, take some time out.

Ask yourself, well, what can I learn from that? How can I do it differently? Maybe treat yourself, just be kind, don't be a big treat, just treat yourself with a little bit of time, something special just for you. Be kind to yourself. What about others? Well, keep a lookout, keep a lookout for opportunities.

Opportunities to be kind each day. You might want to set a target of a minimum of one thing, a day of kindness. And then when you review each day, you can actually go, well, where was I kind today? Maybe there'll be more than one when you do that.

I think there will. And how did it make me feel when I did it? Because when you relive that feeling again, your unconscious mind gets it and looks for more. And then you can just also review, well, when were others kind to me? And how did that make me feel? And when you do that, again, your unconscious mind gets it, it looks for opportunities for that kindness to come into your life.

So this is just basically a reminder, I guess, certainly a reminder for me to be kinder in the world. So if you could, it'd be nice if you just set your intention to create a better world, a better you. For me, I want to be a better Paul.

Maybe you could be a better you with a little bit of active, loving kindness. There you go. That's it.

Is it soppy? I don't think so. I'd love to share this with the people that you know, your contacts, maybe do it on social media. If you would, that'd be good.

Let people know about the things that we do here at Personal Development Unplugged and the podcast and all the other stuff with all that free hypnosis that you and if you would share that, subscribe and all that stuff. But if you would, it would be great if you did to pay it forward. That would be really, really, really, really, really kind.

But this is just a reminder. I know I've talked about it before, but it's just, I think sometimes we just in this world, when we look at the news and what's happening in it, we need to start where we can make the best effect. So there you go.

I'd love to hear about it. If you can email me feedback at personaldevelopmentunplugged.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. The things that you've noticed when you reviewed, how it made you feel, the effect and what your plans are.

And if there's anything that you have an issue with, let me know and we'll do a special episode just for that issue right now. Okay. So go fly.

We all need time to de-stress, don't we? We all need that space. Everyone needs space. Our own place of personal retreat and going to retreats are great.

But if you can't, why not have one in your mind? You know, if you don't go to that special place, that stress just builds and builds but if you have a place in your mind where you can go and de-stress, work out problems, think of all the wonderful things that you'll be able to do. The wonderful feelings. So that's why I've created this program of four hypnosis tracks to build and be and have your own inner retreat.

You can have whatever you like in that inner retreat. There could be rooms, there could be libraries, healing rooms, different lighting, maybe a fire in the corner, a special chair, maybe incense, anything that you choose. Some people have a computer that stores all the memories you've ever had, that library of everything you've ever read or everything you ever need to know.

Maybe a healing room, room where you can just go to and have your own inner healing or own inner relaxation. So what have I done? I've created these four tracks, one to build, one to extend it whenever you need to extend it and then to be able to go there for a particular period of time or even a longer period of time. So you've got two tracks of just going and being in that special place where you can, you know, take a problem with you, maybe muse it over in that special place or you can leave it there.

Leave it to incubate in your unconscious mind so when you come back, well you can just have the answers come or they might just come consciously. It's all there for you. All you have to do is go to poolclubonline.com forward slash retreat, have a look, give you a nice little video there, just see if it's for you.

I think it's a lovely little program. There's nothing to lose because there's a 30-day money back guarantee. It's a lovely program and I think it was one I wanted to do for myself because I just thought it's just a wonderful thing to do.

I love retreats but hey, this is your own personal one. Have a look. Enjoy.

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