goals

December, 2013

This is Entrepreneurship

I had been working long hours all week and racked up some good kilometers running, so I decided to indulge in a lazy Sunday on the couch in front of the television. This is an act that has become foreign to me, but I thought I would give it ago. I managed to get to lunch time even with a short snooze, I had a great lunch and felt like a bit of cognitive stimulation, so I picked the IPad and proceeded to read Tony Robbins book ‘Awaken the giant within’. This is a life changing book I highly recommend!

However much I was enjoying my book, this was turning into a rather challenging day, sitting still is something I am just not good at. Four o’clock came and the inside temperature was at melting point, so I tried a quick swim in the pool. It was 30c outside and I was wasting this beautiful day sitting inside, this simply was not good enough. It was only my mind being lazy and telling my body that it is tired, so a quick change in mindset and I was off.

As you may have guessed by now I have an affinity to the mountain and I am lucky enough to live right at the bottom of an amazing mountain range. So I slipped on my Salomons, grabbed a bottle of H2o and headed for the nature reserve which is about 2km from home.

As entrepreneurs we all start out with the end goal in mind and it is usually that pinnacle point; where we believe the vast acres of golden eggs are laying. This being the summit of The Helderberg Mountain for me at 5pm on a Sunday afternoon, for me hiking is a time for reflection and unwinding. However, as I started today’s hike I began thinking about life as an Entrepreneur and how the synergies of hiking and entrepreneurship.  This set the scene for an interesting fun filled adventure.

About 15 minutes into my adventure I was invaded by a swarm of flies circling my head, they were clearly attracted by the perspiration that had set in and there was nothing I could do about this as perspiration was here for the rest of my journey, it’s hot out here in the South African sun. So I asked myself what the flies represented. Why are they here? These were my naysayers and they were there to test my will power and my patience. They stayed with me all the way to the summit, I could have waved my hands around trying to brush them away and caused myself frustration, but this would of only wasted a lot of useful energy. Instead like a true Entrepreneur I put the noise aside and kept moving forward as though they did not exist. You need to protect your attitude at all costs, sometimes this means removing people from your life. It’s a tough process and it could be people you love.

 Along your path you will face various challenges and many will require more effort than others, testing your strength and endurance. You can associate the many hiking challenges to entrepreneurship, like long steep climbing, having to lift your feet a little higher than usual, scaling over rocks on your path or having the courage to take a path less traveled. Taking the path less traveled usually involves a higher element of risk, which makes it a little more exciting and challenging. However, risk should always be calculated, with all possible outcomes considered. In my case today I saw an opportunity to save time, so instead of taking the long and windy route. I took a more direct route, which may have consumed a little more energy in the shot-term as it was a steeper climb and there were considerably more obstacles as I bundu bashed my way creating a new path, fortunately the risk paid off and I saved valuable time in reaching the next level along my adventure. Let me make this clear so as you understand, it is not always plausible to take a shorter route, as you may miss out on so very important lessons or opportunities. So always take the time to do thorough due diligence before making such calculated decisions.

Then there are unexpected occurrences, which may throw you of course. I am a fan as they provide opportunity for interaction, inspiration, learning and more. In my case I had the great pleasure of meeting two beautiful friendly ladies namely Marzanne and Beaulah whom I shared 30 most enjoyable minutes with. Marzanne make a point of reading Rich Dad poor Dad and Beaulah I hope your knee heals quickly. I love to meet new people, it’s exciting and you never know how each of you will impact the others life. There is always reason and value in new interactions.

So I started this adventure with a goal in mind, I still need to reach the summit and the sun was starting to dip. So I said my goodbyes and headed off. Although there were still a few challenging obstacles along the way, It only took another 15 minutes to reach the summit. This was it; I had set my goal and now it was achieved, time to bask in the glory. Now standing a little over 1100 meters up and feeling a great sense of pride as I relax for 10 minutes to take in the 360 degrees of breathtaking scenery.

Then there is that moment just when you feel like you have arrived and boom it all changes in a second. Suddenly I look at the time on my wrist watch, its 7:30pm and the gates of the nature reserve close at 8:00pm. Ah yes an oversight and another lesson. As positive as we Entrepreneurs are, I immediately saw the opportunity, to break a record.  A new goal has been set and I have deadline that I cannot miss or my car will be spending the night with nature. 29 minutes to descend just over 1100 meters and get in to my car and drive 500 meters to the gate before it is locked.  I had no choice, I had to make it. There were some scary moments as scrambled down that mountain today, but I was focused and I was going to beat the clock, my adrenaline was pumping and I was experiencing my most exhilarating sunset to date. There were a few slips and slides along the way, at one point I found myself descending 3 or 4 meters with my back on the ground and number of sole surfing moments as I skidded along the loose ground. The single track is always more challenging on the way down; I had hit the 4×4 tracks and was able to pick up the pace to a sprint with only a few kilometers to go. The end was insight and I was gasping for air, but I had arrived at that gate at exactly 8:00pm (laughing). It does not matter that I only made it just in the nick of time, the only thing that truly matters is that I did and that I acknowledged the lessons learnt and apply them going forward.

Entrepreneurship is a challenge in itself, you have to have true grit and persistence to see your goals through to what you perceive to be the end result and beyond as there will always be new challenges. Never give up!!

One of the most important lessons I would like to point out in my post is the power of your mind. With your mind you can make anything possible and if you apply yourself positively and act with conviction you will overcome anything. Your body will always follow where the mind goes, no matter what your circumstances are.

Entrepreneurship is definitely an uphill battle, however the rewards of achieving your goals far outweigh any adversity you experienced along the way and most importantly the journeys are always FUN!

November, 2013

Positivite thinking ‘A’ misconception

How often are you told to “just be positive” or “focus on the positive”? I’m guessing daily by everyone offering such easy advice. Do you believe they think it is good advice or is it just easier to give someone 50% of the advice they actually require? Perhaps this is a form of avoidance, by the person offering the advice. If you just tell them to be positive, they will think you are being supportive and you will not have to delve into the problem further, tell them the hard truth or advise them on what to do next. Whatever the reason you have for your misguided advice, it is weak, feeble, cowardly and irresponsible. What you put out, is what you get back and it would be well advised to remember that the influence of a single individual can impact the lives of millions if not billions. Nelson Mandela, Ghandi and Buddha to name a few.

When you are offering advice to others, be sure that you are qualified to do so. Giving bad, misleading or incorrect advice may often lead to disappointment, disbelief or worse. I have seen and experienced this so many times and in most cases it leaves people confused or it takes them backwards or they just stand still and do nothing.

If you are advising someone based on personal experience, then be sure your advice led you to a similar desired goal. However, should you be advising someone based on something you have read or heard be sure to revisit your source before sharing untested knowledge with other people.

I immigrated to South Africa 20 years ago and spent most of my teenage years growing up in Cape Town. After dropping out of high school at 16, I went straight to work in sales seemed like the right fit for me. After two years I needed a change of scenery and thought the grass was green on the other side in the UK. I felt more positive about career prospects there than I did in South Africa and I was not alone. Over the last 20 years or so there was a surge of South Africans flooding into different international destinations, one million alone to the UK, all thinking the grass would be greener. This is still happening today only the numbers are lower. However, as time has gone on many have returned to start businesses or seek employment or just because they missed their home. Many returned home with a positive attitude towards South Africa and its future including yours truly. Not only had this happened but the South African population started to talk about a positive future in South Africa. There were blogs, forums, facebook groups and twitter pages all talking positively about South Africa’s future. So for the average Jill/Joe to follow suit it just made sense, let’s all be positive about South Africa and we will flourish as a nation. Ok I will be the first to admit that there are a very small percentage of people out there who are actually following through with ACTION.

There I said it, the missing ingredient ACTION! This is the misconception of POSITIVITY. You can be as positive as you like; whether it is just you or an entire nation, but if you’re positive thoughts are not transformed into positive Action, the change you wish to see will not occur.

I know for some this is a very simple lesson or even commonsense. Unfortunately commonsense is not that common anymore.

The reality is that there is a very large percentage of the world’s population who do not understand this simple life lesson.

This is why I cannot stress the importance enough of understanding the lessons, which one chooses to teach. We live in a time where news travels across the globe in seconds; any one person is likely to be connected to between a thousand and several million people through their social networks. As human beings we have a moral duty to ensure the advice we offer is accurate and effective.

I am passionate about South Africa and very POSITIVE about the future of our country, each day I take small ACTION steps to contribute towards building a better South Africa. When the Positive people in South Africa transform their thoughts into actions, then all our small steps will quickly turn into giant leaps.

I promise to share this message with as many South African’s as I can.

 

Positive thoughts + positive Action = Results

 

“Don’t just think about the change you want to see in the world, take action and become the change you want to see in the world”