Archive For: Personal Development

Be Better By Trying Something New

Home made chair with view of Australian country side

I have taken up the hobby of woodworking. It is a great way to turn off my head for awhile and focus on doing things with my hands. I have to be honest, I am not that good. My attention to details isn’t too flash as I get sidetracked and want it to be done NOW!

But a few YouTube videos, some scrap pallet wood, a few basic tools and even the crappiest of woodworkers can make some thing useful. This is the Viking Chair I made (or Star Gazer or Celtic Chair or African Tribal Chair – it has many names) for up at the shed.

It is amazing how the lessons you learn in one area helps you be better in another. So much learning happens when you try not to force it. I have found when I am coaching some of my clients that lessons in patience, new skills and different approaches in my woodwork apply equally in coaching them or in what they are attempting.

It is not just overcoming fear of failure (although that it part of it) it is willing to admit you don’t know everything and trying a new path. It is about being Bigger, Bolder, Better.

I highly recommend you try something new. The life lessons you learn will serve you well. At the very least, you may get a chair out of it!

Home made wooden chair

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Do You Fear the Dark Clouds?

No matter what is happening, no matter how gloomy to dark clouds appear, there is always a touch of brightness.

Whether it is business issues, personal problems or simply things not going the way you want them too, here is where to find, not just a touch, but a BURST of brightness.

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Did Our Election Make You Angry?

So we’ve just had our election and I have to tell you the results have not made everyone happy. 

Some people are quite furious about it and there’s a lot of people going “why?” 

Was it the Queenslanders? 
Was it the independents? 
Was a dodgy voting tactics? 

At the end of the day the answer is, “It doesn’t matter.” 

The whys don’t really matter. The question that’s most important is, “What are going to do now?” 

If you’re a person who’s committed to the environment, how can you still make a stand? 
How can you influence your local Member of Parliament regardless of what party that they’re part of? 
If there’s a cause that you passionately believe in, how can you put your energy in a positive direction rather than blaming somebody else. 

I would hate for us to go down the path of many other countries where there is such animosity between people who vote for different parties that they become violent and closed to hearing alternate perspectives. 

At the end of the day, people made the choice that suits their circumstance on the information that they understood. 
So maybe some of the parties could have been clearer in what they actually stood for. Maybe they could have used, some would say less dodgy, voting tactics. But it doesn’t matter. 

What matters is what can you do now. 

What positive steps can you take today, and every other day, to create the kind of world, the kind of country, the kind of future that you want there to be. 

Hope you voted well.

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Are You Willing to be Responsible?

Image: ShutterStock

Global Politics seems to have lost its way. All over the world, many politicians seem to be acting in the interest of those who fund them or those who make the most noise.

Some have gone off on narrow minded, judgemental, unrealistic paths and tried to take as many people who will follow. Major parties seem to be more similar than ever.

Universally, it seems that respect of politicians is at an all time low.

As John Oliver said, “We used to listen to politicians and laugh at comedians. Now we laugh at politicians and listen to comedians.”

So whose fault is it?

Well there are many people you could blame. The media, the politicians, big oil, big pharma, big (insert industry in here), but the reality is that it all comes down to us.

WE are responsible because we vote or choose not to.

This Saturday is Election Day in Australia. So rather than going along and ticking the same old box because that’s what you always do, are you willing to be responsible?

Are you willing to google the different parties and find out a little about them? Some of them have pleasant names but weird policies, some weird names but great policies and some seem to have a single policy and that’s it.

Maybe head to ABC’s Vote Compass to get a feel for what party best matches your beliefs.

Cate Speaks has done an independent summary of all parties (to save you wading through all the muck) and it is a good reference.

RESPONSIBILITY means you have the ABILITY to RESPOND.

It is not something to be taken lightly.

Spiderman’s Uncle Ben told him, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
I believe the reverse is also true, “With great responsibility comes great power.”

Time to stop blaming everyone/thing else and look at what can YOU do about it?

At the very least, make an informed choice this Saturday.

If you are in Melbourne, you can then come and see my vocal quartet perform! Check out all the detail here. We even have Mulled Wine!

So… Are you Willing to be Responsible?

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The Food Of Love

Sometimes you just need a bit more love in your life. Love for you, love for your fellow person, love for a cause. Shakespeare said it best.

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Is your Perspective Robbing You of Pleasure?

Mitchelton Winery Lookout

Have you achieved some amazing things in your life? Things that made your family, friends, colleagues and clients go “WOW”.

When you achieve these things and the people in your life say how cool it is, do you go, “Yeah but it’s only….” or “Nah but it is not as good as … ” or “Yeah, but anyone could have …”?

You may find that your perspective is robbing you of some pleasure and acknowledgement of success.

We often get hung up on the detail and the micro perspective of a situation or actions. We focus on what we did wrong and not on the progress or the impact of what we have done.

That is why I love this lookout tower at Mitchelton Winery. It must be so easy to get stuck looking at label designs, menus for the restaurant, the chemistry of the wine making, the details of the grape harvest and so on.

But from the top of this look out you can see the hundreds of acres of grape fines, the motel wing, the rivers edge chapel area, the art gallery, the full car park and the large number of very happy customers.

Don’t rob yourself of the pleasure of your hard work and skill. Make sure you look at the full perspective of what you have done and when someone gives you a compliment, say “Thank you”.

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From Little Things Big Things Grow

Not only is “From little things, big things grow” a great line from a Paul Kelly song, it is true of our efforts as well.

Two years ago, my brother in law gave me an apple tree. And I am so thrilled that after fighting back bugs, possums, drought, hail and bashing it with a lawn mower (accidentally), we have been harvesting the first fruit from it.

Like a conference or event finally coming to fruition, it is a joy to taste the fruits of your labour.

But the thing is, it hasn’t been a hard slog. Yes there are times when it is hard work but most of the times it is just a load of little pieces.

Pruning back the tree (or the run sheet) to focus on the real value elements.

Sharing the progress of the buds (or registrations) as the tree/event comes to life.

Ensuring the right support is there (fertilisers, AV, MC) and now to enjoy the final product.

What event or project are you working on where all your little things are finally falling into place?

Don’t worry if seem like you are only doing little things.

Remember – from little things, big things grow.

Here is the song from Paul Kelly that chronicles the struggles of our indigenous peoples performed at the memorial service for Gough Whitlam.

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In a World of Change, What’s New for You?

Our friend Christine loves horses. She has quite a few. Now she has one more!

Seven days ago, baby Jewel was born. So this weekend we went to say hello.

Seven days old and she was running around and frolicking enjoying all her world has to offer. She was shaking her tail like a puppy. The wind in the grass seemed to fascinate her.

In business, people are often heard complaining about how much change there is, but I loved Jewel’s approach to change. In her seven days, she has seen a colossal amount of new things and new changes in her life. Each change seemed to fascinate and excite her.

Now I am not so naive to say, “treat each change like a new foal.” Sometime we understand the impact of the change well before it kicks in and it is not always positive.

Having said that, there was something in the fasciation that Jewel was facing some of the big changes in her world. So maybe we could look for the fascination in change. Maybe we could look for the fun. Maybe we could look for joy. Maybe we could look for the fresh start. Maybe change is not always something to be feared.

In our world of change, what’s new for you?

If you are looking for a fascinating change in your next event or conference, get in touch and let’s create some excitement.

 

Here’s 13 seconds of Jewel the foal for you.

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Are You The Conductor of Your Own Destiny?

Maybe “Destiny” is a bit too full on for this time of day, conductor of your own life is a bit full on too. Maybe conductor of your coming year or the coming months is more appropriate.

Whatever you find more palatable, the question is, are you in control?

Not complete control because there is so much that happens that is outside your control that happens that you have to deal with.

Ok, I have worked it out. Here it is. Are you willing to take responsibility for the actions that need to be taken to get the results you are after?

This is more than simply saying to yourself, “Yes of course!”

  • It is continually stepping up and being willing to make tough decisions and uncomfortable actions.
  • It is exerting your influence on others (both subtly and blatantly) to get the outcomes you are working towards.
  • It is training other people to do the jobs they should know how to do themselves anyway but doing it in a patient and caring manner.
  • It is being willing to put your hand up even when you don’t want to because you know it’s needed.
  • It is stepping outside your own desires and looking at what is best for the team and taking the appropriate action.
  • It is being willing to make a fool of yourself and not caring what others think.
  • It is putting suggestions forward and when they are knocked back, going with the group consensus anyway.
  • It is getting there early when you would rather stay in bed.
  • It is going above and beyond to make sure the entire experience is great for everyone and not just you.
  • It is asking the hard questions to those who don’t always like it.
  • It is having fun when things are getting a bit too serious.
  • It is tapping in to the synergy of everyone in the room and making sure everyone knows the part they play.
  • It is taking a little more than your fair share of the blame and a little less than your fair share of the credit.
  • It is doing what you don’t want to do when you know it has to be done.
  • It is shining the light on those that deserve it.
  • It is keeping things running on time and on budget even though that can sometimes hurt.
  • It is picking yourself up, cracking a joke and then continuing to move forward when things don’t work out.
  • It is counting on the team around you and letting go of the control.
  • It is passing on the baton and training your own replacement (even though you love your job).
  • It is leaving when it’s time.

Spider Man’s Uncle Ben said to him. “With great power comes great responsibility.” I find the reverse is true also.

“With Great Responsibility comes Great Power.”

The more willing you are to take responsibility for a situation, a position, a life, the more power you have over it.

The Conductor is the most powerful person in the entire orchestra. Are you ready for Great Power?

Are you ready to be the Conductor of your own Destiny?

 

PS If you are looking to have more power over your next event, be it a conference, a departmental meeting or an internal company event, starting Feb 6th, I will be running live on line sessions on how to be a master event host. It is an eight week course with a stack of additional resources. Check GetMoreMCSuccess.com for more details.

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Get Your Happy File Ready for an Awesome Year

Have you got your happy file ready?
Do you have a happy file?
Do you even know what a happy file is?

OK – Let’s start at the beginning. A happy file is a place where you store all the nice emails, cards, things that others have said about you. They are the comments or moments that made you feel good about what you do, who you are and the person you are growing up to be. It could be from a family member, friend, client, competitor, stranger, whoever – just something that makes you go “YEEESSSSS!!!” on the inside.

Maybe they said, “Wow you have done an amazing job with your kids. They are such a joy to be around” or “You are amazing at what you do, without your efforts we could never have received the acclaim we have” or “You always know the right thing to say. Thank you”. You know the times they say it, write it, post it – make sure you capture it and put it in a file somewhere.

A happy file is important because it is a brilliant place to turn to when you have doubt.

I don’t care who you are. There are times you will have doubt.

“Am I doing the right thing, will this work, am I any good at this, am I barking up the wrong tree” – It happens to EVERYONE.

When it does happen, open up your Happy File and have a look at what others have said about you in the past (because sometimes you simply cannot trust your own perspective). It helps boost you in a time when you need it.

With a powerful Happy File in your corner, it will make the coming year a whole lot easier and more successful for you.

Let me know if you need any help.

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When is the Best Time To Invest in Your Future?

I love big old trees like this one. It is one of the many old gum is on our property in central Victoria. But for me to appreciate this tree today, something had to happen many years ago.

It is the same with our future. A bright and prosperous future depends on us doing great things today. While in the world of social media, some people become rich, famous, celebrities, influencers and fabulous overnight, I can tell you (particularly in my case) that is not the norm.

Many years ago, the band The Presidents of the United States of America released an album which had a few songs about peaches. In one, there were millions of peaches, in another they were eating peaches on the back porch. The concept of eating your own home grown fruit has always appealed to my gorgeous wife and I – so to make that happen, we had to do something today (well a couple of days ago actually).

I know I have mentioned before the saying, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the second best time is today.” So we have chosen to embody that saying, peaches and all!

On Saturday we had 43 people and 5 dogs come and help us plant about 60 fruit trees and about 20 Golden Ash trees on our block with a Shed on it. We had done the hard work prior to fence off the area and protect the trees from the horses, kangaroos and anything else venturing in the paddock as well as setting up an automated irrigation system and pretreating the soil (there is a bit of clay there!)

It was a magical day and a pure delight to have family and friends helping build a better future for us all to share. Yes it was cold. Yes it had a bit of rain. Yes one of the dogs (naughty Molly) thought the trees were sticks to play with and tried to run off with them, but having that many people meant that it wasn’t a great deal of work but there was a lot of celebration. Check out the photos below.

Dear Reader, I am sure you are thinking, “well that’s nice but I don’t have a block or want fruit trees.” That’s ok. Everyone is different.

So what DO you want in your future? What do you need to do NOW to make it happen? Who can you get to help you start or progress your dream NOW?

Let me know if I can help.

 

The Golden Ash

 

The Orchard

 

Some Workers

 

A Big Feed

 

Staying Warm

 

Even Horses Love Selfie

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What Is Success?

Recently I took part in the 10 Tips in 10 Days challenge. That’s where I had to create 10 short videos to be published once a day. Each video had to give some kind of tip or advice on an area in which I had expertise.

In a coming post I will like to all 10 tips for you, but today is all about the first tip. That tip is to understand for you What is Success.

As host of the Get More Success show, I have asked almost 100 people how they define success. Everyone has a different definition but a recurring theme is that of Freedom. Click on the image above to see the short video about it.

Famously, Ralph Waldo Emerson had this to say about success:

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one’s self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived

This is to have succeeded.

So as you consider your future, how do you define success for you?

It could be in money, it could be in experiences, it may even be how you related to those in your life. The key thing is to know that there is NO wrong answer, and no answer to be embarrassed about as long you have something you are aiming for.

It is interesting that many people have no idea what success it. They still work hard and and continue moving forward but don’t know what they are aiming for.

So Dear Reader, what are you aiming for? How will you define success? What is it that you focus your energy toward?

Only by knowing what Success is will you know where to best focus your attention.

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It’s 2019 (Financially)

 

Yet again, time has ticked over and here in Australia it is now the start of the new 2019 financial year.

So where are you?

I have spoken to some of my friends on colleagues who talk about “getting ahead”, “putting some money away” or “trying to get some leverage”. A recent post on LinkedIn talked about property prices in Sydney 20 years ago and the majority of the commenters were along the lines of “If only I knew”, “I wish I had a time machine” or “I shouldn’t have sold when I moved”.

I love the Chinese saying, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today.”

Whether that is an actual tree, a money tree or a family tree, the saying is true. The image above is where my gorgeous wife and I will be planting approximately 60 fruit trees. You can see the divots (and if you squint you may be able to see the pink X’s) where we are getting the local bloke with a digger to dig the holes for the trees.

We will be planting another 20 or so Golden Ash at another place on the farm and, all going to plan, next year we will be putting in quite a few slow growing trees like Oak and Maple as well as another 20 Claret Ash.

To be quite blunt, we will be dead before some of these trees reach their maturity and magnificence. The fruit trees alone will take five years to get to a stage they will bear fruit. I suspect some trees may die as we fine tune irrigation, try and keep the kangaroos and other animals at bay.

But the second best time to plant is today.

Will you be in the same financial position this time next financial year?
What will you do to “Plant your tree”?
What financial plans do you have to put in place?
Who do you need to speak to to get the facts and make it happen?

Let 2019 be the year that you trees and financial future flourish.

Let me know if I can help at all.

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Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Photo: Andre Elhay

Saturday night was an absolute hoot! In fact, so was Saturday afternoon. We played games, won prizes, ate food, chatted and enjoyed the night all for a great cause.

My buddy Leanne was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease about 12 months ago. It is a shit disease. No known cause, no known cure and no real treatment. For a few statistics, check the MND Australia website.

The reality of this is that there is minimal support out there for those with MND. The medical industry’s approach is, “You have about two years left, go and enjoy what you can.” The insurance company’s approach is, “We are good at taking your money but not at paying it back. Your symptoms don’t meet our criteria.”

Due to the rapid onset of this disease, it means you need loads of new equipment quickly. Wheel chairs, cycles, home adjustments and so on. It also means your partner can’t work as they need to look after you (and don’t even ask about how hectic the night time is what with cramping, minimal muscle control so have to be turned, and then needing to go to the toilet.)

This is where Leanne’s friends came in. Over 350 people got together for her FUNdraising. People generously gave their time, money, goods to help raise fund for her. I was privileged to be able to host the event. At the end of the evening, we had raised well over $30k for Leanne.

In her speech, Leanne remarked how important it was to hug your friends and those you love because life is fragile and when you are unable to do so, even when they are standing in front of you, it is tragic. Take time to appreciate what you have because when it is taken from you, you will miss it.

We humans think we are invincible yet life truly is very fragile!

But as the Beatles, Joe Cocker and even The Ice Haloes (ok you got me, it’s my singing quartet) tell you, you can get by with a little help from your friends.

What do your friends need today? How can you help them get by?

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Put Your Poo in the Post

Image: ShutterStock

Bowel Cancer is the second deadliest cancer in Australia. Approximately 80 people a week die from it.

That is shitty to say the least!

June is Bowel Cancer Awareness month and Bowel Cancer Australia are doing great things to help for the early detection and treatment of bowel cancer.

The great news is that bowel cancer is one of the most treatable cancers if detected early. The even better news is that when you turn 50, the Australian Government sends you a free kit for Bowel Cancer Screening. In theory, it shouldn’t be an issue.

That’s where people come in!

One study shows that less than 46% of people returned the kit (less than 44% for men!) A more recent study has that down to just 41% (39% for men – what is it with us men!)

Here is my theory, the first kit arrives when you turn 50. No one likes to be reminded they are getting older. A female friend of mine had her kit arrive on her actual 50th birthday. She was annoyed so put the kit in the cupboard – out of sight, out of mind.

Also, people don’t like talking about poo. It is ok if you are travelling as you can go on endlessly about the different toilets, plumbing set ups and the gastro which meant you were not getting off the toilet for a few days. But people don’t want to talk about their own poo, whether they call it poo, poop, shit, faeces or doody.

So you know who is the best person to encourage the poo conversation? A five year old!

They will play with it, bathe with it, run with it, show it to you, take pictures of it … you name it, they will do it.

So let me be serious for a second, if you are older than 50 or know someone that it, can I encourage you to Put Your Poo in the Post?

Get a test kit from Bowel Cancer Australia, go to the toilet, channel your inner 5 year old, poke your poo with a stick, and then put your poo in the post. You could very well save your own life.

Dear reader, you are too important to those around you to postpone this because you are too embarrassed, too busy (it takes less time than it takes to make a coffee) or too scared to poke your poo with a stick. Check the video below for a bit more information.

At the very least you get to send your poo to someone. Haven’t you always wanted to Put Your Poo in the Post?

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