Insights from the “Cat in the Hat”

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”

Dr Seuss

If you don’t like green eggs and ham just say so! Otherwise you will end up eating something you don’t like just to make others happy.

Being authentically real means that you always remain true to yourself.

There are many pressures today for us to blend in and not make a fuss. We may choose to shy away from the lime-light and opt for a quietly desperate life! Desperate because it is not who we are. Deep down we want to shout out loud our excitement for life and our passion for living a life of meaning. Continue reading

Inspirational Quotes

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined he will meet with success unexpected in common hours”.

Henry David Thoreau

This quote is one of my personal favourites and one I use when the going gets tough. It encourages me to keep on moving in the direction of my dreams even in the face of adversity. I share this with you in the hope it will likewise help you to keep on moving forward despite the challenges being thrown in your way.

Setting Expectations

In my experience from having worked in a number of legal practices in NZ one of the most important tasks that a professional adviser must do right at the outset is to set proper expectations not only for the client but also for himself/herself for the completion of the task at hand.

You should consider not only what is the client looking for in seeking your advice but also what their time-frame expectations are. Both should be discussed fully with the client prior to taking on the job. One of the biggest sources of complaint in any professional advice industry is the failure to deliver what was expected and/or the failure to deliver within the required time constraints.

Lets be honest one of the professional adviser’s most important tasks in providing high level commercial advice is “Risk Management”. When significant amounts of money and reputations are at stake the potential risk for clients and advisers alike is high. Continue reading

“To be or not to be..”

That famous Shakesperian line “to be or not to be that is the question” contains within it a a very profound truth.

We are all human “beings” yet we seemed obssessed with “doing”. Maybe we should call ourselves “human doings”. Me thinks its “much a do about nothing”!

Seriously though – we are advised that to “be” happy we need to relentlessly pursue our goals and achieve our dreams of success. Of course even when we arrive at our destination happiness is fleeting before we are consumed with the need to propel ourselves forward again in search of that elusive buzz caused “happiness”.

Happiness is just one of the many other emotions we can experience as a human being. Emotions are fluid. To be fully functioning we should be  prepared to open ourselves to each felt emotion. The key is to finding a balance. Like the song goes ” there is a reason turn turn turn for every season under heaven – a time to laugh, a time to cry….”

So if happiness is transitory where should we focus our attention? Continue reading

It’s all about leverage!

The shortest way to create growth in any business is to harness the power of leverage. Imagine a see-saw – on one side is your business and it’s potential growth value and on the other side is you. In the middle is the fulcrum which is the centre point of balance.

In simple terms how much weight do you need on your side to lift your business off the ground and to move it up to a point higher than the central balance point? The longer  and heavier your leverage plank the easier it will be to move the business plank up beyond the balance point – the tipping point. Continue reading

The Extra Degree….212 degrees

“The 212° concept is one of the most powerful communication concepts that I’ve ever experienced.

  • At 211 degrees…water is hot.
  • At 212 degrees…it boils.
  • And with boiling water, comes steam.
  • And steam can power a locomotive.
  • And, it’s that one extra degree that…
  • Makes all the difference.

And, of course, so many times, in business and in life, it’s that one extra degree of effort that separates the good from the great.”

– Mac Anderson

Often we reach a point in the pursuit of our dreams when we are tempted to just give up. It’s all become too hard. I have been in exactly this position on several occasions during my journey to live a life of purpose and meaning. It’s easy to just convince ourselves that its just not going to happen and then give it all away. We retreat to our comfort zone and make excuses which for us justify our lack of persistence. Continue reading

Bad Habits

“Sow a thought, reap an action, sow an action, reap a habit, sow a habit reap a character, sow a character reap a destiny” anonymous

Habits have a powerful influence over us and are sometimes responsible for keeping us heading in directions we don’t want to go in. They are like well trodden paths that we keep returning to because the going is easy and we don’t have to carve our way through new growth which requires more effort. Continue reading

Inspirational Quote

“The difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. The difference between the two is the difference between living fully and just existing”.

Michael E. Gerber

To Resource, or Not To Resource?

How often do you hear the comment from business owners – “I’m so busy that I don’t have time to………………..” I had just such a comment made to me this week by a client as an excuse why he wouldn’t be turning up to our regular coaching session.

My response to him was “That’s great that you are so busy as that means money is coming in through the door. However, if you are too busy to work on your business because you are busy working in it then you have a different sort of problem that will eventually stop your business growing”. Continue reading