Lifestyle

December 13, 2018

The Evolve Or Die Manifesto

Habits, Leadership, Lifestyle chaser, development, direction, goals, growth, manifesto, resolutions 0

“They call every genius crazy” – Kanye West

The highway to the resident genius within you is a massively messy ride. The path to personal heroism and private elevation is confusing, uncomfortable and dangerous. And my loving (I really do love you) and deeply sincere suggestion to you is that, this way of living out the remainder of your life is the wisest and bravest decision you’ll ever make.

Your very legacy depends on this one choice. It does.

Not sure if I’m being super clear for you here, as I wish to be. So allow me to break it down to little bits. We live in a broken world that tries to make us conform to its brokenness:

1 –we flee our creativity and purpose through an addiction to escapism on our phones, mindless video games and following the days of people we don’t even know on the “social” media who only show you what they want you to see from their un-perfect lives; because we all have parts of our lives that are under construction.

2 –a person who fiercely protects their productivity, ferociously expresses their greatest talents and joyfully does work that serves many is considered weird or a show-off.

3 –someone who works really hard, shows up early, over-delivers on expectations, has good manners, sweats tiny details and keeps their promises is called strange.

4 –one who verbally appreciates people, smiles with radiant positivity and looks people in the eyes versus down at some device, wears their feelings on their sleeves and stands for a blinding love of humanity is considered a freak.

5 –an individual who dares to be an individual, soaks in their originality and pursues their own colourful vision of a glorious ambition is labeled an eccentric.

In a damaged world a truly high-functioning human is not only vastly misunderstood. They are seen as broken or a misfit. See, the job of society is to get you to fit in and never stand out. The main aim of our culture is to produce factory workers who think like the herd, behave like the crowd and smother the fire for outright greatness that is the natural birthright of every one of us.

“Don’t you dare think you can play at world-class”, they tell you. “You come from a 3rd world country”, they tell you. “It has never been done before in your lineage”, they tell you. Be not so foolish to believe you can do work that wows, have health that soars and a life that allows you to feel alive. And make history in your own unique way not what society tells you.

Nope, this society we are in wants you to:

1 –Stay on that phone, enslaved.

2 –Numb out those feelings.

3 –Block those brave thoughts.

4 –Stifle the big ideas that would allow you to own your industry and sphere.

5 –Dismiss your instincts to choose mastery over mediocrity of your craft.

6 –Close that heart that longs to open and connect.

7 –Miss the breezes, avoid the magical moments, starry nights, simple food beautifully prepared, children laughing in a playground, a wise book that stirs your soul, music that makes you want to jump like you were 5 again.

8 –And definitely, don’t talk to strangers.

This is the world that we are in now, where the need to fit in is greater than the need to stand out. Now I need you to understand this, I’ve never said I was a guru at this. Never. No interest in that. No need for you to applaud me, appreciate me or elevate me. I have my talents. And I have my flaws. I have my precious hopes for the future and carry the scars of my past cuts. Very imperfect. Just a man. Trying to be a light.

I love the line that says: everyone seems normal—until you get to know them. All I’m saying in this message is this, the things that make you a misfit in the eyes of the majority are the very things that make you special and great, beautiful and a standout. These are your gifts.

Maybe today, you and I will start honouring how we’re built. Celebrating what makes us who we are. And cherishing our personal wiring. George Bernard Shaw made the point so much more brilliantly than I can in this moment:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

In 2019, if you are to have what very few have you need to do what very few do. By these words I mean that to experience the rewards of the top .001% of producers on the planet, think Mandela, Gandhi, Musk, Branson, Serena, Messi, Da Vinci, Basquiat, Dangote, Masiyiwa—and that legendary Starbucks barista at the Melbourne airport named Alya who utterly models possibility, you need to get super-cool with being an outcast. And this is because every visionary is first ridiculed before they become revered.

So if you want your next year to be different I also strongly encourage you to let go of all your excuses and make the choice that will beautifully and swiftly elevate the rest of your life according to the purpose within you. There is only one you, and only you can do things the way that you do. So go out there and be unapologetically YOU.

If this post validates the way you would really love to start living and if you feel you’re finally ready to express your gifts, declare victory over your fears, feel extraordinarily happy, strong, peaceful and rise to a way of being that’s world-class then share with us your story in the comments section. We would love to hear it and cheer you on.

August 30, 2018

Think Legacy

Habits, Leadership, Lifestyle, Motivation, self growth leader next, leaders, leadership, self acceptance 0

“I have had more problems with myself than any other man I have met.” – Anonymous

Personal development may start with you but believe me, it will outlast you. The planning you do today to become a better you tomorrow is not only shaping your future but the future of the generations that follow you. The New Living Translation of the bible says in Luke 7:35 “But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” This verse resonates deeply with all those committed to the leadership value of responsibility.

Self-leadership is defined as having a developed sense of who you are, what you can do, where you are going coupled with the ability to influence your communication, emotions and behaviours on the way to getting there. With this in mind, I have come to the conclusion that the first problem you must solve as a leader is the problem of you! Your leadership is a direct reflection of yourself. The good and the not so good. It’s the reality check of leadership, isn’t it? Self-leadership, therefore, is where your leadership begins.

Here is what I have learned about self – leadership and legacy thinking:

Secret One

Have a healthy and maturing sense of identity. Your personal identity or sense of self is your leadership. The way you see yourself is the way you engage with others. The way you inspire yourself is the way you inspire others. The expectations you have of yourself is the expectations you have of others. The judgement you hold to yourself is the way you judge others – Your leadership is the overflow of your personal identity. This all works well when your sense of self is healthy. In other cases, this translates to the impact you can have on others.

Secret Two

Be realistic and optimistic about your core strengths. The principal of “thirty, sixty and hundredfold” gets discussed in ancient wisdom by a brilliant leader named Mark. He outlines that it is possible for a life to be effective on levels. Apply the same principal to capacity. You have built-in skills and capabilities (the faith world calls them gifts) that you will naturally use and gravitate to. Those skills will give you a particular outcome in life.

Personal growth is most effective when you are clear about your natural hard wiring. For example, I am more calculative and creative than verbal. More conceptual than spatial. More introverted than extroverted. I have learned my strengths and my spiritual gifts and how they interact with my passions and life themes. The point is you have to know what your natural disposition is. You must be thoroughly aware of what your core skills and competencies are. You are not good at everything and no one expects you to be. However, what you are naturally good at may I respectfully suggest you owe it to the world to be the BEST you possibly can be.

Secret Three

Take full responsibility for your attitude and actions. Winston Churchill said “The price of greatness is responsibility” To make progress you are proud of you must be responsible for the creation of that preferred future. The moment you begin to believe that the results you are experiencing are in some way because of someone and something else is the moment you step out of the self-leadership groove. I learned this the hard way by the way.

You abdicate your results to something you have no power over whatsoever. This is the antithesis of self-leadership. The results you are presently experiencing are the results you most want. That belief alone can be the turning point for you and your leadership. Any honest appraisal of life will turn up areas that require growth and development. This is normal. The critical issue is taking responsibility for what and how you experience in the future. If you want it to be different, do something different. If you want the generations after you to be better then start thinking and doing differently.

Secret Four

Have an influential group of peers to be accountable to. There are two types of emotions around outcomes. The pride that comes from a mission accomplished or the regret of a lost opportunity. Accountability is designed so you feel the pressure and pain to perform early enough to ensure you give your best effort to achieving the meaningful goal. It is that pain and pressure from people that love you or the pain and regret of having missed the moment.

Learn from the missed opportunities and moments. But by no means make it your permanent address. Develop a small, influential group of people around you who you will listen to, learn from and at times submit to for your own benefit. They love you enough to not let you off, to not let you believe your own tweets, posts and grams and to care you get to the desired future you so bravely pursue.

Secret Five

Never stop learning and applying new knowledge. Self Leadership requires consistent application of knowledge. As you plan your life, set your course and clarify your milestones make sure you are creating space to be inspired and instructed. Inspiration gives you the energy to make the cage. Instruction gives you the information. Combine the two and jump! Fail fast and fail forward. (Thank you, John Maxwell.)

Be quick to learn. Quick to apply. Quick to teach another. Perhaps develop the culture in your accountability group that shares new learning’s with each other as fast as you get them. Discard the unresourceful ones. Sharpen your focus on the ones that make the biggest positive. Whatever you do, always be learning and integrating new. When the time comes for you to pass on your knowledge to the next generations, trust me, you will be a fountain of wisdom because you did not choose to lead others before you led yourself. We would love to hear about your journey to a better you, drop us a comment and share with us.

August 16, 2018

The Ubuntu Effect

Leadership, Lifestyle, Motivation life, oneness, people, ubuntu, way of life, we are one 0

“I am a person through other people. My humanity is tied to yours.” – Ubuntu, an African Proverb

Hope I find you well today, and while I have you here I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, you are enough. Yes, you are. Really. The bad news is, you are not complete. Sadly, you’re not. You are probably wondering where I am going with all this but let me break it down for you.

You are enough. You are designed with dignity, deeply embedded purpose and intrinsic value. You know this if you’ve ever held a child, in particular, your own, and we also know this if you’ve ever farewelled a loved one. Life has inherent meaning and people have value, and treating one another with that sense of equality and inclusivity is essential to how we live and lead our lives.

And, in what might be a paradoxical twist of fate, you are not complete. There’s something in us that needs love, acceptance, value and inclusion of, and by others. We’re deeply tribal in our being and we know it. Jim Rohn said, “Each of us needs all of us.” which I believe to be a true statement.

There are many organisations that have focused on dynamic and healthy human interaction. These organisations are simply saying that loneliness is increasing, and it’s not exclusively focused on single people or those who live alone. Equally, the proliferation of screen usage seems to be encouraging a disconnection from the very thing we need to stay well; grow in a healthy way and become more rounded and whole, and that is face to face relationships.

Pete Shmigel says “Relationships, frankly, are inconvenient,” he said. “Society values convenience so much that we actually seek to make things so convenient that they actively seek to avoid human relationships. We need to have the stickiness, the gooeyness, the conflict that comes with engaging in actual human relationships.”

One temptation leaders face, is to think they are ahead of or above the people and organisation they are leading so much so that they don’t need them. To believe you need nothing from others is a dangerous place to be in as a leader. Isolation is very, very costly for you as an individual, the people around you and also the unit you lead as a whole.

In the book “The Village Effect” Susan Pinker likens this disconnectedness to ‘a pack a day cigarette habit’ with all the resultant problems that come with it, and the antidote is real and ongoing, with face to face relationships. Pinker tells us that, “Chronic loneliness alters the expression of our genes in every cell of our bodies”. And not in a good way; as well as this, two neuropeptides – oxytocin and vasopressin – are secreted in the bloodstream when we form and maintain meaningful relationships, and these chemicals help to counter stress and repair wounds.

We live in a health-obsessed age in which we are assailed by reports that tell us what we should and shouldn’t eat and drink and do if we want to live long and well. But one of the principal determining factors for both are our social networks. Not those mostly illusory ones that exist on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but those that involve physical meetings.”

The need to belong to a tribe; to experience equal parts of giving and receiving, to rejoice and weep, to celebrate and be celebrated, to have iron sharpen iron, IS part of the leadership experience. It transcends circumstances and personality and invites each one of us on a leadership journey towards humility, vulnerability, authenticity, courage and wholeness that we only know on the other side of leaning in. You are enough. But not complete. Leaders use their ‘enough’ to help ‘complete’ – and that is something we can ALL do.

We would love to hear to hear your thoughts, feel free to get in touch in the comments section.

July 26, 2018

7 Benefits Of Taking A Break

Habits, Leadership, Lifestyle, Productivity, self growth, Spiritual barriers, chaser, Dare, development, Different, entrepreneur, growth 0

“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”- Sydney J Harris

Last week I have shared with you why it’s my belief that taking a break from your routine will be the smartest personal and professional investment you can make in your busy life. This time around I will show you what to expect from a time away. Why? The time to refresh, reflect and reconnect with the exciting future you can share is by far the highlight, it provides uninterrupted time to carefully reflect on whom you need to become and your contribution moving forward. What are the main learnings and benefits from this time?

1. DISTANCE– To create a healthy disconnect with the past.

Transitioning and re-engineering anything takes time and effort. It also takes wisdom, courage, grace, humility, perseverance and flexibility from everyone included in the process. This isn’t just a leader-centric experience; the whole team experiences it. This could be at work, home or in business. That said, there is a unique role for a leader to take a specific position to hold to, based on the discernment and convictions that they hold. In doing so, a leader experiences the highs and lows of change. A break allows you the time to freely process the positives, the negatives and everything in between. Having that time and space has allowed one of the most helpful experiences any leaders can have, PERSPECTIVE. To enjoy a healthy distance from the recent past so you can lead to a healthy, positive, bright future is a critical lesson from a break.

2. PERSPECTIVE– To reflect more deeply for on what matters most.

As previously noted perspective is a vital leadership currency. Executing a game plan is more challenging in the trenches than it is in the “war room.” Time away from the day-to-day demands of leadership. One of my favourite cities in the world is New York City. Don’t ask me to explain why I have loved that city for years. Life on the street is very different to life on top of the Rockefeller Centre and it’s different again from a helicopter up and down the west side of Manhattan or from the ferry back from Lady Liberty. The difference is PERSPECTIVE. When you can see clearly, you can see further. When you can see further what is in front of you makes more sense. Perspective serves the future because it puts it in context, gives it meaning and invites the energy to make it happen.

3. TRANSFORMATION- To have resource and energy to focus on personal development.

This lesson is a two-sided coin. One of my highest value lessons at this moment is personal responsibility. I am learning that you and I are ultimately responsible for the outcomes we have. Whether we like them or not and a time away allows the two dimensions of leadership to play out. The role of SELF-leadership and the reason WHY you’re leading. As any type of leader, this is a delicate paradox. Too much focus on self is unhelpful and difficult to justify when the ones that follow you do not see the benefit in doing so. And, if you and I aren’t in a healthy place as a leader we cannot carry the responsibilities we have forward as well as we hope. A break serves this process because it allows you to focus on yourself for a purpose. Similarly to a car, you focus on its health and longevity because of what you intend it to do. The better you look after it the more it can produce. To reflect, pray, consider, think, decide and act are all healthy parts of self-leadership. To do these things with a clear answer to the questions “For what purpose?” is even better.

4. CLARITY- To decide what goes on the “not to do” list.

Made famous by Jim Collins the “not to do list” is a list that lives in many organisations that declare our intentions to stay focused and disciplined in the pursuit of our preferred future. That’s really hard work in my experience. And I think I’m average at best when it comes to a, not to do list. I see opportunity everywhere, I make decisions based on possibility, not resources, I think through events and environments based on what COULD be not what is. That makes a not to do list hard. And they are still critical. A break provides the room to really, really, really consider what is mission critical. It creates the distance between activity and revelation. A break stokes the fire of courage to make the necessary changes when you return. As I experience it, a team does this better than one leader. You need a team around you with opinions and insights and convictions that help shape that list then hold you accountable to it. Jim Rohn got it right when he said: “each of us needs all of us.”

5. VISION- To think harder about what to be and do in the future.

Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion. Think of it this way. Activity – Action = Assessment Having time away from activity and action allows time for assessment. How are things really? How are our families? Our teams? Our staff? What is the quality of the most important relationships in your life? In addition to those questions, you get to reflect and do some work on the following insights. What specifically is God calling us to be? Who am I called to be? Where are our brightest opportunities? What are our biggest obstacles? How do we develop people to serve and influence in ALL spheres of life? What’s preventing us from growing? If we made only THREE changes in the next season what would they be? A break creates the space to think about your “being” and not just your “doing.” It invites you to make the meaningful important again and assess how everything lines up with what your convictions are and what your direction is.

6. PREPARATION- To take the time to articulate the next best steps.

The purpose of unplugging for a period of time is actually, to plug back in. To return with a clear sense of what to do next is essential for any leader. In my earlier post 6 Reasons To Have A Break I talk about the danger of overload on return. Now that you have returned it should be an exercise in sharing what the experience has made clear and then submitting it to our core leadership team to be rigorous around what happens when. Lean into your team, your board, your management team, whoever is your key decision makers to discern and decide what happens when to who and how it gets communicated. Be clear, be courageous. Your next steps are important ones.

7. FAMILY- To invest significant amounts of time into the most important relationships.

Of all the roles a leader has. Of all the roles I have, the role of husband and father tops the list. A break provides the time and space to employ the “be with” factor. You get time to go to sleep and wake up every day as a family unit. You get to share memories, friendships and sights together. You learn new words and phrases. You see a big world. You laugh, you cry, you have all the important little moments between the big activities. You have unhurried conversations with your spouse. You are fully present (I hope) to them and as attentive as possible to what was happening to them, not just with them.

There are many ways to make a break work in your world. When you do I trust you experience some of these things and they serve you as you serve others. If you have any amazing sabbatical stories please share them with us in the comments section.

June 7, 2018

How To Keep Yourself Motivated to Stay Fit and Healthy

Exercise, Fitness, Habits, Health, Lifestyle chaser, Different, exercise, Fitness, goal, goals, growth, gym, health, healthy, lifestyle, motivation 0

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth”. – 3 John 1:2

For many people fitness is a goal that is difficult to achieve, mainly because it transcends from something that you love to something you love to complain about. The good news is you are not alone in this, even the fitness junkies have bad days too. Sometimes you ’re just tired, sick, or just plain not in the mood. But too often, we tend to associate fitness with the negative—as a means to an end: to lose weight, build a better body, or fend off disease.

And even if you are being paid to be an athlete, a love of a sport can turn into something everyone dreads: WORK. Somewhere along the way, you can lose sight of the positives. And making fitness something you see as fun can help keep you moving, research finds. Of course, motivation can also wane because of day-to-day obstacles: You don’t want to sit in traffic all the way across town to the gym, you’re missing plans with friends by working up a sweat after work, you’re dreading that 10km run. In that case, you need to attack the obstacle head-on: Bring your bike to work, try to exercise in the morning, or—if it’s really the actual workout you’re dreading—change it up. You could be doing the wrong workout. Fortunately, there are tips on boosting motivation even on the days all you want to do is stay in bed and chill.

Plan Your Workout

It may sound like a no-brainer to lay your clothes out the night before or leave your gym bag hanging on the front door, but doing so means you have to confront it on your way out or the minute you wake up. This not only makes a work out harder to ignore, but it keeps you on schedule. You should also attach reason behind your desire to work out. So change your vocabulary from ‘should’ to ‘want’: I want to complete this goal or I want to be healthier. Keeping this reason in your mind is motivational.

Be Realistic and Set Attainable Goals

Research demonstrates that when people write down their goals, the probability that they reach them increases. Doing this makes your goals more concrete—and it keeps you accountable to yourself. Just make sure the goals are attainable. If you set out to lose 20 kgs and you go to the gym for a week and haven’t made a dent, that can be de-motivating. So smaller, short-term goals work best both for weight loss and fitness gains, studies show. Work with a kg a week, this will keep you motivated to keep going because this is realistic and attainable.

Starve Your Distractions

These lazy moments usually creep in after you are in a comfortable position, so if you work out in the morning do not snooze in bed. Get up and get going. If you work out after work you are obviously tired from the day so minimise going to other places that will make you comfortable or where there obstacles. Go straight to the gym and rest there, it is important to make sure you set yourself up to get there.

Remind Yourself of That Good Feeling

Don’t feel like working out? Tell yourself you don’t have to do much. That’s right. Literally, say: “You know what, I’m not going to do my full workout. I’m just going to do my cardio warm-up and if I still feel like bagging it, I’ll come back home.” Chances are when you get to the gym, you’re going to do the whole workout. Think about this: Finishing up a killer run, sweaty and breathless, endorphins flowing, ready for a shower. Most people who have worked out have at least had some moments where they felt incredibly good after a workout. Remembering that moment clearly and attaching to it can help you get your sneakers laced up and ready to go.

Rest

Can’t get yourself up to hit the weights? Don’t go. Really: It’s OK to not go to the gym on those days you’re feeling out of it. A dangerous mindset with a lot of people is when they think: If I don’t go to the gym every single day, I’m not hardcore or dedicated enough and won’t get my gains. The truth of the matter is that recovery matters. You just want to watch out for this becoming a bad habit. But on those days you’re just tired—and you’re healthy and everything else is good—it’s OK to take a day off.

The best project you can ever work on in life is yourself: mind body and soul. As you grow yourself and continue to be busy with your grind and hustle do not forget to exercise. It might seem expensive or a waste of time but in your old age, you will be reaping the benefits of that discipline. Please share with us your fitness hacks and how you keep fitness wheel spinning.

March 5, 2018

Be Different, I Dare You

Blog, Buisness, Lifestyle, Technology, Work bold, Dare, Different, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, life, lifestyle, original, Real, true, work 0

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Being different is nice, it’s actually not bad at all. In a world were people judge others by their outward appearance; what they wear, complexion, what kind of job they do, their kind of lifestyle and stuff like that, it can be difficult for one to fit in if they’re different. It can also be difficult for one to feel good about themself or to have a sense of belonging in a world were following trends is considered the ‘norm’. What’s good about all this is that everybody sees the world differently from their own perspective. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another.
Rejecting or not following the trends of the world can be difficult. I believe it takes self confidence and self love to be able to stand out. If you love yourself and if you believe in yourself you can be unstoppable.
Dare to be confident-dare to be different. Being confident means accepting and appreciating yourself for who you are. It also means believing in your own skills and ability to do things iregardless of what’s going on around you. In this regard, being different or not following the trends of the world is no challenge at all. When you demonstrate certainty and belief in yourself you don’t give room for other people’s opinions and views to define or control you and or what you believe in.
I think most people end up getting caught up in the ‘web’ of following the trends of the world because of the desire they have to keep up with others. The need for love, acceptance and having a sense of belonging can contribute to that too.

I believe being confident starts from within. It starts with you. What do you think of yourself? When you look in the mirror what do you see? Do you feel good about yourself? Do you love yourself? If you feel good about yourself and have positive vibes it will be easier even for the world to love and accept you for who you are.
Dare to be confident-dare to be different. Be able to reject the trends of the world, follow your heart and soul. Think positive. Take risks and don’t be afraid to fail or make mistakes. Focus on yourself more but don’t be selfish. Do what makes you happy. Love yourself, be able to be completely yourself at all times-no pretense. Feel good about yourself. You are unique in your own way, own that! Don’t compare yourself to others, there’s nothing better than standing out from a crowd. Be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everyone else.
Dare to be confident-dare to be different!

January 4, 2018

Evolve Or Die, It’s Simple

Technology, Work business, development, goal, goals, growth, inspiration, motivation, personal growth, self acceptance 1

Raise your hand if you are tired of being stagnant or seeing very little growth. As an aspiring entrepreneur i have come to the realisation that there are two realities of corporate strategies that ring true in any and all industries when it comes to creating successful companies. Those realities are: few things work and nothing works for long. So you either evolve or die, the decision is yours.

What works today didn’t work ten years ago and definitely won’t work ten years from now.

Promotional strategies, inter industry alliances, legal loopholes and board member’s battering chips are forever spinning and mutating and like Zen seem to change shape just as the issues that make a strategy’s template seem to be defined and duplicatable.

So what does that mean for you? You will need to constantly update your technologies. Always get the opinion of different peer groups who represent polar opposites in the market place before you roll out a new product or service. Before you make a decision have a backup plan and a backup plan to that plan. have your CFO’s work audited by outside sources. Run credit checks on executives before they are promoted and find out if they are trying to live above their means, if so, they have the ‘grass is greener’ disease and will never be satisfied and will always be looking for a better deal.Employees like this can’t be trusted to help carry the company.

If you are a business owner, the key is to find and hire someone that is more qualified than you to run and grow your company. Also always have multiple revenue streams, do not put all your eggs into one basket. If you are in the service industry, diversify by offering some products. If you are in the product industry (retail type) partner with some service oriented companies to earn commissions off their efforts and your customer base.

Always be on the lookout for strategic partners and never be afraid to network.Keep updating your business plan. When raising capital stay out of debt and offer equity instead and when you offer equity in return for investment, pick inter industry alliances to raise capital from. Use a publicist and publicise everything. If you can’t afford a publicist put out press releases keeping your industry and potential clients informed of what you are doing.

If you want your venture or business to succeed you have to be willing to adapt, you can’t look to friends or family it is all about adjusting the vision, if you fail this your business will not survive. For success in the twenty first century, you will need to adopt professional business methods and seek others who believe the same way. You need to invest in your own education, books, memberships, and mentorship. Ally yourself with likeminded people and immerse yourself in the subject of internet marketing.

Take action on this growing knowledge, implement the business methods that you master and that you can fit into your business today, that will help you to build traffic, build a list of prospects, and build a relationship with and therefore allow you to market to your prospects.

Share with us your strategies and plans for the new year in the comments section.

January 4, 2018

Biggest Tech News Of 2017

Technology amazon, bitcoin, crypto, metoo, silicon valley, tech, trump, twitter, uber, vr 0

As the world said goodbye to 2017, it’s amazing to think just how much happened in tech that year: From the new U.S. president making tweeting a partisan issue, a once-geeky cryptocurrency called bitcoin seeing its value blow the roof, to across several industries, long-whispered stories of sexual harassment and culture problems finally being spoken out loud.

Here’s our list of the 10 most exciting tech news of 2017, enjoy.

10. The Big Product Launches

Starting things off on a positive note, our 10th-most-important story of 2017 was the arrival of several major consumer products: Tesla launched the Model 3 (although deliveries are behind schedule); Samsung launched two phones (and neither of them exploded, thank God!); and Amazon and Google went in headfirst into hardware. Without a doubt, our highlight was the long anticipated launch of the new iPhone X

Coming 10 years after Apple launched its flagship device the iPhone X was received with mixed feelings, first was the many glitches that were evident right at the product launch then getting accustomed to not having a home button. This has proven a challenge for even seasoned iPhone users on things like getting rid of screens or simply coming out of one. That aside the phone is all glass, comes with lots of bells and whistles and is also a good size. It might not be the smoothest transition for many but keep in mind there is a learning curve to everything.

9. Amazon Is Taking Over the World

Amazon did extremely well in 2017, they had their hand in almost everything you can imagine. In apparel, the e-commerce behemoth long ago surpassed Macy’s as the biggest retailer in the category, but now boasts multiple billion-dollar clothing brands of its own, too.

Amazon Alexa, the popular voice assistant, has overtaken Google as the most-used search engine — or voice engine, as they now say. It’s everywhere and powering the brains of everything.

Yet those weren’t even the highlights of Amazon’s year, their CEO Jeff Bezos, the architect and leader of this business for the last 23 years, reached deep into the heart of the grocery industry and snatched a challenged Whole Foods off the sale rack for nearly $14 billion.

Yes, the deal was big. Yes, it was bold. More surprising to me, though, was the rare public white flag waved by Bezos, one of the richest humans alive, by looking to a brick-and-mortar retailer for help; after 10 years of trying and mostly failing at making grocery delivery a workable business, this was a “We can’t do this on our own” moment.

Amazon also unveiled a barrage of Alexa-powered devices and splashy TV campaigns, spinning the ridiculous idea of talking to a speaker into the future of computing.

I could go on and on about Amazon’s 2017 triumphs but I’m sure you get the gist.

8. “Fake News” and Trump on Twitter

What happens when your favorite social media site is overrun with politics? That’s a question Twitter power users have been wrestling with all year, as the most influential tweeter, U.S. President Donald Trump, has turned the service into his personal bully pulpit.

With that came the abuse of the phrase “Fake News” which in simple terms undermines the credibility of the mainstream media and has been President Trump’s go to phrase. It was so bad that at some point a former Twitter employee “temporarily” suspended President Trump’s account and later said it was a mistake.

7. Tech’s Mixed Bag of IPOs

Amazingly there weren’t many new start ups on the tech side in 2017 but there is a few of the few that are worth mentioning. The four we chose are Blue Apron, Snap, Roku and Stitch Fix. Although it’s too early to say what will happen to Stitch Fix, which went public in November, CEO Katrina Lake has already become an important symbol for female entrepreneurs.

6. Russia and Their Gadgets

Think of something “untoward” that happened on the internet in 2017, and there’s a good chance that Russia was involved in some way. But as congressional and internal investigations into the country’s 2016 election meddling continue, we may have to accept that we may never know just how much the Kremlin-affiliated Internet Research Agency has done or is doing to the web.

Though we have stats from Facebook, Twitter and Google’s testimony to Congress, there really isn’t any real proof to show the actual extent of their reach and the amount of damage that could have been caused.

5. Virtual Reality

VR is finally here and while the launch of head-mounted displays (HMDs) hasn’t been without plenty of problems, there are enough options on every front to give the technology a chance to truly get into the hands of nearly everyone. If you’ve already taken the dive, you probably know how cool VR can be, but we’re still just skimming the surface of what’s actually possible.

This year could be make or break for VR though. Now that PC-based HMDs like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, along with mobile sets like the Gear VR and, of course, Playstation’s VR have been out long enough for developers to really start to unlock their potential, 2017 should really let VR shine with innovation.

Microsoft did not makie any console-related VR announcements until they were ready to talk about their super-enhanced Xbox One (their so-called ‘Project Scorpio’), but Sony jumped right in with their PS VR. 2017 was also the year Google really showed off their mobile VR platform, Daydream, as more phone makers release compatible devices. Daydream was also supposed to give Samsung a good push to evolve their Gear VR platform for this year.

4. Bitcoin and “Cryptomania”

Imagine an alternative to money that is out of the hands of banks and governments, that can be accessed virtually anywhere via internet. That and many other factors led to the interest in bitcoin and other “cryptocurrencies” going mainstream in 2017, sending the price of bitcoin up from underneath $1,000 at the start of the year to more than $24,000.

This has caused a surge in internet activity world over as people are slowly moving from stock investment to cryptocurrencies, but this again has also caused a rise in scammers and people losing hard earned money.

3. The Tech Backlash

You might not have heard about it, but there was a WiFi connected juicer that used single-serving packets of chopped fruit and vegetables sold exclusively by a company called Juicero through a subscription program. The Juicero Press launched at a stunning $700 a piece and came with fruit and veg packs that had to be scanned through a QR reader before being used in the press.

Due to slow sales of the expensive device, prices went down to $399 but that wasn’t their only problem. Experts began to scrutinise the juicer and found out it was not a necessary device as the contents of the packets could actually be squeezed by hand with very similar results as using the juicer.

On September 1, 2017, the company announced that it was suspending sales of the juicer and the packets, repurchasing the juicer from its customers and searching for a buyer for the company and its intellectual property. This is after they had received $120 million in start up venture capital just 3 years earlier. I guess Silicon Valley isn’t as easy to be part of as people make it seem to be.

2. #MeToo

The viral hashtag MeToo came after the explosion of stories shared by harassment and discrimination victims on Twitter and Facebook. This was in the back drop of many high profile celebrities had also been caught up in these harassment scandals.

2017 was the year the lid was blown open on all kinds of harassment issues, not just tech, but media and across other industries too. The question is we don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it seems likely to get worse in 2018.

1. Uber

Scandal after scandal rocked the former darling company of Silicon Valley from an executive shakeup, pending lawsuits to the belated disclosure of a major hack of their driver database.

In positive news though, SoftBank, a Japanese telecom giant and its co-investors successfully acquired 18 percent of Uber, a major victory for Uber’s new CEO and one that will give billions of dollars in cash to some of the company’s earliest investors and employees. SoftBank will occupy two seats on the company’s board and will now be an extremely influential player in decisions at Uber.

Hope you enjoyed our compilation, please leave us a comment if we left out anything of interest.

January 2, 2018

10 Ways To Achieving Greatness

Lifestyle goal, goals, life, lifestyle, personal growth, plans, self acceptance 0

Success of any form has been the driving factor for human will and determination. One way or another we want to be good at something or remembered for something. I have noticed though how so many people are more concerned and comfortable with planning their vacation but are totally clueless when it comes to planning their own lives. Often they find out too late that there is not much structure or order in their lives to help them achieve their dreams and desires and this leads to them spiralling into a rat race.

So how do we get out of this mess and get our lives back on track?

Below i outline 10 ideas to help you set goals in your life and hopefully this will turn yours around in no time. Lets go

1. Make a list of things that are really important to you.

This seems simple but usually turns out to be the most difficult bit of this exercise. Here you have to differentiate between your actual needs and your wants. I will not get into detail as to which is which but i will ask this. What is really important to you? Is it Family, leisure, personal development, business, your career or retirement? Write that down so that you do not lose sight of where you are going.

2. Set timelines to your goals.

Remember very well what you want to achieve, what is your goal? The more concrete the better. Consider then what you must do to achieve this and stipulate a realistic timeframe. Many people set goals but do not set timelines which easily falls into chaos.

3. Visualize yourself in the future.

E. Nightingale concluded after a study of what makes people successful: “We are what we think.” The image that dominates our brains most of the time is how we end up. Therefore, seeing where you want to be in life is crucial in achieving success. It helps us keep the most important things in life on our mind. Nightingale says that the easiest way to achieve our goals is to pretend we have achieved already. In other words, walk, talk and act like you have experienced all the success you look forward to. This act is a self fulfilling prophecy: where if you cannot see it then you cannot believe it and achieve it.

4. Breakdown your goals to milestones.

By making a list of things you care about, you start creating images in your mind. These allow you to convert knowledge into targeted action. When your goals are planted in your subconscious they will make you take action. Your behavior is influenced by your subconscious mind and the thoughts and ideas that you have in your subconscious – positive or negative-determine your actions. So take your goals block by block so that you do not suffer from burnout.

5. Create your own storyboard.

Take blank paper and paste pictures from magazines, books and newspapers on things that you want to achieve. We humans once thought in pictures. In this way, you will always visually inspire and motivate yourself to achieve.

6. Write to yourself how your ideal day must look.

Now this may sound weird but learn to write to yourself in the present tense, as if it is so. Try to involve feelings, senses and emotions to it. What you hear, what you taste, what you feel? write it down as a reminder to yourself of where you want to be.

7. Purposefully plan every day.

Every morning and every evening visualize what your goal is and how your ideal life looks like. Make it a priority to be intentional in everything you do, you need to be thorough in outlining your day. Understand that very few things happen by chance, so it is up to you to increase your chances of being lucky by planning. Make it habit to make up a list of at least 5 things you need to achieve in the day, in order of importance.

8. Be realistic.

The worst from of self sabotage is chasing unrealistic goals. Learn to be objective in your thinking, this will allow you to adapt to changes in your circumstance or environment. By all means dream big so much the your dream scares you but be practical in the realisation of that dream.

9. Evaluate your actions.

Evaluate every week and month of your progress, what went well, what wen wrong and why, what can you improve. If you get stuck, ask for help, it is not a sign of weakness but it actually shows how much you are willing to put in to make things work. If something is not working, try something new, do not waste time and resources on things that do not bring you positive returns. Do not be afraid to try new things.

10. Never give up.

Everything takes time, focus on your actions and not too much on the result, if you do your everyday actions and learn from them, soon you will see the result. Always trust the process, regardless of how long it will take you, take it one step at a time. Remember, the whole world is waiting for you to become the best version of yourself, so do not stop at nothing. Be who you are destined to be.

How have you brought structure and order into your own life? Share your tips and hints in the comments.