Tunnel Vision

Tunnel Vision is defined as the tendency to focus exclusively on a single, or limited objective, or view.  It can sneak up you, especially as you become more focused on a goal or dream, which you are entirely sure in your mind is possible and achievable.  Yet as you tunnel, you focus into this objective and you may easily lose sight of the many and varying aspects of life and that as your goal begins to come good for you, so too it may have an effect on others around you.  It may even be that as your focus is more direct, so too the other people around you, may adjust or change their own lives and focus and this can influence their decisions such that in turn, they realise that it is in their own interest to pursue dreams and goals, in another way or form.  In essence we need to be focused on our goals, because they will never be achieved if they simply remain ideas on a paper, or words uttered.  There is action required and it needs to be specific and purposeful.  However, we need to have intermittent times when we open our goal and vision to others that are important and give them the chance to either participate in the dream, or at least to understand in what way this vision may affect them.  We also need to listen to how they react when asked about the vision and whether they have truly captured the essence of it and support the dreams for the future.  The reason that it is important to remain caring about others is because there times when the tunnel becomes very dark and foreboding as life challenges us and makes us know that we are merely a small part in a very big picture and during those times it is the people that you have involved in your vision and plans that will be there to shine the torch on your circumstances and keep the side of the tunnel from falling in around you.  The final important thing to remember about tunnel vision is the word 'vision'.  The tunnel starts and ends with a  vision - you need to have one to be able to enter into the challenge ahead of you, but while you are in the tunnel, you need to remember that there is another end, which is projecting light and even if at times the tunnel is dark and from around the corners you lose sight of the light, you can always trust that the opening at the end will be welcoming and fulfilling, if you keep trying and stepping forward each day.

DANGER ... DO NOT HALT!!

Life is a risk!  Every venture and plan has risk that is for sure.  There are obvious things that we can do to negate or manage the risk.  There are processes and systems and precedents you can follow, but ultimately it the courage to succeed and the willingness to set a course that you will not deviate from, that distinguishes moments of comfort, from great feats.  There is little point in putting together a plan or dream which contains very little in the sense of progress, victory and happiness.  It makes sense going into any plan, to have tried to mitigate the risks and considered the various permutations, but if you are in a team, you will not always know exactly how the other person will react in the same situation, or whether they actually have a different plan.  As long as the destination is the same, it is healthy to have the ability to be somewhat flexible and with the knowledge that there is a solution for every problem, but it may not be that your solution is the right one for the team as a whole.  Manage the failure and laugh at the face of adversity because it only temporary.  Take your mind off your own concerns and look a little wider to some of the folks that are around you and try to help them succeed.  See what they need and what they bring to the party and you will draw hope and encouragement form others around you.  In short make sure that your definition of RISK is a REALISTIC INTENTIONAL SENSE of KNOWING.  Realistic in that there is little purpose in reaching for a dream which far exceeds your abilities, but climbing towards something that is almost unattainable is actually well within your reach.  Intentional in that you plan and commit to a vision, or plan, or goal.  Sense is to remain positive notwithstanding adversity and no one has ever succeeded without a positive approach or steps.  And finally Knowing as when you truly know that something is right, then there is little point in holding back, but rather to get on and at it!

A new week a new dimension.

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.  There are times in our lives when our creativity and capacity to grow and achieve goals is heightened by a new experience or a new point of reference.  We perhaps come into a new knowledge about our business, or career and we become determined to take it further, so that our picture expands and our confidence to succeed grows. This may be as a result of realisations about our business, or a better understanding of our surroundings.  It may be that we receive information, which allows us to understand our industry better, or it may be through hard work and dedication, that we finally crack through into the place, where we need to operate from and to grow exponentially.  It does not mean necessarily the makings of a giant corporation, but it does mean improvement in service, structure, reporting and information.  It means giving clients and customers the thing that they want most from the experience and in so doing, that they will connect or create opportunities for others to come into contact with your product, or business.  Simple things like using the tools and skills you have developed or learnt and turning them into profit accumulating assets.  It means that we learn to manage our time far more efficiently and optimising the number of hours in a day to penetrate the industry.  It means not necessarily spending as much time as possible staring at all the mountains, in order to achieve, but rather taking a step over the first then the second and then the third stone in front of us, until we do finally scale the mountain.  Don't be afraid to focus on the exciting and the mundane parts of your business.  Make time for the routine and daily admin matters, because they will ultimately develop discipline and good habits which are needed to run an organisation successfully.  Find positive and necessary distractions to make the days manageable and exciting, and never deviate from the belief that with the right team, a whole lot of attitude and a passion for success, the chances are, that your dimensions are about to be expanded beyond your belief.

Lets try to commit Harakiri!

I am not one to criticise SA constantly because I live here, make my living in this country and do not think that there is a better place in the world, but sometimes it becomes a bit much and surely we need to draw a line somewhere.  Between the fact that we had no electricity for more than 24 hours because on an undetermined fault at a local electricity box and despite the phone calls and reporting the problem the technicians, are working on the problem.  This sort of constant non performance at local authority level is driving the country into the ground.  There just has to be more accountability and better maintenance and service delivery.  We are all sick and tired of the basics not working.  To make matters worse I then had to endure strange and inconsistent judging at a local ballet festival and left me thinking again how it is that basic standards and integrity need to be at the heart of this country, but it can never be, because right to the top of leadership in this country, there is far too much corruption and downright dishonesty.  So why would there not be the same in every area of society from policing, to business and general mores (customs).  No sooner had I endured my afternoon and thought that a positive gym session would rectify my negative thoughts, I then had to suffer the total embarrassment of South Africa producing another string of firsts at the World Cup opener, and all for the wrong reasons.  Not only did we concede more points than in any other world cup encounter, and suffer a loss in our opening match with the most capped and experienced team ever assembled, but we manged to do it against Japan who have only ever won 1 match in world cup history and that against Zimbabwe.  We better be grateful that they are not in our pool, or another upset could be on the cards.  And to make it worse for me was that Japan has an arrogant Aussie coach, who somehow gets them to play confident rugby against us.  What more will I see!  I know that rugby is merely a game and lights do go out elsewhere in the world and judges do make mistakes, but this is all too common in our country.  It is time to take a stand and be the incredible nation of winners, to stop raising irrelevant issues like apartheid and quotas and previous disadvantages and to start raising the standards of this rainbow nation one small step at a time.  Eventually we will find that all the little stones that we climb over and get over, will result in us eventually traversing a mountain.  And no more sushi for a few days!!

Seconds out ... Round number...

You can run but you cant hide.  This was a saying in boxing to indicate that you could try to stay away from your opponent, but eventually he would corner you and hit you.  Well a certain Floyd Mayweather may well have dispelled this theory to the world, because even against the greatest opponents he just seldom seems to get hit.  This led me to thinking that maybe this saying need not necessarily be a defining situation in our lives.  We are all confronted at times with problems and very difficult times and decisions and we say that inevitably, we must stand and face them to conquer them, but what if one could settle for staying away from confrontation and rather focus on avoiding conflict and a whole lot of pain and rather put yourself in a position where you can exercise your abilities and skills in a positive way and one in which the environment is positive and yet challenging, demanding yet successful and dynamic yet flexible.  I do believe that if we spend enough time focused on the important things, like doing our homework well, knowing what the obstacles and challenges might be and being dedicated to significance instead of purely on success and profit, then at the end of the day the success will follow,  A reputation for integrity, honesty and willingness to work hard, are all essential tools for making us a better fighter in the ring, but it does not imply that we need to knock out every opponent.  Battles may be won in a variety of ways in business, as in life and we need to use all the experience, skill and training to ensure victory. However, first and foremost, we must want to win and never give up on the possibilities of going head to head and coming out on top.  When you're in a 3 by 3 ring fighting for your life, you need to be able to adjust, change plans and adapt to the challenge in front of you.  You need to stay in control because an angry, bitter fighter will not have the edge in the key rounds.  Rememneber to fight each round and fight to the end - you cannot give up on a dream, or goal, or a victory once you have set your mind to winning.

What does Trip Advisor Say?

New People, New Energy and New Surroundings.  These things tend to herald a new season after a lot of testing and consideration and sometimes equal a new chance at happiness.  We should not be afraid of these things because they can be truly positive.  We have a chance to interact daily with a number of people, some we have no choice as they may sit next to us, or occupy the same office space or classroom.  Others pass by us through meetings or casual interactions and some, being family, we get to interact with whether we want to or not. None of these interactions are bad or negative - they can in fact be just the opposite, but the reality is that they become comfortable and habitual.   There may be a new opportunity to connect with someone that you have not seen for a long time or that you meet at a function or event.  Take some time to connect and find out about the person, who they are and don't be afraid to ask questions that are relevant and of interest.  You may not always have an instant friendship and the goal in life as one gets older is not the number of friends you have but the quality of the friendships.  Yet still there is much to learn from others and you never know the impact they may have, or the opportunities they may present, or even the doors that they could open.  Interactions like this mean very often that there is a new energy and a bit of excitement about.  Creativity flows and potential sits in wait for us to exploit and take hold of.  The energy I am talking about is fresh ideas and directing the energy time we have, to the passions that make us alive.  It is very easy to slip into a daily routine of ensuring that our immediate surrounding and life are secure, comfortable and with as little risk as possible.  But this is not always the place where great goals and dreams are established, or even implemented.  You may need a change of surroundings to ensure that happiness can follow.  I'm not advocating selling up and moving to Europe necessarily, but what works for you and your closest family, or in business simply making some considered changes (maybe even a plant in the office) or taking time out to do something other than work, to open your mind to what you have and how you can improve it.  Time away could help to bring your goals and dreams closer to your purpose and should they collide, the happiness may blow your mind.

Step it Out!

While many people are waiting for an escalator, winners know that the key to success is to climb the stairs. There is, it is said, no escalator to success.  Most people are looking for the easy way to success or getting there in life.  If you are impatient like me then you tend to believe that every day may, should and must be the day when the rest of your life can begin and that your ship will come in.  Sometimes you may even feel that the world owes you this one thing that you want so dearly, but yet every day you continue to climb stairs that seem to go on forever. The better road is one of small and slow steps, day after day planning and thinking clearly about where you want to go and how to get there.  It is best to enjoy the process, because that is what it is.  You need more than a single goal, you need many and a series of targets to achieve, before the journey is complete.  Sometimes the goals comes fast and easy, but mostly they take effort and a willingness to endure the process, without backing away from the challenge.  It was Mohamed Ali that said, "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier  to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power they have to change it.  Impossible is not a fact.  Impossible is not a declaration. Its a dare.  Impossible is potential .  Impossible is temporary.  Impossible is nothing."  No matter where you find yourself, you can accept that the flight of stairs continues ahead of you and the most pointless thing that you can do is to stop and turn back down the stairs.  The only way is to take another step tomorrow towards the top of the stairs and enjoy the process  as you go.  Besides going upstairs will make you fit, it will develop your body and it will afford you the opportunity to grow.  In the process it is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves.  A certain Mark Zuckerberg said, "The biggest risk is not taking any risk.. In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks". We are living in those dynamic times and it is absolutely essential to have a good strategy in place, if we are going to achieve the visions and goals that we have for our lives (note our lives) - we must be vigilant about the changes happening around us and we must adapt our strategy accordingly.  A clear but flexible strategy hugely improves your chances of success.