Do You Go To The Butcher For Bread?

Co Homa The Machan - That is Singhalese (Sri Lankan) for "Hello Good Friend".  Wifey and I are back from three fabulous weeks in Sri Lanka.  It was an amazing trip with far too much to tell in the Get more Goer, but there were some definite learnings to be had.

Most of our trip was spent with family.  Family are such wonderful people.  Sometimes they don't realise their kindness is killing you, or at least stifling you.  They love to save you from yourself and tell you how to live life or throw in a mixed message.  In Sri Lanka, food is love.  So every visit has a meal and you have to have two or three helpings.  Usually it came up in conversation afterwards how much I ate or how "big" I was.  EXACTLY what I wanted to hear!

Things are not that different in Australia.  When I first left the corporate world and set up my own business, my parents urged me to stay in the corporate world where the job was secure and the money was good.  They didn't say this to hold me back, it was said as a protective instinct.  They were fearful that I may struggle financially.  Frequently family are so protective of you or only want certain things because "they would be best for you".  Unknowingly, they can cause you additional distress.

My theory is, don't go to the butcher for bread.

What I mean is, you wouldn't get financial advice from someone on social security, you wouldn't get fitness tips from a chronically ill or unwell person, and you wouldn't take ethic lessons from a lifelong criminal, so pick who you turn to for support.  Sometimes your family is great for that and sometimes they aren't.  If your family have no experience as an exhibitor at a trade show or expo, how will they know what is "best practice"?  If your family have never sold services, how will they know the trick of the trade if that is what you are trying to do?  Sometimes you need a paid professional who will be brutally honest with you, sometimes you need a mastermind group to aid your progress and sometimes family CAN be of great assistance.

When you are next looking for support or resources for what you are trying to achieve, don't go to the butcher for bread!  Go to the leaders in that field.  Chances are much higher that they will have what you need.

What do you need?

What is All This About Climate Change?

You may have noticed that the weather has started to warm up.  Melbourne has had a very cold winter this year and many of us are excited about the prospect of temperatures above 15 degrees C!  But I noticed something during the cold spell.  Talking with friends they said, "It's been so cold I had to really turn up the heater."  Work environments almost had fights breaking out about how the heater needed to be turned up because it was too cold!!!

It got me thinking.

It seems more and more now that people expect a response on a larger scale.  I am too cold so I will turn up the heating in the entire house.  The office is too cold so increase the temperature of the entire office.  Our work culture is wrong so something has to change.  House prices are too high so the government should do something.  Something is wrong in the climate so the climate should change.

I strongly disagree.

I think if there is something wrong with the climate, then we need to change as individuals.  Ask yourself the question, what can I do about it?  If you are cold, put on warmer clothing.  If you don't like how things are done at your work place, change it (either the way it is done or your employer!).  It is time for personal responsibility.  What can we do as individuals that can impact our own personal climate?

You will find the change will happen quicker than if you waited for the larger scale response, and you can focus on what is really important in your life.

What changes can you make today?

Image: http://climatechange.dhigroup.com/ 

PS For those of you who based in Melbourne or who are in Melbourne on Tuesday 26th of October and want to find out how to give your next session some big change, come and visit me at Meeting Mart.  Tickets are free from the website and I will be exhibiting my wares as a Speaker and MC. For my Exhibiting clients, come and see how I do it and for my speaking clients, come and get some great resources from myself and others to make your next session fabulous.

When Was Your Last Holiday?

This blog comes to you while I am gallivanting around the Sri Lankan countryside.  I have left the computer at home and will be having three weeks to just relax.  But that is not the Australian way.  We call ourselves the "Lucky Country" and the image of going surfing, playing footy or just having a BBQ comes to mind when you think of Australian Lifestyle.

But research by the Australia Institute shows that Australia has that longest hours of work in the developed world.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that: 

Very long hours of work (50 hours or more per week) have become more common for full-time workers in the 20 years since 1985, particularly for men. In 2005, 30% of men working full-time worked 50 hours or more per week, up from 22% in 1985. Fewer women working full-time worked very long hours, with 16% working 50 hours or more per week in 2005, up from 9% in 1985. 

Personally, I have met people that wear their annual leave entitlement like a badge of honour!!  "I've got 200 days of annual leave owing! I haven't had a proper holiday for 15 years!!!"
That is INSANE!!!  You need rest and recreation because it is Re Creation.  It rebuilds yourself and restores your energy.  In Australia, we typically get four weeks of annual leave a year.  I believe you should have all four weeks in that year.  No matter how important you think you are, the place will not fall down without you!

So what about you?  How much leave do you have owing and when will you take your next holiday?

Enjoy!

People are Lovely!

Hi All


I find Marketing to be a delicate balance between telling people how damn good you are and humbly sharing the results you have been able to achieve.


In this vein, I wanted to share with you some lovely comments I received after MCing and speaking at a conference.  Here is what the lovely people said:

Why Would You Tear Them Down?

Last week wifey and I had 18 trees cut down out of our front and back yard.  It was not something we did lightly and it does prompt the question, "Why would you tear them down?

The majority of them were pine trees planted as a hedge over 20 years ago.  It was a great idea.  It gave extra privacy from the neighbours and passers by as well as some wind protection.  For the first couple of years they did their job well but over time, things changed.  The owners of the house got new tenants in who didn't prune the trees as they needed.  The larger trees dropped more needles.  The ground beneath the trees stopped growing lawn as it was starved for nutrients and sun light.  The path under the trees was not maintained and over grew with weeds and the trees grew so tall that they blocked nearly all the light from the northern sun.  With minimal light, moss started growing on the roof and on the path up to the front door making it slippery and unsafe in the wet.

What started as a great idea grew way out of control.

Have you ever seen this happen in the work place?  A system, process, work idea, project, guiding principle or cultural element of an organisation starts off well, has great intent and then becomes the nightmare of the business.  I have seen in many times.

Sometimes a "mild trim" is not enough, you have to rip it out at the roots and start again!

So wifey and I are now planning the redesign of the gardens including replant more suitable and more productive trees.

What about you?  What behemoths need to be torn down so fresh new ideas and practices can flourish?

Image: Warwick Merry 

Why Not?

Last week I said goodbye to an amazing friend of mine, Jen.  She has battled four different types of cancer over the last 10 years and it finally took its toll. Yes it is sad that she died, but let's face it - we are all going to die one day - so the reality is that it was inevitable.  What is more important was that she lived!

Jen was one of us mere mortals.  She was not a super star athlete, actress, model or other demi-god type of person.  She was an average everyday woman who put on her pants one leg at a time.  She had her demons like everyone else.  She had several husbands, a couple of kids, many jobs, a few retrenchments, and all the other fun stuff that comes with life.

But as her son so eloquently said at her funeral, she had a mantra for life that never failed her.  That mantra was "Why Not?"  

When she was told that she shouldn't drive her campervan around Australia on her own for almost two years she asked, Why Not?

When she was told that she couldn't beat the four different types of terminal cancer that she had over the years, she asked her doctors, Why Not?

When she was asked why she had purple streaks in her hair that changed all the time, she asked Why Not?

After some major surgery on her throat that left major scars, she stuck on some Frankenstein type bolts and went to a party. When people said, you can't dress like that she said, Why Not?

Too often we let the people who love us, who care about us, and sometimes who ARE us, stop us from doing things.  It is not safe, it is not natural, it is not normal, it is not socially acceptable, it is not what business people do, it is not what we should do, it is not how we should be seen, it will scare people away, it will attract too much attention, what if it doesn't work.....  You have heard all of the reasons.

The gift that Jen gave me was "Why Not".  I would love to pass it on to you.

When you are told you can't do something, simply ask "Why Not"?

Do You Look After Your Self?

I was suffering from Man Flu last week.  Men are always the last to know that they have it.  Luckily wifey was able to point it out to me.  It is when a man has a slight cold but they think it is the end of the world!!

Now I am not a believer in "Soldiering On".  I believe that when my body is ill I need to rest and let it get better.  Consequently I cancelled several business and social appointments.  Now I could have gone along but was just not worth it.  There was a slight chance I could have infected the person I was meeting (and depending on their air conditioning system, half of the people on their floor too!), I would have been foggy headed and not had my wits about me for the meeting and most importantly, my body would be straining to "Soldier On" and not simply recover.

So I stayed home, taking my hippy pills (horseradish, garlic and vitamin C) and let my body rest. Three days later and I was feeling fabulous.  Compare that to many who Soldier On and "just can't seem to shake it".

When you get ill, do you look after yourself?  Not just when you have a cold (or Man Flu) but also when you are grieving, distressed, or just need a doona day.  I am not saying we should all have a sick day. What I am saying is you HAVE to look after yourself and do what it takes to maintain a healthy body, mind and spirit.

How well do you look after yourself? 




Image: www.justonemore.info