Miscellaneous Archives | Page 2 of 2

Australia – the lucky country !

Tomorrow is Australia Day and once again it is an honour to be an Australia Day Ambassador.

Here’s a link to my blog post last Australia Day

http://blog.jeremyrolleston.com/?p=232

I think representing Australia has made me a prouder Aussie than I was before, but that is not to say that I wasn’t proud before. Proud of the type of people Aussie’s are; proud of our peaceful, democratic country; and proud of everything that Australia is.

So Happy Australia Day – whether you came here 40,000 years ago or 4 years ago !

Are you asking the right questions ?

You may have heard the expression “If you ask a good question, you’ll get a good answer”. Well, with that in mind, guest blogger Tim Birch once again offers some great advice, wisdom and challenge for us around this topic. Over to you Tim …

Questions can be a powerful motivator if asked in the right way, context and by the right person…namely you!

The ability to ask the right questions of yourself when faced with challenging situations or when you require extra motivation, help you add the necessary layers of confidence that you need to propel you closer to your goals and dreams. If you’re able to ask courageous questions that cause you to then take positive action it will further reinforce your ability to achieve your desired outcome.

For example, questions are great at interrupting your thinking pattern and get you to focus on what matters. They also help filter the information in your environment; what you take notice of and what you ignore. Asking the right questions can also dramatically change the meaning you give to any experience and can cause a change in perception; ‘What can I take away from experience that will help me grow into the person I want to be?’

Here are four types of questions you can use in your own life:

1. Questions that focus your mind on solutions and get us to consider options: ‘What are five ways to solve this?’ or ‘Who else has done this and what can I learn from them?’

2. Questions that get us to take action: ‘What must I do right now to get the result I want?’ or ‘What is the cost to me not taking action right now?’

3. Questions that get us to take responsibility: ‘What can I do about this situation to turn it around?’ or ‘Who can I speak to in order to achieve the desired action?’

4. Any question that changes how we feel about an experience: ‘How can I learn from this?’ or ‘How will this make me stronger?’

Challenge: Remember, the deeper your level of self-questioning, the greater depths of self-awareness you’ll have to convert into actions. So what questions will you ask of yourself today?

‘Some men see things and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).

ACKNOWLEGDEMENT: The context of this post was taken from an extremely well-written and powerful book, ‘How To Take Control Of Your Brain’, by George Lee Sye…well worth a read!

It is more blessed to give than to receive

We have so much STUFF ! And so much that we don’t use or don’t need. Do we really need that extra gagdet, that extra dish or kitchen utensil, that next toy, more wine …

I have tried to start a tradition in our family at Christmas that we don’t waste money buying each other big presents that we don’t need but instead put money in to buy someone else less fortunate a present that they will truly value. We are so blessed after all. So after reading an inspiring post of Sarah Wilson’s recently I thought I’d share a thought. Why not buy an inspired gift.

Basically, you buy a gift for someone that goes to someone else in need. A goat. Or a bike! I do this at Christmas. Do you really need another toaster ? Does someone else at the wedding need another bowl ? Are there people in serious need in the world ? Are you blessed ? … then here’s a smart, easy way to bless others. (There’s lots of organisations that do this – Unicef, Oxfam, Childfund to name a few).

Here’s a few of my favourite gifts:

A Bike: $87. UNICEF has found that in some parts of the world a bike is one of the most important modes of transport for villages. It is particularly helpful for health workers to reach vulnerable children in remote communities. It is often used to transport other Inspired Gifts like the vaccine carrier.
Measles vaccines: $31 will protect 100 children from measles.
Family water kit: $127
Goat: Sarah tells the hilarious story of wondering how the goat she and her family gave at Christmas was going and of writing “sponsor letter” from the goat and posteding it six months later…”thank you for my life, milking time is always fun”…). Hilarious !

Here’s what others’ gift-giving antics delivered around the world last year:

So my challenge today … consider giving an inspired gift. After all, it is more blessed to give than receive and in any case … the fragrance of the rose always stays in the hand of the giver !!!

Driven by the pot of gold !

This is an extremely interesting video because it speaks of a couple of themes that I wrote about in my book ‘A life That Counts’.

Purpose Driven – each of us is unique. There is no one like us in the entire world. We have unique talents, characteristics, personality and make-up. And that is foundational for us to believe we have been designed for a purpose. Every one of us has an inkling that we were born for something bigger. And that drives us as much as chasing the pot of gold and being driven by money.

Deep Motivation – I have written before about how we are not driven solely by our words and thoughts. That emotions and feelings play a significant role. In fact, our emotions are our strongest, most powerful driver, and often drive us in unconscious ways, well before we are consciously aware of it. eg You don’t need to think about being hungry or tired or scared or embarrassed. These just happen unconsciously and it affects our emotions and our physiology. What this means is that our emotions (our heart) are our primary driver of motivation. This is reflected in deep passion as opposed to conscious motivation (trying to talk yourself into being motivated). That is where the expression comes from – ‘the heart is the strongest muscle in the body’. So never forget that we are driven more by our emotions than by anything conscious. (Knowing your ‘why’ and your purpose are reflections of this). With that in mind, is it such a surprise what this video talks about ? is it such a surprise that the carrot (eg money) or the stick (eg sacking) that most employers try to drive us with are not as effective as they might otherwise think ?

Making a difference – we all have a deep seated desire to make a difference in this world. To leave a legacy. To help others. To live a purposeful and significant life above our own. To live a life that counts ! This is not so surprising. So let’s embrace it and make a difference. For surely the world needs it. And after all – a waterfall starts with a raindrop. Every little bit helps. Be the difference you want to see in the world and let that reflect in your personal world as well as in how that translates into your business world with your staff / colleagues / how you do business.

Fire up and have a great week !

The Peru Bull Fight

Today’s blog is a little lighter. A bit of humour for you. Can you believe this. The things we do for fun hey !

Hope you’re smiling and have a great day.

Here's to the crazy ones !

apple ad think different 2

This video is interesting because it speaks of a number of things …

It speaks of knowing and finding the core, authentic you. That unique person that you were created to be, with your own interests, characteristics, talents, personality traits. After all, never forget, there is no one like you in the entire world. You are completely unique. Fashioned for a purpose. It is just up to you to find out what that is.
It speaks of never being afraid to be different. Of not being conformed and constrained by the limits that society places on us. The ‘should do’s’ and the ‘shouldn’t do’s’ that we’re bombarded with. The limiting mindsets and opinions that others like to place on us. The conventional thinking and the herd mentality that we so easily adopt.
It speaks of the process of initiating and inventing and creating. And it reminds me of the process of adopting change (Rogers model for the adoption of innovations) where at first people say that is crazy and ridiculous and then they sceptically try it out, before the majority finally adopt it and come to believe what the early adopters and investors said in the first place but were ridiculed for. Think about Bill Gates or ipads or iphones.
And it also speaks about how ‘Apple’ were positioning themselves in their advertising. They knew they were branding themselves as different thinkers. As being different. Speaking to early adopters. They knew their brand was about innovation and new and different. They knew ‘why’ they did what they did and ads like this merely brought this view to life. Very clever. Very effective.

Be inspired and be you ! The world needs it.

Santa Klaus, Jesus and tears

Have a watch of this video. I dare you not to be moved.

And now that you’ve watched it take a minute to ponder the following at this special time of year:

People will forget what you said and what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel
The best things in life really are free
There is no substitute for love in this world. At the heart of everything, that is what we crave
Give thanks for those in your life who love you and those you love
Will Santa Klaus bring you this or do you think we get carried away by the commercialisation of Christmas and forget what really counts
How is it that we forget the CHRIST in CHRISTmas. For he came, a king born in a lowly manger, to live humbly as a human and then to die a excruciating death nailed, whipped, bleeding and hanging to a cross … the real present of Christmas we celebrate – “For so God so LOVED the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him, shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas everybody.