John's Blog

When the goal is not "materialism," but "manifestation," the meaning of life becomes clear.  Chill! I'm not about to condemn the house, cars and other toys that litter your life. Materialism has a place in our world as the reward for the pursuit of fulfillment. Read that again.  People populate vision boards with "things" as the point of purpose. We get sold the dream of financial freedom as being able to do what we want, when we want, and how we want. And so the cars, houses, and luxury holidays take over the "meaning of life." It works so well for the most part, because it so closely imitates the truth. Yet, it subtly changes people's focus from purpose to purses.  Am I saying you mustn't pursue materialist wealth? Yes ... and no! The "goodies" will come into your life, of that I am sure. But they shouldn't be the aim of pursuit. "Things" are not the meaning of life, but the tools and reward for cre...

The saddest stories are the ones where people's dreams are on hold for "when it..." is ideal.  Every one has something that ties them down, occupies, and limits their ability to live out "the dream." Some are waiting for money, some are waiting for a golden opportunity, and others are waiting... just waiting.  Most people use dreams as a crutch to help them limp through the day. Others see their dream as the light at the end of the life tunnel. A limited few use dreams as a target to focus their efforts. For all of them, the dream is never realised.  We are not called to to strive for "I will," " I could," or even "I should." We are, however, called to live out our "I am." Our hopes and dreams are the the guidelines to do just that. By putting our dreams on ice, we freeze our true identity.  Dreams are God's vehicles that carry us to our purpose, which we "sell out" for that romance, for that bond ...

Social media, like having lots of money, does not corrupt people. It merely reveals the corruption that already exists. Social Media Safety Day, 11 February 2020, highlighted the precautions and roles that you and I need to take to ensure personal security, while enjoying the interactions and benefits of the internet life. The speedy advancement of technology puts people in a number of unique situations that we, the users, don't yet fully understand. The first of these predicaments is the power our hand-held device has to isolate us from the people that are in our physical and personal surroundings, while exposing us to a community of strangers as we engage from many miles away. Social media manipulates our inherent need for validation and support from our community to include the inauthentic and often cruel praise of the internet audience. The "likes and shares" of strangers on social media start to replace the affection and affirmations of loved ones that know us...

I'm doing a "100 Articles in 100 Days" challenge, with approximately sixty five articles left. "Why 100 days? Why not just 30 days like all the other challenges," I hear you ask. Let me explain:  First, leaders forge mastery, then, Mastery creates leaders.  The unique leadership model, the U49, guides potential leaders through a growth program, aimed at fostering focus, momentum and mastery, establishing reliability and reputation along the way. All of these elements need time and effort to grow ... enter the 100 Challenge.   The strength of the 100 Challenge is in the incredible personal growth and understanding the leader gains as they establish momentum in their core skill. It takes a minimum of forty days exercising a skill for it to become grounded. In other words, in the first forty days, you just start to understand the subtly of the tasks you do.  The next sixty days of the Challenge takes the growing leader beyond mere understanding, past s...

Walking along a desolate sandbar on the shores of an Indian river, Payeng's heart broke as he wept aloud for the death he witnessed.  All forms of reptiles and birds had died of exposure to a terrible storm on the river banks just days before. The cruel sandbank offered the animals no protection from the elements.    Fourteen year old Payeng went home and devised a plan. It was simple, he would plant and nurture saplings on the desolate sandbank until there was enough habitat to offer protection to all the animals. This plan would also prevent soil erosion on the largest river island, Majuli.  Thirty years later, Mr. Payeng has planted enough trees to create a forest covering 550 hectors, the equivalent of fifteen football stadiums. The Molai forest, created by Payeng, is now home to deer, tigers, rabbits, birds and more. How is this possible?  The dedication of one person to do something each day that may only make a small difference in the moment,...

"WTF!" This was my standard response to the "your-daily-habits-are-the -foundation-of-your-success" type leadership quotes, that is, until I discovered the power and purpose of mission.   My dad was a "stand up" guy when it came to work ethic. He would get up at four in the morning, do his daddy chores and still be in the office at 06:30 sharp. He was committed, determined and loyal towards his job, but he was just an average man and for all of his hard work, he never amounted to much.   I don't mean to sound ungrateful, nor am I attacking what my dad did to support his family. The point is that leadership quotes often imply that success is the result of hard work, but evidence in the real world suggests that success needs something more.   Shaun's dad was also commited to family and job, but with very different results. Shaun's dad worked hard at cultivating an attitude of service to others. He also worked to deliberately grow his s...

It's not in the comfort zone that you will discover your greatness. No! When standing amidst the lions in the den, you realise that the Power in you is far greater than the jaws of death.    It is easy to believe that you are strong, wise, or powerful while standing in the middle of your comfort zone, never confronting a real enemy in a real battle.    Very few people venture beyond the walls of the safe house to discover the true beauty of this life. Those that do leave are divided into two groups: the mad dogs and the patrolling lions.   Mad dogs are annoyingly easy to identify by the incedeous noise they make. They constantly bark about their feats of strength and victory, and howl about their greatness as a way to scare off potential threats lurking in the darkness.    Sadly, the mad dog is driven by his or her fears, and fail to discover who they really are as they hide behind the noise of empty boasting.   Mad dogs easily fall vi...

The call on each person to "influence and leadership" is not about bringing change to THE world, but rather, to change YOUR world.    The concept of leadership is misunderstood by most people to mean "those with global power and universal influence that control all the other little puppets in the world," instantly excluding themselves from the sphere of leadership and influence.    When thinking about leadership, most people imagine "world changers," like Ghandi or Bill Gates, but see themselves as having little or no influence. As a consequence, people believe that they are not leaders.    This perception is simply wrong.    When you realise that Ghandi and Bill Gates did not start their journey as "global influencers," but were merely people with a dream, you will recognise that they both answered a call to change their own individual worlds first.    Stepping out and acting on their personal dream allowed their influence t...

"Know thyself" is a critical key to success in life, love, work and play.     Success is like programming a journey on a GPS, it wants to know where you're going, and it wants to know where you are in order to pick the best route.    For the most part, people will clearly tell the success-GPS where they want to go. However, defining where they are - not as simple! The task of self-discovery can become a complicated and draining process when left in the hands of beginners.    "Well, I don't need self-development. I'm happy where I am." Okay, then you had better be happy forever more with where you are, because any change must come from within.     You can only take out of a bag that which is already in it. What's currently in your life-bag produces the life you have. If you want something else from life, you will first have to put something else into your life-bag.     Choosing what to put into th...

Why are we really here? To pay tax and then die?   Goodness! I hope there is a lot more to our existence on this odd little rock than death and taxes.     I used to observe those people that had clicked into a sense of their purpose with wonder.  Trying to find the common key to unlock my own destiny, I noted that just as many of the purposeful where devotees to some form of religion as those that were not. Spirituality did not seem to be a factor in discovering purpose.    A factor that did separate the purposeful from the rest was the intense sense of self they had.    The purposeful have a clear image of who they are, and embrace it without remorse, and without arrogance. Identifying their talents and abilities, the purposeful unashamesly pursue excellence, allowing their gifts and talents to carry them to the top of their field... and in no uncertain terms - to make a shit load of money in the process.    In contrast,...

My mantra for 2020: focus, momentum and mastery! Don't be misled - there is no such thing as multi-tasking, especially when it comes to pursuing your dreams. Multi-tasking dilutes your energy and resources making you less efficient and less effective.  Your dreams deserve laser-like focus, which translates into drama-ignoring commitment and relentless dedication to achieving what's needed today! The law of inertia tells us that a moving object needs less energy to keep it moving. Starting the process is tough! Suck it up buttercup ... create the momentum, get that goal rolling now and the rest will be easier!  Neither focus nor momentum has any value if you do a half-ass job! It's not good enough to "do your best!" Your dreams need ... no .... demand excellence! Become the best at what you have to offer and the best will be returned to you as an offering!!!  Package focus, momentum and mastery as part of your motivational drive this year and you...

Don't busy yourself with the "how" of your success, rather invest in the details of "what". And before you tell me you need the "how" to get results, do something for me... make your left hand into a duck-face, and let it quack 3 or 4 times. Now, how did you do that?  Yes yes, you can tell me about nerves and messages, and muscle control. .. but, howwwwww? You don't know, do you?  You just swallowed ... how? Blinked, breathed, and farted... how? How did you do these things? You maybe know the biology of the mechanism, but how? Ninety percent of what we do daily is handled by our subconscious mind. We merely think about the "outcome" or result, and our unconscious mind sets about implementing systems to achieve that result.  Why can't we use this efficient system to achieve our life goals? 🤷‍♂️ Well, that's the point! You can and should allow this mechanism to help achieve all that you want in life.  How?  Use ...

Creativity is an elusive and strange phenomenon that both eludes and tickles people. For most people a stroke of creative genius is just that, a stroke. One miserable stroke and then it’s gone. Forever. For a select few, creativity seems to be a fountain bubbling up in the centre of their being, constantly oozing out original results.    

Staying Relevant In A Rapid Changing World The pace of change is fierce and constant. A leader, a manager and even an employee has to develop a serious passion for change in order to remain current and relevant over the lifespan of their personal career. As simple as this may seem at first, it requires a mindset that is focused on development. Random and haphazard development is not sufficient to keep you up-to-date. The development should be specific and purposeful.

Business is a cold hard world of facts, calculations and evaluations with little tolerance for esoteric philosophies. Life Coaching and leadership, on the other hand, fundamentally believe in the unseen. Potential, beliefs and attitude are un-measurable forces that drive the existence of Life Coaching and leadership. As a Life Coach, we owe it to the business community to make the process and principles less ‘up in the air’, and a little more ‘concrete’. Dealing with Potential is just such one area that needs to be reviewed in Life Coaching. The Business World believes that Track Record is what determines someone’s worth, and not their latent Potential. This article serves not to evaluate the ‘truth’ within the statement, but rather to pose a question: If that was true, how would a Life Coach deal with this ‘reality’?

Life and Business coaching became an international “buzzword” concept in the early 90’s. As a psychologist, counsellor and pastor, I spent much of my time educating people on the concept of what is a life coach. Today coaching is common in the workplace, yet the need to define what coaching is has now come full circle. Sports coaching is well understood and an easy example for us to investigate. A sports coach passes on specific techniques, designs and oversees the athlete’s training schedule and confronts un-resourceful mindsets to replace it with motivated attitudes.

<< Leadership << 21 Laws to Leadership 3 Obstacles to Empowering Others “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” Theodore Roosevelt. The confusing thing is the Leader must fully own the vision in order to succeed, but the Leader must also share the vision by releasing it into the hands of others to achieve greatness. Empowerment of others is the Leaders most challenging task that will possibly bring some of the greatest rewards.