John's Blog

As a life coach, I often deal with people that are crystal clear about their wants, while oblivious to what they need. This awareness is a result of focus on the rewards without recognizing the efforts that will give them the rewards.  What we want and what we need are not always the same thing. Someone may want a nice new car, but what they need is a job to pay for the car.  In many of the coaching sessions that I offer, I find that people come seeking goals when what they need is clarity. They feel a lack of ambition when actually it's a lack of focus. People want to give up for a lack of feedback when the root is a lack of momentum, and they complain about a lack of support or poor response when it's a lack of communication.  At the root of goal achievement, or success of any description, is the foundation stones of clarity, focus, momentum and communication.  Do you want to level up your success?  Stop, take a deep breath and ask: what lies below my wants ...

It's amazing how quickly carrying a kid on your back around the zoo can drain your energy and enthusiasm. The same is true for your vision, but the ones you piggyback don't always deserve the lift. Momentum-leeches will ride you like a vision-uber, with no interest in your goals, and will desert you when they get to their destination at your expense.   There are few things in life that are as infectiously beautiful as a playful puppy, a baby laughing, and someone with a vision. The energy and vibrancy oozing from a new visionary is attractive, designed to draw in a capable team, enthusiastic supporters, and willing sponsors.  Once your vision gains a little momentum, it gains the attention of those around you. Excitement, hope and structure drives you to your end picture, and attracts help and opportunities needed to turn your vision into reality. It also signals the momentum vampires to move in.   Arriving with fanfare, energy thieves blister you with complim...

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...

Get out the box - Part 1 So many people get caught in "a rut," trapped inside the box of complacency.  We are conditioned by so many areas of life to stay inside the box that we are never surprised by the realisation we are in a rut. Rather, we are shocked by people able to break free of their of their confines, and puzzled by how they achieved this feat.  Sadly, people resign themselves to be slaves of their confinement, but not due to unwillingness or a lack of effort. Surrender is often due to a lack of understanding. Simply put: people just don't know how to get out of their box!   When effort is wasted and people are confused, the box remains king. Focused effort will surely free you from the trap of complacency.   To help lazer-tune your focus, be aware that the sides of the box that keep you prisoner have names. These names will give you a clue as how they fool you into surrender.   The four sides are:   - a lack of instant feedback ...

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...

Our personal development and life success is directly linked to the statement: "I am the way, the truth and the life."    Each of our missions in life uses this legendary quote as a map to growth through: focus, momentum and mastery.    Just in case the process is not clear: focus equates the way, momentum equates the truth, and mastery equates the life.    Some people incorrectly hold the belief that we must first discover truth, which then magically opens "the way" for us. In reality, we need to progress along the way in order to discover our personal truth.    Testing the leadership model, the U49, I set out on a personal growth path, exercising my mission as I went. I had preselected a random mission as part of an experiment to prove the effectiveness of the leadership model.    The experiment required me to dedicate one hour a day of focused time and effort, performing the various tasks within my selected mission, for a p...

In the dying seconds of the game, the team's star player does a twist, fooling the opponent. The star sidesteps another challenger, and with a flourish - scores again!    In the after-game interview, the star player tells how being in the "zone" gave them "move-prediction" powers, supported by super strength and stamina, making winning a sure thing.     As "fans" we swoon at the thought of our star's abilities on the field, and at their charisma off it.    With glittery admiration we wish, oh, we so wish we were them for a day! Would you want to have the skills and abilities of a great sportsman or woman for a day?    Would you like to jog onto the pitch, walk into the office, or swagger into the arena, knowing you were empowered with your hero's abilities, skills, or focus? Of course you would! We all would like some hero's ability in one form or another! That's not the question we should be asking. The real question is: wh...

So, what's the purpose of laws? We have general and specific laws. General Laws are set in place to help govern the general population, and to create a certain level of predictability.  What do I mean by predictability?  If we consider traffic laws, as a example, you quickly realise that knowing the laws, and assuming other drivers know the laws, we gain an ability to predict what other drivers are thinking or are going to do. When everyone follows the laws, we know cars will stop at red lights, allowing us to go safely. Indicators gives us insight into people decisions and we adjust accordingly. Speed limits help us evaluate and predict how we should join the flow at a junction.  Following the laws allows us to "prophesy" about peoples intended driving behaviour. However, if drivers intentionally or unintentionally break the laws- chaos follows!  Laws, however, are not physical forces controlling our behaviour. Laws are cognitive ideals that require...

Life and love don't get meaning from ckearly written definitions. Life and love get meaning from principles.    I watched a documentary of a man, who once played Jesus of Nazareth in a movie, in search of the real Jesus. In the documentary, the actor told of how he researched every portrayal of Jesus he could find, because he wanted to get the "character" just right. He wanted to portray Jesus perfectly.     In the movie, the actor puts very little into the actions or emotions for the character of Jesus, choosing rather to only imply action, emotion and intent, leaving the character of Jesus open to interpretation.     The actor knew that viewers would project their own meaning and intent onto the character.      In the reviews, critics and fans called it the best movie of the life of Jesus ever made. It would have to be so ... because the actor gave us "our own version" of Jesus... we would have to award it the best rendition ever...

Putting a price or value to what you do is based on a very simple formula: (how much others need what you do multiplied by how well you do it) divide by how easy it is to replace you.  So, lets consider a street sweeper: (it a needed job-but could be replaced by machines 4/10 X he does a goodish job of sweeping 6/10) / anyone could do it!!! So 0/10 = 0!!!! The income size the sweeper would earn is very low.  You have a skill or an ability that could benefit others, and earn you an extra income. Maybe you work at this skill, but its likely that its left to gather dust with all your other hopes and ambitions.  Make this year the year that you invest in your talents and abilities in a way that will bring you a tidy return.

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...

Personal & Leadership Skill: Collect, Organise, Analyse and Critically Evaluate Information Regardless of the position we hold at work, we all deal with information daily. A massive amount of information is passed back and forward on a moment by moment basis. Information and its assimilation is big business. If you are in business, if you work or even as a student, you will constantly deal with this skill. Efficiently collecting, organising, analysing and critically evaluating information can mean the difference of starting a new trend in your industry or being a tail-end trend follower.

As every successful athlete knows, as every great salesman has experienced – there is a fine line between failure and success. The difference between a failure and a successful task balances uneasily on the golden pivot of timing! As in sports or in sales – when to lead is as important as how or where. Timing carries with it the potential of four possible outcomes:

  It is safe to say that being busy does not mean you are productive. It must also be said that leaders never reach a point where they do not have to prioritise their activities. A diary full of activity doesn’t guarantee accomplishments. In fact, the higher you climb up the successful leader ladder, the more important successful prioritising becomes. Pareto’s 80/20 Principle suggests that 20% of your effort will produce 80% of your rewards. There is   a big “BUT” attached to that principle – but you must select worthwhile activities that will bring reward. So, how do you, as a leader, select the “better” activities to get more bangs for your sweat? By utilising the 3 R’s of Priority of course. The 3 R’s of Priority are three questions the leader can ask to determine if an activity is really worth the effort:

<< Board of Brilliance , Life nt lived in shadows John's Board of Brilliance Life is not lived in someone else's shadows... a 1:41 video.

4 Dream Killers for Potential Leaders and Winners With so many people content to live inside the box of Averagedom, it must be comfortable and appealing, right? Yet, studies show that more than 47% of people are discontent with their life and personal achievements. If so many people are unhappy with who they are and what they have achieved, why don’t they do something about it? Is the box so rewarding that people settle for second best for their lives? Or are the obstacles that prevent people from getting out the box so powerful?  It is true; many people choose to remain average throughout their lives. Although there are many reasons for people to stay inside, this article explores 4 difficulties people have trying to get out of the box. These are not the only reasons people struggle to break free from mediocrity, but they offer an insight to the most common barriers to success for potential leaders and winners.

The Top-Down Effect has confused and baffled leaders, managers and development consultants for years. It is simple in its form yet produces powerful effects. It is a phenomenon that naturally occurs in the business environment that can either make or break culture and brand strategies. The Top-Down Effect silently strips away the layers of jargon and ideals within a company to reveal the authentic intent and style of those at the top of the organization.

Authentic Leadership - The Dark Horse There is no doubt that there is a science to management that takes time to master. The demands from industry forced pioneering managers to take up the role of leader too. This thrusts a set of 3-balls to juggle in to prospective entrepreneurs' hands that are still trying to navigate their way through the terrors of marketing, branding, culture building in the circus of digital business. "Leadership" was not a term forced onto grumpy autocratic managers to make them more likeable. Rather, the ability was recognised and noted as masses started to follow key individuals that shaped our history. As an entrepreneur, I don't mind telling you that I think the role of manager is easier to master than it is to quantify the role of leadership. It is difficult to teach old dogs to engage in the lives of those they manage, but it is even harder to groom authentic leadership. This is the 4th ball potential leaders need to learn...

I have had a constant 15 year battle to be true! No, I am not talking about speaking honestly. I am not even talking about acting in an honest manner that shows integrity. These things are second nature to me and I assume that those around me do their work and conduct business in a manner that promotes honesty and truth. This battle that I have is more personal than integrity and honesty. This battle is less about truth and more about congruence. What is congruence? Wikipedia states that congruence is the state of agreement , or a state achieved by coming together.

There are many factors that generate and affect our behaviour as humans. Our age has a role to play in our behaviour and attitudes. Gender also has a role to play in the way a person behaves. The basics behaviour generators in people also include: Culture, Religion, Social Economics, Health and Education. The importance of these factors in our lives is born out of / comes from our very core - Values and Beliefs.