John's Blog

  The Power of Focus: The Game-Changer for Success in 2025 Success is built on four unshakeable pillars: clarity, focus, momentum, and influence. Of these, focus is the keystone, the one that holds everything else together. Without it, your momentum falters, your influence wavers, and your vision blurs into a distant dream.  Focus is the fuel that powers action and the light that cuts through the chaos. If you’re a business owner or someone with a big goal in 2025, focus isn’t just important—it’s your superpower. Why Focus is the Cornerstone of Success Let me ask you something. How often do you feel like you’re juggling too many balls at once? Meetings, emails, social media, family obligations, that new business idea you’ve been dreaming of—it’s like you’re spinning plates, praying none of them shatter.  Here’s the hard truth: scattered energy leads to scattered results. Focus sharpens your actions like a laser. It aligns your energy, time, and resources toward what t...

  5 Bold Ways to Supercharge Your Self-Development Are you stuck in a cycle of "almost"? Almost reaching your goals. Almost feeling fulfilled. Almost living your dream life.  Self-development isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. And the most successful people out there aren’t just lucky—they’re intentional. If you are going to reach beyond "almost," you will have to be deliberate in your growth.  Here are five bold, unorthodox ways to elevate yourself and unleash the version of you the world’s been waiting for. 1. Stop Reading, Start Doing Books, podcasts, and courses are great, but they can become your comfort zone. Are you hiding behind learning instead of living? The Challenge: Pick one concept you’ve been absorbing—just one—and act on it for a week. Post about your progress online to stay accountable. 2. Audit Your Circle Look around. Are the people in your life helping you grow or holding you back? It’s time to assess your relationships with brutal honest...

 After talking about the buildings he owned and the deals he just struck, the arrogant young man asked what my greatest achievement was.  If I were a poor man, I would have told him about providing for my family and bonding with life long friends, as a poor man's success is often in the power of relationships and connections.   As a rich man, I would speak of my cars, houses, buildings and businesses, because a rich man's success is measured in the objects he accumulates.  Stoic wisdom and ethral connection to the universe would be the spiritual man's motivation as he recounts the time he met God.  What would you have answered?  It's a tough question to answer if you are not clear on what success means to you.  So, here's a little exercise to guide you. Take pen and paper and set a timelimit on a stopwatch for 30 seconds. Start the timer and write down 3 goals for yourself before the time expires.  Did you do that?  Now, put each goal u...

Manifesting your desire needs knowledge of three things; know where you've come from; know who you are; and know what you want.  Jack and Sally are a young couple struggling through a turbulent life, with hopes of better things to come. It's been a wrestle to get where they are now, and for the most part, they are positive the situation will eventually turn around.  Once in a while, Jack will sit down to check if he is steering his life in the right direction. On one such occasion, Jack spoke aloud to himself, asking: "why isn't my dream manifesting?" "Well, what is your dream," asked a little voice. Shocked by the question, Jack looked around for the source of the voice, eventually noticing a little ant watching him from the table.  Amused by the talking ant, Jack said, "I'm not sure what I want, but I know that I'm sick of the results I have." The ant studied Jack for a moment, and then asked, "Well, who are you? What ...

Sometimes, love is like giving water to someone that has a cracked cup. They can't quench their thirst, because they are broken, and incapable of drinking the water.   People are offended when those of low self worth don't respond to love in an expected manner. The offence comes from the inherent belief that love cures all: "If I love a broken someone, they should heal, and blossom." Love does indeed heal all things, and it does make people whole, but sometimes that love isn't in a shape you recognise.  It's not hard to understand that people from different walks of life view success differently. Some people regard fast cars and big houses as symbols of winning. Others want success to create happy families and caring spouses. Both views of success are okay. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that some people need a different expression of, and respond differently to, love.  Many people accuse the "broken" of being selfish, even contro...

"Overnight succes;" "so lucky;"and "instant fortune" are the excuses the lazy and uninspired slap on those that are successful, oblivious to the hours, the sacrifices, and the growth it took to reach the top.  "Let's imitate them," is a great strategy to duplicate success, but you can't start imitating where they are now in hopes of an equal results. You have to start at the same point they did and follow their original path.  All of a sudden success, fame, and fortune, with all the trimmings doesn't sound as attractive! "Oh, it's still attractive, it's just the 'effort' thing that's not going to happen."  The general population would rather slog it out for a boss, in poverty, before they invest time, effort, and education in their own success. "I'm tired" is the greatest motivator of the unmotivated to do nothing in life.   The perception is that life and success needs work, cre...

There are no hop, skip, or jumps to greatness. Success in life is a systematic process, where one step follows the next. You can turn the speed dial any way you like, but you can't miss steps.  Have you heard the one where the computer programmer comes home with six cartons of milk. His wife, with a belligerent look on her face , says: "I told you to bring one carton of milk, and if they have apples, bring six." "Exactly," said the husband.  The husband and programmer, in this story followed his wife's instructions in the same way that he would program a computer. A computer carries out instruction one line at a time. If the supermarket didn't have apples, he would have brought home only one milk carton. This addition to the computers instruction is called a "condition."  Some people would argue that the wife implied that the husband should bring home six apples if the store had them in stock. Yes, this was implied, but a computer...

"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...

So, imagine you're the winner on a game show and you get to choose your own prize. The options are a bottle of water and a fat diamond. Which would you choose?  The answer is obvious... the diamond, of course.  Okay, let's change the situation. Imagine that you were lost in the desert for a few blistering hot days, and suffer from dehydration. Which one would you choose between the bottle of water and the diamond this time? The diamond would be of little value to you, as you are lost, dying, and unsure you would get out of the desert alive. In this situation, you value the bottle of water more than the diamond. This method of putting a value of something, is called utility value. Utility is the value of an object, knowledge or a person, determined by how useful it/they are in the "now" situation. This way of valuing something also offers an insight to Maslow's hierarchy of Needs model.  Most people live by utility, and plod around Maslows lower levels of...

In a direct but empty competition for "King of the Castle" between vision and mission, mission wins, hands down!   Before you drag me to the gallows, let's look at what we should know about both vision and mission.   Mission is the skills and task we perform daily to achieve an outcome, like a fisherman selecting the right tackle and bait, casting to the right spot and owning enough patience to wait for the fish to bite.   Your mission can evolve as you gain mastery in the related skills and tasks, but it will always look the same, like a fisherman progressing from standing on the shore catching tiddly winks, to owning a boat catching once-in-a-life monsters - it's all still fishing!   Vision is the "hooray" to missions "hip hip." Vision is the shiny outcome that we aim at, like the fisherman aiming to catch one hundred fish in just one hundred days - and doing it!!    Vision is the bright chrome and brilliant paint job on our fancy car,...

So, I believe my mission in life is to play the role of a teaspoon.  Yes, you read that correctly. Why a teaspoon, you ask. When making a cup of coffee, you put all the ingredients in the cup, and then you add the hot water.   Do you drink it straight away? No, of course not. You take a teaspoon and you stir. The ingredients need to be mixed properly, giving a full flavoured experience all the way to the bottom of the cup.   I believe that every person, including you, has everything necessary for life and leadership already in their cup. What's needed is for someone to stir your capacity, so that you realise the fullness of who you really are, and to permeate you with falvourful life and leadership throughout your cup.   My message as the teaspoon is to stir your potential into track record. Although the focus of this blog, and my message, is aimed at leadership development - leadership and personal development are synonymous.   The leader must answ...

Get out of the box Part 5 - Fear of Failure.  We've briefly looked at three sides of the box that keeps us in complacency. Surprisingly, the emphasises in the last side is not on failure, but on the fear of that failure.   If I asked you: "What's the opposite of success," are you likely to answer with: "failure"? Most people would, and why not? That's what we've been taught.   We have, however, seen in this series that Thomas Edison, with his ten thousand attempts at making the light bulb, doesn't regard failure as the opposite of success, but rather, he sees failure as a necessary part of the path to success. Many great people from history share Edison's view of failure.   So, what would Edison and his illustrious group of powerful friends regard as the opposite of success? The answer is "fear."  By way of simple definition, success means "satisfactory completion of a goal, task or action." Success is the happy...

Truth and Deception may be opposites on the scale of "desirable," but they are grossly enmeshed by a great equalizer called 'self.'     Self Deception is the two-faced enemy of our success. The first face is deception that we are not 'good enough.' We conjure up lies about our worth that works magic to keep us dumb, pathetic, and purposeless.     Once we break free from the depressing shackles of self doubt, by realising the Sea of Potential we possess is enough to overcome any limitation - we suddenly meet the second face of Self Deception.     This cunning enemy comes as our 'friend', stroking our ego and allowing us to wallow is self glorification, believing we are greater than we actually are.     In this delusion of Grandeur, we adopt self -awarded titles reserved for recognition by others, like 'leader' or 'influencer', which inflate our arrogance and sharpens the axe of pride that will eventually cut us down to size....

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...

Looking around, you will witness a lot of polarity in this world.  Polarity means: for every up there is a down, For every inside there is an outside, For every high there is a low.  Sometimes, these opposite are obvious, but sometimes, these opposites are harder to spot.  Many a therapy session I conduct is with people battling deep lows, unaware that these troubles are not demons, but rather self inflicted balance to their pursuit of frequent highs.  The most common polarity I witness, invisible to most, results in people easily embracing mediocrity, and missing success. This seeming oxymoron is fuelled, I'm told by the average, by the paralysing fear of failure.  Oh sausage! Failure isn't the polarity of success. Failure is an inherent part of the process to success. One simply must fail in order to learn, grow, and win.  What is keeping you from the success you so desire is fear itself. The fear has got you labelling failure negatively,...

Yes , bullying is wrong! Yes, something needs to be done about it! The answer starts at home. Yes, at home. Bullying is no more than it's always been. Nothing has changed about kids cruel remarks and hurtful jests.  So, why are so many kids committing suicide or wrecking their lives because if it? The response to bullying is worse now because there is less support at home and kids have less confidence in themselves, unsure of their "I am". Modern parents are not as involved in kids lives as they once were. We dont have sit down family dinners any more, where individuals feel part of a tribe: heard, appreciated, valued and backed. It's not that parents don't want to involve themselves, but it's hard when everyone is immersed in mini screens that offer a window into perfect worlds far far away. As kids, we were pushed out the door and told to go play. We did sport without our parents pushing us. We explored the world without being forced. We had int...

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.

Change is loaded with uncertainty and can get messy if not handled correctly. Cautious behaviours, high strung emotions and wobbly expectations create an unstable pot for progress. Double-minded leaders guiding doubtful team members causes blindness to the various traps that will drag you back to the level you wanted to leave. Four traps in specific are common to change agents and will prevent your path to progress. These four traps are: