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Leaders Are Intentional

For this reason He says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light.” Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdo...

Leadership? Where do we Start?

Leadership…  This word fascinates me. The dictionary defines it as “the action of leading a group of people” or an organization, or the ability to do this” or “the state or position of being a leader” and my favourite “capacity to lead”.There have been many different examples of leaders that inspire us, some bold, some courageous, some charismatic and some quietly powerful.The truth is that each of us leads in some way, whether it is in our...

I have a dream

“I have a dream!” It rings in the ears of those who have something to chase, it either scares us or excites us, but it is what keeps us getting up each day to follow that dream, to get one day closer to whatever it looks like. Those who don’t have it, live in a routine and grey world of just enough, some have told themselves that this is all they deserve, some have learnt that having a dream was too painful and now they have retreated to the land of familiar and safe. We all have drea...

A sign of what’s to come…

This morning as Gary and I were walking around our little town of Cambridge with friends we knew from South Africa, I saw a sight that sparked this blog. We were admiring the little town clock tower when we walked under a tree and a burst of colour out of the corner of my eye grabbed my attention. I stopped and went back to take a photo and the phrase “a promise of what’s to come” popped into my head. It was an unusual sight to see because it was the only part of the tree that had the brig...

“Do or Do Not, There Is No Try.”

“I’ll try pick up the pen” he said, with his hands behind his back looking down at the whiteboard markers on the table, his face showing pretend strain. This is what my mentor, was illustrating to someone who had just told him they would “try” to do a directive.  It is Yoda who says “Do or Do Not, there is no try”.This blog was sparked by a comment to a post that was inviting people to attend a function, the person commented that they would try make it. My immediate ...

In the middle of the arena

There are two ways you can experience the arena, one as a spectator and one as a participator. The perspectives are totally different. As you know by now, God talks to me with pictures, this morning in church I had a picture of an arena and felt and saw each perspective. If 2017 is to be your best year yet you will need to engage. Engagement requires you to jump in, take risks and do some stuff.Back to the arena…. The view from the seats is scary and fearful, it smacks of risk, uncertaint...

Joy – A weapon of mass destruction

Sometimes the problem with life is you don’t know how bad its been until it’s good…. As human beings we are really great at making the best of situations. Mostly we just accept what comes at us and deal with it. Especially if you have Positivity as your top strength and especially if you have just immigrated or moved into a place where “normal” is being created day by day because everything is new.One of the great things about moving to New Zealand is that Gary and I started doing...

Happy New Year!!

It feels like it has been a year since I have blogged, I just checked, it has been at least six months. Yikes! 2016 has been a huge year for us as a family, there has been much growth, lots of highlights and a good few disappointments. Looking back though, there has been no regrets. To me that always marks a good year.I am going to resist going through the cheesy “new page” metaphor’s and get straight to the message that is brewing in my heart. Look, I cannot guarantee it won’t...

Be Strong – Be Steadfast – Be Willing

Last Sunday in church was a particularly special time and there were some key phrases that caught my attention and imagination. Firstly from the worship time. We sang a song that is a declaration over New Zealand with three two-word statements.In Maori:Kia Kaha,Kia Mia,Kia manawanui.which means:Be Strong,Be Steadfast,Be Willing.Then we heard from a lovely, gentle preacher from Texas who told us a story about a young man named William Borden whose heart was set aflame with the great nee...

Scenes of Autumn

There is something beautiful about watching the season change. When I lived in Durban, because we only really had a wet season and dry season, we didn’t really see the changing of the seasons. So here in New Zealand I am soaking up the changes as well as the last of the sun soaked days, trying to store the heat for the promise of a colder winter than I am used to.As I walk through my beautiful little town of Cambridge, I am delighted with the sights, sounds and of course the chill that has sta...

Are you doing Busyness or Business?

Have you ever looked at a business person and thought, “Wow look at how busy they are; they must be incredibly successful”? Busyness can often be mistaken for productivity. This is something I realised a few years ago in my business I ran in South Africa. I was so busy that I was bursting at the seams, and people were commenting about how my business was growing at a rate of knots. When they did, I would smile and play along – while inside I was thinking, “So why isn’t my bank balance ...

Take Courage!

Ever wonder where that phrase comes from? I did, and it is a phrase that fascinates me because it speaks to me about Action! And you know me, I’m an action gal. So I looked it up, as one does, and discovered a lovely new word…vicissitude! I will explain what it means in a minute for those who haven’t already clicked on the word to find out what it is…Courage, I learned, is the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear or vicissitudes with self-pos...

The Journey from Here to There

I picked up one of the 5 printed books I have left of my book and started to read it again this week, my son asked me why I would read my own book.  I told him because I had forgotten what I wrote and actually its quite good…  So I was wondering if I should print some more for New Zealand, have a read of an excerpt from the book, pass it on to your mates and leave a comment…..“This is a book about a journey – a journey out of the familiar, often uncomfortable place ca...

Looking Back.

I am not one for looking back. I can’t even read a book twice in most cases. I have ‘Futuristic’ in my Strength set, so I am all about looking to the future and moving towards it. But there are times when looking back has its place, especially at the beginning of a year.At the start of each year I book some time into my diary to look back at the previous year. Sometimes I do it alone, sometimes with friends, sometimes I even run or attend a course to force myself if I lack motivation.First...

Creating your Best Day

I have had so many people expressing surprise that I am settling into our new life in New Zealand so quickly – and to be honest, I sometimes catch myself feeling surprised too. Now I cannot discount the fact that I know exactly where my blessings are coming from – thank you Jesus! – but I also want to acknowledge something my coach did with me when I went through my last transition. (Yes, coaches have coaches, or the best ones do, and I don’t mean that in an arrogant way. Note to se...

Recognising the Season

“Be patient my young Padawan!” For you Star Wars fans, you will understand…This is the tongue-in-cheek comment I just made to my husband who is really keen to use the new fishing pole he’s just got. The only problem is that the rest of his fishing gear and tackle is floating somewhere on the sea between South Africa and New Zealand. Isn’t that just like life sometimes?We all wish we could press a button and miss the in-between part of the journey from Here to There. This is especi...

Could your biggest enemy in life be You?

Sometimes our biggest enemy in life and business isn’t actually the devil, it is ourselves. Does this shock you? Think I am wrong? Read on a bit and hear me out.I think sometimes he just sets the stage, or sets things in motion, presenting us with the experience or circumstance and then stands back to watch us unwind. In my life personally, he has come presenting me with the scenario and then stood back with glee as I “took it from there” normally to very dark and lonely places.How we resp...

Choosing Your Destination.

Once a colleague and I were travelling back from a meeting in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. I was driving and, after pulling over to take a call, I took the wrong on-ramp to the highway. My colleague and I had been chatting away for about an hour when we suddenly realised that we had been travelling in the wrong direction, heading towards Johannesburg instead of Durban. We only noticed once we saw a signpost saying we were nearing Harrismith. We had a good laugh, turned the car around and calle...

Carpe Diem!

I love stories from the Old Testament; they are so rich with the character of God and lessons for life. We often read them and think that the men and women of that time were quite different from us – somehow superhuman. But they weren’t; they were normal people whose only claim to fame was that they believed in their God and acted on it. What’s more, we are even better equipped than them since we have the Holy Spirit leading us today.I love the story of Jonathan and his...

3 Keys to Combating Overwhelm

What is overwhelm? “Overwhelm” is technically a verb, but with the following meanings it’s easy to see why it’s become the latest noun in today’s fast-paced world. advancing sand dunes could overwhelm the village: swamp, submerge, engulf, bury, deluge, flood, inundate.Canada overwhelmed the U.S. in the hockey final: defeat (utterly/heavily), trounce, rout, beat (hollow), conquer, vanquish, be victorious over, triumph over, worst, overcome, overthrow, crush; informal: thrash, ...

Busyness vs Fruitfulness

Thought I would share an article I wrote for Connect Magazine .  So much has changed for the better since then.Have you ever looked at a business person and thought, “Wow look at how busy they are; they must be incredibly successful?”Busyness can often be mistaken for productivity. This is something I realised a few months ago in my business. I was so busy that I was bursting at the seams and people were commenting about how my business was growing at a rate of knots. When the...

From the Ends of the Earth to Middle Earth.

Our adventure from Here to There begins….A year ago I was preparing to travel to New Zealand with my mum. It was an unexpected trip as my Dad was supposed to go with my mum, but for some reason he just wouldn’t go. With much excitement our mother-daughter adventure began with the long trek to Auckland. I hadn’t seen my brother and his precious family since they had left South Africa 7 years before.I had told all the New Zealanders I had connected with through Connect Magazine that I w...

Is it over?

Last year I had to face this question in a part of my business that was very dear to my heart. Pulling the plug is a tough moment in every business, especially when it is something you are incredibly passionate about.So why do we continue to do things we know have come to an end?For starters, every second social media post says “Don’t give up”, so it feels like we are giving up when we lay something down. When I was in this situation, I asked my friend, mentor and coach this question: “H...

Show up and make the request!

I recently saw a post on Facebook which got me thinking. It was by a lady we knew when we lived in Paradise Valley, and who moved to Canada many years ago. Her now grown-up daughter went to a U2 concert a few months ago, carrying this sign:...

Turn that frown upside down!

When I was a little girl, back when records or LPs were in fashion (yes I am that old, and I might just add they are cool again! #justsaying), I had a little portable record player. I took it around to a friend’s house one day because she had this really cool LP she wanted to play. I can’t remember what it was about; all I remember was that it was a “Barney” kind of thing that had a story with a moral at the end. All I remember about that record was one little phrase that has never left ...