Wednesday, November 28, 2012

What's The Difference Between Complete And Finished?

When you marry the right woman, you are complete.

But, when you marry the wrong woman, you are finished.

If the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are completely finished."

Sunday, November 25, 2012

I WISH YOU ENOUGH

From a post sent to me on my facebook page! Had to share it on my blog!! 
I WISH YOU ENOUGH

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter's departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said: "I love you and I wish you enough." The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom." They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I sat. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry.  

I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?" 

"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said. 

When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, "I wish you enough." May I ask what that means?" 

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. 

"When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them". Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory, 

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. 
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. 
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. 
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. 
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. 
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye." 

She then began to cry and walked away. They say it takes a minute to find a special person. An hour to appreciate them. A day to love them. And an entire life to forget them.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

10X Foundations


our 1st 10X foundation in Sydney



Our 2nd 10X Foundation Group at 14 Martin Place.... what an amazing opportunity!!

what people are saying about the opportunity

The four ingredients of a great message

From:- Katya Andresen
COO and CSO at Network for Good

November 16, 2012
I like to boil down marketing and messaging to answering four simple questions. If you want to get someone to do something - donate money, buy your product, start exercising - you need to have a good response to these four questions. People want to know:

1. Why me?

Prove your personal revelance.

Why should people care about your message? They need to connect to you on an emotional level.

If your writing tends to be more like an academic argument than a true-life story aimed at touching the heart, it’s time to break out of your old habits and put the heart and soul of your work back into every word you write.


2. What For?

If people take the action you request, what will happen? If you're a nonprofit, where exactly is a donor's money going? What will they get in return for their donation - personally and in terms of your programs? If you're a company, what benefit will people get from your product? How will it make a life better? The more specific and tangible, the better.

There is plenty of research on why this approach is important, and it's laid out in Network for Good's eBook, Homer Simpson for Nonprofits: How People Really Think and What It Means to Your Cause.

Why Now?
Create a sense of urgency and immediacy in your message. Why should someone act now as opposed to tomorrow? What is at stake right now?




Who says?

The messenger is often as important as the message.

People tend to do what other people are doing.

Tap into that by using trustworthy messengers.

People say friends and family are the most influential, so also think about how you can get your supporters to speak for you among their own circles of influence.


Before you give that next presentation, send that new appeal or make that sales pitch, make sure it contains the answers to these four questions. You'll be far more persuasive when you do.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Thursday, November 15, 2012

What crisis? This crisis

Australia’s version of Dutch disease is turning into an emergency; we might have survived the GFC, but the way things are going we won’t survive the SMBC – the small to medium business crisis....What crisis? This crisis

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

10 things to stop doing right now to be Happy!


from Inc Magazine

Happiness--in your business life and your personal life--is often a matter of subtraction, not addition.
Consider, for example, what happens when you stop doing the following 10 things:

1. BLAMING
People make mistakes. Employees don't meet your expectations. Vendors don't deliver on time.
So you blame them for your problems.

But you're also to blame.

Maybe you didn't provide enough training.
Maybe you didn't build in enough of a buffer.
Maybe you asked too much, too soon.

Taking responsibility - it's empowering--you can control the agenda and do things better the next time





2. Impressing.
clothes, cars , possessions, titles, accomplishments - are  "things." - People may like your things - it doesn't mean they like you!

Build genuine relationships make you happier, and you'll only form genuine relationships when you stop trying to impress and start trying to just be yourself.




3. Clinging.

When you're afraid or insecure, you hold on tightly to what you know, even if what you know isn't particularly good for you.

An absence of fear or insecurity isn't happiness: It's just an absence of fear or insecurity.

Holding on to what you think you need won't make you happier; letting go so you can reach for and try to earn what you want will. Even if you don't succeed in earning what you want, the act of trying alone will make you feel better about yourself.




4. Interrupting.

Interrupting isn't just rude. When you interrupt someone, what you're really saying is, 

"I'm not listening to you so I can understand what you're saying; I'm listening to you so I can decide what I want to say."

Want people to like you? Listen to what they say. Focus on what they say. Ask questions to make sure you understand what they say.

They'll love you for it--and you'll love how that makes you feel.



5. Whining.
Whining about your problems makes you feel worse, not better.
If something is wrong, don't waste time complaining. Put in that effort to make the situation better.

Fix it now.

Don't talk about what's wrong. Talk about how you'll make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. Don't just be the shoulder they cry on.

Friends don't let friends whine--friends help friends make their lives better.





6. Controlling.
Yeah, you're the boss. Yeah, you're the titan of industry. Yeah, you're the small tail that wags a huge dog.
Still, the only thing you really control is you.

If you find yourself trying hard to control other people, you've decided that you, your goals, your dreams, or even just your opinions are more important than theirs.
Control is short term it requires force, or fear, or authority, or some form of pressure--none of those let you feel good about yourself.



Find people who want to go where you're going. 
They'll work harder, have more fun, and create better business and personal relationships. And all of you will be happier.


7. Criticizing. Yeah, you're more educated. Yeah, you're more experienced. Yeah, you've been around more blocks and climbed more mountains and slayed more dragons. 


That doesn't make you smarter, or better, or more insightful.That just makes you you: unique, matchless, one of a kind, but in the end, just you.

Just like everyone else--including your employees.

Everyone is different: not better, not worse, just different.

Appreciate the differences instead of the shortcomings and you'll see people--and yourself--in a better light.




8. Preaching.

Criticizing has a brother. His name is Preaching. They share the same father: Judging.

Just Be

9. Dwelling.
Learn from your mistakes. Then let it go.
When another person makes a mistake, see that as an opportunity to be kind, forgiving, and understanding.

The past is just training; it doesn't define you.

Think about what went wrong, but only in terms of how you will make sure that, next time, you and the people around you will know how to make sure it goes right.


10. Fearing.

We're all afraid: of what might or might not happen, of what we can't change, or what we won't be able to do, or how other people might perceive us.
So it's easier to hesitate, to wait for the right moment, to decide we need to think a little longer or do some more research or explore a few more alternatives.
Meanwhile days, weeks, months, and even years pass us by.
And so do our dreams.
Don't let your fears hold you back. Whatever you've been planning, whatever you've imagined, whatever you've dreamed of, just do it today.
If you want to start a business, take the first step. If you want to change careers, take the first step. If you want to expand or enter a new market or offer new products or services, take the first step.
Put your fears aside and get started. Do something. Do anything.
Otherwise, today is gone. Once tomorrow comes, today is lost forever.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Sparkmag: Govt Funding For R&D

Sparkmag: Govt Funding For R&D: With the recent overhaul of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax scheme, there has never been a better time for small compa...

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Record-breaking mortgage month for biggest broker

extract from API
Liquidity Finance's  aggregator, Australian Finance Group (AFG), processed $3.1 billion worth of mortgages in October, the highest month recorded since early 2009, representing a 14.6 per cent month-on-month increase.


By State - New South Wales, investors are leading the charge and accounted for 43.1 per cent of all new loans in October.
Queensland saw the second highest proportion of investor finance (35.1 per cent) followed by Victoria (33.6 per cent) and Western Australia (29.9 per cent, of which most were First-time buyers).
    
Loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) rose to 70.5 per cent in October, the highest level since September 2009. Higher LVRs typically signal increased activity among first-time buyers.

Refinancing accounted for 34.8 per cent of mortgages processed, but that figure is at its lowest level since September 2009, he says. One in five new borrowers also chose to fix their loans.

Saturday, November 03, 2012

How do you make innovation become part of your Organizations DNA?


What is innovation - doing something different, creating, thinking outside the box... Be it a product, service or process .

From 1 to 10 how do you rate innovation of the following organisations ?

Toyota
Ford
Google
Apple
Microsoft
Bsi
3M
Tata
10x
PWC
KPMG
Bhp
Xstrata
Nab
Westpac
Coles
Goodman fielder
Telstra
Optus
Vodaphone
Hauwei
Lucent / Alcatel
Nokia
Australian Government
NSW government
Victorian government
USA government
Norwegian government

How do you make innovation become part of your DNA ?

Click here to take survey Some that come to my mind are:-

  • To encourage individuality ,
  • being different ,
  • empowering thought .
  • Embracing failure and risk taking


3 key principles espoused by Julian Berkinshaw, Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School and co-Founder and Research Director of the Management Lab (MLab) are

Time Out

people need slack time to work through their ideas. 3M and Google, among others, have given “innovation time off” to their scientists and engineers. But most companies struggle to justify that level of slack, and aren’t confident it would be well used anyway. So a more focused approach may be more worthwhile.
Consider, for example, the UK software company, Red Gate. They first experimented with a “coding by the sea” initiative, where they got a bunch of volunteers to take over a beach house for a few days to see if they could make progress on a software product. This then expanded to “down tools week” which is a company-wide initiative, once a year, where everyone puts their normal routine work on hold and commits to doing something new, something a bit risky, or something that has been bugging them. There is also a “sweat the small stuff” day, once a quarter, for getting on top of the creeping bureaucracy and niggling problems that accumulate over time. These activities provide the necessary time out for employees, but with a reasonable degree of focus at the same time.

Loosely defined roles.
One of the biggest obstacles to innovation is the notion of a job description – it is a sure-fire way of narrowing an employee’s focus around someone else’s view of what is important, and of not making full use of his latent skill-set. Truly innovative companies avoid giving people job descriptions, or they find creative ways of encouraging them to join multiple projects. For example, the UK consumer products company Innocent (famous for its healthy smoothies) asks all its employees to help deliver its vision, “to make natural, delicious food and drink that helps people live well and die old.” Over the last few years, its big new product lines – including a healthy Veg Pot and its This Water line – have both come from ideas conceived and developed by mid-level employees.

Tolerance of Failure.


It is axiomatic that successful innovation requires tolerance of failure. Some pharmaceutical scientists will spend an entire career working on drug development without a single one of their products reaching the market. Strange, then, that so many of our management processes, the ones that support innovation, are designed to avoid failure and to ignore it when it does happen. We can try to breed tolerance for failure through our skills as leaders of others, but we also need to find ways of institutionalising this approach. Here are a few examples. Tata Group’s annual innovation awards include a category, Dare to Try, for the best failed attempt at innovation. Advertising agency Grey has a Heroic Failure award in similar vein. HCL Technologies has a prestigious leadership development programme which executives have to apply for by putting together, among other things, a failure CV listing their u

these 3 principles are all about translating ideas into action.

Making up ideas is fun- The hard part of innovation is taking ideas and putting them work. That is where the real progress is to be made.

Do you have ideas or case studies to share on how to make innovation an every-where, all-the-time capability?

Put your idea in comments below, and the person with the best idea will win a years access to 10X online business school valued at$4,000!

Friday, November 02, 2012