This was a small presentation that I did for my breakfast group that I attend on a Friday morning – Business matters.  With workload increasing all the time we all need some help at times.   This was just a nice presentation to give you a new take on how we structure our working day.

To do this I had to give myself a target to work towards.

My target was to run the Two Oceans full marathon. To run the Two Oceans full you need to qualify first. There is two criteria that you need to complete before you can enter for the Two Oceans Full. One being you have to run a qualifying full marathon before and two being that you have to belong to a running club.

After looking at a couple of alternatives I found the Edgemead runners and joined early in January 2011.

I must say that I have not looked back since this is a great club. The guys are always motivating each other and I have learned so much since joining as the guys are always available to give good advice.

The club welcomes walkers as well as beginners. The group for beginners is called the Figlers.

I would really recommend the Edgemead Runners to anybody.

I am firstly sharing my goals with others in order to be held accountable to them and secondly I am working on an action plan to achieve these goals.

So the only thing to do now is to share my goals with you. Here we go:

1. Healthy living
   This I am sure is high on very body’s list every year. I want to live healthier this year, eating better and exercising more. Join a running club and start running more.
2. Read more
   I love reading business / self improvement books but I don’t always make enough time to read. I want to read at least one business / self improvement book a month from now on.
3. Business growth
   This year I will take the time to improve my business systems, delegate more responsibility and train staff more. I look forward to starting more profitable businesses going forward and retention of good staff is high on my list.
4. Connecting with friends
   We are all so busy running around that we don’t take the time to reconnect with friends. Going forward I would like to set aside more R&R time with my family and friend. I need to switch off and enjoy life more.
5. Repay debt
   I am sure everybody has this on their minds due to the economic situation we all find ourselves in but this year I am making a conscious decision to repay some of my debts.
6. Giving back
   This is something I feel very passionate about. We all have so much to be thankful for and yet we all complain about non-stop. The only way we can start to enjoy and appreciate what we have is by giving back to our community. I have identified an house for children to support going forward. I can recommend this to everybody.

So there you go my goals for 2011. I am very positive that this year is going to be a great one.

As discussed in my previous post I have started working through “Jack Canfield – The Success Principles’. There are 64 principles in the book. The first principle that is discussed in this book is – “take 100% responsibility” for your life.

This simply means that all the choices that you have made before have lead you to this point. This is what you have to take responsibility for and move on. This is easier said than done.

Also remember that you choices you make today will lead you to your future. You can now choice to harp on the past and what may or may not have happened OR you can focus on your achievements and your future.

So take 100% responsibility today and take action.

I have taken two weeks leave vowing to recharge my batteries to enable me to be battle ready for the year to come.

So it is all about spending time with family and friends, catching up with people that I have not seen much during the year and most importantly having some mojito’s.

BUT it can’t all be about parties so to assist me with my goal setting and as part of my preparation for 2011 I have decided to work through the book “The Success Principles – Jack Canfield”.

I will try and give you an overview of the book as I work through it.

So far it has been very interesting. The assistance with goal setting has been great and I would really recommend this to anybody looking for some guidance with the 2011 year to come.

Keep visiting my web page for updates on this book.

I have recently taken a liking to Mojito’s. I am a true Capetownian and I love my cocktails at sunset.

I have had mojitos at a couple of Cape Town restaurants. Two that truly stood out so far was the original as well as the Kiwi flavour Mojito served at Cafe Mojito in Long Street.

I am going to try mojito’s through Cape Town and surrounds this summer and will let you know where I find a great place to drink.

Today was my first visit with the Entrepreneur Focus Group (EFC) arranged by Bettina Hovarth, the regional developer of Sales Partners Cape Region. This is only one of the services offered by Sales Partners Cape Region.

The group provides a safe environment for business owners to get together and brainstorm relevant and pressing issues within their own business or the environment that those businesses operate in.

This is a 6 week program / commitment. The group meets every two weeks at Die ou Pastorie in Somerset West.

During this first meeting yesterday we discussed the issue of employing personnel and the procedures to be put in place to ensure you employ correctly first time round.

I will keep you posted over the next 6 weeks with the progress of the group.

As a business owner you tend to create the impression that you have it all under control at all times and in doing so you cut yourself off from everybody else and maybe the person that could help you. Also in the business community I find we are not very willing to share what is really going on with one another.

By finding likeminded individuals or groups we may find that if we are willing to share with one another we would perhaps grow more and achieve more.

Yes yes I know that not all business owners will be willing to share and some will only be in it for themselves but in order for business to transform we as business owner need to develop our networks and support structures.

ART JAMMING!!! This was one of the best team building events that we have ever had. The session was all about letting go. We were given a canvas, paint and brushes and were told to go wild. You could do anything on your canvas.

You could just let go and use the paint, brushes and the canvas to just give expression to your feelings and frustrations. This is not about colouring in between the lines it is about letting go of the traditional way of thinking and also over thinking things. Which we all tend to do from time to time.

I really enjoyed this session. Our venue was great for this and I have to compliment Liza from Stax-o-Craft for having us and allowing us to take over her Coffee shop for the morning.

I met Antionette Van Rensburg of 027shuttle.co.za at this networking meeting this week.

To my surprise they are trying to break into a new market and I was offered one of their self catering units in Ceres to use FREE of charge! This is one of their marketing methods. What better way to advertise your accommodation than to let people experience this.

The only criteria is that we advertise their services and their products. I just asked where do I sign up?

After my discussion with Antionette I sat back and thought about it. How secure must you be with your service delivery and the product you in order to offer this kind of deal as a marketing method?

but she sold me on their company and I have started talking to her about possible future promotional work for our company. But this was such a eye opener for me and I will definitely support them in the future.