As the winter chill enveloped me, I found myself caught in the clutches of a relentless flu. Fever episodes swung me between icy shivers and scorching heat, forcing my work to grind to a halt and robbing me of cherished personal moments, including my daughter’s engagement celebration. In the past, such circumstances often would have consumed me with frustration, plunging me into a state of despondency. But this time, it was different. (more…)
Category: Leadership
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Is your GPS working?
Have you like me found yourself sometimes taking wrong turn-offs in life, causing you lots of trouble and frustration, and forcing you to re-route?
Recently, I experienced this first-hand when I missed a turn-off on our way to Cape Point. It wasn’t until I turned on my GPS that I realized I had missed a beautiful road along the ocean. We ended up taking a longer route through the city that initially caused a bit of frustration and took more time. But wow, we eventually got there and had a great time, and even enjoyed the detour. (more…)
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Living life by design or by default
“I suppose I will be living with this pain for many, many yearsâ€, I remarked after a major setback. My coach’s response was short and to the point: “Only if you choose to.†When his words were met by a frown, he said to me: “you either live life by design or by default.†Indeed, he was right, I could choose to keep living in the setback, or to move on, to be happy again or not. (more…)
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Make-over: making the New Year “new”!
Unfortunately many of us have transferred the anxieties, traumas, shame, and wounds of the old year into 2023. It’s natural. But that can paralyze you, eating away your hope and joy, putting you in survival mode with narrow vision and limited ability to dream, envision, enjoy and create. And eventually you live your life reactively and from the outside-in, hoping for good things to happen to you and trying to protect yourself against all the threats that are out there on the journey ahead. And then the New Year remains old… same old, same old… (more…)
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Choose the choir you want to sing in
I recently called my elderly father. In the conversation I mentioned some bad news about the country’s state of affairs. Very calmly, my father stopped me and asked “do we need to talk about this?” He is well informed, still reads his newspaper and watches the news every day. But a few years ago, he and his wife deliberately decided not to talk about negative things anymore. Within a short time I could see the difference in his physical and emotional health. Needless to say, our conversation changed and we both felt better.
As the saying goes, what you focus on grows… (more…)