Inspired! Lead Your Life - Live Your Purpose
5 STEPS TO FOSTERING WORKPLACE HAPPINESS
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS: DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
MASTER YOUR KEY EMOTIONS
HARVESTING HOPE: A STORY OF VISION AND PASSION
FEAR OF FAITH CHOOSING THE BETTER FUEL?
Inspired! EDITOR Decision-making is not always a straightforward thing. Many of us can spend precious hours deliberating over the best line of action to take - for even the most trivial of things. We can be overly aware of the affects our decisions might have on our lives and environment, which could leave us anxiously frozen to one spot, wishing someone else would just make the call for us! On the flip side, we can be so oblivious to our decision-making processes and their effects that we can bumble along in life, causing upset and mayhem around us. One of my good friends, Sandy Griffin, once pointed out to me that saying yes to one thing essentially means that we say no to something else. Saying ‘yes’ to long work hours means we say ‘no’ to spending time with loved ones, for example. We are ultimately responsible for the choices we make in life.
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This Inspired! edition is dedicated to the theme of good decision making - Scott Tucker shares with us the importance of choosing good character above immediate results, while Peggy McColl highlights the value of choosing to direct our emotions and thought life. We have included Ronnie Vehorn’s story of brave decision-making and Sandy Griffin’s first-hand account of what is made possible when people choose to live happily and gratefully in the face of devastating challenges. Jean Morrissey reviews a children’s book that cleverly illustrates the catalytic power of self belief and Edwin Hayes encourages business leaders to choose an alternative approach to developing staff morale in the workplace. The subject of Good Decision Making is a broad one. We would love to hear your feedback and your own insights!
Sean
Inspired! TEAM Editor Sean Willard Sean Willard is a John Maxwell Speaker, Coach and Trainer and author of ‘Have a Life Attack’. “Living my purpose inspires me - helping others discover theirs is beyond amazing! Whether I am watching my wife and daughter express their amazing talents through painting or singing respectively, or am engaged in an entrepreneurial invention conversation with my son, I am inspired!
Copy Editor Jean Morrissey Jean Morrissey works as a freelance writer in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She loves writing pieces that are authentic, engaging and informative. “I find other people’s stories, experiences and brave adventures very inspirational. My inquisitive mind loves to absorb details and facts. As long as I keep learning, I keep moving. My dream is to write a book one day.”
Art Director Marné Coetzee Marné is a Somerset West based freelance graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist. “What inspires me is to keep my dreams in sight – literally! I’m a very visual person and carry a dreambook with me filled with photo’s, sketches and words of the things I really want to have, see and experience in my life.”
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Inspired! CONTENT
Symbiosis - the key to happiness
Fear in the Tank?
Destined for Greatness and Stuck doing This?!
The Choice to Feel
by Edwin Hayes
by Audrey Moralez
by Scott Tucker
by Peggy McColl
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Squiggly’s Race to the Ark Written by Tim Davis Art by Kenny DeWitt
Would you like to know how your child is gifted? Get Your FREE Copy of Squiggly’s Gift Assessment on our website www.SquigglyAndFriends.com
Book Review: Squiggly’s Race to the Ark (Tim Davis)
Your Life a Product of Choices
Harvest of Hope
by Jean Morrissey
by Sandy Griffin
by Judy Bryant
© 2011 New Life International
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system – except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper or on the Internet – without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edwin Hayes EdwinHayes.com -
Symbiosis the key to happiness
If you really want to know what your staff feel and think about the company they work for, then make it your business as their leader to be at work 15 min before anyone else arrives in the morning and leave 15 min after everyone has left in the afternoon. Do this for one full working week to observe how late the last person arrives after opening hours and how long it takes for the office to empty after closing time. If the front door to the office opens exactly on the dot of opening hours and slams shut precisely on the dot at closing time, you could have a happiness problem. It may seem an unconventional method of measuring performance and dedication but it can be very useful and initially cheaper than employing an HR
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consultant. People have to share a common consensus about what constitutes service, loyalty and commitment in the workplace. How well they fulfil their roles within the system will depend on how well-connected they feel and how involved they really are. Observing people is probably the most important function of a team leader. Knowing what makes each person “tick� is vital to understanding how they fit into and add value to the overall team dynamic. Without this skill and knowledge, team leaders are left holding a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other as their only means of generating a productive environment. Productivity alone is not a good indicator of a happy company
- often high productivity coupled with driven and unhappy people leads to high levels of staff turnover, which is a very expensive way to run a business. Happy people make happy teams, happy teams make happy companies, happy companies generate great service and innovative ideas, great services and innovative products feed strong economies and strong economies create prosperous nations. It was Dr Albert Schweitzer who said that, “you don’t have to be successful to be happy but you do have to be happy to be successful, you will ultimately only be successful at what you are happiest doing”. It would seem that the success of a company has more to do with the size of an employee’s smile then it does with the length of a watertight, legal performance protocol and evaluation document. UK-based stores, John Lewis say this about one of their cornerstone employment practices - “We employ for attitude and train for aptitude”. They have identified that attitude is more than 50% responsible for ensuring greater value to their
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already massive product range. Products are what they are but it is friendly and competent service which adds value to the customer’s experience and long term patronage. So what do late arrivals and early departures have to do with happiness and how can they be used to better understand the spirit within a company? Simply put, people who are enthusiastic about their work are seldom late and tend to hang around the office at least long enough to ensure that their coffee cups are cleaned and that some preparation has been done for the next day’s work schedule. If, however, the office populates slower than gloss paint drying in the morning and empties like the migration of the wildebeest at closing time, leaving dust from the stampede and invoices floating in the air after the door slams shut, then you could have a happiness problem and by default low morale and productivity. Happy employees and their companies need to have one thing in common and that is a symbiotic relationship. Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of biology will understand that a
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symbiotic relationship is one where one or more entities live and coexist in harmony because of their interdependence. The Egyptian Plover and the Nile crocodile are a great example, the plover will walk into the open mouth of a crocodile and clean debris from between the croc’s teeth, the crocodile gets the dental plan and the plover a full belly. The antithesis of a symbiotic relationship is Parasitism in which one or more of one species extracts more than another species has to give. Blood sucking ticks are a good example of parasites that literally suck the life from a healthy animal. In parasitic relationships, the end result is that first the host dies. Once the stolen reserves within the parasite have been depleted, it dies as well, ending a classic ‘lose- lose’ relationship model. Happy people who are content and fulfilled in their work will volunteer greater levels of time, creative energy and loyalty and in so doing both they and their companies will prosper. Unhappy people tend to contribute less than they are paid to, generate
5 steps to fostering happiness: 1. Comfortable people are happy people - create the most ergonomically suited environment you can by ensuring that the physical needs of your people are considered and, as best able, are met. 2. “Safe people” are happy people – physical security, job security, availability of resources and good morale and ethical practices create high levels of contentment and trust. 3. Appreciated people are happy people – acknowledging, nurturing and recognising creative, individual contributions builds confidence, self esteem, personal and group value and group respect. 4. Sociable people are happy people – promoting and facilitating appropriate levels of social interaction allows people to develop a sense of community, of belonging and of loyalty. 5. Paid people are happy people – total compensation for services performed, along with remuneration based on merit and measurable standards, creates buy in from employees. A payslip should not simply become an addendum to a job description.
greater levels of interpersonal and relational stress and negativity, resulting in progressively terminal levels of low morale. On closer inspection, you may just find that within the internal wiring systems of your office,
your time clock is directly coupled to company barometer hanging in the canteen. What does your happiness barometer indicate - changeable and stormy or fair weather? Do the 15 minute test and find out!
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Audrey Moralez audreymoralez@att.net -
We all have imaginary tanks that feed the engines of our minds the fuel they need to move forward. While the fuel gauge needle may be pointing at the ‘F’ to indicate a full capacity, the question still remains - what is the fuel in your tank? Is your engine running on the fuel of fear or the fuel of faith?
What makes you afraid? For too long my tank has been filled with fear: the fear of loss to be precise. I feared the loss of money, the loss of opportunity, love and acceptance, and the loss of self. The list could go on. Worse still, my decisions were guided by this fear but I was often unaware of this being the case. As a result, my decisions led me to faulty conclusions and costly mistakes. As I reflect back on my poor decisions, the common theme throughout my thought processing is that I acted with a lack of faith. Why is faith important? It is critical because, if
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we focus our energy on what we currently have or the fear of losing what we have, we cannot focus on reaching for what we want. We become a soul divided against itself. Feeding our fears is very much like putting sugar in a tank; it is a fast way to go nowhere. What would a life fueled by faith look like? It would be a life lived at full throttle. It would be a life with a destination, a vehicle, and the fuel to get there. The only way to go somewhere new is to fill up on faith and to get moving. So, how do we empty our tank and fill it with
faith? I read once that, “Fear is simply unbelief parading in disguise.” We must focus our energy on building our belief. The following 4 steps will help you start filling your tank with faith:
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Capture your thoughts. If you want to change the substance of your fuel, you have to change the substance of your thinking. The first step is to start paying attention to the thoughts that you think and to re-direct the ones that are not consistent with your new mindset. Capture the thoughts that are based on fear or loss and replace them with thoughts based on faith.
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It may sound silly, but have a conversation with your fears. Your fears exist for a reason. They protect you from reaching out and trying something new in order to keep you from failing. The problem is that, while they protect you from failure, they also protect you from success. Have an imaginary conversation and explain why you are fully resourced to take the next step. Establish why you believe that creating the results that you
want will require you to move forward. Words and thoughts are powerful things. Harness them and use them to your advantage.
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Prepare daily. Confidence in our actions and our decisions is a direct result of our preparation. John Maxwell says that, “The secret to our success is in our daily agenda.” Identify your goals and then prepare yourself by reading empowering, uplifting, and educational materials every day.
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Imagine your results. Envision your outcome in living color down to the minutest detail. There is tremendous energy that comes from building a vision so clear that it evokes emotion. Use this image to sustain you. It is important to fill your tank up every day! While a tank fueled by fear is certain to keep you stuck where you are, or force you backwards, a tank filled with faith can take you anywhere you want to go. It is your tank…and your choice. Fill it up.
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Scott Tucker -
Destined for Greatness and Stuck Doing This?!
“I see what you’re saying, and I don’t care if you think your way is better. I’m the boss and you’ll do it the way I tell you!” These words have resonated with me for the majority of my life. They are the reason why I have struggled to work for others and what eventually led me to a life of entrepreneurship. Everywhere I worked, I wanted to find a way to improve the existing system to make it more efficient. It is just part of who I am and how my mind operates. In return, I was seen as someone who “had a problem with authority”. What I failed to realize in my youth was that ‘earning my stripes’ is more than just knowing ‘how’ to do something. Like many young people today, I was convinced that knowledge was the ultimate power. Once I could do something as well (or better) than my superior, there was no reason I shouldn’t have his job! This reminds me of the scene from the action/adventure
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film, Top Gun, where James Tolkan soundly chews out Tom Cruise’s character, Maverick: “Son, your ego’s writing cheques your body can’t cash!” It is an iconic statement that has been quoted thousands of times since then but what does it really mean? Maverick had all the knowledge to be an amazing pilot and was willing to push himself and his plane to
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the limits to do great things. What he lacked, however, was the discipline and self restraint he needed to truly achieve ‘greatness’. What he required was growth in character. As I have grown older, I have come to learn that knowledge is the most abundant resource on the planet. There is never a short supply and there is always someone to teach it to you. Good character, on the other hand, is not as plentiful. Character cannot be learned from a book, it cannot be taught in a classroom, and you definitely cannot improve your character with a Google search! Building character takes time. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if your wisdom and character cannot support that knowledge, you are setting yourself up for failure. This is where patience and timing come into play. You have to trust and have faith that when you are truly ready, the opportunity for you to fulfill your own unique destiny will be made available to you. Don’t be afraid to spend months, years, or whatever length of
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time it takes to prepare yourself for when the ‘right time’ comes. If you rush things and don’t give yourself the proper time to develop the proper foundation, your business or venture will quickly outgrow what your foundation can handle. Take it from someone who has had it happen to them, you don’t want to be the next one-hit-wonder in the world of business! Take an honest look at your business, your venture, or your dream. Ask yourself, “What would I do if my BIG dream came to fruition while I was sleeping tonight?” Would your foundation and character be developed enough to handle something of that magnitude? If the answer is ‘yes’, then work like you’ve never worked before and make your dream happen. If you are not so sure, then be patient and embrace this time of growth. When your character and your wisdom can ‘cash the cheques’ your knowledge is writing, that’s when ‘greatness’ happens. Stay true to yourself and be patient, your time IS coming!
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The Choice to
Peggy McColl www.destinies.com -
FEEL
A friend of mine named Renee was driving her seven year old son home from school one day, preoccupied all the while with worry. She had many bills to pay and was having difficulty generating enough money. Her husband had been ill and unable to work, so they’d fallen behind on their mortgage payments. This was a serious situation that did require her attention - but it didn’t demand her undivided attention every minute of the day. As she drove, her son began to chatter away about the changing color of the leaves and how a maple-leaf seedpod thrown up into the air spins its way down like a helicopter. Renee
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barely acknowledged what her son was saying because she couldn’t stop thinking about her financial situation. When she pulled up to a red light, Renee looked over at her son and in a moment of revelation realized that she was missing out. Her constant worrying was preventing her from truly listening and connecting to her child. Worse, she’d made a habit of half listening to him as she internally fretted about her problems. Renee realized that she wanted to snap out of her fear and choose a different emotion. She asked herself, “What else could I feel right now instead of fear or worry?”
Renee had several choices. She could feel: • gratitude that she was able to spend time with her son, and that the two of them were close; • joy as she listened to him talk about what was on his mind; • curiosity and genuine concern about what his day was like; • confidence and faith in her ability to handle her financial crisis. In fact, she could experience all these emotions at once if she chose to do so. She might not be able to let go of her anxiety
completely, but she also didn’t have to let it dominate her emotions. By allowing her mood to be overwhelmed by worry over one aspect of her life, she was dampening any positive emotions she might feel. Her emotions weren’t in balance, and everything seemed dark. We’ve all had a moment similar to Renee’s, in which we realize that whatever the emotion we’re experiencing, it’s not one that makes us feel good. Often our desire to return to feeling better is enough to inspire us to try to change our emotional balance.
[Excerpt from Your Destiny Switch: Master Your Key Emotions, And Attract the Life of Your Dreams by Peggy McColl, Foreword by Neale Donald Walsch]
Inspired! BOOK Reviewed by Jean Morrissey
Tim Davis’ children’s book, Squiggly’s Race to the Ark, tells the clever tale of a young snail who battles both time and a failing self esteem as he races against the clock to reach Noah’s Ark to escape the Great Flood. When his faith in his worth falters and causes him to slow his journey down, Squiggly is helped along by his trusty friends, Galen and Grace the grasshoppers, Samantha the snail and a wise bald eagle called Dusty. Kenny De Wit’s endearing graphics bring the characters in the book to loveable life, while Davis weaves a compelling narrative to illustrate how even the seemingly smallest role assumed in life can have significant impact.
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TITLE│Squiggly’s Race to the Ark AUTHOR│Tim Davis PUBLISHER│New Life International
Squiggly’s Race to the Ark Written by Tim Davis Art by Kenny DeWitt
Would you like to know how your child is gifted? Get Your FREE Copy of Squiggly’s Gift Assessment on our website www.SquigglyAndFriends.com © 2011 New Life International All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system – except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper or on the Internet – without permission in writing from the publisher.
Restaurant • Guest Suites • Winery La Petite Ferme, Franschhoek Pass Road, PO Box 55, Franschhoek, 7690, South Africa +27 (0)21 876 3016/8 info@lapetiteferme.co.za
Sandy Griffin www.sandygriffin.com -
Your Life
A PRODUCT OF CHOICES
Two years ago, Nashville Tennessee was deluged by one of the biggest storms and floods of all time. No one was prepared for it. In fact, no one could prepare for it. On that weekend we were all instructed to stay in our homes, where we would be safe. While for many of us our houses did offer us the safety we needed, for many others what had been home for them for so many years became the place that shut them out. As the cleanup after the flooding began, I was amazed at the resiliency of the people of Nashville. Some had lived in the same home for 50 plus years and they were now totally displaced. But it was the spirit…oh, the spirit that was alive here! These people exercised their right to make choices – to be happy or not to be happy – to get through this challenge
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(sounds like such a trite word to use at a time like this). We all have a similar choice when facing challenges in their life, big or small. Ways to choose what you want: DO WHAT YOU CAN There are so many things in life over which you have no control (like the Nashville floods,
for example). Accept this. Now step back for a minute and assess the situation. Can you do anything about your current circumstances? Do what you can - even if it seems like so little. Many times it is that first baby step that gets you on the right road. LOOK FOR THE GOOD There are positives in every situation. Floods? No home? Look for the people that show up to help - the volunteers. Look for the food delivered and the love expressed. Find the good things that are coming to you and focus on them. Keep your mind on the positive and you will find more and more of the good in your life. IF YOU CAN’T CHANGE THE CIRCUMSTANCE, CHANGE YOURSELF So many of life circumstances are beyond your control. There are many of life’s rainfalls that you can’t do anything about. But you can change the way that you view them. This is in your control. When the rains of life stop and the
water dries up, all you have left are the stories of survival, laughter and love. Remember the details and embed them in your heart. Look at life’s unexpected circumstances as life’s gems. BE AWARE OF YOUR CHOICES Write your choices down. Will you choose to be happy or to feel sorry for yourself? Will you sit and do nothing? Or will you try to get a job, to go back to school, to work as a volunteer to help others, etc.? Share your thoughts with others and listen to ideas that they might have. Today the people of Nashville are still taking seriously their choice to help their fellow human beings. Bonds have been formed, families have been created by choice, houses have been patched, hearts too. The spirit that was present after the flood crisis lives on. The rains are guaranteed to fall in your life. The sun will shine again. And the rainbow will be there, with a pot of choices at the end. Will you see it? That is your choice!
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Inspired! HEART
Harvest of Hope The rugged farming area of Whittlesea, southwest of the Eastern Cape agricultural hub of Queenstown, is traditionally known for the cattle, sheep and angora goats that graze on its sweetveld among the scarlet aloes and yellow-blossomed Acacia Karoo thorn trees. It’s a beautiful area after summer afternoon thunderstorms , but heartbreaking during the intermittent droughts. Severe frost, hail, insect pests, jackals and political intervention don’t make living there easy, either. Whittlesea became a marginalised town in the late 1970s when many farms were bought out for incorporation into the former Ciskei, and it was
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a divided and violent area during the last five years of the apartheid era. “There were definite reasons why nobody tried wine farming in the Eastern Cape for 350 years,” says Ronnie Vehorn, who has nevertheless doggedly pursued his dream of creating the first ever Eastern Cape wine of origin in this remote area. Sipping a glass of buttery chardonnay inside his airy ‘safari den,’ decorated with indigenous wood carvings and spotlit trophies of prize trout caught in the nearby Thrift Dam, Ronnie gazes out through the picture windows at his neat
We named the wine Harrison Hope because all we had in the beginning was hope
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rows of vines supporting pendulous clusters of ripe grapes. “We didn’t do scientific tests to determine where to plant the grapes,” he says. “We placed the vineyard where we could see it while having our sundowners and a braai. It made me feel better.” The vineyard is the culmination of a lifestyle change that saw Ronnie, his wife Janet and three young children arrive in Queenstown over 20 years ago after an 85-hour trip from the USA. Ronnie had been a United Methodist Church minister in Georgetown, South Carolina, but the couple wanted to make more of a difference with their lives. A year clearance sale reduced their belongings to the contents of 12 suitcases and they arrived in South Africa without a home, a car or even the name of a single person they could contact. They began missionary work in local villages,
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such as Thornhill and Tentergate, moving six times between 1988 and 1994. In 1993, rundown Harrison Farm was put on the market by the Queenstown Municipality. A local policeman put in the highest bid, but after a year he hadn’t arranged finances and the farm
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became available again. “We submitted a bid of R50,000, not thinking for a moment it might be the highest,” said Ronnie. “To our amazement it was not only the highest, but also the only bid.”
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Harrison Farm became their permanent home, giving them 1000 acres of their very own land and offering them a perfect base from which to continue their missionary work. As they settled in they began to exploit the agricultural potential of the farm, installing a pump on the Klipplaat River and creating 41 hectares of irrigated lands producing mielies and lucerne.
Deep longings give rise to radical steps involving passion and risk
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But Ronnie was also determined to make wine. He began taking notes and photographs on visits to a friend’s wine farm in Franschhoek, and he read every book on wine-making he could lay his hands on. Finally he bought root stock from a Wellington nursery and planted it, along with a gift of merlot stock from their
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On top of all this, the Vehorns are planning to open their three guest rooms, Safari Den, and kitchen for wine weekends and other estate experiences. The tranquility of Harrison Hope is a real draw card in addition to the amazing Eastern Cape wines.
Progress and updates the book that recounts the story of their unusal move to South Africa can be followed on www.justaddfaith.com. As if that were not enough to keep one couple busy another interesting enterprise has been undertaken.
“Deep longings give rise to radical steps involving passion and risk,” says Ronnie. “After 20 years - and more uphill than we bargained for - Janet and I are now enjoying a great reservoir of quiet confidence and humble satisfaction.” More of the Harrison Hope estate story is available at www.harrisonhope.com. Visitors are welcome!!!
In 2011 Ronnie designed a pen which is described as “an out of Africa, made in England writing relic” handcrafted and numbered individually by Dr. Michael Knott in Tuddenham-St Martin, England. The pen and the owners are all known as Traveling Writers. This amazing story and unique pen offer is available at www. thetravelingwriter.org.
The Vehorns are never idle and continue to explore ways and means to be a blessing to others and to add value to lives wherever and whenever they can. Ronnie’s first book, “Just Add Faith,” is under production and publication with a delivery date in South Africa and the United States at the end of August 2012.
What is next from the Vehorns we cannot say! Inspired! has asked Ronnie, the Traveling Writer, to share some wisdom, quotes, or brief anecdotes in future issues of the magazine as food for thought or motivation. Keep an eye out! Until then Inspired! wishes many years and more successes to the Vehorns.
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Harvest of Hope by Judy Bryant Reprinted from Country Life, December 2011, South Africa
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Inspired! AUTHORS Sandy Griffin
is a professional speaker, coach and author of Free to Be Me! Creating the Dance of Your Life.
is a writer, speaker, and coach. She works with professionals wanting to create a purposeful, passionate, and service-driven life.
Jean Morrissey
Ronnie Vehorn
works as a freelance writer in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She loves writing pieces that are authentic, engaging and informative
lives and works on the Harrison Wine Farm in the Eastern Cape. He is the author of “Just Add Faith� and a Travelling Writer.
Scott Tucker
Edwin Hayes
is the founder of No Boundaries Business Radio. He works primarily with the dreamers of the world who want to turn their dreams into reality.
Peggy McColl
is an internationally recognized expert in destiny achievement. She is the president and founder of Dynamic Destinies Inc.
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Audrey Moralez
a life coach, speaker and presenter, believes in our inherent ability to creatively control and shape our lives by changing the way we think.
Inspired! ADVERTISERS
(your company’s name here) for advertising queries contact Sean on 082 335 4174 or at sean@smswillard.com
Inspired! 29 Restaurant • Guest Suites • Winery La Petite Ferme, Franschhoek Pass Road, PO Box 55, Franschhoek, 7690, South Africa +27 (0)21 876 3016/8 info@lapetiteferme.co.za