Tis the season

                                                                                       Edition 410 Monday 18/12/17

 

Hi,welcome to the last ‘Upbeat’ for 2017 and what a year its been,surpassing edition #400,saving our planet,Fletcher off to school,running another 1500km and swimming over 100km in the pool!Yes you will have had to ‘get your froth on’ to keep up with this Jones boy….not really but I for one am glad you did so thanks again for your amazing support.

It certainly hasn’t been without its sad times as we said a sad goodbye to our dear family members Harry Jones and Oscar Henderson,may they both be having dog heaven fun!

In preparation for our hot summer holiday we splashed out (excuse the pun) and bought a DIY pool at our local MM10.After numerous attempts to assemble it I did two things that all blokes eventually do;1)listen to their wives 2)read the instructions!(see pics).

Fletcher reckons his new pool is ‘far out man’ and he cant wait to have the ‘coolest’time! Dad thinks its quite cool too with less lawn to mowJ.

Something funny#1 about the Christmas spirit is it can make you do some special and extraordinary things like my recent visit to the local jewellers.I popped in for a watch battery for my beloved wooden watch and came away with a stunning pair of Aqua Marine earrings for my beautiful wife…a deserved and thoroughly worthwhile diversion J.

Something funny#2 about being a voluteer fire fighter is you can be called anytime like last week in the middle of Fletchers prize giving when his Mum got the call…Go Mum Go!

We are so looking forward to taking a decent break after a busy year so ‘Upbeat’ will be off line until Monday January 22^nd 2018. In the meantime we hope you and those closest to you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy welcome and start to the New Year.

Take extra special care and make sure you take time out for YOU…Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons taking ‘time out’ is her secret to ongoing Lab longevity!

 

“You don’t build a business,you build people and then people build the business”.

Zig Ziglar

 

In a successful finish to another busy and productive year I was able to broker a deal with some value added benefits.

The deal sees us gaining massive exposure to another region via the sale of a collection vehicle and a range of equipment.

Deals like this don’t happen overnight they are crafted over a long period of time and built on a solid foundation of trust and goodwill.

Lets face it any deal,relationship or arrangement needs all these cornerstones in place if it is to be successful.

I was particularly proud that the arrangement was concluded as a result of my long term commitment to the relationship with the purchaser.

The thing about deals like this is that the agreement is just the beginning of the next phase of the relationship.

It is not something we can now leave to chance if there is to be a mutual benefit from it.

Anyone can sell something once but it takes energy and commitment to follow through to ensure the ongoing benefits accrue for both parties.

Interestingly in a late breaking development last week we got a tentative order for another collection vehicle and more equipment because of our willingness to provide the support!

So my message is to stick at the relationship building even when it seems like nothing is coming from it because let me assure you it is the way to go and totally worth the effort!

 

“Whatever good things we build end up building us”. Jim Rohn

Embracing change

 

                                                                                       Edition 409 Monday 11/12/17

 

Hi,you know you are doing something right when someone close to you who knows you better than most notices!Thats why I sat up and took note when my wife observed the change in my attitude and behaviour lately.She went on to say how relaxed and happy I seemed to be?Yes I have been making an effort but was unaware of the impact it was having on those closest to me…….how cool is that, how lucky am I?...no pressure J.

Fletcher reckons having a speaking role at the year 1 prize giving was the least he can do after his Fathers recent live radio antics…bring it on!hmmmm future MC and Toastmaster?!

Something funny about kids is they say the darndest things!Like Fletcher trying to tell me some photos he found the other day were of him and his Mum in a cave?Turns out they were images from scans taken of him whilst in the womb…hilarious! talk about laugh.

Talking about laughing I have had occasion to do a bit of it lately (the new relaxed Jones Boy?) and I highly recommend it as a means of letting go of tension and stress…go on you know you want to….funny thing is it is amazingly infectious and worth catching J J.

I hope you are also having a happy,smiley,giggly time and if not ,why not?..Cheers Jonesey.

PS; check out the pic of our awesome 100year old Christmas tree that lives on(for now)!!

 

Kate Henderson reckons she is lucky,her family is a constant source of humour!

 

 

“Its not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change”. Charles Darwin

 

In todays world there is one constant that we need to embrace and that is change.

Our world is changing so fast that if we don’t change with it we will be left behind.

I remember a story about Kodak (who?) the film maker that got wind there was soon to be cameras that didn’t require film?

As hard as that was to believe the digital age was approaching however Kodak chose to ignore the warning signs and were slow to adapt to the change and have now disapperared.

I attended a meeting recently where dramatic changes were announced to a system that has been relatively the same for decades.

The changes are happening and are a radical departure from the old way to a new online version that will bring the organisation into the modern era.

I admit my first instinct was to resist and deny the change was necessary and to immediately consider that change not relevant to me!

Slowly I accepted that if I fight rather than embrace the change I will be left in the dust of the 25 year old road which I have travelled with the organisation to date.

So ‘Mr Technically challenged’ has reluctantly accepted that this change is happening whether I like it or not and that people smarter than me are here to help not hinder.

The irony is I have been a vocal opponent of some of the historic and nanny state type policies in the past and I need to see this as a way to improve these as well.

So with my ‘paradigm shift’ firmly in place I have decided to pursue these changes, find out as much as I can about them and to provide the catalyst for others to change.

I have resisted change in the past and others have politely/kindly made excuses for me as I have used my non technical skills to more than get by…..however….

The time has come where this will no longer suffice….time to embrace and harness change!!

 

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new”. Socrates

Listen up !

 

 

                                                                                       Edition 408 Monday 04/12/17

 

Hi,its taken me a long time to accept I am not perfect however these days I readily accept this is not the case.In fact I saw a quote the other day that reminded me I have a long way to go. It went something like this; “Husbands (partners) stress women 5x more than children”.I concede this may well be true in my case on too regular an occasion so I promptly made a point of apologising to my understanding wife for being a child at times J.

Fletcher reckons he doesn’t need to write to Santa this year as he has his phone number and is going to call him direct.He also reckons this will also assist to convince the Jolly chap he has been impeccably well behaved this year!

Something funny about wishing for things is they often happen making you regret wishing for them.This happened Sunday when I was called for a ‘Live’ national radio interview on a popular garden/building show.Now as much as I love the sound of my own voice I didn’t enjoy the stress level of being asked questions live to air!Poor old TomTom our parakeet wasn’t too impressed either when he was muzzled and locked in the bathroom to keep the background noise to a minimum…..funny as bro!....yeah right!

Crikey I had a lucky escape last week as 2 large plastic bins were caught by the wind and blown off the back of the ute on the motorway! Thanks to the motorists who stopped to offer assistance and to God my avoiding a multiple pile up on the Mangere Bridge at 3pm!

We mortgaged the house again to purchase the biggest Christmas tree at the local ‘you pick we chop’ it looks and smells amazing centre stage at 48….roll on the silly season ho ho ho!

Take care,keep smiling and enjoy the golden weather,have a good one..…..Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons she will never regret wishing for more secret morsels!

 

“Communication works for those who work at it”. John Powell

There is no doubt in my mind that the better our ability to communicate verbally and in writing the better our chances of success.

I was reminded of this last week as I attended two opening/launch functions of our customers and was then interviewed live to air on the weekend.

I networked with people and listened to a number of speeches at both functions which further reinforced my view that we need to be prepared to put our best foot forward.

It never ceases to amaze me how few people I network with or listen to have not spent time or invested money in being better communicators.

Instead they ‘wing it’ thinking they are better than they are and that ‘shell be right’ rather than working on reducing the risk of failure and increasing the chance of success.

It doesn’t have to be rocket science and it isnt. There are some simple steps that if followed will ensure you communicate your message more effectively as follows;

• Preparation, be prepared prior to attending an event or speaking.
• Research and remember peoples names before events, names are important!
• Practise and try to memorise your presentation so you don’t have to use notes.
• Use body language and tone of voice to enhance your message.
• Have a short intro statement prepared to use when you meet people.
• Listen, listen,listen,listen and then listen some more
• Don’t talk over people, if in doubt refer to the point immediately above and do it.

There you go,you heard it here first go forth and conquer your audience ….good luck !

 

“You never get peoples fuller attention than when you are listening to them”.

William Feather

Gone fishing

                                                                                       Edition 407 Monday 27/11/17

 

Hi,coming to you this week hot off the press on return from our overseas weekend holiday.On island time and loving it from the Waiheke vehicle ferry! 3 days away feels like 33 as we count our lucky stars for being able to use our family holiday home on Kennedy Point, Grand Central, Paradise Island!I guess it is also one of the benefits too of not being committed to saving souls at Muriwai beach via the nipper brigade and being able to run away with the family!

Fletcher reckons to have any chance of catching fish you need to smell like one so we all took his advice and got right into it baiting hooks,unhooking, and cleaning our catch(see pic)

Something funny about fishing is it doesn’t have to be that hard especially when you know the skipper of the local mussel barge!We managed to coordinate with the local green lipped mussel harvest and fish in the processing wash from the barge Boom Boom!

Talk about making life easy after all ‘they’ do say you should “fish where the fish are” and ‘they’ would be absolutely right (this time at least!!).

There is nothing better than hunter gathering and fresh fish for dinner thanks to  our generous skipper Matthew and first mate Aleisha…..look out ‘Boats for Sale’ here we come!

I hope you had a relaxing weekend and are planning a good xmas break…..Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons an Island retirement sounds like a relaxing plan!!

 

 

“Creative isnt the way I think ,its the way I like to live”.Paul Sandip

 

Interesting thing about having a complete break this weekend was how many ideas I had!

Switching off signalled an unbelievable release of creativity and left field thinking.

Without the pressure of work and needing to be places at certain times my mind also eased back and some random but reasonable ideas flowed.

 It was exciting to talk them out, write them down and plan how we could implement them.

Some were work related but others were from nowhere but resonated with us both.

We are both looking forward to a longer break over Christmas/New year to allow us to commit more relaxed thought process to our base ideas.

There are people I have read about that try to take quality time out daily to do nothing but relax and think. They find this assists with providing them creative time to incubate ideas.

Most of us are moving at such a pace that we dont have time to stop and think at all.

We also don’t plan regular breaks or any time where we can actually get off the roller coaster and slow down a bit.

This weekend has reminded me of the importance of doing this both for me and my family.

Life is too short to be on full throttle for too longer periods.

Just like the outboard motor that powered our fishing boat this weekend you cant run forever without servicing and more petrol.

That servicing and fuel must come from taking regular time out, something we all need!

So…a timely reminder for us all coming into the festive and holiday season.

Don’t you be that person who works through so everyone else can have a break!

Make sure you plan to have time out and watch those ideas flow as you reflect and relax!

Don’t sit there and nod…..do something about it NOW before its too late!!!

 

 “Creativity is intelligence having fun”. Albert Einstein

 

“You were born an original,don’t die a copy”. John Mason