Simply the BEST

 

                                                                                       Edition 394 Monday 28/08/17

 

Hi,it would be fair to say I wear my heart on my sleeve and as such tend to show my feelings instantly rather than suppressing them.This makes me the worst person in the world to watch footy live or on the tele with!!I was able to reflect on this for most of the match on Saturday night as my family opted out early for the sanctuary of their beds.Yes I had advice,praise and criticism for everyone during what was a tight and pulsating Test .

The fact that my input had no influence whatsoever on the game or the outcome isnt lost on me however I do tend to get caught up in the moment. All I know is that when the final whistle sounds I am as exhausted as the players physically and mentally!!

Btw after what was a huge weekend for ruggers I am proud to say that I expertly masterminded the AB’s last minute retention of the Bledisloe Cup and the BlackFerns return to their rightful place on top of the Womens Rugby World.Congratulations to both teams!!!

Fletcher reckons,its lucky his Father doesn’t have any Maori blood or he would have some advice on what was wrong with the haka and how to correct it!

Something funny about being busy or thinking we are is we will always find time to help someone else.To this end we managed to fit some random acts of kindness in last week for one of our neighbours(one we like and still talk to!).Giving our time gave us total satisfaction and inner peace with the world….btw the Pohutakawa lives on but there is no word from that neigbour(one we don’t like and no longer talk to!).Ahhhh the ebb and flow of life,be sure you have fun making the most of everything you do have……..Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons nothing is worth getting that worked up over CJ !!

 

 

“Why not show off if you have something to show?”. January Jones

 

I had a cool time last week showing off.

Ive always liked showing off and have to admit to being an expert at it!

‘They’ do say “if you don’t use it you lose it” and showing off is no different.

My showing off wasn’t entirely personal it was mostly business as we entertained industry representatives at ‘our place’  Planet Savers Incorporated V St Onehunga.

Its been a while (far too long)since we shouted from the roof tops and this was confirmed by our guests who were appreciative and complimentary of what we were doing.

Sometimes we are guilty of working too hard in the business that we don’t work on the business or take time out to reflect on what we have done or make a point of telling others!

The reflection from this last week was illuminating as we were able to recognize our own team by showcasing them to a cross section od industry gurus.

It made us all proud and gave us a sense of satisfaction that we are clearly on the right track and setting the example for others to attempt to follow should they dare!

We shared experiences and gathered expert feedback that will help our business be better whilst we were able to tell and show others how far we have come in such a short time.

It was particularly rewarding for me having been in the business since day one of our journey to reflect on the distance we have travelled and how many lives we have influenced.

It also warmed my heart to observe our Directors and majority shareholders opening up and sharing their vision whilst also actually acknowledging the independant praise for doing so.

This is something they have done sparingly if at all in the short time of our proudly 100% Kiwi companies existence…….time now to have a cool time showing off….with good reason!!

 

“Don’t tell people your dreams,show them”. Unknown

Father time!

 

                                                                                       Edition 393 Monday 21/08/17

 

Hi,with another 50+ year about to tick over I have been coincidentally reminded by Father time that hips knees and ankles don’t last forever!Glucosamine is the drug of choice for us athletes however not even that can prolong the ageing process forever.Exercise (my happy place)is a bit of conundrum really,you cant live forever with it and you cant live as long without it!?So all I want for my birthday is a new titanium hip please so I can keep running!

Fletcher reckons,after visiting and feeding a couple of local horses most days that owning a horse would not be a big deal as it could sleep in his room!(afterall he only wants one!!!).

Something funny is what the inventors of Lego must have thought as they boxed up and sent out hundreds of little pieces complete with a 60 page book of assembly instructions!!!

You know you are old when you consider going to bed first and setting the alarm for a 10pm All Black kickoff!!!Crikey once we would stay up all night for a 2 or 3am kickoff!!ZZzzzzJ

RIP Sir Colin Meads the mighty Pinetree from the King Country……Kiwi legend!

Have a great week ahead getting older and wiser!!!…………Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons she would share Fletchers bed with his horse,giddy up!

 

 

“Courtesy is as much a mark of a person as courage”.Theodore Roosevelt

 

What gives people the right to treat others badly…..answer NOTHING!

Whilst I admit that some sales people give the profession a bad name surely that doesn’t mean customers and others can treat sales people like dirt on their shoe?

I have had a bad run lately where there has been a distinct lack of common courtesy extended as part of the sales process.

I reckon I do a pretty good job of qualifying potential customers and don’t engage unless I believe I am dealing with the right person and that they are interested in buying.

All I want is the opportunity to put my best foot forward with a total solution to the needs I have identified my potential customer has.

All I expect in return is for them to do me the courtesy of responding with feedback within a reasonable amount of time.

Trouble is these days people seem to have great difficulty reading anything or communicating openly and honestly….if at all!!

What they don’t realise is I don’t mind if they don’t want to go ahead all I want is the decency of some honest and prompt feedback.

I had a situation last week where I have been working on a deal for over 8 months and most of that time has been follow up meetings and phone calls to procrastinating buyers.

Yes I know people are busy and that my proposal is often not top of their priority list but why let me guess all that…..why not simply just tell me so we can both move on??

Hey Mr/Mrs Buyer if I respect you then is it too much to ask you to do the same?

Hey Mr/Mrs Buyer if you haven’t got the time or the inclination then tell me.

Hey Mr/Mrs Buyer don’t waste my time and I sure as hell wont waste yours!

Hey Mr/Mrs Buyer all relationships start with trust, courtesy and honesty….try me!!

Selling the sizzle is fun but the customer has an important part to play,so remind them that sometimes “The customer isn’t always right!!”.

 

“Civility costs nothing and buys everything”.Mary Wortley Montague

Catalysts for success

 

                                                                                       Edition 392 Monday 14/08/17

 

Hi,phase two Operation “August Birthdays” moved into top gear as we built up for the 5^th birthday extravaganza at the Muriwai Fire Station!I have never watched and listened so intently to so many weather forecasts!In the end we just felt the fear and went for broke anyway.Fortune favoured the brave, the weather gods smiled on us and nothing but ‘kid chaos’ reigned supreme.Twenty x four and five year olds turbo charged with sweets,fairy bread,marshmallows,chocolate cake and cheerios took control of the place!

Fletcher reckons,the bouncy castle was a winner,closely followed by the ‘old school’ sack races and an ambitious attempt by his Mum to get teams of hypo kids to build structures with marshmallows and toothpicks!...amazingly successful I have to humbly concede!!

Something funny about stress is we waste endless amounts of energy worrying about things we cant control when we should focus on what we can and let the other stuff just happen anyway….easier said than done but very true (don’t sweat the small stuff??).

We were blown away by the help we received from friends and the generous gifts received,we have a lot to be grateful for and need to focus on that more at times when we may too easily think we are hard done by, we need to ask ourselves…compared to who???

So what now?....on to the old fellahs birthday….the less fuss the better I say!!

Have a great week being grateful for everything you do have…………Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons the left over sausages and cheerios were a winner! J

 

 

“Inspiration acts as a catalyst for success”. Sam Veda

 

Life is a series of events that happen or are caused depending on various catalysts.

For example if we are disorganized then we typically achieve less in a day/week/year.

If we don’t get enough sleep we don’t perform at our peak, we struggle.

If we don’t exercise we are lethargic, apathetic and slow off the mark.

 If we have a negative attitude we live in denial while criticizing and blaming others!

All of the above examples provide catalysts for poor performance or failure.

So in order to avoid that outcome what can we do to create catalysts for success?

The first amd most obvious thing we can do is the opposite to all of the above!

Get organized, have a plan(written) and follow it, tick things off as you do them.

Get at least eight hours sleep a night, exercise for 30 minutes daily which only needs to increase heart rate not take it off the scale eg; a simple walk on the local park/beach.

Develop a positive attitude (‘Upbeat’) to life by being grateful for what you have rather than moaning about what you don’t have.

Getting simple things like these right sets us up for the best catalyst to succeed.

Easy to say but hard to ensure that we get the basic building blocks in place however it is achievable as long as we focus on them daily.

We have talked in the sizzle before about the importance of planning,planting daily fire starters and listing three things every day we are grateful for but what else can we do?

I have started listing a couple of things I know I am good at daily and combined this with some self talk….like “I am going to have a great day today because I like talking to people”.

I am going to have a successful day today because I like helping people regardless”.

Or how about this one “I am going to have fun today lauging at myself because Im funnyJ”.

Lets face it the sky is the limit, have fun creating your catalyst for success….good luck!!

 

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change”.Wayne Dyer

Forever Young

        

 

 

 

                                                                                       Edition 391 Monday 07/08/17

 

Hi,crikey where to start?...after birthday celebrations spanning four full days culminating in the longest,laziest Italian lunch 48 and Muriwai have seen!Yes it truly had it all from the Head Chef and Maitre D to the live music from the recent debut album headliners ‘The Milltones’ to the superb ‘one out of the box’ West Coast day!A special day for a special person that provided an extra special occasion to mark my beautiful wifes 50^th birthday!

Fletcher reckons,Mums birthday celebrations were exciting and fun but without wanting to take anything away from his favourite person in the whole Universe they were afterall only the curtain raiser to the main event this week/weekend….yes his 5^th birthday, bring it on!!

Something funny happened as we accompanied Fletcher to his first official real school exploratory ‘drop and go’ half day. It just so happened it was also ‘Grandparents Day’ and I am sure from the looks we were getting that other parents and Grandparents were not sure if we were either older looking parents or younger looking Grandparents J.We decided to keep them all guessing for as long as possible which was a bit of fun!

In breaking ‘save our tree’ news the tree is still standing however our relationship with our neighbours is no longer as they incur the wrath of the neighbourhood and the Community!

We live in hope but believe the situation is symtematic of bigger problems at City Hall.

Our problems are minor compared to many people we know so we resolve to live each day to the fullest and hope you get to as well, have a good one……Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons the moolah saved on Oscar and Harrys rego should be reinvested in keeping her to the Labrador manor born! !ZZZzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

“It takes 20 years to build a relationship and 5 minutes to ruin it”. Warren Buffett

 

Great feedback from the ‘Momentum’ piece last week…thanks for that!

The early start to the week on a positive mission ended in success which continued to fuel other wins during the week resulting in one of my better ones in the Green Gorilla suit!

Speaking of the Gorilla suit I will never forget when I did dress up as a Gorilla for a presentation and equipped with 2kg of bananas headed to a Boardroom showdown.

The idea was to lighten up proceedings whilst providing a key point of difference!

To say it failed epicly is being kind because it crashed,burned and disintegrated to dust!

Yes it was a bad misread of what I felt would surely project us in front of our competitors.

We lost badly and have never been invited back and are unlikely to ever be….hmmmmm

So what did we learn and how has that helped us position ourselves more favourably?

We learned that the Ports of Auckland procurement Board members liked bananas but didn’t like our attempt to lighten their attempt to make a key strategic purchasing decision!

From that day we have also learned that we need to get closer to our existing and prospective customers to understand their business from top to toe. This includes researching their industry trends so we can assist them to position themselves to take advantage of those trends.I know I have said it before in this column but our customers need us to be more than just a recycling and waste transporter from A to B.

 They need us to be a solutions provider who is aligned to their business so closely that we work as intimately with them as one of their own trusted team members.

That  folks is what we learned a Gorilla suit and a bunch of bananas was never going to do!!

 

“Wise people place trust in ideas and not in circumstances”.Ralph Waldo Emerson