Ham anyone?

         

 

 

Edition 217 Monday January 20th 2014

 

Hi, I hope you are having a happy and successful New Year to date and long may it continue.I also trust you were able to spend some time relaxing with family and friends during the last month.

We had a cool time enjoying where we live and all those things about it we tend to miss during the year or take for granted sometimes.I never knew there was so many ways to eat ham off the boneJ

The domestic ‘to do ‘ list suffered with most items never seriously threatened as we made the most of doing absolutely nothing.We did however manage to change the house round a bit which has enabled us to create a much loved and now used formal dining room for romantic candlelit evenings. As much as I would like to say it was my idea, Christine must take the credit.

Speaking of Christine, we are delighted to announce we are getting married in a small intimate outdoor family affair in March at our favourite place in the world ‘Matua Vineyard’…..Yay !!!

From the Fletcher file his performance in the Christmas show was a fizzer as he was overcome by the crowd and the heat from the spotlights and never fired a shot till after it had finished! Never mind there is always next year and there is no time for a showbiz career when you have a scooby Doo trike and a cool helmet to ride with at the local track (see attached photos)J

Whilst my return to work is definitely easier than being at home entertaining our energetic son I will miss the daily 10.30am Fletcher nap shared most days with him ! L

Like last year I have flagged the elaborate list of goals and objectives in favour of being totally  focused daily on one overarching goal ‘to be better’ at everything I do.

Have a great week ahead and make sure you make the time and effort to visit or make contact with the people that are important to you, don’t let an opportunity pass you by, it will mean a lot to you and them. Its great to be back talking to you…………..Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon they could assist with wedding prep by clearing the sheep from the field at Matua and surrounding paddocks!!!

 

 

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”.

Stephen Covey.

I took some time this year to plan my return to work meticulously.I made notes on all the unfinished projects from last year and developed simple strategies for handling each of them in my first week back. This resulted in a highly successful week! It was so good that I have made the simple preplanning session a permanent fixture.It takes a bit of time but it is worth it as it makes sure the unfinished stuff doesnt compound resulting in an insurmountable list of stuff each week.

I have returned determined to stay on top of my workload and to act urgently on opportunities and ‘be better’ at turning these into new revenue for our company in 2014!! I am also determined to ‘be better’ at being ‘on time’ for meetings so I set about leading by example in this area from day one.

It certainly helped having our first Toastmasters meeting for the year in the same week as it assisted me greatly by giving me an extra motivation boost at a crucial time…..hey why not??? www.toastmasters.org.nz ……….go on you know you want to. Did you know that from extensive surveys conducted with a wide range of people from all walks of life it was found that people feared speaking publicly ahead of death!!! There are plenty of ways to ensure you hit the ground running this year, preplanning and Toastmasters are only two of them…..just make sure you are doing something to stay out in front and on top. Good luck, have a great year!

 

“You hit home runs not by chance, but by preparation.” Roger Maris

Thanks

 

 

 

Edition 216 Monday December 16th 2013

 

Hi,I trust you have not found keeping up with the Jonses this year too stressful….I have !! J My Dad  has to take the cake for doing his best to extinguish one of the main boughs of the family tree by dancing with death on two occasions in the year! I am pleased to report that he has bounced back in true Jones fashion and has never been better thanks in no small part to having the strength, support and unconditional love of my faithful Mother at his side constantly throughout. Yes my brother,sister and I are blessed and have one wish this festive season for our Octonogerian parents to slow down long enough to catch their breaths before rushing head first into their 80^th plus umpteenth crack at it in 2014!

From the Fletcher file his 15/16 month check in at Plunket recently confirmed he is growing like an above average weed and smarter than the above average bear to boot! He will be appearing in his daycare Christmas show this week staring as a passenger in the “wheels go round and round” bus!! We have reserved front row seats and will forward youtube video footage! Look I don’t want to go on ……but, ok Ill tell you…..Fletcher has also started zipping around the local BMX track on a plastic indoor bike! I don’t want to pre-empt anything but our kid appears fearless and there is a new purpose built BMX trike on order…..Crikey world junior X games loom large!

It is a good time of year to reflect and in doing so to give thanks for what we have and the joy we get from the simple things rather than the material things in life. I am certainly grateful for what I have. It was my goal this year to strive to “be better” at everything I did and on reflection I an happy that I gave that a serious crack and hope that others noticed improvement in my performance particularly my family when it came to a better work /life balance. I am determined to continue to “be better” in 2014 and look forward to even more noticable improvements in my life!!

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback, it has been a great year and I have valued and appreciated your ongoing encouragement and advice. I have thrived on your guidance and success throughout the year. I hope you all have a happy and safe Christmas/New Year break with your families and friends . Have fun and take care, see you all back with edition 217 on Monday 20^th January 2014……………Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons have always believed in Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, so keep the presents coming. T bones and lamb chop bones are particularly tasty !!!

 

“Momentum? Momentum is the next day's starting pitcher.”Earl Weaver

 

It can be a funny time of year with a lot of customers trying to put you off until the New Year instead of comitting to buying decisions this side of Christmas. It is difficult to build and maintain momentum. You can use this time to your advantage by working hard to tie up loose ends that will benefit both you and your customers.

For example it is a good time of year to sort out issues that have been hanging around for a while as you have a looming festive deadline you can work to . This is a good point for me as I don’t tend to put deadlines on things during the year and they meander along. I have decided I am going to do a better job of setting deadlines and sticking to them in 2014.

I have also been meaning to call a lot of customers following up on new business propositions and additional business opportunities but havent taken the time till now to actually devote myself to clearing these away before year end…..again it is about prioritising these and making a point of ‘just doing it’ until it is done….something that I need to focus on achieving more regularly in the New Year. So there you have it, new years goals rising from the ashes of this years ‘to do’ deadline list….Gold!!

Thanks for all your amazing feedback, I hope it has been a sizzling year for you……cheers Jonesey!!

 

“Sometimes thinking too much can destroy your momentum.”Tom Watson

The last squeeze

         

 

 

Edition 215 Monday December 9th 2013

 

Hi,hey remember our gas fitter plumber guy Mat Bowman from a couple of episodes ago?, well he asked to use our bit about him in the sizzle as a reference on his new website! How cool is that, one good turn deserves another and that is how the world revolves my friends…..good karma!

I like to get the last out of any container or product before accepting it is run out and eventually throwing it away. Christine is the opposite as soon as there is a hint of the end its gone so there tends to be a battle of the minds especially around the kitchen and the bathroom as things like toothpaste, shampoo, dishwashing liquid, showerwash etc all get used. Now even when there is visibly no product left I reckon a rinse frees up enough product for a final lash! Last week I couldn’t pump any more out of a moisturiser bottle so I unscrewed it and got enough off the tube running in to the bottle to have a bath in (well almost) .Sometimes I have to hide containers in order to get that last rinse/use or it gets noticed and chucked....hmm funnyJ….the irritating things you do !!!

Speaking of making things last I had been doing that with my running shoes until I spotted my foot protruding out the side! Off to the sales and some great deals but the pair best for my tender (wide) feet and the distance I plod annually was not on sale (hate it when that happens!).Some things are not worth crying about and for me running shoes is one of those…..my theory here is that of the Gucci Family.. “the price will be forgotten long before the quality is remembered and appreciated!” I am also an advocate of my shoe manufacturer(Brooks) battle cry and will always “Run Happy” J in their product! I hope you also had a happy time too this weekend with family and friends.

Have an awesome week ahead chasing your success and happinessJ……………Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon trying to make the dog biscuit container go further sucks

 

“As I grow older I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do”.

 Andrew Carnegie

 

Ever wondered what you would do if you lost your voice?, how you would communicate or get by?

Last week it happened to me!......now there are some who welcomed this phenonemon and rejoiced in the peace and quiet it created in their world……albeit only a brief respite!

I picked up a throat infection either compliments of my darling son or the dubious water quality of the outdoor pool at Onehunga!

The upshot was a raw throat and almost full loss of my normal dulcet communication tones!(voice).

Crikey that was a lesson for someone who has always been rather fond of my own voice I was reduced to actually having to listen more than I spoke….because I couldn’t and then having to pick and choose what I said when in meetings and on phone calls!...it was a battle but I got there!

What it demonstrated clearly to me was;

• I don’t listen enough most of the time !!
• I speak far too much and sometimes unnecssarily especially in a selling situation(oversell).
• I can and did get by saying a lot less.
• A well timed brief relevant word can be more effective than raving on for minutes on end.
• No one listens to half of what you say or understands half of that anyway!

 

So an interesting week full of meetings where I had to plan to survive and achieve what I had set out to using a lot less words and by being more strategic with the info I had to share. I learned a lot and it was a good wake up call. I appreciate my voice and that I have to look after it along with my health. I also realised I don’t have to talk as much as I do normally so don’t!!......enough said !!

 

“We do not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes we have to eat them”.

Adlai Stevenson

In the zone!!

         

 

 

Edition 214 Monday December 2nd 2013

 

Hi, I love December for lots of reasons but the main ones are;

 

·         The count down to Summer holiday time seriously begins.

·         Time to get the Christmas tree and fill the house with that amazing piney smell!

·         The outdoor pool at Onehunga is open, bigger, cooler and less crowded Yahoo!!

 

Just as well it is an exciting time after the weekend we have just endured having all contracted Fletchers gastric tummy bug for the second time in the last few months. We all spent most of the weekend in bed or the outhouse fighting the good fight grrrr. Poor old Fletcher also had conjunctivitus so what a happy crew we all were to be around. I train twice a day in an effort to stay in as good a shape as possible and to ignore the ageing process however I was powerless to stop the onslaught of the dreaded gastric bug which stopped me yet again in my tracks!. Lots of fluid and as much sleep as possible the tried and proven remedy and a renewed appreciation for good health when I have it!! But hey Santa is definitely coming to our house to place presents under the scooby doo tree we snaffled earlt at the local pick and chop man. Yep a real tree , real pine needles everywhere and that amazing pine smell through the house. Decorating the tree was a mission with our son removing the decorations as fast as they were placed.The after hours crew completed the job when he was asleep!

I hope you had a cool and fun weekend with family and friends and that you are allowing yourself to be slowly but surely captivated by the festive spirit and goodwill of the holiday season.

Have a great week ahead…………..Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon properly trained, a man could be a dog's best friend?

 

“When I feel like I'm doing my best work, there is a bit of a freedom, a bit of flight that you're not so much losing yourself but you're sort of in the zone.”Chris Cooper

 

Everyone has their optimum time in the day where they are at their best or “In the zone”

For me it is the mornings and the reason I know this is because it is the time I feel the strongest and most productive physically and mentally.

It starts for me everyday at 5am when I rise to exercise and it is during these sessions I find myself at my most creative so I always have a note pad in the gym or the bathroom whilst showering and getting ready for work. I have had the most brilliant ideas both business and personal during that first hour or two in the morning. I run Monday/Wednesday/Friday it always clears my head and I always think about the day and the week ahead. I havent managed to carry a notepad on the run yet but do manage to remember the earth shattering ideas I have for changing my world as I go.

I don’t leave it at that as I have a second session most lunchtimes where I head to the local pool and swim laps. I call it swimming where others may differ in their description but for me it is the ideal head clearer after a busy morning or a series of internal or external meetings. It helps me refocus and concentrate on what I still need to do in my day before I run out of gas. Mid/late afternoon can be tough if I am not focussed especially after burning so much energy prior.

I not telling you this stuff because I think I am gods gift to the 50 plus brigade!! I am telling you this because if you havent figured out what time in the day you are at your best then you need to and then you should make sure you go for it so you maximise your performance during that time.

We are all different in this respect but those of us who have identified this and work their day around their highs and lows are the ones who tend to succeed. Hope this helps you check it out, good luck!

 

“Being ‘in the zone is a very strange feeling. It’s as if time slows down and you see everything so clearly. “Mark Richardson Olympic Sprinter

'Never'

 Hi,thanks and well done to all of you who noticed I didn’t ‘update’ the ‘Upbeat’ date last week. I take back everything I said about you only scanning it quickly for scandal and gossip!! Good work!!

Funny old week just gone which started with me getting into trouble having a crack at one of my favourite passtimes…..’bin diving’ as I jumped into a huge 35m bin to remove some pallets that were contaminating a load of recyclable glass. It seemed easy at the time but I underestimated the difficulty of the task not to mention the effect on my business clothes.Apart from ruining my clothes and breaking all the companies health & safety rules I also managed to incur the wrath of the company hierarchy for wasting time and energy…ahhh try to please everyone and please no one!!J.

Then I was collecting a couple of 15 litre water bottles for our cooler at home when I dropped one in the Just Water reception and the bottle split spilling 15 litres of water onto the carpet!! I freaked as everyone was up to their ankles in water, I apologised and left quickly funny tho eh?J!!

Continuing with the irratating/ annoying theme  I got a phone call from a large potential customer contacts boss aggressively and rudely telling me to back off the sales pressure on his report!? Seems I had missed a couple of voicemails from the report telling me the same thing but more politely!!

 This series of dumb arsed events in the first half of the week knocked my confidence around a bit but in true ‘Upbeat’ spirit and fashion I fought back and and cleared my head and refocused for the rest of the week to finish strongly by unearthing a couple of golden opportunities and signing two deals. Adversity and set backs breed strength and resilience, so my advice is never, never  give in !!!!

Speaking of never giving in, what about the Kiwi League team and the mighty AB’s !!!! 20 seconds to go in their games and they come up with amazing converted tries to snatch the games from the jaws of defeat, brilliant. In life and sport, its never over till its over.Never give in folks……..ever!

I hope you had a great weekend soaking up the sun somewhere with family and friends. Have a cool week ahead and remember no matter what happens stay ‘upbeat’ and focussed….Cheers Jonesey!!

 

Harry and the Hendersons reckon they noticed the date thing last week….yeah right!!

 

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com

 Never underestimate the value of outstanding service!!

We had issues with our gas cooker at home so I called some gas fitters from our local directory.

The first guy I rang sounded put out and promptly told me he was far too busy to assist us. I must admit this experience put me off making the next call however Im glad I did. The next guy was the complete opposite in every way. His name was Mat Bowman and he asked a lot of questions about our gas cooker. He methodicly gathered information from me in an effort to establish what our issue was. Finally after a  thorough round of investigative interrogation in the most pleasant manner he was able to diagnose a simple fix which he took the time to explain to me over the phone. Now as you now I am no whizz with the techo stuff or as a practical trouble shooter however with Mats guidance I was able to reposition the top of the element to the bottom in the correct manner (yes that ‘simple’) and hey presto problem solved ladies and gentlemen. OMG what a breath of fresh tradesman air this was compared to the ‘cant be bothered’ or ‘you sound like a bunny’ rip off merchants we are normally exposed to !!! Mat saved us approx $150 in call out and hourly rate by taking an interest in our problem, identifying its (and my) simplicity and then solving the issue by offering his expertise and going the extra mile to do so.

Mat Bowman, mat@bowman.co.nz phone (027)559-9601 You are a legend and I will refer you to everyone I know plus anyone I hear of who needs a quality plumber or gasfitter.

Never underestimate the value of outstanding service….a classic kiwi example restoring the faith.

 

“When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” Robert Half