Category: Life

Quality time with my little human

Holidays…what a pleasure!  It’s been a week and I have to say the time I have spent chilling with my little man has been priceless!  Not only have we been out and about spending time with family and friends but we have also been just been enjoying each other’s company.

This time with him has given me the opportunity to really “see” him and pay attention to the person he is becoming.  I must admit that I am blown away but what I see.  I see a big boy who is evolving into an impressive young man.  Of course I am biased but, at the same time, I definitely see lots to be proud of.

If I look back at the year past, he really got to grips with the concept of self motivation. He embraced affirmations and, on New Year’s Eve, was very keen to participate in a Law of Attraction exercise. He listed the things he wanted to let go of and the things he wanted to achieve or change in 2018. In a nutshell, he has matured a lot.

He has such a sense of humour as well. We were actually just chatting about the year ahead and the importance of discipline and focus.  When we were done, I hug him and tell him that I love and him and that I want him to prosper. His response, in his driest tone,..”like Absa”.  I laughed so hard.  (Absa is the name of a bank in SA that promises to help you prosper).  He hits me with these deadpan jokes of his when I least expect it. Cracks me up everytime.

This time has also been spent reconnecting with old friends and with family. My dad came to see in my birthday with me. We spent the evening playing monopoly. We all had such a blast that we completely lost track of time that night. Another of my favourite moments was driving down to the farm with my son. It’s about a 2 hour drive one way. The scenery is amazing. We had lunch with my aunts and their families. Lots of laughter was shared as well as great food. The time spent with them was so worth the drive.

Unfortunately, it’s time to return to school and work. 😔 I return feeling grounded. Centered. Clear on how I want to spend my year. I probably could have done with another week of rest but it’s ok. Some rest is better than none.😁 I hope that you have had the opportunity to rest as well this festive season. We forget how important it is to look after ourselves so that we have the energy to keep grinding and looking after our loved ones.

I’ll leave you with another African proverb I found…#africanproverb #groundedafrican #african #life #motherhood

Another year older…

I get to experience “New Year” twice in one week.  The first time on the first of January like everyone else.  The second, on my birthday,  a week later.  The second one always feels more important to me.   It’s when I really take stock, decide on my goals and lay down plans to make those goals happen.

I haven’t always done things this way.  I have largely flown by the seat of my pants for most of my life.   There are goals that I had as a teen that I actively pursued but I didn’t really understand what I was doing.   Looking back, knowing what I now know,  I see why and how I managed to achieve certain things and why I didn’t achieve others. In the last 3-4 years I have gotten into the habit of creating goals and actually thinking through how I will achieve them.  I know, scary that it has taken me this long but  I still believe in “better late than never”.  I have been reading about goal setting for a while and have even written a few down but I never had the discipline to plan how to make it happen.  It became clear that setting goals was a fruitless exercise if you had no plan on how to achieve them.

I have been talking to different people and reading different books in order to find a method that would work for me.  In my last post, I shared a method that I believe in and will be implementing this year.  If you missed it, you can read more about it here.  I have come to realise that, although I may have lived most of my life flying by the seat of my pants, I am actually a creature of habit on a day to day basis so this method should be pretty easy to make mine.  Will keep you posted on how it’s going as we move along through the year.

I will leave you with a pearl of wisdom from the African continent to inspire you…#African #Lifeskills #life #groundedafrican #motivation #africanproverb

If you enjoyed this post, please like and share.

Bye for now

The year that was and the year that will be

It’s the last day of yet another year.  A year that has brought many a great moment and many sad moments too.  I have changed over this year and I like the changes I see.  Fears have been faced.  Obstacles have been overcome.  New habits have developed as well.  I see the world differently today compared to 365 days ago.  I am blessed.  For all of this, the highs and the lows, I am grateful. To the people who have supported me and been there for me, I thank you.  The greatest thanks goes to God for guiding me and shielding me this past year.  Nothing is possible without Him.  Of course the two VIP males in my life must be mentioned as well, my son and my boyfriend as they have been my rocks.  I could not have gotten through this year without them. Thank you both.  2017 is for all intents and purposes over.  2018 is on our doorstep and I am super excited to open that door and let it in!

I was reading the story of Warren Buffet and his pilot, Mike Fint,  and the “two list” strategy earlier.  In a nutshell Mr Buffet’s advice to his pilot to help him achieve his goals in life was as follows:

  • Step 1 – write down your top 25 career goals.  (I know, it sounds daunting doesn’t it.  Once you start though, you will be surprised at how quickly you get to 25 so give it a go.  It doesn’t have to be career goals, it can be anything you want to achieve).
  • Step 2 – review the list and circle your top 5 goals.

You now have 2 lists.  List 1 contains your top 5 most important goals and list 2 contains 20 goals that are important to you but probably have a lower priority.  If you are like Mike Flint, you are probably telling youself that List 1 is the list you will focus on and list 2 you will get to as when you have time between the items on list 1.  Yip, that’s what I was thinking too.

Guess what…the story goes that Warren Buffet told Mike Flint to put that list aside.  List 2 is your “Avoid-At-All-Cost” list.  He apparently says that you should not give the items on this list any attention until you have succeeded with your top 5.  List 2 will be a distraction.  Success requires focus.

2018 brings with it new hope and new opportunities to grow, to learn and to succeed.  I stand on the otherside of the door, waiting to open it,  armed with the tools that life has brought my way.  One of those is my new found habit of meditation.  Yes, I eventually got myself into the habit and I am so glad that I did.  The last few weeks have been a different experience compared to the rest of the year especially at work.  You can read more about the changes I have experienced thus far on my Quora page.  I highly recommend you give it a try in 2018.

I won’t be making any New Year Resolutions for 2018.  I will, however, be setting myself those 5 goals and then implementing the new habits that I will require to make those goals a reality.  Sounds weird right.  Think about it though.  How many times have you set yourself a goal and made no changes and expected success?  How many times have you achieved success this way?  I am guessing that it was probably none. Whenever you have achieved success, you made a change somewhere in your daily life in order to make it happen.  In every interview I have read about how someone has lost weight for example, they will all say the same thing, they had to develop new habits in order to succeed.  Some created a habit of running/exercising everyday.  All developed the habit of drinking more water and all had to create new habits around mealtimes and the way they thought about food.  They had to make changes in order to be successful.  So yes, I will be setting goals and creating new habits within my daily routines that will allow me to focus on those goals and give me every chance of succeeding.

Before I go, I would like to say thank you for your continued support this year.  Thank you for all the messages I have received over the past few months after you have read my blog.  Please keep them coming in 2018.  Your messages are valued.

Lastly,  I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year.  May your 2018 be filled with love laughter and prosperity. Please don’t drink and drive and do strap your yourself and your children in if you will be on the road.  Definitely don’t forget your sunscreen 🙂