Whose Voice Are You Listening to? by Kim Vermaak

In the book Little Voice Mastery by Blair Singer, he talks about the little voice that we all have inside of us with management can allow us to step out of our current circumstances and rise above mediocrity.

This goes beyond affirmations, it is by starting to ask ourselves, whose voice are we actually listening to?  Sometimes people who love us, want us to avoid pain and when they see us going down a road that they don't understand, they may try to steer us away from our vision or goal.

When I started my business 18 years ago, my mother told me not to do this for too long, as if it did not work, then it would be really hard to get a job again.  Was she trying the sabotage me? Certainly not.  She was living over 1000 km away and was panicked that if it did not work, she was too far away for me to simply come home and start over again.

But the words stuck in my heart.  When things went wrong, I did not say to myself, well that was a great lesson. Most very successful entrepreneurs have had very painful lessons to learn from.  I fretted that my mother would think that I was a failure and her cautionary words were obviously right.

Maybe I did not have what it takes to be successful.

It was only once I realized that my parents who had only ever been employees, did not have the knowledge or experience to guide me through entrepreneurship, did I begin to minimize that voice.

For how many of you do these kind of experiences ring true?

Now my mantra is how can I learn from what just happened?  About 2 years ago my mentor introduced me to a woman in the advertising and event industry and when she asked how long I had been in business, she said:

"Wow, that is an achievement by anyone's standards".  She had built up her own business, so her viewpoint came from a place that recognized what I had achieved.

I realized that I had to re-frame my experience of the world and who I need to listen to.  This does not mean that you have to ignore anyone who is not like you.  My friend is a bookkeeper and my most avid supporter over the years. I knew nothing about admin and bookkeeping and taxes.  I learned hard lessons and my friend helped me to learn SageOne and taught me about tax returns. So I grew and learned from her.

But many bookkeepers are naturally risk-averse.  They have to be because they are responsible for keeping you compliant and keeping the cash flow healthy. But in many cases, they are not the people who are going to catapult you into greatness.  So expecting them to do so, or being disappointed when they do not buy into your vision, is not fair to either of you.

You really want to choose a range of people, who are good at what they do and learn from them through their experience. Personally, I would not go to a dentist if I had a problem with my heart.  So why do we feel that we need to take everyone's advice to heart?

The big thing that comes across in this book is that while we are born for greatness, not many of us follow through.

When we start asking real questions of ourselves, we may find areas that we need improvement in. But we may also find areas that we are really great in.

We need to choose whose voice we listen to so that we can take the correct paths to growth.

There is a super online Diagnostic on the Little Voice Mastery Website to help you along the way.

 http://www.littlevoicemastery.com/diagnostic

Also, grab a copy of the book Little Voice Mastery and begin to take charge of your own Little Voice and begin to reach those goals of yours.

GET OUT!

The Power of the exit strategy

What a year I have had so far, not only has my book “Live a Better Life – Earn Passive Income Online” gone through its final editing stages and been launched, but I released a brand new bridal issue for my magazine (I’m the founding editor of Sew You! Magazine) and I launched a second book for the year, compiled from the first year’s worth of magazine issues. All of this was done by the 16^th of January 2019.

Honestly, I’m already looking forward to a good holiday, however there’s so much left to do, all of it through my own business, so honestly I can only blame myself for giving myself such a busy schedule – luckily I’m one of these people who can’t sit still for too long.

During all of this I have also been busy reading a brand new book, “Always Looking Up” by Michael J. Fox. I have been so enamored by it, that I find myself reading away any spare moment I have. Although I will go into the book much more fully when I write the book review on it (which I assure you will be soon), I just really felt the need to share this with you.

The book is about Michael J. Fox’s experiences as he goes through setting up his foundation to raise funds to discover a cure for Parkinson’s Disease. His approach right from the beginning is to create a foundation that quite simply won’t last, it will reach its goal, and that would be the end of it.

I’m reminded vaguely of studying business, and how we were taught to approach business with an exit strategy already in place. Before you start a business, know how you are going to get out. Why would you start a business, with the end in mind?

Well firstly, if you want to grow a huge and successful company, according to researchers most companies tend to outgrow their founding entrepreneurs, this is mostly because if the company is to have a long life span, it’s “mindset” and functions would eventually have to change from the small, higher risk growth rate that most entrepreneurs approach business with. So what this means, in rough terms, is that you need to be ready to leave your company, before it gets ready to “boot you out” in a manner of speaking.

Even as an investor in company shares, I hold my shares for the long haul but sell them after five to seven years. Every investment has an exit strategy.

To put it simply, over time everything changes, and quite often we have absolutely no control over that change. When that change happens are you going to find that you have stagnated and been too unwilling to budge?

Be willing, and have a plan to get out. Even if you just become a silent shareholder and board member in your own business. Personally, my magazine and brand is my baby. I have put not just time and financial investment into it, but huge, and I mean HUGE emotional investment. I am incredibly attached to it, which is why I have given myself two exit strategies. Either I build the company and let the next younger generation continue with it, while I hang out on an exotic island, quietly collecting profits, or I out right sell it in all its entirety. Either way what I have spent so many years growing and nurturing will have a way to move forward and become even bigger and better. I’m allowing what I have built to become a legacy in its own right.

It’s also a system that allows me to move on to do other things, I want to fill my life with as many experiences as possible, and do as many things as is possible, which means I have to admit that my business and I will grow apart… and nobody wants to be stuck in a stale relationship of any kind.

That and, quite honestly, one day I want to have to do absolutely no work for active income, I want to take a break, and yes, an early retirement too.

Ask yourself honestly, with everything that you have going on right now in your life, whether you are working for someone else, or you are running your own business. What is your exist strategy? Over time you will grow and evolve, will you allow yourself the possibility and ability to move onto something else? It may possibly something even greater than what you are doing now.

What I Learned from the Great Kitten Rescue by Kim Vermaak

This weekend our 8 week old kitten, Tigger climbed to the top of a massive tree in our garden could not get out. Colin (my husband) had to conduct the great kitten rescue and his journey to get to the kitten made me think if there were any lessons to be learned.

  

Lesson Number 1: You have to try

  

Everyone needs to learn by trial and error. Climbing the tree was not the "real" problem for the kitten, as cats are designed to climb, just as we as human beings are designed to create, and climb to new heights.

  

The problem was the kitten was inexperienced and when it got very high, it got a bit terrified and did not know what to do next. Sometimes when we are reaching for our dreams, we also get afraid and don't know what to do next.

  

Lesson 2: Know when to call for help.

  

Both the kitten and my children knew that they could not do this alone, so they called for help. Sometimes you face a real challenge and you need to have a team to call on, to navigate your current obstacles or problem.

If you allow yourself to get stuck in the circumstances, you will not progress. Sometimes you need a little help. That help, may be to realign your vision. It may be needing a referral or some sort of resource.

Needing help does not make you a loser, it makes you a team player.

  

Lesson 3: Ask the right person for help. 

When you call for help, choose the right person for the job. No one in the rescue told the kitten not to climb trees. They were born to be climbers.

In your life don't call for the person who is going to tell you not to climb the tree. So many of us try something and when it does not work at first, we go to lament our problems with family or friends who have never gone through what we have gone through or who have quit on their dreams.

Go to someone who has tried what you want to do and found a way to win and who can be an encouragement to you when you are pushing for your goal.

Lesson 4: Clear away the debris that is blocking your way.

When Colin climbed the tree, he found lots of loose dead branches that were stopping him from getting closer to the kitten. He had to put on some protective gloves to clear the debris. He needed a solid footing to get the kitten. Most of the branches were strong enough to take his 6.3ft frame, but the loose branches that were in the way would have caused him to slip and render him and the kitten incapable of coming down.

Evaluate you circumstances and see if there are any situations or people that are holding you back from achieving your goal and begin to clear away the debris. Anything that clouds your vision needs to be moved away. Maybe your debris is that you may need to get rid of some debts that are affecting your ability to get funding or maybe it is a old way of thinking. Maybe it is a friendship that is not letting you grow

Lesson 5: Listen the correct voices.

We were all calling to the kitten to come down, assuming that just by calling and encouraging, we could coax the kitten down. But only Colin was high enough to see what holding the kitten back. He had already climbed up to a point to add real value to the situation.

This does not mean that you need to abandon all your relationships, rather sift through your friendships and family and put them in the correct place. Your family members that have not journeyed where you are heading, have a place in your life, but they cannot be your coach.

Lesson 6: Have the courage to start again.

The best lessons are those learned through pain. Pain is there to teach us a better way of doing things, not to immobilize us. You do not need to be prefect in your journey. You just need to be willing to learn and apply what you have learned. When you were a baby, you did not stop learning to walk when you fell down, you simply got up and tried again and again.

Lesson 7: Be an encouragement to others.

When the kitten knew that help was on its way, he actually had the courage to come the last bit of the way himself and Colin did not actually have to climb all the way up to the very top. We all cheered when the kitten came down. Even if you are going through a challenge yourself, be encouraging to others. You will never know whether that final cheering on, could be the very thing that catapults them into success.

So now that you have learned some lessons from the Great Kitten Rescue, share this article and Be more, Do more, Have more.

The Inspired Action Challenge

At the beginning of the month I proof read the author copy of my third published book. I then created and launched the next issue of my magazine, Sew You! Magazine (www.SewYouMagazine.com). I am now busy compiling and editing a second book which will be launched in the next two weeks or so, and it’s only the 16^th of January.

This tells me two things, first of all that 2019 is going to be an amazing year, and second of all that I may be a little crazy. In fact I have two more books in the pipeline after these two, plus a number of other projects that keep me rather busy.

What do all of these projects have in common? They were each once an inspired idea. But they didn’t just stay as ideas, I jumped into action to make it possible.

Last year when I was inspired to launch my magazine, I didn’t look at all the work that was involved (of which I can assure you there is A LOT that goes into each issue), instead I said to myself “Let’s do it!” and I jumped right in and compiled my first issue, launching it in April. A couple months later I was inspired to write my book… and I just started to do it.

So many people have ideas of the things they would love to do one day, and the things that they would like to achieve… one day. Sadly for most people that one day never ever comes, and many great books, movies, businesses, etc are never born.

Too often we let our excuses stop us from achieving what we truly want to in life. I’m that annoying person that just does something when I’m inspired to, and I have a very low tolerance for excuses. So often when I am working with a client, and they speak about all the things they want to achieve, which usually sounds pretty fantastic, I then ask them why they aren’t doing it. Almost always they pause briefly, and then they start rattling off all the excuses as to why they can’t do it.

Failure and regret happens when you let your goals and dreams get stuck somewhere in the “filter of a million excuses”

Sadly more people have excuses as to why they shouldn’t achieve their goals, and that’s what they focus on, instead of the reasons why they should be achieving their goals.

In my honest opinion, if you really and truly want to achieve something, you would find a way to make it happen. There is no excuse whatsoever.

My computer died, its motherboard was apparently fried. I launched my first magazine issue on a borrowed computer, with the smallest amount of RAM in the world. The hair pulling incredibly slow process of trying to work on a large graphics file on a computer that was built to handle documents and emails and not much more… well that did not deter me. I still went on to launch 4 more magazine issues, plus started writing 3 books on that PC, even after the buttons for the number “8” and the letter “I” stopped working.

I don’t believe in excuses, yes I absolutely have challenges I need to overcome for most of the big inspired ideas I have, but I seldom let anything actually stop me from accomplishing something.

So here is my challenge to you, and I want you to take it incredibly seriously. I want you to think about something big that you want to achieve, and I want you to write it down. I then want you to write down how you think you can achieve that goal, and what you need to achieve it.

Then I want you to actually work out a day to day plan that will get you to achieve your goal. An actual plan that you can work on every, single day. Then finally, get started, just get started, that is the biggest step you can take in achieving any goal.

If you have excuses that come up as to why you can’t achieve your goal, then this is what I want you to do. On a piece of paper, at the top write “My Challenges”, then draw a line down the center of the page. On the left hand side of the line I want you to write down what your excuses are, except from now on you are going to be calling them challenges because that’s what they are, they are the hurdles you have to overcome to achieve your goals.

Then on the right hand side of the page, I want you to write what you need to do to overcome each challenge. So now you know what you need to do to overcome your challenges, and come up with a few different ways, you be surprised by how creative you can be when it comes to problem solving. This will help you to rise above anything that comes in your way, and for you to achieve bigger and better things.

I would love to hear how this simple exercise works for you, please feel free to share your progress and successes with me on my Facebook page: https://web.facebook.com/lifecoachingTHELIFE 

My top 5 reads from 2018

A new year has begun, and yes, I've already started to collect my brand new stash of books to read this year.

I love books on business and personal growth, with the occasional biography or fictional novel thrown in. In fact one of my favourite ways of growing myself and broadening my mind and my horizons, is through reading.

There's a reason why hugely successful people are known to read a LARGE stack of books every year... reading keeps us young, updates your knowledge, and is a great way to keep you motivated, especially if you are an entrepreneur or business person.

There's nothing quite like a brilliant book packed full of new concepts and ideas to get me excited about growing and expanding my business and brand. Here's my top 5 favourite books that I read during 2018.

#1 - Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

I re-read this book for the umpteenth time in 2018, and to be honest, I'm still quite amazed by how much I learn and re-learn every time I read this book. I don't think any business person, or serious entrepreneur's book collection is complete without this book.

click on the image to get your copy now

#2 The Breakthrough Company by Keith R. McFarland

If you are serious about growing and creating an extraordinary company that achieves phenomenal heights, then I HIGHLY recommend this book. If all you want is a really great company, with a really strong foundation of core values, then I recommend this book even more so. In fact, if you own a business, or are even thinking of starting one, then I recommend this book. It is a MUST read for all entrepreneurs. 

click on the image to get your copy now

#3 The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

This is a work of fiction, however, while reading it my mind was completely blown away. The ideas and ideals and even the psychology that James Redfield writes about gives you incredible food for thought, and may even change the way you view the world... just a little, or maybe a lot.

Even if you read it only for the the suspense filled action adventure, I highly recommend that you read it.

click on the image to get your copy now

#4 Live a Better Life by Nathalie Marran

I know this is my own book, but even I have to admit that I have a wealth of knowledge to share on how to start earning passive income online. I read this book a number of times during the editing process, and every time I read and re-read it, I realized just how much I know, that others can use to really make changes in their lives, and to start earning passive income online. 

If you really want to start investing in yourself, and earning a passive income from online sources, I HIGHLY recommend using this book as a starting point to get you there.

click on the image to get your copy now

#5 Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

If you truly want to understand how millionaires think, and what sets them on the path to huge successes while you remain where you are... and if you truly, truly want to change then READ THIS BOOK!

I bought and read this book immediately after attending an online Masterclass hosted by T. Harv Eker. After listening to him speak, I just knew that I had to get to know more of what he knows. What an amazing and down to earth man. 

If you truly want to be wealthy, then read this book. Or even better yet, get the audio version and listen to it as many times as you possibly can.

click on the image to get your audio copy now

Are you Quitting Too Soon? by Kim Vermaak

Do you have goals that you give upon before you have had any success?

  

What are you teaching your brain about winning?

  

What are you teaching your children about reaching for their dreams?

  

All people start out on a new venture knowing nothing, but only those who do not quit along the way will be the one who gets to celebrate their wins.

  

A few years ago, while in primary school my daughter was failing terribly in maths and the teacher had just about written her off. I am no maths teacher at all, in fact, I get extremely impatient trying to teach people in my area of weakness.  I can patiently teach in my area of strength. But ask me to teach in an area of weakness and I come unstuck. I realized quickly that I could probably scar her for life if I was going to be the person solely responsible for helping her with maths. I had to get a team, to get me through this.

  

It was then that I started looking for options for help.  I sent her to a Kumon branch near us.  When the owner sat with me, she explained that this process was going to be a family process and not just the child. They could teach her the principals, but I was the person who would need to ensure that she did the work and I was the person that was going to mark the work and I was the person that was going to have to deal with her temper tantrums, when she did not want to do the work.

I learned a lot from this process.

  

Lesson 1: The average person just quits too soon.

  

I have a lovely child, who actually adds value to my life. But when it came time to do Kumon, she was like a monster. The instructor was not joking when she said there were be temper tantrums.  It was World War 3 in the home. Every day was a fight. She wanted to quit. She hated the process and I hated it as well. This is because we both had no clue what we were doing.  It just seemed too hard, too emotionally draining. I wanted to quit. But quitting would have made all that fighting, all that pain is in vain.

  

Lesson 2: Don't cheat yourself.

The instructor had told me, that most kids try to cheat.  The hide some of the books. They pull some of the pages out and re-staple, them to appear that they are smaller.  I could not believe that my child would do that. But I found so many hidden Kumon books in the house.

  

You do not need to be a child to cheat yourself.  It could be that diet that you quit on too early. It could be that business that you want to do.

It could be an improved marriage.  Don't cheat yourself you of Victory.

  

Lesson 3: Get into a routine as quickly as possible. 

We decided to start out the day with the Kumon exercises. My daughter has never been an early riser. But the instructor suggested that starting the day with the Kumon exercises, while her brain was rested and fresh was the best way to get going.  When kids come home after school, they are tired and lack the motivation.  So we started out each morning. This meant that by the time she got to school, her brain was more active than other children and she started to doing better in other areas.  But having a routine, we did not have to find the motivation, it was simply a habit that we formed.

  

Lesson 4: Take care of your body 

Each morning I would give her water to hydrate her brain and prepare a protein based meal, like a fried egg on toast, to fuel her up for the exercises for the day.  The brain takes a lot of energy and if you are not fueling yourself correctly in the morning, you are not equipping yourself for success.  Low blood sugar can make you grumpy and more likely to squabble to cause problems in your relationships. Set yourself for success by taking care of your body.

  

Lesson 5: Correct immediately

  

Each day after the exercises, I would have to mark the work. The instructor had taught us to correct immediately.  This meant redoing the sums straight after they were marked. It meant that she was able to identify the mistake that she made, do the corrections an learn the correct was, instead of fixing the incorrect way in her brain.  This is one of the reasons that in the military teams debrief after every maneuver.  Because mistakes in the military could be fatal.  So in our lives, we need to debrief and see what we learned and how we can correct immediately. 

Lesson 6: Get an accountability partner

  

The instructor at the center, was able to map and measure our progress. She was not only there to teach my daughter, but to be a sounding board, when I was taking the strain. She provided guidance for pit falls and celebrated with us when we had a win.  I was so grateful for having her, as she had walked this journey with many families and really helped us through the tough times. She kept on making us revisit our vision and helped to keep us on track.

  

Lesson 7: Take Time to enjoy life

  

When we started, I wondered how we would fit in these daily exercises.  I thought that if we removed either ballet or horse-riding that there would be more time.  The instructor was very strict about not removing anything that my daughter loved make space for the Kumon.  She said that if I removed the things that she loved, then she would have no motivation to continue.  As humans, we need to have joy and find ways to enjoy life or what is the point of having success.

  

Lesson 8: Be realistic in your expectations.

  

In the first few weeks, when we were still trying to establish a routine, there were no real results, just battles. At some point, I can not tell you when we got into the rhythm and she started to build confidence.

During the holidays, the instructor encouraged us to keep going.  The kids only get Christmas and other significant holidays off. While working through the holidays was painful for us, when she got back at the beginning of the term, her speed at doing her sums had vastly improved.

  

Lesson 9: Celebrate Your Wins

  

At the start of the program, she was the slowest child when completing her work. The teacher had even tried to tell me that she was dyslexic and had to go onto Ritalin, which is a drug used to help children to concentrate.

I call it the "cop-out drug for teachers". We did not buy into dyslexia or Ritalin options, we believed that in her, she had the ability to learn coping skills to overcome this challenge and wanted her to exercise her problem-solving muscles.

  

The result was when she returned to school, she was the second fastest child in completing her work.  At the end of the year, she got the Most Improved Mathematics Student Award.

  

The journey was long, but we stuck it out and by celebrating the win, we learned that this system could be applied to other areas in our lives.

  

So before you think of quitting, ask yourself if you have adequately set up structures for your success and push forward to achieving your goals.

Do you give from a full heart?

I am a HUGE fan of supporting worthwhile charity organisations, in fact I work with a number of animal welfare groups whenever I'm given the chance to do so.

It's also no secret that giving to those in need is absolutely a part of being wealthy. Truly wealthy people know that when you give, the "Universe" sends good things back to you. In a way it's all about creating really great karma.

In fact research has shown that the wealthiest people are usually the ones with the biggest hearts, and who share the most. Whereas poorer people usually have the opposite beliefs about giving to those in need. Isn't that quite a bit of food for thought... how often do you help others in need?

No matter what I do, I always make sure to share at least 10% of my earnings with welfare groups (but in all honesty, it usually ends up being more). Though I believe you should never give because you feel you have to, it should be something that comes naturally, from a full heart.

This December the wife and I decided to renovate our bedroom... part of which includes our walk in closet, and if I'm being truly honest, we have A LOT of clothes we don't wear. So I made it my mission to drastically reduce what we own.

This is actually a process I have done for a long time. Every now and then I get a "bee in my bonnet" and decide to donate a large chunk of my wardrobe to those in need. As a tween and teenager I donated my clothes to child welfare. I would clear out my closet and call them and they would arrange for someone to come and collect my bag of old clothes and toys.

As I grew older, I would do the same, but find a local clothes drop off bin that supports a charitable cause. It's nothing that anybody ever made me do, it's something I've always done out of my own, and to be honest I've never really thought much about it until now.

I realized I hadn't gone through the process in five years, and it was more than time for the big clean out. I also really enjoy the anonymity of it. I like the idea of helping without others really knowing that I've done it. In fact one of the biggest lessons I wish to learn in my life is to "Learn to give without expecting to receive anything in return". It really us a big goal of mine.

A part of me feels that getting recognition for helping others is a bit counter productive, giving to help others is something that really should come from the heart. If you are doing it for the praise and applause, then you're definitely in it for the wrong reasons.

I have also decided to make this a point that I really want to focus on in 2019, to learn to really just give and help others, without saying "hey it was me". If the universe is going to be giving me all the karmic reward I deserve in return, then well, that's enough for me.

But in all honesty, even though I aim to expect nothing in return, I must admit that I really enjoy seeing how the process of giving really works. In the years when I have done the most giving, and helping others, those usually turn out to be my most abundant and successful years. It's not something I've ever aimed to do intentionally, but I cannot deny the evidence for myself.

If you really and truly want to be prosperous and abundant... 

then give... A LOT!

A really great book worth reading on the topic "Giving it all away... and getting it all back again. The way of living generously". It goes into much more eloquent detail on the process. Click on the image below to read it now!

 

The Breakthrough Company

In this week's book review, I'm featuring "The Breakthrough Company - How everyday companies become extraordinary performers" by Keith R. McFarland

In this book Keith McFarland and his team research exactly what it is that makes companies breakthrough the threshold from being a small to medium sized company and into a large, and successful one.

He goes through such in-depth research that they performed over a number of years in order to try to find the process, as it were, that causes companies to become extraordinary. It's a topic that could easily become intensely boring, but he writes it extremely well, and he uncovers the truths of these companies in such a way, that you feel like you are unwrapping a gift.

A gift packed full of knowledge, and he explains it in such a way, that even as a small business owner, I can relate to each topic, and see how each process can be applied to my own business practices in order to grow my own company into something extraordinary.

This book is incredibly well written, and I have to say that I recommend it not just to entrepreneurs and business owners, and their managers, but I recommend it it to anybody who wants to be a leader in their field.

He supplies you with powerful action steps, that you can use to develop your business, and to become an industry leader. It really is remarkable how simple some of the ideas are that cause such great success, if only we all knew them...

It really got me thinking about how I go about things, and is packed full of food for thought, and I have to say that not only do I highly recommend this book for all leaders to read, but I recommend that they read it at least two or three times to truly absorb it's message.

Why going digital is the way to go

Just this morning a friend of mine sent me an article on businesses and jobs that will become invalid by modern technology. What we know as “traditional” forms of employment will simply no longer exist, and a lot of types of businesses would have to keep up with the changing times, or simply close down.

Although it was a great and informative article, there’s two things I want to mention. Firstly we love our “old style stuff”, to an extent that for some things there will always be a market for, it may be diminished, but it will become highly specialised, and will be around for a good few generations to come. Things like classic cars, vinyl records, and books are just a few things to name.

Secondly, it’s not a loss to humanity, but a gain. As we evolve, so do the things around us, including future companies and future jobs. One of the greatest inventions of the early 1900’s was the car, it’s just one of those things that changed the world phenomenally. Just 100 years later, in the early 2000’s, and one of the best inventions to have come about was Facebook (yes, it is an invention). Let’s face it, it has impacted the human race hugely, including the way we communicate with friends and family, and even how we operate our businesses and market to clients.

Both social media and the motor industry are worth billions, and hire and create jobs for large portions of the population. Both assist in the creation of small to large businesses, and both are equally impactful to everyone.

I am fairly certain that 100 years from now, another great, never thought of invention will take us even further in our evolution, it might cause old types of employment or businesses to be invalid, but it will more than likely create new opportunities for the generations to come.

Change isn’t bad, it’s just different, and essential in order for us to evolve even further than from where we are now. The human race doesn’t stagnate, we are ever evolving, and so should our investments and income sources.

 

It’s one of the reasons why I wrote the article “Are you planning for a modern retirement”... if you want to have a prosperous retirement, I highly recommend you read it.

This is one of the reasons why I hugely support earning an income from online sources, because ALL areas of our lives need to evolve as we do. There’s a world of opportunities available to us, and it’s just about grabbing a hold of them... and not being afraid of trying something new.

I agree that the “traditional” way of working and doing business is completely changing into something new, and this is one of the reasons why we need to stop expecting to earn and make our money in traditional ways too.

In the “Celestine Prophecy” (one of my favourite books), the author writes about how the human race will begin to evolve and change, they will no longer need to go to jobs to actively work for their money. In fact, he expresses how the human race will begin to simply do the work that they love, they will follow their life’s calling and eventually earning money and working hard for money will no longer be a valid way of being.

Although it was a fictional book, I absolutely LOVE this outlook on life, and I truly believe that it is possible. So much so that I have made it my life’s work to show people how to do exactly that. To help people to understand that they can set up online sources to earn an income for themselves, while they go on, everyday living a life that they want to.

And the best part is that the sources I personally research for you to use to start generating a passive income are absolutely FREE. I especially aim at helping people to find ways of generating income at NO COST to themselves, only their time and skills required. Read my book, and change your life forever.

It all starts with the first step, educating and growing yourself, or as I like to say...

Invest in yourself!

How to set achievable goals

It’s that time of year again where, if you haven’t already, you need to go about setting goals for the upcoming year – but how do you go about setting goals that will stick? Ones that you can actually achieve? Here are my top ten tips on how to do just that.

 Believable goals

The number one reason our goals fail is because they are not believable to us personally. If your goal is to make $100,000 this year, but you truly don’t believe that you can achieve it, well then guess what... you won’t.

If you are going to be setting BIG goals for yourself, then make sure that you believe that you can achieve them. So how do you believe in achieving those big goals? Here’s a great book by T. Harv Eker that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that everybody reads, especially if you want to aim big!

Make it visual

We all know about vision boards... where we put up a bunch of pictures of what we want to achieve, and place it somewhere where we can stare at it for a few minutes a day (at least), but why are these vision boards so successful?

When we see things in images, it makes it easier for us to actually visualise ourselves reaching our goals and dreams, vision boards are possibly one of the more powerful tools that you can create for yourself.

How do you really feel?

Feeling good about actually achieving your goals is one way to make sure that you will do exactly that. I’m always surprised by the amount of people who are actually embarrassed by the goals that they set for themselves and their businesses.

If you feel shame in the idea of sharing your goals, then either you have to work on changing how you feel about your goals... or change your goals. You should never have any negative emotions linked to your wanting to achieve any goals in your life.

So ask yourself HOW you feel about your goals and WHY you feel that way about achieving them to make sure that you are on the right track.

How much?

Most of us have goals that can be linked to a number. Be specific on that number and focus your attention on it. Knowing EXACTLY what you want to achieve will help you to do exactly that.

How much money do you want to make this year?

How much weight do you want to lose?

How many people’s lives do you want to affect?

Whatever your goal is, there is a number. Pick your number and aim for it.

A back up plan

What if something happens and you are for some reason unable to achieve your goals, or if it seems you might not, do you just fall into a heap on the ground and give up?

Have a plan to get back up and dust yourself off. Are you feeling doubtful about your goals? Well create a plan or strategy that will get you back into the right mindset and focused on achieving those goals again. Perhaps you just need a short holiday, or a glass of wine with a good friend.

Either way if you feel you are failing or have failed, what are you going to do about it?

Measure those goals

Break your goals down! Let’s say that you have decided to give yourself one year to make $100,000. That’s around $8,335 per month or $1925 per week or $275 per day.

Break your goal down to as small a number as you can, then use that as a way to track your performance. If you are averaging $275 per day (some days may be a bit less, others a bit more) but if you are sticking to your average, well then you are definitely well on your way to achieving those goals.

So whatever it is, break it down and use that as a way to measure your performance. If you are not on track, ask yourself why.

Create a plan

What exactly are you going to be doing to achieve your goals? What products are you going to be creating or actions you are going to be taking? Write down 5 things that you will be doing to help you to achieve your goals. You know what your goals are, but now you have to know how you are going to be going about achieving them.

Put time aside every day

Every day, revise your goals. Every morning I like to remind myself what my goals are, and then go over the figures and stats from the day before. By making this my daily practice, I’m reminding myself what it is that I want to achieve, and more importantly, I’m keeping myself on track.

Create a mantra

I love mantra’s. I say mine to myself every day, and as often as possible. Look at your biggest goal, and write it down as a mantra. Place that mantra somewhere where you will look at it several times during the day, and remind yourself what it is that you wish to achieve.

My mantra, that I repeat to myself frequently is based on my biggest goal, and so far it’s quite true, and that manta is “I am the Queen of Earning Passive Income” – because I am, and I do. It should be something short and fun that keeps you believing in your goals.

Journal it!

As you know, I love journaling. Once you know what your goals are and how you are going to go about achieving it, write it all down in your journal. Write down how you visualise yourself achieving those goals. By doing this, you a actually helping to program your brain so that you can do exactly that.

WHAT I LEARNED IN 2018 by Kim Vermaak

When I was a student, one of our lecturers did a exercise familiar to many, but not so readily applied.  He took a large jar and threw a whole bunch of stand in it. Then he took some stones and added in the stone on top of the sand.  But not all the stones fitted into the jar.

  

He then re-did the experiment and threw all the stones in and then threw in the sand afterwards. Surprisingly even with all the stones in the jar, the sand simply flowed through all the stones and everything fitted in beautifully. The aim of this exercise was to show us that when we are focused on the big things, the small things seem to just fall into place.

  

But if we focus on the small things, we find that we are just not able to get all those big things in.

We are all granted the same amount of time in a day, but sometimes we can focus on the small things and then at the end of the year find that those neglected big dreams and big plans come back to haunt us.

As I reflect on the close of the year, I have to do an inventory and look at what I have done with the time I was allocated.

Did I do the big things? Did I follow through on my dreams?  Am I a bigger person (and I do not mean, did I have too much Christmas Pudding?)? 

Did I start working on all those big dreams?

  

Despite the challenges of the year, I took a leap and committed to participating in a new one year supplier enterprise development program.

At the beginning of  the program, when I looked at the calendar I realized that I would have to take entire days out of my business. I would not be allowed to use my cell phone unless during a tea break.  The controlling micro managing part of my brain was screaming out, that without me things could not get done. But actually they did get done. As I committed to growing myself, even when challenges arose, I was there at every event. I noticed that the group size began to diminish. The name tags left out at reception, were of people who committed to arriving, but never actually came. Only a handful of us remained from the original group.

I learned so much about myself and formed a new support group of people who got me through the difficult challenges of 2018.

  

I learned to do things differently than I did them in 2017, because necessity thrust that change upon me and I had to adapt or sink.

  

I certainly do not want to repeat the challenges of 2018  - but I do know this, I have learned more, I have changed more and I realized that when you are ready to change, you can take those big projects.

  

You do not have to do all of them at once, but you can commit to each year, add another big stone.

  

I encourage you to take stock of your life at the end of this year.  Have a look at those big goals and reach out, grab one of those goals and say, this new year, I choose to commit to myself.  I choose to show up.

  

I choose to be a bigger and better me.