Monthly Archives: November 2024

This week, I've been reflecting on the courage required to create change, big or small. Each of us strives to leave a mark on the world, a testament to our contribution and inherent need to make a difference. This isn’t about ego; it’s about fulfilling our purpose through service to others, enhancing our lives beyond just making a living. Theodore Roosevelt’s famous quote serves as a brilliant reminder of the virtues we need when stepping into the arena of life and leadership: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,…

This Tuesday, in my Ponderings Newsletter, I'm diving deep into a critical human asset: TRUST. This delicate yet immensely powerful asset lies at the core of every thriving person, organisation, and community. In a world increasingly shaped by digital and AI advancements, I remain focused on the power of our hearts and emotions to counter disconnection. As leaders and service providers, how can we maintain human connections that reassure our peers and clients? How do we show them they deeply matter and that they can trust us with their thoughts, challenges, and ambitions? Trust, for us, isn’t just a marketing…

I have now applied some AI learning to create this AI driven Podcast of this newsletter, so if you would prefer to put this on in background, and listen, then be my guest. Read on to read how I learned this. This week I have had the honour of learning new skills, thanks to some amazing fellow business owners. It prompted me to ponder the challenge of keeping up and I thought I would share this with you and perhaps help you consider ‘how are you keeping up?’ The world seems to be accelerating at an unprecedented pace. With AI…

This week, prompted by a sense of negativity in the air, I thought I would share a saying we have in our family “Bad is Good’. In every life, we all encounter moments that test our strength, shake our foundations, and seemingly steer us off course. Yet, it's often these very moments that craft our most profound stories of resilience and growth through our innate ability to solve problems, be creative and move forwards. Here are some notes that I pondered over this weekend. 1. Relentless resilience and purpose - As a family, like many others, we have faced some…

It is hard for some of us to realise and allow for the fact that networking is a skill, the ROI is about knowing how to do it. This week, I want to ponder this, show empathy and also consider how important it is to learn it. I come from a place of empathy as I had to learn. I guess I am sharing my ‘expertise’ and this isn’t for glorification, it is to pass on wisdom to help anyone that is networking and either hating it, or not getting the results they seek. Before I share my ponder, I…

This past quarter we have been planning and implementing more events for our Community Members. I remember the excitement of the first in-person event with our BIPPers and the large group we assembled, around 50 Business Owners, everyone was so excited, hugging and thrilled to be ‘out-out’. I want to share this, so you, as the reader can perhaps make sense of why you find large events tiring and overwhelming. Each of us have our own capacity to manage life, business and our own sense of overwhelm. We can all go out now, and yet, many of us spend our…

This week, I ponder on a fundamental aspect of our brain chemistry: Oxytocin levels. For the past four years, Tj Power has been enlightening us about managing our mental health by understanding our control over brain chemicals. He introduced 'The DOSE Effect,' an acronym for Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins, emphasising how these chemicals shape our well-being. Last week's challenge for our BIPPers involved raising and understanding Oxytocin, leading to the creation of five new habits. Here’s what I discovered: Oxytocin, the Love Chemical: I've realised that much of my life has been driven by Oxytocin. It’s the chemical that…