Why I didn’t get that job…

Hi, so I have spent the last 2 months looking for a new job as we recently moved to Dubai. I went for a few interviews during this time. Of these, there is one that will stay with me for some years to come.

So this particular company found my details on LinkedIn, I applied for the position and they phoned me almost immediately. I for the first interview and it all seemed good but nothing major. Within a few hours they phoned to say that I have a second interview.

After my second interview, I walked out of their offices and I couldn’t stop smiling. My husband was waiting outside and as I approached him he could see something was going on.

So the first words out of my mouth was “That was the best interview of my life!!!” It was not 30 minutes later and the company phoned me to tell me I have the job and I need to come back the following day. I was beyond myself. I remember it felt surreal walking out of the building and being on top of the world.

I spent the whole evening recapping the interview. I met with the CEO and I can remember he kept saying how perfect I was for the position, and they interviewed so many people and they couldn’t find the right fit, but he can now stop looking. He kept saying that there is something about me and he knows his search is over and that I am the person he is looking for.

He called in one of his partners, and together they made this position sound like I would be working for the next Sir Richard Branson himself. (No, sorry that is not right, he made a comment about the legend himself being a has-been, clue number 1)

He was so eager to have me on his team that he “created a position just for me” (clue number 2) and wanted to know there and then if I will be accepting the job. With hesitance, I said: “Yes”.

As the evening went by I tried to think what the following day would hold. I mean could this be the start of a whole new career for me?

I phoned my mom that evening and as I told her everything about the interview I could hear myself saying everything out loud. Suddenly doubt started to sink in. Is this all sounding too good to be true? (Clue number 3)

I went in to the offices the next day to find out that it was a negotiation. They asked me what my salary expectation was. I did my research about the position so I was ready with the answers, but I was not expecting them to low-ball me quite as much as they did. So they came in at a very low offer and extensive hours. After about 15min we came to an agreement. I agreed that they send me the offer and I will be available to start in 2 days’ time after I have received and reviewed the offer.

Now for the best part…. I never heard from them again. Yes, I know!!! After telling me I am exactly what they were looking for; Bla bla bla bla!

I spent the next 3 days looking at my phone anxiously. Every time it rang, every time I got an email, every time I received a message. My heart was constantly beating in my throat. By the 5^th day I realised all that was wrong with the firm. All the red lights that had me worried but were concealed by all the wonderful words from the CEO and his partner. My favorite aunt always says: “If it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck…. It probably is a duck”. And this guy was trying to conceal his duck walk with a swan swim, and it was too good to be true.

About a week after the interview, I had an ah-ha moment, a light bulb going off on top of my head like in the movies. Right then and there I realised what I want to do with my life. I had a brilliant idea for a new business venture.

I was writing down ideas, steps, to-do lists, every time I got a chance. I found myself working on my website, Facebook Page, Logo and anything to do with this new venture, I was working 24/7. I was even dreaming in my sleep about it.

I finally realised that I needed that interview to show me what actually gets me excited. I finally saw myself 10 years down the line in a new career path that I loved. I realised what I wanted to do, what I feel like I was meant to do with my life.

I realised that once you find what you love, give it your100%. I know that I am in the very fortunate position that I have a clean slate. I have a lot of time on my hands and a loving husband that works really hard and really long hours to pay all the bills by himself. But whether you start that new business venture on the side, and work on it every free minute that you have, don’t stop dreaming, don’t stop working and if you want it bad enough, you will make a success of it, because once you put your mind to it, no one will be able to stop you.

Keep dreaming and keep working for it!

Love,

My mind was just blown! I just reached …

Hi Guys!

So, for those of you that have already subscribed to my blog, THANK YOU! For all the new readers, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it…

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Please subscribe!

So, quick update; loving it in Dubai. If you ever have the chance to come and visit, you HAVE TO! I recently moved to Dubai, read all about it here. 

Dubai has a certain magic to it. Everyone that stays here will tell you to come during the winter time. Which starts around about the end of September. Average temperature highs will be 26˚C (I am yet to experience it). Summer months are May till September and is an average of 40 ˚C and seriously humid. But now start of September you can see people returning from holiday, even the birds are starting to return. I think it is safe to say that Dubai is getting its mojo back.

So today, for the first time in 3 months I visited my blog again. WOW!

I was so busy going for interviews, planning what new direction my life would take that I completely forgot to track the activity om my blog.

This just means that I am doing something right. I just reached 1000 page views.

I know to some it is not a lot, but this is a MAJOR milestone for me. It is a bit surreal, I mean that is hundreds of people all over the world reading MY stuff. Kinda cool!

So sorry for the looooong delay in posts. I think I was looking for some inspiration, and as some of my old students would tell you, you can’t rush inspiration. When it comes, it comes and you need to be ready for it when it does. Check out my new website with exciting new ventures. 

Trying to force something is so tedious and never fun. When I feel like I am forced to write it will take me hours on hours to write 300 words, but when the inspiration strikes it can take a full 15 minutes to write 200 words. You get the point.

I have stopped thinking that I purely need to do something because I have to. I want to be a person with passion, and I can’t be that if I am not true to myself and what I want to do with my life. Surround yourself with good people, but don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean you can stop doing anything and everything you don’t like. I don’t like doing the laundry but that doesn’t mean I can stop doing it. I do like walking around in clean clothes so certain things must be sacrificed for the greater good. So my only option is to do the laundry now, and start working really hard and really smart at what I love and then pay someone to do the laundry for me. 

Does that make me lazy? Hell no, that just means my priorities differ from the next person. We all need to follow our passions for the next person to succeed. The guy on the corner opening his first laundry business would agree that one man’s chore is another man’s choice.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

- Steve Jobs

So guys and gals, keeping it short and sweet today. Already working on a new post. “Strike while the iron is hot”. 

So please subscribe and be on the look-out for: “Why I didn’t get my dream job” 

Love,

My husband got home and I told him, “We need to talk…” what happened next, changed our lives FOREVER!!!

My husband got home and I told him, “We need to talk…” what happened next, changed our lives FOREVER!!!

So today, Monday, the 30^th of May 2016 will be the mark of a one month count down. Count down to what you may ask? Well, for you to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I need to start at the very beginning.

Somewhere by the end of 2015, me and my husband started talking and thinking about the next step, the next move, the next challenge (as one does after a few years in the same place). We were thinking about traveling, “Ok where to?”, “What will it cost?”, “Do we have the budget, and if not what do we need to budget for?” When all the answers to the questions did not go as I hoped, my answer was (as one does??!!) “No, this is way too difficult, I think we should move abroad” – Me, in a joking voice.

As you all know by now my personality type likes to debate and entice reaction whether I agree or not. So one day when I was busy invigilating at a final yearend exam. I started thinking this whole moving thing through. Getting somewhat excited, I realised we have way too much stuff and responsibility in South Africa. We can’t just pack up and leave? “Let’s move but to some place in South Africa.” 

Revolutionary I thought. We keep all our responsibilities intact, but we still change the scenery a bit.

So now we are thinking about all these new ideas, unfortunately it stays just that; ideas, dreams, castles in the sky. A few months went by. My best friend moved to Cape Town and Christmas came around. We were in the Western Cape for the holidays and enjoying every moment. As we handed out presents on the eve of Christmas we had to answer a question before we could open our present (my Mom’s way of getting down to all our deepest thoughts. One question that stuck with me was, “What do you think 2016 will hold for you?” Oblivious to what would really happen in 2016, I answered that I hoped for a lot of adventure as I wanted to travel and see the world with my husband. I wanted a change of scenery. We had a very nice evening with a lot of tight hugs and meaningful family banter.

The holidays went by far too quickly and we went back to work early in January.  A few weeks went by and everything eased back to normal. Normal, Ugghhhh!!

UNTIL one day January my husband got home and I told him, “WE NEED TO TALK…”

He was sitting on the bed innocent and unaware of what was about to come next. I sat him down and told him; by the end of June/July I want to be in another country. I don’t know how, I don’t know if it is even possible but I want to be in another country…

His absolute calmness just astonished me. He was relaxed, (although I am sure that at some point in time, no matter if it was only for a split second, he must have thought, “what have I gotten myself into?”, “What the hell are you thinking woman?”), he was composed. His only words were; “Cool, sounds like a plan”. And in that moment I knew, hell whether this thing works out or not, I have the best husband in the world!

So, although I was very serious about everything, I don’t think I realised the implications of my words. I didn’t think it was actually possible. I must have not realised that my husband’s vows to try and give me everything I need for the rest of his life, were really at the core of his ambitions.

I am a very big believer in the “Law of attraction”, “Thoughts become things”, and so on. I have seen it, and proved it in my own life, time and time again. Go read up about it, and read the book “The Secret”. But did I realise what I was doing in that moment?

What I didn’t realise was, that by me saying those words out loud, by making that commitment, by believing that it will happen even though I had nothing to back it, was my way of attracting the things I wanted.

If you want to know more about “the law of attractions” and how it has made a difference in my life, leave a comment and I will write a whole article about it, enough with the psychological of it all.

So by the end of January my husband sent his CV in for a position in Dubai and went for the interview. A bit scared that it won’t happen I decided to only tell people once he was invited for the 3^rd interview, which happened in March. Looooong story short.

It has been a crazy 3 months with a lot of confusion, tears, laughter, sadness but most of all excitement. Today all of that was worth it. Today, the 30^th of May 2015 marks the 30 day count down, to our big move to Dubai.

Love,

P.S Watch this space for all the latest information, moving tips, things to do, what not to do, and how to land that job oversees. I am not an expert but maybe I can help.

Sign up to my blog and leave a comment with what you want to know next.

“I promise to love you, even when I hate you”

Hi,

So, I know you are thinking… “Hey... How is there a new blog already?? She only posted, like once a month or something.” But like I said in my previous blog, I am going to change that! My blogs might be a bit shorter, but they will be more and who knows, maybe your lazy bones might actually read through the whole thing.

In the middle of February all you see is red and pink, hearts and sweet words and rhymes. So whether you have already found your love or are still searching, life is too short to waste it on people that are not worth your time, or on food that doesn’t taste good! Keep the fire inside ignited and follow your dreams.

I have been married for over 2 years now, but we are celebrating 10 years together this year. I am not an expert on the “Love” subject at all but I have a bit of experience. So with that said I thought I might write something for Valentine’s Day. Cheesy I know, I know, but I am a hopeless romantic. So today’s blog is about:

How to love your significant other, even if you don’t like them…….. at that particular moment.

1. Don’t understand, just love.

Before we got married my mom gave my husband a bit of advice; “Don’t try and understand her, just love her” I think my mom might not have realised that the advice was applicable to me as well.

You cannot always understand why the other person does the things they do, but it is not always your place to know. Every now and then you need to close your eyes and just trust!

2. Remember why you love him/her so dearly even when you do fight.

One day I asked my students: “Give me an example of the best words that someone has ever said to you”. One guy replied and said; “Ma'am, the best words is when your High School crush says; “Hi”. That struck a chord with me. It is the best feeling, to be in love and trusting that person with your whole heart. That is what happens when you first fall in love. You allow yourself to be vulnerable and you allow that person to sweep you off your feet. Remember that amazing feeling and what it means to truly be in love.

3. Take a “time out” from fighting.

This is not easy and I am still learning and practicing this today, and will probably in future. Take a pause, breathe and stop the fight before it gets too heavy! When things aren’t going the way they were supposed to, you might say something you are going to regret later. Taking “a pause” gives both parties the chance to cool off and regain perspective.

4. Be spontaneous.

This is hard when you have been together for a really long time. The only reason the passion runs dry is because we don’t put the same effort and attention into our relationships that we did in the first few months. We get lazy and think, “Well he knows I love him”, until he doesn’t.

So my advice, even if you are going to be home and have nothing planned, spend time together. Do a dinner for two on the carpet in your living room. Watch a movie together and buy his favourite chocolate, or write a note “I promise to love you, even when I hate you”

Ps. Never go to sleep angry. Say you are sorry, ESPECIALLY THE LADIES. And always give a kiss good night!

Love,

6 Steps to success and less stress!

Sooooo, just need to catch my breath for a second! This is the first time in a really long time that I managed to go to the gym, be home early, start dinner and still have time to lie down on the couch and open my computer for something other than work.

Classes started, personal life was a bit hectic but nothing we can’t handle. With that said this blog entry kept me on my toes as I am starting a new blog entry after writing the previous one all the way to 700 words and decided; “Nahh I am not feeling it”. Yes yes I know I need to get the writing thing under control and start speeding things up. I get a lot of comments that I am not pushing out content fast enough, I promise I will try my best. For now this will have to do.

So, in my previous blog I spoke about procrastination and I think that it is one of my worst qualities. One of my best qualities I believe, is being ambitious and having a constant drive to better myself and my situation. Yes I do believe that I sometimes take things too far. It was exactly this thought that made me think, “When is enough, enough. When do you stop thinking about the future? When do you stop being ambitious?”

Conclusion?  You never do. You never stop thinking about tomorrow and wanting to better yourself. You should never stop chasing your own personal form of success. You should never stop trying to be successful. There are so few people who actually reaches the “Self-actualization stage” of Maslow’s hierarchy. Well I am one of those ambitious people who think that I can make it to that stage.  I believe that the day you stop learning and stop growing is the day you stagnate and your whole “being” starts to fade.

So before this happens to you, here are 6 steps to ensure that you keep your eye on the prize.

6 Steps to success!

1. Start a new project.

Do something you love for the love of it, not the money. You know you are in the right place if you would rather be doing what you are doing for free, than not at all. Your passion might just be contagious and in process you start a new business venture. You will be willing to put the hours in to make it work. So start an online course, something creative or maybe a new sport. Just do something that takes you out of you comfort zone.

2. Start aiming for extraordinary not ordinary

“The greater danger most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short: but in setting our aim to low, achieving our mark” This is something I tell my students on a daily basis. You need to aim for a 100% mark. There is no glory in aiming for 50% and receiving 40% but if you aim for 100% the chances are that you will achieve 80%.

3. Set a goal for yourself.

Life is just made up of thousands for small goals. Whether you want to participate in a 10km run this year, learn how to make 2 new dishes for dinner or improve you relationships with friends or colleagues. Set a goal for the next month. Make sure your goal is SMART, (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relative, and Time-bound).

4. Make it permanent

Write it down, tell it to someone and stick it somewhere you will see it on a daily basis. My cupboard has four A4 pages inside and I need to open it every single day before I can get ready for work and before I can get in to bed in the evenings. It is a constant reminder of where you are heading.

5. Act as if you already have it

I am not saying spend R2 Mill because you aimed that you will be winning the Lotto. Remember the SMART guidelines. I am saying, before you go to bed you tell yourself “There is no need to worry about money as I already have more that I can spend” Before you know it you will receive that what you already imagined to be true.

6. Be thankful

This is the most important bullet for me. This makes the difference between being “arrogant, always wanting more and never being satisfied with anything” to “anything that you receive from this point on would be a blessing in your life”. Maybe you could alco be thankful for the people in your life and make a difference in their lives. Have you noticed that the day you are in a good mood everything else seems to be going right but the day you are in bad mood or in a hurry everything seems to be going wrong?

“Most places in life are continuously telling you that your dreams aren’t possible or practical. You don’t want to hear that when you are under the age of 30, what you want to do is race after them.” Steve Jobs

Whether you are under the age of 30, or you can still remember that stage, it is important to be young at heart and follow the fire that is ignited every time you think about making a change in your life. Thank the people in your life for what they have done, and aim for greatness. 

 As I am starting to doubt my life and everything I do, my amazing husband leans over and shows me the following quote; “Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right”

Love,

11 Powerful tips to help stop procrastination

I NEED HELP, I PROCRASTINATE!

So, I know I have been very quiet the last few weeks, and I apologise. I was on holiday for 3 weeks and had a bit of writers block with that. To my defence I started to write an article I wanted to post but I have been struggling with it for the past 5 weeks.

Yesterday, it was my 3^rd day back in the gym, don’t know if you know already, but I am a bit of a fitness freak/fanatic. It makes me a happier person and I can promise you that if I skipped a few days the people around me would drag me back to the gym by my hands and feet, as I am generally a more pleasant person to be around if I have an outlet for my normal day to day frustrations. It’s my therapy (A lot cheaper than lying on someone’s couch talking about my feelings, I can promise you that).

So, where was I? Vacation? Never mind the vacation, keep that for a next entry. I was in the gym yesterday, contemplating  my blog and how to finish the story I was busy with, not really finding a solution. As I have told you before my brain is way too busy with a million things at once. Go read my first article about why it is important to know your personality type. So as per normal when I couldn’t find a solution for my blog problem (sounds like an addiction or something my “Blog problem”), I realised that that is one of the things I do, one of my not so favourite character traits.

I hesitate and prolong the situation if I don’t know the answer, or I don’t want to make a choice. I drag things out; sometimes end up in tears, frustrated with myself for not making a decision, for not being able to know what I want to do. I concluded that writing my blog is more of a reflection on my life than I initially realised.

Sometimes you need to stop, scrap the piece of paper you are writing on, throw it in the bin and start over. You need to wipe the slate clean in order to make sense of the chaos in front of you.

Obviously being a “new year, new you” everyone is talking about New Year’s resolutions, what are you going to do differently, and what are you going to start or what are you going to finish?

Well, I am a fan of New Year’s resolutions, and at the age of 25 and a half,  I realised why.

I procrastinate. That is who I am, a procrastinator, and that is OK, It is not great but it is OK. Now I know what to fix.  I need to scrap the paper, start over, and hopefully the words will flow without hesitation. Well what do you know, it seems to be working. You will know  what is the right thing to do. Don’t force the things that don’t come naturally to you. I don’t mean “don’t do anything about it”, I mean if you are hesitating to do it, maybe there is a reason.

Although I am not going to try and change myself, I am going to try and speed up the process, not only for me but also the people around me (and deciding what to eat at a restaurant is small fries in comparison to what I am talking about, although that all seems to be a problem for me as well). The things I do today could change someone's life. The decisions that I have to make have an influence on the people around me as well and I know it can be frustrating for me so how much more for the people around me, especially big life decisions.

In the same way  I am not a professional but I seeked help with regards to my problem around procrastinating EVERYTING! Cestine Chua  wrote an article in this regard on Lifehacks.org. So I am going to follow these 11 practical tips to overcome my problem with procrastination. I will keep a diary, and let you know if it works for me in 2016. 

11 Powerful tips to help stop procrastination (Oh golly, here we go. Do I have to start today, why not Monday?)

1. Break your work into little steps. Part of the reason why we procrastinate is because subconsciously, we find the work too overwhelming for us. Break it down into little parts, and then focus on one part at the time. (Grab a pen and paper) If you still procrastinate on the task after breaking it down, then break it down even further. Soon, your task will be so simple that you will be thinking “gee, this is so simple that I might as well just do it now
2. Change your environment. Different environments have different impact on our productivity. Look at your work desk and your room. Do they make you want to work or do they make you want to snuggle and sleep? If it’s the latter, you should look into changing your work space. One thing to note is that an environment that makes us feel inspired before may lose its effect after a period of time. (I don’t want to work when I get to bed…)
3. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines. Having just 1 deadline for your work is like an invitation to procrastinate. That’s because we get the impression that we have time and keep pushing everything back, until it’s too late. (Jup that’s me!) Break down your project (see tip #1), then create an overall timeline with specific deadlines for each small task. This way, you know you have to finish each task by a certain date. Your timelines must be robust, too – i.e. if you don’t finish this by today, it’s going to jeopardize everything else you have planned after that. This way it creates the urgency to act. My goals are broken down into monthly, weekly, right down to the daily task lists, and the list is a call to action that I must accomplish this by the specified date; else my goals will be put off. (I will need to try and implement this, anyone knows of a good diary to buy?)
4. Eliminate your procrastination pit-stops. (But it is so easy, and more fun!) If you are procrastinating a little too much, maybe that’s because you make it easy to procrastinate. Identify your browser bookmarks that take up a lot of your time and shift them into a separate folder that is less accessible. Disable the automatic notification option in your email client. Get rid of the distractions around you. I know some people will out of the way and delete/deactivate their Facebook accounts. I think it’s a little drastic/extreme as addressing procrastination is more about being conscious of our actions than counteracting via self-binding methods, but if you feel that’s what’s needed, go for it.
5. Hang out with people who inspire you to take action.  I’m pretty sure if you spend just 10 minutes talking to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, you’ll be more inspired to act than if you spent the 10 minutes doing nothing. The people we are with influence our behaviours. (I need more of them) Of course spending time with Steve Jobs/Bill Gates every day is probably not a feasible method, but the principle applies. Identify the people/friends/colleagues who trigger you – most likely the go-getters and hard workers – and hang out with them more often. Soon you will inculcate their drive and spirit too.
6. Get a buddy. (this work really well for exercising, get a gym buddy) Having a companion makes the whole process much more fun. Ideally, your buddy should be someone who has his/her own set of goals. Both of you will hold each other accountable to your goals and plans. While it’s not necessary for both of you to have the same goals, it’ll be even better if that’s the case, so you can learn from each other. I have a good friend whom I talk to regularly, and we always ask each other about our goals and progress in achieving those goals. Needless to say, it spurs us to keep taking action.
7. Tell others about your goals. This serves the same function as #6, on a larger scale. Tell all your friends, colleagues, acquaintances and family about your projects. (This is scary, what if you fail, then everyone will know? Maybe start with one or two people? Your spouse?) Now whenever you see them, they are bound to ask you about your status on those projects. (That’s what I am scared of) (Read why the friends you keep are responsible for your success)
8. Seek out someone who has already achieved the outcome. What is it you want to accomplish here, and who are the people who have accomplished this already? Go seek them out and connect with them. Seeing living proof that your goals are very well achievable if you take action is one of the best triggers for action.(takes a bit of research, maybe telling the people around you about your goal will help as they maybe know someone in the field)
9. Re-clarify your goals. If you have been procrastinating for an extended period of time, it might reflect a misalignment between what you want and what you are currently doing. Often times, we outgrow our goals as we discover more about ourselves, but we don’t change our goals to reflect that. Get away from your work (a short vacation will be good, else just a weekend break will do too) (Done that) and take some time to regroup yourself. What exactly do you want to achieve? What should you do to get there? What are the steps to take? Does your current work align with that? If not,what can you do about it? (So many questions, it is answering them that is the problem!)
10. Stop over-complicating things. Are you waiting for a perfect time to do this? (Yes) That maybe now is not the best time because of X, Y, Z reasons? (YESSS) Ditch that thought because there’s never a perfect time. If you keep waiting for one, you are never going to accomplish anything. Perfectionism is one of the biggest reasons for procrastination.
11. Get a grip and just do it. At the end, it boils down to taking action. You can do all the strategizing, planning and hypothesizing, but if you don’t take action, nothing’s going to happen. Occasionally, I get readers and clients who keep complaining about their situations but they still refuse to take action at the end of the day. Reality check: I have never heard anyone procrastinate their way to success before and I doubt it’s going to change in the near future.  Whatever it is you are procrastinating on, if you want to get it done, you need to get a grip on yourself and do it. (Well I am game to try it! Let’s go 2016)

This sounds simple enough right?? I am excited to start ordering in a restaurant, I am sure it will easily save 30 minutes! Let me know in the comments below if you are going to try it and if it works for you!

Ps. Please remember to subscribe to my blog.

Love,

10 Easy tips (you can do TODAY) that could change someone’s world

Hi all,

WARNING! 

Getting all deep and full of feelings and stuff, SO brace yourself! 

Still not listening, fine, but I warned you. 

Maybe it is the holidays that's approaching. But with 2016 only 24 days away, you start to rethink 2015.  Have you done the things you really loved this year? Do the people around you know you love them? What are the things that really matter? What are the most important things the people around you can do? It doesn’t matter how big or small; how significant to you or insignificant to others.

(With all these questions this blog can actually be a 5 part squeal.) 

I made cookies, as guest favours, for my Aunt’s surprise birthday party the previous weekend. This led me to think about all the things we do for other people. The effort and time we put in, whether it is a gift or a party.

One of my colleagues asked me the other day; “Do you ever wonder if other people will do the same for you? The effort and time that we put in to make things special, when it is time to return the favour, do you think they will do the same for us?”

Chances are that they won’t and you would end up hurt, angry and even frustrated with the people around you as they would not always do the same for you as you do for them. You start to plot some form of revenge as you are disappointed in their efforts and the time they invested.

Now, the life lesson I have learnt; “Do to others what you would like them to do to you.”(Without expecting them to live by the same rules) If you follow the above quote and you really take it to heart, then whether or not the favour is returned, is irrelevant.

It means that you are doing it with the right mind-set, not for what you can get out, but what you put in, and what it would mean to them. Do we have any other choice? My Mamma, Julie (a very wise woman, you will get to know her as my posts increase), use to spot the situation where I was mad or frustrated, and she would say in a very irritated tone “there are more than enough mean people in the world, you do not need to be one of them, do the things that make you feel good, and not because you wish to get something back”. (This is not easy, and I still remind myself of this when I am in a similar situation) 

Sometimes you need to be the bigger person as you never know what battle the person next to is fighting. (Another Julie quote) Something small or insignificant to you could mean the world to someone else.

10 Easy tips (you can do TODAY) that could change someone’s world

• If you see someones mood is down, tell them a joke, if they don’t laugh, walk away and tell them that you will come back with a new and improved version. Make sure to check up on them later, even if it is just a text.
• Thank people who serve you—waiter, receptionist, cleaner, security guard
• Pay for someone’s groceries in your cue, if you don’t have a lot of money, stand in the short cue in the front of the shop (e.g. Max 5 items row), or pick someone that you can see struggles by counting all their coins.
• Call and invite an old friend to get drinks, take a small gift with, even if it’s only a Christmas chocolate.

• Stop by the hospital to visit a friend, if you can’t stop by, make an effort to stop at their home afterwards with something, or at the very least send a message a few days later finding out how they are doing.
• Plan a meeting, surprising everyone with a tea party (remember the cake)
• Pay the toll for the person behind you.
• Call a friend going through a difficult period to show your support, maybe arrange a “single at last” party, or buy a “happy divorce" cake, with proper chick flicks. (only if it is that kind of “difficult situation”, otherwise it might just be awkward)
• Next time you are at the shops, buy something (no matter how small) for the special person in your life, or write a letter or note to them. 
• Invite a friend for dinner, try to make their favourite food. Remember to talk less and listen more. 

BONUS: If you receive good service from someone, make sure to go to their manager and pass on the compliment. People are easy to complain but very slow to compliment.

Make time for the small things in life, and make sure to think about the people around you and what they might me going through. Do something for your sweetheart or stranger, maybe they pass it on to the next stranger.

That’s it for another blog post., hope you are making the most of what is left of 2015.

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Love,