2023 onwards - a road to success

 When it feels like you are getting stuck, then nothing comes easy. The lack of regularly doing a blog is one of these manifestations.  At first, my reasoning for not getting a new post published was that I wish to remain positive in reporting my progress. When I realized 5 days ago that I may be able to start writing a new post without immediately publishing it, I finally got down to work. I blame my being stuck on the lack of progress with my work, my lack of anticipated income. This happened because I've lost touch with the market in that I didn't foresee a recovery take place as quickly as it is happening right now. I fell into some kind of a depression, but as my life now is not centered around income, other factors were also at play. My goal to get new clothes and have a summer break in Europe was also not to be. I've been procrastinating for too long, and had to postpone this plan to next year. The good part about this is that I will continue to wear my clothes until...

 It took a while to get to this point of recording the progress in my life and work, and it feels like such a relieve, now that I am - at last - ready to get on with it. Delays in doing the things you set out to do cause backlogs, and these can easily pile up. The result is distraction and a lack of focus on current events that need your undivided attention. It also results in a burden to carry, an extra weight on your shoulders, something you cannot forget about until it is done. The question then is, 'Why not just get the things that needs doing over and done with; just do it?'  This reminds me of the time I was working at Spur as a waiter, in Stellenbosch. You booked shifts back then, and even when you had a long shift that ended at midnight and was booked for a new, long shift the next morning, whether you were in the mood or not, you had to arrive for work, or you won't have a job. Back then, when I was working for a boss, or manager, it was all about showing up, and t...

I'm big on recycling, or to put it differently, I try to keep my contribution to landfill to an absolute minimum, and hardly throw anything in my black municipal bin. The city of Cape Town handed out free composter about a year ago, and this is where my organic waste now goes. This was a welcome contribution to my recycling efforts as my banana peels and leftover organic stuff ended up in the corner of my garden before.  Notwithstanding my best efforts, sometimes there are leftovers from cooked meals that do not work in my composter. I therefore found a place in my garden for leftover food and bones, meant for the birds and animals visiting my garden. The Cape Robin is one of my most frequent visitors. I do have cats that come at night, but as I'm not a fan of cats, I found a way to make it more difficult for them to visit. The biggest consumers however are rats. I'm not a fan of rats either, and by attracting them, I got my opportunity to reduce their numbers and monitor h...

The life of an entrepreneur - in my case at least - consists of high times and low times. High times usually mean that you are up to date with your financial targets, while you are feeling down in the dumps when business is not coming your way as expected. The challenge is to deal with these low times in a way that you can uplift yourself in spite of the fact that 'no-one wants to do business with you'.  A great way of empowering - for me - is to get out of bed early and go for an hour run. The blood running through my brain during this time usually gives me strength to get more than the usual amount of work done in a day. It gives rise to high productivity, and in the long run, earlier or easier access to the business that feels elusive. When down in the dumps, following through on commitments like writing a blog also becomes a challenge. Notwithstanding this, here I am feeling confident that with experience and knowledge gained over the years, that I can get on with my life a...

It is now exactly a month since I'm back from Brazil, and my working life is starting to take shape. With the sale of only one small little house since the start of January, the stress should start building up, but with me striving for happiness rather than money, life is completely different from what it used to be. Even though I have unexpected aches and pains, my exercise regime is taking shape with now 2 or 3 walks up Lion's Head in the morning, and a regular run on the beach in Noordhoek over weekends. I'm trying to adjust my eating habits and making good progress with only a small meal at night, and a good and healthy breakfast in the morning and a hearty lunch, usually a bit later than normal. My visiting friend and holiday partner was such a big smoker, that I thought of learning from the experience of having her around. I have cut out smoking during the week, with only a puff now during weekends. It is boosting my self esteem, and giving me now more time to catch u...

 I've been good at setting goals, especially money target goals, always in the beginning of the year. Last year I achieved 90% of my target. Other than money goals, the other targets I set for myself is usually less successful.  This year I want to be different. I first thought of having no money goal at all, but after concluding my first sale, I decided to up my target by 30%. This time around I want to achieve my financial goal with less stress and less worries about where the moneys / commissions will come from, and to rather focus on being happy and enjoy the things I keep myself busy with. In my plan for my life going forward, I cannot realistically imagine what it is like to retire. I've been enjoying my work, except for the stress part of it. Getting rid of the stress part - which is usually feeling scared about running out of money - will surely change my life for the better. Talking about changing my life for the better, this is what I hope to achieve once I have a go...