Success is a very personal subject as everyone has different goals, aspirations and targets. Success is what keeps us happy at all times and should be lasting. I often wonder what success is and hear mostly that you are successful once you have a great career which earns you lots of money. However, I don't believe that is necessarily success. Most of you would agree that money doesn't always make us happy, hence it is not 'success' for all of us. Let's look at some of the things I have achieved in my life so far: I started a new life by moving from the Netherlands to Australia with two suitcases in my hand and the rest of my 'life' on a ship on its way to Sydney. It was all very daunting and scary but exciting and fun at the same time. A whole new city and country to explore and to love. Now, 13 years later, I have a wonderful family, a very close circle of friends and my own business! To me, that is success!! A few years ago I discovered I have Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia ('CML'). Th...

[Read entire post...]

What if there was more to life than just existing? What if there was a bigger plan? What if when we were souls, awaiting our birth into the human experience, we formed a plan? What if we decided that in order for our souls to grow, evolve and learn, we needed to explore and participate in certain experiences during our human existence? What if, in order to experience this growth, evolution and learning we deliberately chose those who would journey with us and assist us in accomplishing our task? What if we imagined our life here to be like a theatre production? What if we all had our specific roles, our specific wardrobe, our specific dialogue within this story that, when delivered as it should be, ended in a grand finale? What if all the people in your life, friend or foe, were in fact just playing their role in your own growth, evolution and learning process? What if they were part of your life for a reason, and whether your experience with them was positive or negative, what ...

[Read entire post...]

You would have noticed that we are running behind this month with our articles and newsletter. Well this had a good reason. My wonderful wife and Principal Coach at Click A Life Coach, has given birth to our first child, a beautiful baby girl called Alexa Luz. This has been a truly amazing experience for both of us and we are still filled with many happy emotions. Just looking at her face makes me almost cry with happiness. We prepared ourselves well for the birth and we wanted to have a birth without much intervention, no pain relief, just a natural calm birth. Alexa was due on the 19th of December, but decided to wait a little longer with her arrival. With Christmas around the corner, we thought we might actually get a “Christkind” with her being born on the 24th . In the lead up to Christmas we decided to buy a turkey just in case, she would wait until after Christmas. And glad we did. We spend a nice Christmas day with family at our place and enjoyed every moment (and every sleep ...

[Read entire post...]

We know how great it feels to receive a gift from someone. I believe however that the greatest satisfaction comes from giving to others and knowing that you have made someone feel happier or made a positive contribution in some way to their life. Think of the times when you have given to others. It may have been when you helped someone resolve a problem. You may have volunteered and given up some of your time to help out at your children’s school. You may have helped someone with directions to where they needed to go. The question I ask to you is how did you feel? I’d imagine you felt very pleased with yourself and happy inside. There is something very nourishing to our soul when we give and help others. It provides us with an intrinsic reward that far outweighs what we give. It also helps to take our mind of our own worries and challenges. When you are focused on how you can give to others you are less likely to consume your whole focus on your own concerns and challenges. It provi...

[Read entire post...]

Isn’t it interesting how we spend the time and understand the sense in making a list of what we need and want for our shopping adventures and yet very few people will invest the time to write down a list of what they need and want for their own life adventure. Why do people make shopping lists? So they will not forget things. They are a reminder. So they can keep to a budget. It helps them to stay on track with their plans. It helps them to stay focused on what they want. It helps them to make the right choices. It stops them from making rash, spontaneous & poor decisions. It avoids time being wasted. It helps to alleviate confusion. Wouldn’t it be also true to say that writing down a list of what you want and need in your life would provide similar benefits for you? How often have you gone to the shops not knowing what you really wanted and them came back with a pile of things that you really did not need? Has someone persuaded you to buy ...

[Read entire post...]

A recruiter told me the other day about a young girl (degree qualified) who had been at her job for three weeks, was asked to make tea for the boss, got the cranks, and quit! Sounds ridiculous, and just a little extreme, but would this occur at your work? If the answer is yes, then pay attention: Its reasonable to say that Generation Y in the workplace can be just a little cocky, impatient and often have short attention spans. Anyone who manages or leads these young people may find themselves struggling to keep up with their pace (ie having to constantly find work for them to do) and may also become frustrated at having someone constantly questioning your decisions. Yet at the same time, Generation Y can be very passionate about a cause, adapt easily to change and are willing to embrace new technologies. Gen Y are prepared to go out on a limb and take risks and more importantly, they believe in themselves to achieve results. So what do you do to make the most of your talent? ...

[Read entire post...]