Posts from — April 2008

I am committed to people creating and living EXTRAORDINARY lives that they love and the Dream Mapping and Goal Setting Workshop has been a HUGE catalyst for a number of people. However, I can see in my own life how easy it is to revert to old patterns and behaviours and to sometimes lose that inspiration and motivation.

Do you feel the same way?

So do you feel like you need a ‘kick-start’ for your dreams and to keep the inspiration?

So to ensure that 2008 is the year that you stay ‘on-track’ to living your dreams, this year we are going to be holding a POSSIBILITY EVENING every month in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

So what’s a Possibility Evening?

It is all about keeping you connected to the possibility of your WIG (Wildly Improbable Goal) and Big Juicy Dreams and to help you to create a life you love. [Read more →]

One of the incidents that has completely inspired me this month is the dedication of one company and particularly its owner to rectify a mistake. She has created true magic by turning a mistake into a wonderful experience.

In preparation for the Striding Man Awards, I decided to buy myself a beautiful corset from Stoned Cherrie. As I don’t really enjoy shopping I left this purchase until the last minute – in fact it was about 17h30 on the night of the event that I bought this corset. Imagine my dismay when I got home, opened up my package and suddenly saw that the big brown plastic anti-theft tag had not been removed. Unwilling to start a new fashion trend by wearing the corset with tag to the event, I instead had to scrimmage desperately through my wardrobe for something else to wear. Yikes! Needless to say, I was a little upset and so the next day took the item back to Stoned Cherrie and asked for a refund. What then happened in the following 2 weeks has been the most amazing and caring service excellence. I have been called by the owner of Stoned Cherrie, Nkhensani, to personally apologise for the mistake and imagine my delight when last week on my desk I received a package from Stoned Cherrie – a beautiful pair of sunglasses from their new range.

This whole incident has made me rethink about mistakes and challenges – often we perceive mistakes that we make or challenges that we face in our lives as negative and try to shy away from them, sweep them under the carpet and make them disappear.

However this Stoned Cherrie example has inspired me, so that when I next make a mistake or face a challenge that I ask the question –

how is this an opportunity? How can I turn this into something good and positive?

With a few simple actions, Stoned Cherrie turned a little mistake into me being a loyal customer and advocate of their brand.

How can you turn some of your mistakes or current challenges into a winning situation?

This month I had the privilege to attend the Johnnie Walker Striding Man Awards as the guest and Fairy Godmother of one of the 9 extraordinary men who had been nominated for this award.    Thabang Skwambane came to a Dream Mapping and Goal Setting workshop in November 2006 and while at the workshop got inspired to set a BIG goal.  At that time he had started a business Kaelo, in HIV/ Aids consulting and through his work had been exposed to the plight of orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa.

During my workshops I generally do a lot of wand waving  and get the participants clear on a BIG, JUICY Goal that inspires the pants off them, a goal that is on the boundary of possibility and impossibility.   Thabang, after the workshop had his BIG Goal to raise R 10 million for orphans and vulnerable children and he decided to embark on a lonely adventure called “The Lonely Road Challenge” to raise the money and also raise awareness about the plight of orphans and vulnerable children.   This man got into serious ACTION around making his dream come true and the Lonely Road Challenge saw him cycle from Johannesburg to Mount Kilimanjaro alone and unsupported and the after peddling over 5000 km’s through Africa in September 2007 he then climbed the mountain.

Thabang raised huge media awareness and a lot of money (about R 1 million) which is now already being used to help orphans and vulnerable children.   As a result of his courage and determination to pursue a BIG dream and goal, his life has been completely transformed, he has inspired others and he is being acknowledged by his peers, the media and companies like Johnnie Walker for being a truly extraordinary man.

Extraordinary people are merely Ordinary people who have BIG Dreams and the courage and determination to pursue them.

Well Done Thabang on your BOLD strides in creating the life of your dreams!  It is a privilege to be your Fairy Godmother!