We all feel overwhelmed from time to time, from a mild discomfort to a flat out panic attack. 

It happens.

The thing is to not lose your head, the worst thing that can happen is not the actual event or circumstance, it is the event AND losing your head.

So here are three things we have discovered work well when we are freaking out (being entrepreneurs, that happens more often than you think :) ). 

Teach these to your team and see what happens.

Bravery is for the people who have no choice, people like Chesley Sullenberger and Audie Murphy.
Bravery is for the people who are gifted, people like Ralph Abernathy, Sarah Kay and Miles Davis.
Bravery is for the people who are called, people like Abraham Lincoln,  Rosa Parks and Mother Theresa.
Bravery is for other people.
When you see it that way, it's so clearly and patently absurd that it's pretty clear that bravery is merely a choice.
At least once in your life (maybe this week, maybe today) you did something that was brave and generous and important. The only question is one of degree... when will we care enough to be brave again?

by Seth Godin

This is such a massively important topic and resonates with so many people that we reproduced it in it's entirety here, you can read the original and more on Seth Godin's blog here

On feeling like a failure​
Feeling like a failure has little correlation with actually failing.

There are people who have failed more times than you and I can count, who are happily continuing in their work.

There are others who have achieved more than most of us can imagine, who go to work each day feeling inadequate, behind, and yes, like failures and frauds.

These are not cases of extraordinary outliers. In fact, external data is almost useless in figuring out whether or not someone is going to adopt the narrative of being a failure.

Failure (as seen from the outside) is an event. It's a moment when the spec isn't met, when a project isn't completed as planned.

Feelings, on the other hand, are often persistent, and they are based on stories. Stories we tell ourselves as much as stories the world tells us. 

As a result, if you want to have a feeling, you'll have it. If you want to seek a thread to ravel, you will, you'll pull at it and focus on it until, in fact, you're proven right, you are a failure.

Here's the essential first step: Stop engaging with the false theory that the best way to stop feeling like a failure is to succeed.

Thinking of one's self as a failure is not the same as failing. And thus, succeeding (on this particular task) is not the antidote. In fact, if you act on this misconception, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of new evidence that you are, in fact, correct in your feelings, because you will ignore the wins and remind yourself daily of the losses.

Instead, begin with the idea that the best way to deal with a feeling is to realize that it's yours. 

Every two weeks we'll be posting a blog on one of the Strengths found in StrengthsFinder, look out for yours!

An ACHIEVER is someone who has a drive which they can't always explain. 
They've got this LIST in their heads waking up each and every day of their lives. Yes, even when they are just going to the beach they can't just lie in the sun.



 
SOMETHING needs to be done. 
- Let's go for a 3 km walk 
- Let's play cricket 
- Let's build a sandcastle 
- Let's eat ice-cream 
- Let's go to the beach house and DO the following there...and that is before noon.

They are busy human beings, and what make them so amazing is they get SO much done in a limited time. They are EXECUTORS! They are the person you need in your team who complete tasks. 
If you are a talker or a thinker, you need this person in your team, without them you'll struggle or even never get to tick off your ideas or dreams. 
They dislike meetings, especially those ones which don't have a agenda, takes longer than 30 minutes and where there is too much talking and no doing. 
They can't help themselves, they need to do and this is wasting their time!

Two TIPs for an Achiever; 
1. If you struggle to spend quality time with your kids or family. Write their name on your list for the day, "Spend time with Lisa - 30 min" 
2. When the family wants to watch television, which you might dislike, because your list is not done for the day. Sit and watch it with them (30 min), while filing, sorting out the socks or knitting. Keep away from tablets, cellphones or laptops while you are with them. It's controlling our lives quite enough.

StrengtshFinder - Understanding your kids/partner of colleagues better.

Check out our StrengthsFinder products for you are for your team.

Being a Couple and still Having Fun After 10 Years

“Shakespeare and Hollywood screwed us all” – Pierre du Plessis

Those who have been married and made it after a year or more realize that this statement is SO true. How is it that two individuals growing up on two different planets, with their own weather, culture, likes, dislikes, Christmas celebrations and holiday fun, still have not killed each other after a year? 

I guess, it’s comes down to being a miracle!

Nine years ago Pierre and I, did StrengthsFinder as a couple. Through the years I am stilled stunned how precise StrenghtsFinder is. Opposites definitely attract!

Pierre is one of those people who love to spend time in his head, and is fond of a one two one conversation while enjoying proper coffee and conversation, he loves to socialize with a small group of close friend. Planning is second nature to him, and life and schedules need to be planned to the detail. 

On the other side I love people, being around them 24/7. Any type of person, from any race, background and age.  All is welcome, 100 at a time. I dislike any planning, you see each day is different, so why cage it? Take it minute by minute. 

You can just see how different we are, but after StrengthsFinder we have grace with each other and  realized we are an amazing team.

Pierre can plan ahead through chaos (Strategic), set goals for our future (Futuristic) and thought me what it is to have close friendships (Relator) 

I have thought him that things can change in a second, but we can still cope with it. If there is a big crowd, he’ll send me out to scout, sometimes gather the information we need, I’ll report back to him and he’ll come up with a plan. 

StrengthsFinder has taught me to have grace with each other and partner up with your partner. This way each one can be himself, which is great. I love Pierre for being himself, I mean this is the reason I fell in love with him.

Read more here on the couple coaching session.

have a great week!

Rialette

Linda Rousseau

This lady is one of our best friends, so we guess it wasn't hard to get on the list of nominees and to win it this week. Hey it’s all about who you know, so be nice to strangers (people)!

Linda has a way with words like nobody else we know. She has the ability to use them in poetry that gives you goosebumps and some of the words cut so deep into your soul that you struggle to even move after you've read one of her creations. 

Why the #BeBraveAward? 

Linda is BRAVE enough to get off the couch and is busy in the proses of publishing her first poetry anthology (digbundel) 

On  the 25th April she has her book launch. All welcome! 

We’ll keep you informed on the rest of the detail. 

follow Linda here @linda_rousseau

Enjoy this one for now: 

Bitterheid is ‘n Bliksem

(Aap)aties

Bitter-finaties

Vleissosaties

Opgestop in ‘n ry

Een, twee drie vier

Doods hul verby

Links regs link links

Kyk hoe gepak 

Reguit graf toe 

Kwaad-kwaad-kwaad

'What is in a name?' perhaps Shakespeare was wrong and there is truly much in a name.

Mighty, she is one of those ladies that blew our mind. Her passion is contagious and it is to educate parents to raise well balanced and above all, well LOVED kids. This is the way we can save a nation, she says.

Here are some great and simple parenting tips from Mighty

• Less TV
• Less games on the phone
• Talk to them
• Listen to them

At the moment she is focusing her attention on education the parents of the kids at the nursery where she works in the Pretoria CBD.

Our very first weekly Be Brave awards, goes to you Mighty!

Isn’t it good to know that you can make a difference wherever you are? From the tiniest gesture of validating someone at work to literally giving someone a new lease on life. It is increasingly amazing to me what a human being is capable of, all the potential we have.

Very recently my path crossed again with the Organ Donor Foundation. I never knew that one human being can save 7 people just by donating their organs. I know for some this might be a very sensitive matter for some, but I want to ask all of you to please go and check it out.

Go to www.odf.org.za, and if you find it just as amazing as I did then just register and become a member. It’s quick and easy. They even send you info and stickers to stick on your ID card or drivers licence.

Remember to share this great news with your friends and family.

Just think YOU can save 7 people, just imagine what can happen if you share the news.

Go on, BE BRAVE.

Enjoyed this post from Seth Godin's blog today. Know you will too, Be Brave.

Explosive action. Training by jumping from a standing start. Not worrying about getting up to speed, but going from standing still to flight.

Not everyone needs to be good at this, but you can bet that most organizations need people who are.

Not, "I'll think about it," or, "I'll ask Susan what her take is," or, "Let's reconvene tomorrow..." but, instead, words like, "go," and "now."

Plyometrics is an attitude, the willingness (the bravery) to try things on small groups, in controlled situations, to say, "here, I made this."

It's not a slipshod way of doing business for your core customers (that's another form of hiding). No, it's the posture of urgency.

Will you leap?

Seth Godin.