5 Year's Time

Where you will be in 5 years time?!

I received this image this morning. It came as an email attachment reading;

“I really don’t do this to make you feel bad or to make myself feel good, just to share the awesomeness with my best friends. Check out my view on the way to work this morning!”

The image is of a beach somewhere in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Garth, who took the photo, is one of my closest friends. The email was sent to me and Liam, another close mate, who is based in London. The 3 of us are on other ends of the world, yet continue to share our lives with each other. Thanks to technology we can remain ‘virtually’ connected which will never make up for physical connections, but none the less makes a big difference. It is not so much the image that is significant but rather the story behind how Garth ended up taking it (this would take hundreds of pages to explain) But I know it. Liam knows it. Garth knows it. Over a period of years we have laughed, lived, loved, cried, struggled, prayed, married our sweethearts, dived, fished, surfed & partied together. What I treasure most is that these friendships are based on a genuine desire to see what’s best for each other become a reality.

Why is this significant? I recently read a quote that said “Where you will be in 5 years time depends on two things: the books you read and the people you are in relationship with!”

Books I can understand. Relationships make even more sense. Since I read the quote I have begun to think about who I hang with. After some reflecting I realised how significant a role most of those people play in my life. Many of those relationships are edifying. My friends energise me rather than drain me, support me rather than disqualify me, give me feedback and speak the truth rather than let me continue with negative traits and habits and are encouraging rather than self seeking.

Here are 4 questions I would really like you to reflect on seriously:

What are some of the words you would use to describe the relationships you are in?
Which relationships influence you the most, be it positive or negative?
What do these relationships mean for your future?
Who could you spend more time with, whose qualities and successes you aspire toward?

If you realise that you need to make some changes then I encourage you to act on these changes soon. Know that change in this department is difficult. Some relationships (family, spouse etc) you cannot simply break away from. By increasing the time you give to more positive relationships, the ability for you to impact positively and breakthrough relationship challenges increases.

Sometime this year I will post the same image that I have posted today. Except I will be behind the camera in Tanzania building memories with mates who I am willing to pay good money and fly many miles to hang with again and again and again and …

__________
Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com

How Much Fun Do You Have?

I am not sure why, but this week I felt compelled to write on fun. I guess you could also call it rest. Those moments when we refuel our energy wells and disconnect from what it is we are constantly applying our focus upon. I remember walking through the streets of Barcelona last year and walking straight into a couple dancing. It was the middle of the day, in the middle of the busy street and this couple just decided to stop and enjoy the music which some buskers were providing.

This picture of rest and fun could possibly be springing to mind given we are now in the middle of March. We have probably all being pretty gung ho as we started 2010, but the big question is:

‘How are you feeling Right Now?’

I recall a story which involved some of our Appletree associates. They got to do some work with a Hospital down on the South Coast of KZN. They enquired as to when the busiest time of the year was for the staff. December and January was the obvious reply, but not for obvious reasons! You would have thought it had to do with road accidents and party related incidents. Actually, this particular time of year was notorious for something called ‘Executive Syndrome’. In a nutshell, the wards would fill up with executives from business as far as Johannesburg with cardiac and organ failure issues. Why? No rest. No Fun. Go Go Go! The entire year was all about pushing through, engaging, working. No break. When the body finally got a small chance it took all the rest it could get.

I feel, at this time of year, it is NB for us to reflect on how we are feeling. It is still very possible for us to break any habits we have crept into for the year. I have posted articles before on energy management and re-filling your energy tanks so to speak. In this article I simply want to challenge you to have some fun. Do it right now. This weekend coming up is a long weekend - what are your plans? do they involve fun? will you be resting?

The greatest challenge for us, yet the most rewarding practice we can do is to get out of our heads and into our bodies. Hence the question - how do you feel? Stop with the over thinking, the worry, the anxiety, the responsible you and get out and play.

May you never think of yourself as to old, or to responsible to play, have fun, dance and ultimately... thrive in 2010.

__________
Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com

Brand Trust Signals

Following on from last weeks article on trust signals, I stumbled across a very interesting statistic. A couple weeks back I listened to some very interesting speakers at the Flux Trends conference in JHB. Led by Dion Chang, a number of speakers delivered insightful presentations on various topics, one of which was Simon Bond from Proximity Media.

One of his statements was:
‘6-8% of consumers trust what a company has to say about its brand. 98% of consumers trust what other consumers say about the brands they use’.

That is a very important statistic! The fact is, that engaging consumers is no longer about broadcasting. Engaging consumers is a dialogue. The customer is now saying “Involve me and I will understand!”. The necessary risk in a new reality is that we hand over our brands to our consumers. Because if they love it, it will spread. Take the the Nike T90 campaign. Here is a huge brand who, rather than spend millions on media and television broadcasting, choose to use the powerful medium of You Tube to engage their consumers and raise the profile of their brand. Using a handy cam they shoot Wayne Rooney performing what can only be described as an inspiring piece of fancy footwork! Take a look at the following link to see the clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4KIA2Cq_c) The clip does not end up on television, but rather on You Tube where it spreads like wild fire. Why? because their is a challenge attached - do what he did, film it and send it in. Those who create the most creative clip get to spend a day with Rooney himself picking up some football tips!

This really makes sense to me. In fact in recent discussions with some of my clients I have replaced the word ‘consumer’ with the word ‘employee’ when it comes to the above statistic. Fact is, a small amount of employees trust what the company has to say and a large amount of them listen to colleagues and friends. In a nutshell, they are simply consumers of a product called employment. Like consumers employees too want to be involved in the development of a company’s brand.

FACT! Engaging your employees around your brand is more about talking and dialogue than it is about broadcasting your vision, values and expectations. You are simply going to have to involve them!

You know what I am loving. The world is changing. In the years leading up to now you have had a choice whether you embrace trends or whether you stick to formula’s that work for you - because you could. The new reality, I believe, is one where you are simply going to have to change and begin the journey of engaging with your consumers or employees in fresh new ways. Why - because we are witnessing a consumer revolution which is both exciting and challenging all in one!

So, whoever you are - are you telling or talking, broadcasting or dialoging. Cause no matter what, there needs to be a pretty good reason why others will choose to follow you.

May you embrace the change!

Trust Signals

“You can always trust a yamaha!”

Jan was sitting in the pub. It was the 3rd night on a nice long fishing trip up near Xai-Xai, Mozambique. The first two days of fishing had been productive on the ski’s despite the long days of paddling and working the waters. The offer from Jan to crew his boat the next day was met by much excitement by ol Bundu and myself... anything to get out on a boat and catch a heap more cuta.

The last 15 years of diving has taught me to have a healthy respect for the ocean and in particular to be fussy about the craft I use! I immediately started to worry when I heard Jan working his engines late that night. They weren’t turning over. He worked on them for hours until eventually they got warm. When we arrived at his boat the next morning I got even more concerned at the state of the boat! There was fuel on the floor, hatches couldn’t lock, no emergency equipment...

Bundu and I let our eagerness get the better of us. Despite me asking him to warm up the engines in the lake, we headed down straight to the launch site. Jan’s plan was to put the boat in the shorebreak and warm them there. A few minutes later we were bouncing around in the wash, Bundu and I holding the boat, when Jan screamed “Lets go!” I challenged him on the cold engines but he was insistent so I hopped on board. We lurched forward into the mid break in decent sized surf. Then it happened. Dead engines. This is extremely dangerous and I immediately began to plan my escape. Suddenly the engines fired. Jan grabbed the wheel and threw the throttles down full tilt! We simply crashed through the surf at breakneck speed. I held on for dear life and was amazed to see we were still upright a few seconds later just behind the breakers. Jan turned to me and exclaimed...

“You can always trust a yamaha!”

The whole day was a nightmare. Jan insisted on taking us 23km out to sea. His boat nearly sank, his fishing tactics were messy. Fact is - despite beautiful mozambique waters all I wanted to do was get back to the beach.

Trust signals are actions that we take which either build up trust or break it down. Jan’s actions meant I was focussed on survival and had to be continually aware of inherent dangers. I was not focussed on the possibilities but rather fearful and desperate to get out of the boat. His signals pushed me away from him rather than toward him.

Like Jan, you too send out trust signals. Examine your actions and ask yourself if there is anything you could do differently to ensure that people will ‘go out to sea’ with you.

We stuck to the Ski’s from then on!

A community who lack belief!

When I was 17 I met Steve Bonaconsa. He had ideas. He had dreams. But more importantly he did something about them. I remember the first time he arrived in Durban to join our church as a youth pastor. One of the first questions he asked was “Does anyone mountain bike?” I immediately shot up my hand exclaiming “I do!” This was, in essence a lie. The funny thing was I had a mountain bike, but it was worth R500 or so and I had just recently gone for a ride in the cane with a mate - so now I was a mountain biker!

6 months later Steve took my comment seriously. He sat me down and asked me wether I would like to go for a ride. Around the World. He outlined a tour that would take us across 4 continents, 16 odd countries and about 16500km’s. His mission was to raise R1mil for a cause, which turned out to be children living with HIV/AIDS right here in KZN, South Africa. I don’t think I had ridden my bike since the first time I met him but I was in!

Inside of me I knew it was a no brainer. Why would any 17 year old turn down the opportunity to peddle across borders, meet people and change lives? Furthermore I knew it was possible. I simply believed that despite some of the route taking us through challenging environments, such as the Aussie Nhullabhor and parts of Africa.

Then it came time to present the idea to others. Those few months shaped my understanding of the world. People lack belief. They lack faith. They lack courage.

Every time I spoke about the tour I was met with challenges. “You’re to young!” they would say, or “never in a million years!” & “you won’t make it past day 1!” One person even challenged me on being a year behind everyone at Varsity!

The crux: My belief in a dream and my commitment to follow through mean that I was now in the minority.

1 year later, 18 December 1999, I returned home after successfully cycling the world alongside Steve, raising R1.7 million for our cause. Simply because we believed. We weren’t even cyclists!!

1. What do you believe about what you are capable of?
2. What do feel when you reflect on your dreams for the future? (hopefully a nervous excitement!)
3. Why is stopping you from doing something about these dreams?

Sadly, we live in a community who lack belief. Which means they lack faith. Which means dreams die. Which means the world stays the same.

Why not step into the minority... I dare you.
__________
Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com

Picture Life as an Appletree

One of my favorite questions is ‘Are you living for one and a half days of the week?’
So are you?!

At the tender age of 18 I wrote a metaphor for life called ‘life as an appletree!’ It has pretty much turned into a way of life for me (www.appletreelive.com), and I guess has challenged me to make sure that the answer to that question is never ‘yes...unfortunately I am’

The trunk is life. We move up the trunk through school, careers, family, assets and retirement, until we reach the top. We know there’s more than just the ‘ordinary’, and yet we cling to our comfort zone… our thick, safe, trunks.

Then there are apples. Apples represent the realities that we wish to create for ourselves; opportunities we know are for us. However, given that they lie at the ends of thin branches, we choose not to step out into a world of risk and fear to pick them. We stay on the trunk.

No-one wants to get to the end of their lives to find themselves sitting on top of their apple tree, looking down at piles of rotten apples lying on the ground, never picked.

Over the past 10 years I have realised that society seems obsessed with the trunk yet wants to step on to the branch. We are so focussed on ‘whats next’ - when are you getting married? when are you having kids? when are you having another? So it go’s on! The result is we are so focussed on the trunk that we miss apples. OR maybe we want to miss them... because they scare us. As much as humanity wants to be ‘happier’ they seemingly find it very difficult to break out of habitual patterns they find themselves in from too much time on the trunk.

Picking apples is scary business. stepping out into new realities, trying new things, doing something that scares us, broadening our minds. Those that live for more than and a half days of the week seem to have something in common - they have taken risks, they are pushing through fear and they are challenging their comfort zones. It seems to be a rush!

How many times do we hear the eulogy message?? Someone wishes they had done more, lived more?

So heres the deal. Today I challenge you to step out onto that thing branch, to pick apples and to begin a journey that will change your reality. I challenge you to find an apple, no matter how small RIGHT NOW. I challenge you to look at what comfort zones you have found yourself in and look at ways to break out of them.

Nothing significant is done in isolation

I picked up my bicycle a little while back headed for a ride down to the Durban beachfront. It was early and the weather was obliging with a gentle tail wind and a fresh bite in the air. As I turned onto the beach road I heard another cyclist coming up behind me. My mountain bike, with its off-road tires, often saw road cyclists zipping past with speed. The whiz of the tires and clicking of the chain grew louder. I waited for the cyclist to pass, but instead the cyclist closed in on me and sat on my tail slipstreaming off my effort. As the sun rose I could see 2 shadows riding closely together.

At first I was annoyed! Who was this person simply using me without saying a word? I tried to race away but the cyclist sat on my tail. I tried to ignore it, but I could feel this presence behind me. I was out here to train alone and this was simply getting in my way.

Then something happened. I came to a junction where I knew of a shortcut. I could pull off and lose this person. I didn’t. I kept to the road. When I felt myself starting to slow, I sped up and made sure I maintained a comfortable speed for both of us. My frame of reference had shifted. The fact that there were now two of us was in fact an opportunity. The rider was stretching me to endure longer periods without slacking, maintain good speeds and ultimately get more out of my ride. This was an opportunity. Two riders on the road were always better than one.

In many ways I would say that we are wired for partnerships. There is something beautiful about how we can come together and share our strengths and skills to be more significant. In fact, I have heard it said that your 5 year plan is actually based on the books you read and the people you hang out with!

In my own life I have realised that my moments of ‘independence’ have been stimulated by a few things:

• ego - hung on my point of view
• self esteem - unsure about what others think of me
• doubt - in what I have to offer

Having realised that nothing significant is done in isolation, I continue to ask myself, ‘Who is around me and how am I sharing my life with them?’ if the answer to that questions leaves you realising that you are secluded in the way that you live, I would implore you to seek out effective partnerships on all levels.

The cyclist did eventually pull up on my right. There, on a red cruiser, was a man whose shoulders had bent over with age. His grey hair stuck out from beneath his foam helmet and his thin legs beat down on the peddles with fervor.
“I get a pull whenever I can” he exclaimed, his voice worn out from all his years of talking.
“No Problem” I said “I’m Travis by the way…” with more compassion having seen his age.
“Mike Smith’s the name” he replied.
“How old are you” I asked, slightly rude but I wanted to know!
“76” he said, “I do my 40k every morning!” he proclaimed!

Guess you never know who you will meet and what significance they may have, should you open yourself up to those around you.