Shortly after I had arrived home from work the other day, my daughter was bawling her eyes out. She wanted to watch her favourite TV shows on Netflix.
I had a very long day at work and all I wanted to do was […..]
Behaviour is more important than knowledge
This is not Syria
Letter to my younger self
Dare to be different
When I was about 7 years old, I recall being part of a soccer training camp for kids.
It basically involved approximately 50 local kids being trained by expert coaches on the skills of the game. There were also a few games and competitions thrown in for good measure.
Each competition had a prize.
It is one of the competitions that has remained in my memory banks. Winning it probably helps, but it was more than that. It was the way I won […..]
The Art of War
One of my favourite books is The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China.
The book imparts lessons on how to beat your opponents on the military battlefield.
Sure, not many of us are fighting wars, but the lessons are […..]
Taking the time to think
Do any of you have a place you can go and just feel at peace? Where you don’t have a care in the world and can just let your mind wander?
For me this place is Abel Tasman National Park. I was introduced to this magical place, by my then girlfriend, about 5 years ago.
The National Park is surrounded by […..]
The pursuit of happiness?
Do you even care?
Change your spending mindset
Sure, you can try all the tricks such as avoiding certain supermarket aisles or websites, or delaying the decision by a week to see if you still feel the same way.
But couldn’t it be much better if you didn’t have to fight all the time?
Instead of having a constant battle with yourself, it is much better to try and change your overall mindset so that you don’t want so many things in the first place […..]
Find your Mr Miyagi
One of my favourite movies as a child was the Karate Kid. For some reason, I was always drawn to the underdog from an early age.
In the movie, Daniel San as he is affectionately known, is experiencing some bullying at his new school. The lead bully Johnny is a skilled, albeit dirty, Karate fighter from the Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel is a skinny, unpopular, out of […..]
The benefit of facing your fears
Just the tip of the iceberg
Throughout my 20’s I spent every dollar I earned. I’d tell myself things such as “I deserve it” or “it doesn’t cost much”. The problem is these times became too frequent. I was telling myself I deserved something new every single week. I’d hardly been in the workforce for one year, yet here I was […..]
Stop hiding from the hard path
As a volunteer budget adviser, I often see clients that ignore their debt problem. Their theory is, “If I ignore it then I won’t know there is a problem.”
I have had clients come into the office with a pile of unopened envelopes. They know it is bills inside but by not opening the mail, they convince themselves that there are no bills to pay and there is no problem. But guess what? It doesn’t […..]
Dig deep
Anything worthwhile in life is difficult. Raising a family, losing weight, starting a business or new job and saving money are all examples of worthwhile endeavours that can be a big challenge.
Whereas staying in your same mundane job, not exercising and spending all your earnings is the easy option.
Unfortunately easy doesn’t buy you freedom […..]
Cut your losses
We all have addictive tendencies
Procastination - do not delay
You are the boss
Your cellphone could kill you
I was recently in the hospital waiting room with 12 other people. Do you know how many of these people had their head down on their mobile phones for pretty much the whole duration? 10 out of 12! I have seen similar numbers in airports too. It is not just the young either. The older generation have also managed to pick up this habit of […..]