March 2011 'Useletter'
March 2011 ‘Useletter’
Here we go again, the year is running away with us. This month has been short and very busy, from Mykanos to Heidelberg to Johannesburg - talk about traveling! Hence I thought I would have a bit of fun and do something more light hearted in the 'Useletter' this month. Three different stories, the first more food for thought, and the last two aimed at 'us' older folks and our relationship with the youth of today - thought you might enjoy some lighter insights for a change too!
Don't forget to check out the latest Quicktips at the end of this 'Useletter' or simple click on the links if you cannot view them. Over the last few months, more and more companies have asked me to combine tricks with motivation, as the trick captures the attention and then the message sinks in more visually. I have always kept the two separate, but have now seen the light. This combination is a winning formula - so this month's Quick Tip is a really cool trick with a powerful message - make sure you watch it. Click here for the Eng, Ger or Afr version, or view below.
Also, I have completed a new mini book, called, How to be Successful: Tips and tricks to achieving your goals. it's completely free and you can download it from my website by clicking here.
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JUST HOW FLEXIBLE ARE YOU IN COPING WITH CHANGE?
A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as when one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.
The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg,or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?
How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
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HOW DO YOU SEE THE YOUTH OF TODAY?
WHAT IS GENERATION Y?
Hmm, I've always wondered this myself... now I know.
- People born before 1946 were called The Silent generation.
- The Baby Boomers are people born between 1946 and 1959.
- Generation X people have been born between 1960 and 1979.
- Generation Y, are the people born between 1980 and 2009.
Why do we call the last group Generation Y? I never did know, but recently a cartoonist explained it very eloquently below... Learned something new today!
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THE UNDER-30 CROWD - DO THEY HAVE IT EASIER THAN WE DID?
If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!
When I was a child, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were.
When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.... u... barefoot...ways etc.I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I would ever the same boring stories on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm well over the ripe old age of thirty can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. They have it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in Utopia!they have no idea how good they have it.
When I was a child we didn't have the internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!! was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!
Child protective services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our butts! Nowhere was safe!
There were no MP3 or Napsters! couldn't 'download' music - you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and ruin the whole song for you! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favourite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone.
We didn't have fancy things like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! We were not slaves to mobile phones - that was Star Trek science fiction stuff. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mum, your boss, the tax man, a collections agent, you just didn't know! You had to pick it up and take your chances!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had pinball and the Atari 2600 with games like "Space Invaders and Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! There was no such thing as channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel! REMOTES! Can you imagine that! There was no cartoon network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!
See... I have become just like my parents - the children of today have it too easy! I wonder if they would have lasted lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!