Find Your Quest in Life… An excerpt from my BOOK,  ’Making Better Choices for the Rest of Your Life’ which is published in 2006.

Into the classroom where I was speaking, walked a young deaf girl with an interpreter. Her interpreter was signing or translating my words into sign language for her.

I looked at the young girl and signed over to her, `Hi. Sorry I sign slowly. I am a big dummy. YOU are a beautiful lady.` I had dated a deaf woman for 3 months and learned some basic sign language. What I told her was about all I could remember.

She was so surprised and signed `Thank you!` back to me. From there I proceeded to share my talk…

After the presentation, her interpreter came up to me and said, `I need to speak to you in private for a moment.` I was so nervous. Had I made the wrong sign?

The interpreter shared… `She always felt different in this class being deaf. But today, you made her feel special. You really changed her life.`

WOW! That was it. I felt my heart swell and my energy went up 100-fold. I had always talked AT people. I had never, to my knowledge, changed anyone’s life before. Amazing!

I went home after the talk… and erased all my financial goals on my chalkboard. I replaced them with this single statement of what I was to do with my life. `I will serve God and humankind, and the success and the money will follow.`

Guess what? It did!  From that moment on, everything was different. Instead of focusing on what I could get FROM a client or an audience, I focused on CHANGING LIVES. Once the focus was on service, those who needed the service started flocking to me…

Over time, my Quest statement evolved. Today my Quest is, `To positively influence one BILLION people in my lifetime, for the greater glory of God.` Now THAT gets me out of bed in the morning.

QUESTION: What gets YOU out of bed in the morning?

Got comments or questions ? Just leave your comments here.

PRECIOUS LITTLE OF WHAT WE DO REALLY MATTERS! You read that right. Think of the deadline you dreaded 5 years ago and gave up time with your family and friends and perhaps even your health suffered to complete. Who remembers? Who still cares? Think of your entire adult life after you left school. How much of it has been recorded in the history books? I’ll bet precious little.

PLEASE, never feel bad about this. We all do our best and should to make our contribution to society and to earn an income for ourselves and family. Just remember precious little matters and stop fretting and worrying. Ask yourself, in 5 years, who will care? If the answer comes back “No one.”, then maybe you should not worry NOW. Do your best. Get it done with your best effort in 8 or 9 hours and go home.

If you have living parents, spouse or children, do THEY matter? Maybe invest more time with them. If you believe in God and eternity, maybe invest more time with Him in conversation (prayer) and devotion (good works). Our life should count for something. It just can’t count for everything. Strive to focus more on what does matter and less on what does not. As a Christian, I was struck this week by how precious little of my time was devoted to serving Him or my family and how much was just doing ‘stuff’.

Here is how I am changing and you may wish to make your own list.

1. Worry about nothing as worry fixes nothing.
2. Reaffirm your priorities (mine are Jesus, Family, Fitness, Finances and Friends in that order)
3. Make everyday count in terms of your priorities investing time according to your priorities.
4. Fun should come automatically by following your priorities. If it does not, maybe your priorities are wrong.
5. Analyze every day and every week to ensure you are getting the most from your investment of time.

Remember, precious little of what we do matters so make what does matter a higher priority by investing more time in it.

Smile maker: Funny thoughts and quotes

• An optimist is someone who falls off tall building and halfway down says, ‘So far so good!’
• If you can’t see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.
• We know the speed of light but what is the speed of dark?
• When I die, I’m leaving my body to science fiction. (Steven Wright)
• If your parents never had children, chances are you won’t either.
• A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
• When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
• Don’t judge a book by its movie.
• Why do people say “With all due respect” when they’re about to show no respect at all?
• Only the wise and foolish never change
• The law of heredity is that all undesirable traits come from the other parent.
• If you wish to live wisely, ignore sayings including this one.

Got comments or questions ? Just leave your comments here.

Self-Defence For Home and Abroad

Most of us live out our lives without ever being attacked or robbed. That is not the case for everyone. Although attacks can happen anywhere, most rapes occur within one’s home and most robberies occur out of your home city. We need to be aware about keeping ourselves and our families safe and secure WITHOUT getting paranoid and limiting our enjoyment of life. For more than 30 years I taught women’s self-protection and practised the martial arts since 1970.  Here are 8 quick self-defence tips for home and abroad.

1:  Never let strangers know you are leaving for a holiday or that you will be home alone (especially females). A woman allowing a workman or a male friend into her home should ask him to keep his voice level down as her brother, the kung fu master is taking a nap at her place prior to his tournament.

2:  Before going shopping in busy markets, leave your wallet, purse, jewellery and watches locked in the hotel safe and only take with you what you absolutely need. I carry local currency in my two front pockets, with small notes I plan on spending in the right pocket and larger bills and maybe a credit card on the left front pocket. Each stash of money has smaller notes on the outside and the larger ones on the inside. Never count money openly on the street.

3: Travel with a friend(s). There is safety in numbers. Thieves are opportunists. They look for easy targets. Always make yourself look like a harder target to steal from.

4: Be aware of anyone asking for favours, directions or help, particularly if they look local and you look foreign. It can be a rouse to get close to you or to distract you while someone else comes from behind to rob you. If approached, automatically take a 360 degree check of your surroundings.

5: Do not take a taxi you hire on the street. Thieves steal taxis to pick up tourists and then drive them to where accomplices help rob you. Go to any hotel and have them call a taxi for you.

6: If a robber confronts you with a knife or weapon, give them what they want. Reach in your right front pocket (all your small notes) and throw it at him. While he is grabbing the money, you flee.

7: NEVER go to a secondary crime scene. That is, if the robber wants to take you somewhere else, refuse. Few people come back alive from a secondary crime scene. Better to give up all your money and fight back there (if necessary) than to lose your life in a remote location.

8: If you are attacked, do not waste your time in a fist fight unless you are strong and a good boxer. The human body is a mass of frailties. Do not pull back. Get as close as you can to the attacker, even hugging him. This neutralises his force. Then do one or more of the following: Jam two fingers into his eyes HARD (blinding him). Cup your hands and slap his ears HARD (breaking the ear drums). Press two fingers into that hallowed area under his Adam’s apple HARD (causing him to choke). Stomp HARD on the instep of his foot (breaking his foot). Then run away.

Sorry this is not a motivational column this week. It IS an important one for you and your family. Knowing what to do for self-defence at home and abroad may be the best way to make sure you never need to use our last tip. May you and your family always be safe.