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40+FAB Blog

I was reminded again of the importance of more than one person to get stuff done. I have three children and when I have to get all three fed while my wife does something else, it takes a really long time. However, when my wife and I do it together, it takes less than half the time.

In Adam Smiths book, The Wealth Of Nations, the example of a factory is given, where 10 workers each worked on the 18 steps to make one pin. They were able to individually produce around 20 pins per day. However, when they divided up the task to make a single pin and each worked on their part, they produced 48,000 pins per day, that is an average of about 4,800 pins per person.

There is great power in working together on the same thing. I was amazed to find out that an average cell phone today has more computing power than all the computers used by NASA in 1969 to put man on the moon.

So, individually we can hold much power in our hand, yet it does nothing until we work together with a common vision and a common purpose releasing synergistic power to achieve a thousand times more than we could achieve alone.

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40+FAB Blog

The home is the first place where we become aware of ourselves and others who live with us. It is sort of a launching pad from which we are pushed out into the wider world.

When it works well, the home could be the most beautiful place to be, holding the fondest memories of our lives. When it doesn’t, it could be the source of our worst fears and nightmares.

The home teaches us to love, learn, trust, communicate, negotiate, fight, affirm ourselves, understand politics, cope with disappointments, deal with dysfunction, cope with adversity and much more.

A good home is not necessarily a fairy-tale setting, but a safe environment that prepares us to be champions in the real world. A bad home could be crippling, and while not ideal, there are many who have learnt how to overcome in life through those painful experiences.

Whatever your home is like, strive to make it better, and never lose out on the ability to convert your experiences there into a ‘home advantage’.

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40+FAB Blog

There are people who are so good at what they do that it makes every other person doing that same thing look a little inadequate. The temptation is to almost conclude that their strengths show up our weakness.

Such thinking is a bit of a fallacy because your strength or weakness is something that is very personal to you and never determined by anything outside of yourself. We can however be inspired and use their example as a means of learning and improving ourselves.

Never look outside of yourself to determine your strengths and weaknesses, but rather look for opportunities to improve and always celebrate another persons strengths.

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40+FAB Blog

Most times, we are subconsciously trying to become somebody. This is no surprise as we are constantly bombarded with information, through various platforms, of people who are “Somebody”. So, we look to their advice and emulate their steps to become who they are, Somebody.

You must however realise that the status those people have does not make them any more of a somebody than you. You became somebody the day you were conceived, and let no one ever rob you of that truth. Our real struggle is not to become somebody, but to show up with the brilliance of the person we are.

No two people on this planet are alike, so, there is something that each one of us brings that our world needs. You just need to figure out what you bring and then show up. Our mission then becomes recognising and showing up at the places that we are needed most.

If I strive to be known in my community, I am not trying to be somebody, I am trying to show up in the community that can be served with what I bring. When I am recognised there, people would say he is somebody in the community, but the reality is, I have been all along.

I am not needed everywhere at this moment, but that doesn’t make me less of a somebody on a regional, national, continental or universal platform.
When the opportunity to serve those platforms arise, then I will strive to show up as who I have always been, Somebody.

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40+FAB Blog

“It’s not fair!” Has become a very popular cry in my house as either of my two sons protest, seeking why they have not been treated like the other.
As I analyse their reasons for redress, it is quite apparent that their requests are a little unreasonable and really have nothing to do with fairness.

For instance, my 8 year old says it’s not fair that my 5 year old is reading a much easier book than he has to read. And, my 5 year old says it’s not fair that he has a smaller portion of food than my 8 year old. If I were to give them both what they thought was fair, I would actually be doing them more harm than good.

The next time you are tempted to cry out it’s not fair, pause and consider deeply if what you are asking for is right for you and not just equal to what another has. There are no two humans anywhere that are exactly the same, so in that vein our capacity to handle things will always be very unique, hence fairness becomes very contextual and relative.

This reminds me of Shylock in the merchant of Venice who wanted his pound of flesh from his debtor, Antonio. Antonio was saved by a wise lawyer who said Shylock could only cut him once, and it must be precisely a pound of flesh, nothing more or nothing less. As hard as it is to get back a pound of flesh, so also is it almost impossible to properly balance out what is fair to you in the light of what another person has received.

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40+FAB Blog

A decision to do something is a one time thing, but I have found that what actually makes the decision work is a commitment.

This analogy made me really get it. When two people get married, they have made a decision to do so. The decision wasn’t made for the day they would marry, but for the marriage.

They don’t have to marry every single day after that, but what is required is a commitment that they live out for as long as they have decided to (which traditionally is till death do them part).

So, what are you deciding to do? Have you worked out the commitment required on a daily basis after the decision has been made? Do you keep the goal in mind and get on with it?

The decision was just the starting point, so now that you have started, commit to finishing.

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40+FAB Blog

When it comes to getting stuff for free, you have two categories of responses from people. Most of us love it and would jump at a free meal any day, but some would question it wondering what the catch is.

There is really no such thing as a free meal for the simple reason that someone had to buy the ingredients and spend the time making it. The process of delivering a ready meal has a price attached to it. Even though the recipient is getting the end product for free, it has cost the donor something.

There is nothing wrong with receiving anything for free, but we should never forget that someone had to pay for it. So, learning to appreciate the sacrifice that has been made to get that free gift to you, helps you to place value on the gift, and what we value, we use in an optimal way.

We must banish that ‘free’ mentality, understand sacrifice, and be willing to pay for stuff when we are in a position to do so. Acknowledging that free cost somebody something is a healthy attitude to have towards life, and it makes us great and valuing whatever we receive.

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40+FAB Blog

No matter how bad a situation looks, there is always a way out. The reason why we get stuck or view problems to be insurmountable is because we do not know how to solve them.

My 5 year old son would often cry and say I can’t do it, its not working. I always tell him, instead of crying, why don’t you ask Daddy or Mummy for help. We then look at his problem and I teach him how to solve it.

Our minds associate not being able to do it with no way out, or impossible. That is never the case, for our struggle really is we just don’t know how. Having said that, there is somebody somewhere who has a solution for anything we face, so why not call for help from them.

Never let your mind accept that there is no way out, rather train yourself to ask how can I get out of this, or who can I call that knows how to get out of this.

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40+FAB Blog

It is usually said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. This is a good principle as no one wants to waste time reinventing the wheel.

But on the other hand, our sense of keenness and perception becomes dull when we become so familiar with certain routines that we begin to develop blind spots where we are unable to identify new opportunities.

I know a bit about writing, and I have a routine around when I write. I am also used to a certain style of writing based on my learning and what I am familiar with. When I changed my usual cycle, triggered by listening to new information from a different perspective to mine on the topic of writing, I began to write on a whole new level.

Some of the most creative ideas which have created a disruption in many industries have come out of taking a break from the usual and engaging with new thoughts, people or environments.

Do you feel stuck in what you do? Are you looking for that extra touch which sets you apart from your competition? Are you desiring an improvement? Why not try and disrupt your cycle by doing something new.

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40+FAB Blog

If you were like me, I absolutely hated having to do any homework as a child. When school was over, it was time to play, so why should I have had to spend another second doing school work. As much as I hated it, I had to do it because there were two check points I had to go through with completed work, or face the consequences.

The first check point was my mum. She would check our bags for home work and then ensure it was completed before we could go out and play. The second check point was my teacher at school, those who did not have neat, completed and correct work were punished.

Over the years, I have matured to understand the importance of getting my homework done even when no one is watching. This is personal accountability. There is however another dimension that the quality of our work can get to when we make ourselves accountable to another who can pull us up on our promise to deliver.

I recently had the estate agent, of the property I rent, come over to do an inspection. The house is usually kept neat enough, but just knowing someone was going to check made us go the extra mile to make things spotless. We were very impressed with our spring clean in preparation for this visit. The benefit of a sparkling clean house was ours, but we would not have got there if our accountability agent was not scheduled to visit.

Have you reached a plateau in your business, career or other important life endeavours? Maybe the block can be moved if you had the right accountability partner coming to check your homework. Find someone you can trust, who cares for your progress, and is willing to hold you accountable and ask them to check your homework from time to time.

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