Zenbizkit No.1:get a strategy.

Do you know where you are going?

What is your long term goal at work? This month’s sales results? The quarterly? This year? Three years from now?

With the stresses that appear in your everyday workplace, and the fickle changes of the now global market, the pressures placed upon you are work grow with each day. Ask any worker of colleague at your office, and the the goals of each will probably be different.

In order to answer the question yourself, you will need to evaluate how committed you are at your job. If you are only working for this month’s results, maybe you are pushing your colleagues and customers too hard, and the results, although admirable, may not be sustainable.

On the other hand, if you feel that the target is more long term, what are you doing today that is developing that relationship with the people around you that will see your long terms results come to fruition?

Obviously, it’s always going to be a balancing act, tying the present into the future. But its definitely worth a few moments thought, and then writing down what your work target is.

Then, sit down when you have some free time and try to look at it from some different angles. What would your boss say- would he agree with your goals or ask you to look more long term?

Managers and section leaders look for those workers that can both get the job done and have some kind of vision of how to sustain a great work load without burning out. Is that you?

How about your co-workers? Do they know your motivations? How do you fit into the team and benefit them all by your presence?

How about your partner? Are they aware and supportive of what you are doing? If any big changes are around the corner, make sure they are well informed and supportive of what you are trying to do.

So, get a strategy, for today, this week, this month, this year.

Hey, maybe even three years. But get one, and a back up plan too.

But more later.

Cheers,

Mark

Know thyself

Streets of Milan at night in Summer, on business.

How well do you know yourself?

Would a short list of your strong and weak points match with those that your boss would say about you? Co-workers? Girlfriend/wife?

Give it a shot and see what comes back to you. Is your list the same as the way others see you?

Try to make the criteria for this evaluation as clear as possible. What are you assessing? A specific skill? Your overall job performance? Your people skills? All of these are important, sometimes its worth just looking at one aspect of your career or workplace function in order to really assess what you are manifesting at work, and those skills which are yet to appear. Because to me, its not about failure, its about latency. Skills that have yet to appear.

How much do you really want to know? Once you start asking yourself these kinds of questions, you may end up getting answers that you may not want to hear, but it is my strong advice that you do this when you can, and then listen. And do it regularly, without being obsessive.

By listening, I mean getting somewhere away from others, without the dialogue and self-justification that so often appears in these exercises when we bring others into the picture, and contemplate. Take these comments on board and look at them for what they are, building blocks to a stronger and more effective you.

Be completely impartial with yourself. Be honest, even if that means acknowledging some things about yourself that you may be afraid to admit in public.

Now- start having a read of the comments.

Look at any positive remarks that you received without judgment or preference, this is not an ego building exercise. If you are already receiving some good grades from these judges, then just acknowledge that you need to keep doing those things.

Now the negative comments, or brutally honest ones if you have picked your judges right. Read one comment at a time, then put the comments down and feel.

Ask yourself if there is merit in the comment. If there is, acknowledge it. If you are failing to manifest a certain quality, then admit it. This is personal time here, and you need to be honest and realistic. If you don’t think there is merit in the comment, then you need to be able to come up with a very good reason why. But I would say that there is probably some truth to the comment, so look at it dispassionately and contemplate.

You need to know yourself better than anyone, or people that you just don’t see eye to eye with. Because by looking at these things, you can really bring out the best in you. Looking at it in that light, even the people you don’t like are helping you discover your own potential.

In the ancient East they once believed, “by knowing your weaknesses they can become your strengths”. That means first acknowledging, then actualizing a path to remedy or change the situation within yourself, and actualizing these latent skills and talents.

Sometimes its just attitude. A lot of times, its about our own personal awareness, and extending it out further than you have been. Acknowledgment of any issues is the key. Accept these comments or suggestions and grow stronger from it.

Yes, its across the board. You may be a big winner in some areas, and yet be an absolute failure in others. However, this exercise will give you the awareness and direction you need to do something about it, and fast.

The people that you pick for feedback are key. Don’t look for yes men. Go for those people you respect and admire for their own people skills and balanced performance. It’s amazing how we manifest differently to different audiences. Make sure you aim wide.

And then, after taking this all on board, do something about it.

Its all in the dance. Its not just a series of flashy moves, but how you keep those feet moving on your personal journey through life. These comments are just signposts along the way to help you from losing your way.

If you can know yourself so well that you can point out your good and bad points as well as your colleagues and intimates, and be making consistent efforts to improve the weaker areas while maintaining the strong, you are going to be an invaluable asset to your team. Your family. To life.

Know thyself, and always remain humble. Hey, its ok to smile a little when you receive praise, but remember: keep those feet moving.

New Beginnings

Jersey sunset over St. Brelade during a jogging session.

My heart pounded in my chest as I commenced the climb back up the hill, the soft sea breeze gently caressing my gasping and beleagured breath. Oh yeah, jogging, I remember it now, the last time I had done any with any consistency was before I moved to Tokyo two years ago. But then again, I used to go to the gym at least 4 times a week, ride my bike near every day, I would skip rope, and I was a lean mean fighting machine of 40.

Currently I am a definitely stodgier man of 43, fighting a pretty bitter battle to get myself back in shape. Luckily I don’t give up easily, but hey I am not saying its easy.

Things come into our life to upset what we know as balance; new jobs, relationships, projects at work, having to move, whatever it is, you can count on things to shuffle now and then. We also have those moments when it happens and we accept the change, deciding to put things on hold until the immediate business at hand settles…..

And then suddenly its weeks, months, years, and the things that used to come to us so easily, become harder to pursue, because we know deep down that its just going to be hard to get back to the enjoyment part again, where its all balanced and peachy.

It takes time and effort. How many times have we heard that pearl, but its true.

My lungs were still screaming but the hill leveled off and suddenly I was on flat ground again, staggering more than jogging, but the steps becoming easier as I tried to concentrate on each one and enjoy the experience. Five minutes later, I was home, a big smile on my face because the the sun was shining and Jersey at this time of year is oh so lovely. Enough till tomorrow.

And then we start again. Someone once said, life wasn’t meant to be easy, but hey, lets enjoy the struggle!

That climb back from the beach will get easier…

Breathe

my beach, Greve de Lecq

They talk about the simple things in life. Well, I must say at this point, I agree with them.

Things we take for granted in life, 101

• health
• family
• relationships
• breathing

Wait on a second, I am with you on the first three, but breathing?

Yes, breathing. Its a simple thing that we do literally thousands of times a day, but how often do you take the time to just pay attention for even more than a couple of breaths? Maybe its time to take a little moment and pay attention to a function that is absolutely critical in your life.

Go find a quiet place, preferably somewhere out doors, at least with the window open if you cant manage outdoors yet.

Give me three minutes. Thats all, no special mood or environment other than that is necessary.

Take whatever air is in your lungs right now, and breathe it out, until the air is pretty much all gone out of your lungs. Now, lets take in that first breath. Close your eyes and pay attention to your how that breath feels, coming into your body, bringing life, nutrients and energy to your body, filling up your lungs.

Don’t hold it, just let it naturally dissolve and flow back out of your body.

Do that lets say three to five times.

How are you? Stressed? Calm? Relaxed? Tired? Whatever today is for you, just let that dissolve out on your outbreath, and breath back in energy. Lets do another 3- 5 cycles.

The reason why we choose a clean air environment, is because this air that you breathe, this sacreed life giver, can only really be appreciated in its natural state. Air conditioners and rooms with closed windows really miss the point.

You probably found that in the process of doing this simple cycle, you relaxed a little. Great.

Ok, you are busy, hey we all are these days, thats why I have said lets keep it to three minutes. But if you can, try to do this one as soon as you awake, and maybe one more time before you go to sleep at night, just before is fine.

Just connect with you for a little bit each day, three minutes is long enough. If you can really be with ‘you’ for that long, I guarantee it wil make you feel very much in the moment with what you are doing right now in your lives.

Things really tough at work? Having a stressful day? About to go blow a fuse at your boss? Take a minute to go step outside of that little stress paradigm you are living in, find somewhere quiet, and check in with yourself. I dont really care where you do it, just find some kind of private space, and check in.

Hey, how are I doing today?

Acknowledging whatever is going on is the first step in improving it.

So, take a few breaths for you today. Then get back out there and into this game we call life.

And enjoy the journey. Yes, its tough sometimes, but everything changes.

Enjoy that fact.

Cheers,

Mark

Why?

That is the question they all asked me. Friends, family, co-workers, my partner. Why leave a secure, if not so exciting job with a successful company in Japan, with great sales results and a stable life, and move half way round the world to a little island in the English channel, parked right between France and the UK? Why risk the change, the searching for new work, the chaos it would wreak on my relationship and just the added stress of uprooting everything you have, and trying to replant myself somewhere else?

Its a good question, and I have, what is to me, a very obvious answer.

There is more to life than just work for work’s sake. You may have heard this question before, but it is one that is worth contemplating:

Live to work, or work to live?

In Japan, it is most definitely live to work, and for some of you out there, that might be fine. But for me, life is about balance, the enigma of trying to keep both your private and professional life in tune with each other, dynamically interacting.

For me, its definitely work to live. To help other people, to help each other reach our goals and share in the fruits of our labour.

I love to help people. I have been ‘coaching’ now for probably most of the last 15 years, when I discovered that I enjoyed helping people find themselves. I was the person they could talk to when they were about to make a big change, the person to check with as they went through their process, the person who would listen without judgment when things didn’t quite go as planned, and they needed to stop and re-think their strategy.

“Mark, you should really get into life coaching/ career counselling! You have so much to offer people!”

I would smile, and listen, nod my head and think, yeah that is something I definitely want to do, some day.

But that day never came, and I found that after five years of gutting it out in Japan, learning their culture, adopting their lifestyle and manifesting as the best foreign employee I could be, there was still something deep inside of me that said, there is something more to life than this, where you could be really helping other people.

Events had their way. My mother got sick and I started thinking about ways of getting her closer to me so that I could take care of her. My health was going down, and I started to feel aches and pains that were both physical as well as emotional. There are only so many 130% crowded trains you can take before the cracks start to appear…

I went to Europe on business, and was taken to this little island called Jersey to visit one of the Japanese company’s regional distributors there.

And that was it. From a man who has lived in more than 12 countries, I had a feeling.

Something that I could not rationally explain, but what I saw as a manifestation of balance around me. Jersey resonates. Work, environment, nature, of openness, of possibility. I also saw and met a lot of people who were obviously doing quite well in life ( what would you expect of an international off-shore banking community) but yet were still looking for something. A meaning to their lives, a way to justify it all and themselves, a direction, a reason. A way to keep going if nothing else.

Suddenly, I had this overwhelming desire to help them get there. To find the answers they sought. And in that process, I realized that in doing so, I would be helping myself. No longer was working 50 hours plus a week enough. Not the bright lights, not the exotic foods and high sales results.

I wanted balance back in my life, where I could share this precious thing we call existence with my partner, family and friends, and have an experience that I would regret on my death bed.

To live. To reap the harvest of our hard work and lives in a genuine way.

Then things just kept falling into place. When resigning from my job, the company asks me if I would be interested to stay on as their European consultant?

Would I ever.

Needless to say, my reasons weren’t explained to such detail, but changed I have, and here I am.

And that, as they say, is that.

Jersey. Hallelujah.

What is Harvest about?

my little gemstone

Harvest is, quite simply, about reaping the rewards of your life in a tangible way. Its about finding yourself within the process of your daily life, and learning to enjoy the journey.

Success, as we know it, can be measured in many different ways. For some its about having the car, the house, the membership to some exclusive club, the recognition from their peers that they are ’somebody’, that they have indeed ‘made it’. Wouldn’t it be great if life were that simple.

In fact, life as we know and share it is much more complex. The end game doesn’t end, the goal posts keep shifting, the respect won from peers can just as easily be lost, or worse, the path to ultimate success can be a lonely one, with family and kids lost along the way.

Success for others is a point they never seem to reach, a constant longing for something better, something more complete, some dissatisfaction with the way their life has turned out, regardless of either previous successes or achievements. That what they have is not enough.

So what is the trick? How can I keep the things I have earned and work for, and my family, and my daily life, in balance?

Balance! Now that is what we are talking about. Fighting the good fight, sincerely. Going through your personal work place or career journey, sharing it with those who are close to you in an intimate and present way, working through life’s little trials and tribulations- and enjoying it with an intimate understanding of who and what you are.

Reap what you sow. Finding your balance in life.

So , I hope that this collection of stories, experiences and bit of advice I have collected along the way will be useful to some of you, and help you on your own individual journey.

I don’t believe in overloading you with information, I think that little things to contemplate, presented in a consistent way are much more effective.

So, lets enjoy our journey together.

Cheers,

Mark in Jersey