The power of ideas and taking action

I attended a seminar on the weekend and there was an inspiring young woman there by the name of Delice Kennedy and I’d love to share with you what she has managed to acheive in such a short space of time.  The following is an article from the website:

www.adelaidenow.com.au

Charity that is good for the sole

• by: Michael Milnes
• From: The Advertiser
• September 30, 2011 11:30

 

A trip to Kenya has motivated Dalice Kennedy from Soles4Shoes to collect 10,000 pairs of shoes to protect the feet of the less fortunate. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: The Advertiser

WOMEN can never have enough shoes but Dalice Kennedy wants 10,000.

The St Marys woman, 29, has seen first-hand what happens to the health of people who do not have the basic luxury of shoes.

With more than 300 million people globally without shoes, she is urging us all to donate shoes to those who have none. She has just returned from a three-month stint helping to build houses in the west of Kenya with the volunteer group World Youth International.

“I had the best time of my life in Kenya, but also the saddest seeing children with no shoes that have worms burrow into their feet, it poses a major health risk if their feet get cut and infected,” she said.

“We are collecting gently worn (secondhand) and new shoes and are hoping to get 10,000 pairs to fill a shipping container by Christmas. Schools or workplaces can do collections or if wholesalers that have excess stock could donate them as well.”

She is working with the charity soles4souls and has set up the website donateshoes.com.au.

P.S – Over 50, 00 pairs of shoes were collected, surpassing all expectations. It goes to show how an idea can grow with an action.   For more information please click on this link :  http://donateshoes.wordpress.com/ 

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BALYOLU: The Honey Road

Attitude counts for so much of the way we see things in life, how we communicate, what we tell ourselves about what is happening, and how we feel about events.  It also determines what we think we can do.

I have been following a blog Inspired Beeing by Cat.  She has an incredible attitude towards life and getting out there and doing what inspires her, following her passion. 

I came across her blog not long after I watched a Turkish movie ”Honey” at a film festival last year.  The movie was set in north east Turkey and I fell in love with the coutryside straight away.

I’d love for you to meet Cat so if you haven’t already visited her via my blog roll, I invite you to check out the venture she has worked so hard with many other people to bring about.  Please get involved, even in a small way and support an amazing young woman and her Turkish colleagues and locals.  I am thinking about going in late July for the fourth trip.  How about you?

The following is quoted from Cat’s Vision and Mission

“Taste Balyolu: a venture that connects small-scale, eco-friendly women beekeepers with regional markets, and funnels a percentage of the profits towards providing basic entrepreneurship and business development training for these women. The honey is made in a specific region, with specific flowers, aiming to preserve indigenous bee species and flora alike. The program also works with members throughout local communities to launch specialized honey tasting tours (tat-tours or api-tours) thus building environmentally and economically sustainable livelihoods for all.”

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Who are you and what are you doing with your life?

I came across a list of 50 questions recently and thought I’d post some here for you to think about.

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?  If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? 

I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on this 

Want to have a “wonder”ful life? Trust your imagination

I came across this “wonder”ful talk by Janet Echelman on TED and would like to share it with you

“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein

Steve Jobs: Live the life you really want

A very simple message.  Just click on the link.

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

So, how do you want your life to be?

 

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7 secrets to success

1/ Be true to your-self.  Decide how you want your life to be, find your values. What do you gain by always conforming to other people’s ideals?   

2/ Turn the TV off and spend more time thinking and dreaming, reading, meeting new people, finding new ideas, get that imagination going.

3/ Do something you are scared of.  Don’t think of it as getting out of your comfort zone, think of it as EXPANDING your comfort zone.    4/  Don’t over plan – that can result in procrastination, confusion and barriers being erected.

 5 Take action – standing still gets you nowhere, you need to take that first step and then another, and another……………. 6/ If you lose your way – ask for help

7/ Have fun & have it now.  What’s the point of waiting? A friend wants to do a trip down the Murray but is leaving it for many years down the track.  She said that she wants something to look forward to – the trouble is, the river may not exist by then (which looked like a possibility given the drought we come out of) and neither might she.

 I’d love to hear what you think

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Bali, sunrises and blogs

Back from Bali and catching up on my emails and the blogs I subscribe to.  Most of them are are very different to mine and often include lots of pics.  Here are the links.  Have a look and let me know what you think:

http://inspiredbeeing.com

http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com

http://wakeuptiger.blogspot.com

After my few days in Bali, I was feeling a bit chilled so decided to post pics of the month of August starting at the end of the month

The view from the door of my room @ Vision Villas

The rice paddy next door

I think this is in Denpasar – it’s opposite an ATM

The sun setting @ Ulawatu

Part of the dance performed @ sunset.  I can’t remember what it is called.  Maybe you know.

I met some lovely people at the Wealth Dynamics Academy and one lady in particular who was inspiring.  She is an older woman who lives by adage that it is never too late to do anything you want in life.  When I got back home I found the following in an email from a friend who is also living her life as if it is never too late.  If you are in Adelaide, go along for a great evening – it’s FREE:

INVITATION

You are invited to attend a free information evening on “It’s Never Too Late To Make A Change”. Topics covered will be

• Is there are “right” age to make a lifestyle change?
• What is my Passion? My Purpose”
• Living a Life of Meaning
• Impact on Relationships
• Ego and Enjoyment
• Slowing Down or Catching up?

Details: Tuesday September 6th, 6 – 8.00 pm at The Box Factory – Regent Street South (off Halifax Street), Adelaide.

Click here for more information and to register: 

http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/u=e75342f48cabcb1fc8c860240&id=9595be7345&e=de36b9e732
or email gina@adelaidewellbeing.com.au
Ok – now here are some pics of my August 2011 – it wasn’t a very bright month in the early morning as you will see:

 

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Entrepreneurship and innovation: let’s start with our kids (and even yourself)

I decided to post a link to an interesting talk I came across on TED.  I thought it was timely this week as I am going to Bali on Wednesday for the Wealth Dynamics Academy (I’ll let you know all about it early next week when I get back).  

The following talk does not apply only to children, this appiles to anyone of any age.  Stop limiting what you can do and start looking for opportunities for you what can do, or even better, what YOU HAVE ALWAYS REALLY wanted to do.  What better example for your children and grandchildren   

How to listen better

…………………………………………………….Listen…………………………………………………

One of the key things about being able to communicate is listening, something many of us forget.

I came across this talk the other day and I would like to share it with you. 

I would be very interested in any comments you may have after watching this

 

How to get rid of the fear of failure and be wildly successful at the same time

I read a story yesterday about an executive in a company who walked into a meeting and handed out a number of “Forgiveness Coupons” to each of his staff. He told them that he wanted certain outcomes to be achieved in the company and he expected that they would have to take many risks to do so .  The executive also told his staff that in the process of taking those risks, they would make mistakes.  The coupons were permission to make those mistakes, and they were expected to use the coupons up within the year.  I don’t know about you, but I never had a boss tell me to try something and it was OK, or even expected, to make mistakes along the way.

How good it would feel if you knew that you could try out different ideas or ways of doing something and it didn’t matter if it was not as good as you thought it may be?  Have you heard about Thomas Edison and how many attempts he made to find the right material for the filament in the light bulb? Here is what he had to say about that

“I failed my way to success”.
Thomas Edison

What about the many attempts made to invent what we now take for granted such as electricity, cars, planes, building materials, computers and other appliances etc.  Do you really think that all those things were able to be created in the form that was successful the very first time?   

If you have young children or babies, spend some time watching them.  Look how they try something new over and over even though they may not get the result we adults can get.  What about when they insist that you let them do something even though you want to do it for them to “do it right” or because it will be quicker. Why do you think a three year old can work a new piece of electronic equipment and older adults struggle?  It’s because as we get older we become too concerned about getting it right.  We are scared that we may make a mistake.

What if the word ‘failure’ was replaced with ‘feedback’?

What if you allowed yourself to try something totally new and didn’t work focus on getting it right?  What could you do then?  Or consider this, what if you didn’t get the result you wanted BUT instead you ended up with something much BETTER than you thought you could ever have??

Sometimes the act of making a mistake or having a “failure” can open doors for so many other opportunities and experiences.  The trick is to go through the door and to the other side.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one”.
Elbert Hubbard

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