Working outdoors

People who work outdoors remind me of the flowers and trees - using the environment directly to provide services to those around them. All day out and about, feeling sun, rain and wind and interacting with the passersby. Here are some of the photos I have taken of people who work outdoors...

SA's super cop Piet Beyleveld

South Africa’s super cop... Piet Byleveld, is one of the best known detectives in the world!

Went to the launch of his book, "Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth" by Hanlie Retief.

He loves South Africa and its beautiful people - he wants to live in a crime-free country and he believes it is possible. That is his biggest hope in life!

He is now retired, but his life-long commitment to serving the people of South Africa still holds firm. He advises everyone to get to know some of their neighbours, and generally to take note of who lives in and travels through their area and to be observant.

He also strongly supports the idea of policing on foot, as opposed to police officers riding around in fancy cars – as well as a more stringent process to recruit only police officers with the necessary dedication to do a good job. Police officers should not be out to just arrest criminals, they should be out to get convictions. He said that the specialized units are essential to solve cases effectively and get convictions.

His reputation is built on a 100 percent success rate with bringing serial murderers to justice. He has several exceptional talents, the most exceptional of which is his total dedication - he will not rest or give up until he solved the crime. He is the recipient of several international awards, he is consulted by FBI and Scotland Yard, amongst various other international agencies.

Took some video clips, this is my favourite, where he answers the question - "...could you perhaps start a detective school?"... I just love his energy and enthusiasm.

In an interview on 702 talk radio, he also mentioned that he would be very interested in assisting in training of police officers. This is something everyone in SA can support and get involved in.

Stay active

Take healthy action from a healthy GUT feeling

The diagram below explains a view on 'acting from the gut' and how uncertain feelings in the GUT are processed and resolved. The aim is to choose the best actions and feel OK about taking the chosen actions - especially really difficult ones. Meditation and relaxation is a great way to enhance the process. The 'let-go' part is very important - let go of anything that may somehow lead to unhealthy actions or that may place a restriction on healthy actions.

A Poem: She loves you

 by Benjine Gerber

Her love is eternal
She is all the love in one
She is all your needs content
- regard the love you share

She is vulnerable
She embodies your fear
She is in doubt and delusion
- release her into your heart

Two longing hearts
Her joy is your freedom

Her essence is the master key
She puts your heart at ease

Yours through all the senses
Every expression even pain

Delightful reason to live,
Nourishment and rest.

Now you and she are
by no means apart.

She gives,
She holds on,
She completes.

Always there,
her loving touch,
her hidden grief.

Deeper,
ever deeper,
in union.

Love her
in return.

Touching the void - inspiration for entrepreneurs!

Simpson

A presenter once mentioned how the movie 'Touching the Void' is a must-see for entrepreneurs... extremely curious as to why - I watched it. And then I watched the movie many more times. It is inspirational!

What do you do when all the odds and natural elements are stacked against your chances of survival? Perhaps if he asked the question, hardly anyone would have told him that they think he could make it out of that one! Everything gloom-and-doom to the first order, do you give up? Even if you don’t give up... perhaps you don't have support and plenty of drawbacks, how do you go the distance?

A lesson that stood out for me was how he (Simpson) kept setting small, reachable targets and when he reached each one, he celebrated it and then set another... and so, 50-feet target by 10-feet target, he reached the five miles he was aiming for. The only option he gave himself was reaching the target!

This is how the movie goes, so don’t read this is you’re going to watch the movie:

• (+) The pair were the first to successfully ascend to the summit of Siula Grande via the almost vertical west face.
• (-) Due to bad weather, the trip took longer than they intended and base camp was about another 3,000 feet below
• (-) Disaster struck. On the descent Simpson slipped down an ice cliff and broke his tibia into his knee joint
• (-) They had run out of water
• (-) The second disaster struck. Yates lowered Simpson with a rope over a 100 foot overhanging cliff where he dangled in mid-air under freezing conditions
• (-) Simpson’s weight on the rope was slowly pulling Yates down the mountain.
• (-) Yates was forced to cut the rope, dropping Simpson into a crevasse.
• (-) The next morning Yates descended the mountain certain that Simpson must have died.
• (+) Simpson had survived, despite a 100 foot fall and broken leg.
• (+) He abseiled from his landing spot on an ice bridge into a void
• (+) He unexpectedly reached a thin ice roof with an opening onto the glacier.
• (+) He crawled out back onto the glacier!
• (+) He spent three days setting targets, crawling and hopping back to the base camp
• (-) He had no food and only splashes of water from melting ice
• (+) He reached base camp a few hours before Yates intended to leave.
• (+) Simpson’s survival is regarded as amongst the most amazing pieces of mountaineering lore.

Somehow, in spite of many hectic unfortunately's (-) one can produce the fortunate legendary ending (+).

Learning more about digital photography

Yesterday I did a basic introduction to digital photography.

Learned where to find everything on my camera, how and why to choose different settings, new techniques and very importantly, how to reset everything back to default settings, when the photo just doesn't come out right because of one forgotten setting that was changed along the way.

It was great to learn from an experienced photographer, who gave us valuable practical guidance and warnings about everything from buying the equipment, weather conditions, what to look out for on every occasion and how he does things.

I would certainly want to do more photography courses, as I am sure that each photographer has a host of important tips to depart. And maybe joining a photography club would also be a good next step.

  

How do they find the time to live?

Every day swarms of people are caught up in a cyclone of busyness - frantically racing and rushing about. At the end of each day they are worn and stressed out. They live lives filled with frustration, resentment and anger instead of lives of serenity. They experience their existence as empty and meaningless.
Amazingly often you will find that they are busy simply for the sake of being busy... that many of their actions are undirected or misdirected.

They are too busy scooping water out of the boat - to fix the leak. Too disorganised - to get organised. Too concerned with what they are doing - to consider all the implications. They are too busy growing that venture - to focus on their own growth. Their relationships suffer because they are too busy with red tape. Squeezing ‘being-busy’ into every moment of the day.

Both busyness and laziness lead to the same end, the neglect of the essential things in their lives.

How can they disentangle themselves from a life of perpetual busyness to one of purposeful and carefully thought out action?

• They need to take the time to go from ‘busy’ to ‘productive' - this means moving from impulsive action to purposeful action.
• They need to take quiet time for their inner creative force to study their options, analyze obstacles, and build a road map to successfully bring their dreams into reality.
• They need to break down the goal of controlling their lives into small manageable steps and start working at regaining control bit by bit.
• They need to grant themselves the time needed for rest, nutrition and exercise to perform at top efficiency.
• They need to plan and assemble resources. Then, when they have worked out what the next important step is, they need to take focused action.
• They need to aim at doing things thoroughly and right the first time, which is one of the biggest time savers and remember that the "desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done properly."
• They need to improve their definition of success, which may help them reduce the demands on their time and energy, and they will get far more from life, despite perhaps having a lower income and fewer friends.
• They need to make better choices - like saying no to any unfair expectations of anyone and switching the TV off more often.
• They need to pack more value into their activities by combining them - like going to the park to spend quality time with family/friends, getting some form of exercise done and savouring nature all at the same time.
• They need to be alert, present and aware of their every action, remain focused on reversing their trend, always thinking before they act, always reflecting on the purpose and outcome of their actions.

They do have enough time! They always need to respect their time and use it wisely so that they can reap the great benefits and fulfilling life it holds in store for them.

'Delivering the goods' like freshly squeezed OJ

Just read a blog post about how ‘delivering the goods’ aka being great in business, management, leadership, getting hired or keeping your job is like freshly squeezed Orange Juice... It goes for pretty much anybody.

Orange Juice represents getting that ongoing everyday enjoyment from something, even though it is the same thing over and over again, day in and day out. It’s great. It works. It delivers. It does the job. It’s perfect.

Do you deliver the goods the way real freshly squeezed orange juice does?

• It always delivers on the promise
• It’s honest-to-goodness real thing
• It does the job perfectly every time
• It serves a purpose and fulfills a need
• It’s best when present - past success is no guarantee of future results 
• It’s best when on time - every day delivery keeps them coming back
• It’s best freshly squeezed, not frozen, diluted or in any way diminished
• If it’s great in one situation, it won’t necessarily be great in another setting 
• It’s widely accepted in every country and city 
• It makes its mark on the w-o-r-l-d.  
• It's consistent, day in, day out.
• It can be enjoyed everyday!

Think of yourself, your staff, your product, your company as having the qualities and value of orange juice! Set your sights, lock in our trajectory, and set off to deliver the goods like freshly squeezed OJ.

How do you ensure success?

Stick to these points and you’ll go far in this world:

• Striving to be exceptional - a rare commodity
• Showing up on time armed with creativity and enthusiasm
• Being open to communication and dedicated to grow
• Setting glitches or mistakes straight right away
• Being committed to help solve problems
• Making sure that what you provide fits the need 
• Respecting the ecology and well-being of all

The Prophet

This must be one of the most inspirational books of all time. On a daily basis quotes from it are shared between friends and associates to provide comfort and encouragement for handling daily events.

This inspired me to embark on an artistic journey with this book to exhibit what the poems mean to me in other formats, such as the word-cloud on the right, 26 individual artworks and readings which are accompanied with music created to fit each one of the poems.

The word-cloud consists of the 82 most commonly used words in the book. The size of each word reflects the relative frequency of the use of the word.

Here's a snippet on Joy and Sorrow:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked...
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain...
I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

They got me so emotional!

This performance group acted out the life stories of a couple of women through abstraction, mostly movement... man-oh-man, I had to bite my lip, think of other things and so forth, but the emotions they stirred in me was almost over-powering... others in the audience also felt that way. It is something about the performing arts that catches you so off guard, there's no scope for hiding from or becoming comfortably numb to it. It makes me wonder, are those the emotions we should be feeling about everyday tragedies around us, rather than just shrugging it off as we need to get on with our lives?

At last, a dictaphone!

Thank goodness that my next assignment requires the use of a Dictaphone, which I got today - it is something I always wanted :-) at the age of 8 or so, I fell in love with office equipment, from staplers to rubber stamps!

The Dictaphone is a really cute compact black number, records in stereo, great sound quality - records every squeeck even when under the table or inside a jacket pocket! Have a look:

So, I am hoping to make very good use of it for various projects in future - for doing interviews for writing articles, and much more. The trick would be keeping all those audio files organised :-)

Below is just an abandoned ice-cream box I saw on the way. 

"Pre-design" for my next artwork

Depending on what one's approach to design/art is, creating what I like to call a "pre-design" before one actually starts producing the design can be very helpful in saving you loads of time. A pre-design is ideally done  quickly - it is left looking relatively unattractive and contains all of the important elements you envision seeing in the final work, such as layout ratios, representations of the elements that will be present, roughly sketched, but firmly in place. This is the ideal time to do your ratio-ing, as elements are flexible and changes, resizing, moving, adding, removing can be done quickly and painlessly. This stage also give you lots of freedom to find new inspiration, to simplifying and enrich the artwork. Knowing that this isn't the final artwork takes a lot of the mental blockages out of the way.

To produce the pre-design below, I first sketched the idea I had in mine, then I downloaded some free vectors of trees, created the art-board in the golden ratio, set up more ratio lines and plonked the trees on, and added a bit of rough color. The artwork can now be finalized, which will involve merging photos I took of grass and acorn trees into becoming a photo-realistic artwork resembling this scene.

The inspiration for this artwork: One day, a security guard at a building where I had my office told me to go sit behind his desk. Not really knowing what he was getting at, I did so... this was a surprisingly pleasant experience... In front of me I saw a very wide panoramic photo of a nature scene, stuck on the inside of the reception desk. The photo made me feel like I was out and about frolicking in nature. And this is why I am creating this artwork... to provide the viewer with that feeling that they are in nature, soaking in the sunlight, laying or walking on soft grass, surrounded by numerous shades spring fresh greens, and hugged by timeless, caring acorn trees.

Here's a snap-shot of the starting phase:

Spring is here!

Spring fresh!

 

Spring flower...

Spring is in the air...

 

Spring is on your doorstep...

Immersed into doing interesting things

Are you actually doing the things that you hold close to your heart? Are you getting good at it and making it happen? Although we have a natural tendency to continually invest ourselves into doing the things we love, we unfortunately sometimes may feel unable or unwilling to immerse ourselves into doing the things that we are passionate about...

Here are some of the reasons why we get stuck, as well as ideas on how to immerse ourselves back into doing the things we love doing:

Stigma – that it is silly time wasting

Often we stay away from the things we love doing most, because it may be labelled as silly, unimportant and time-wasters. The truth is, because we enjoy doing it so much, we can spend hours, days and weeks on end doing it without finding it tiresome!

Enter the ‘discomfort’-zone

When the ‘this-is-amazing’ feeling vanishes from time to time, and you find it dreadfully uninteresting or difficult to do - take positive, onward action straight through that discomfort! What you would find unfolding is a lot less dreadful and scary than not taking any action. All else aside, it is mostly the forward motion that counts!

Are you afraid of failure?

Would you prefer to make excuses for not trying, or would you rather learn something and try again? Throw yourself into it! Risking failure is the only way forward. Keep a balanced perspective, keep learning and keep trying... remember how Edison invented the light bulb? Thankfully, he kept trying!

Limiting your options

You may not like to fully immerse yourself into something because you think you may be missing out on something else... and, who would want to limit their options? Keeping your options open keeps intact the illusion of possible all round greatness. So why try hard at one thing and shatter the illusion? I’d say, why suspend your life at the fork in the road - afraid to go down the wrong path?

Generalist’s pressure

When excelling as a generalist (a type of specialist in very high demand these days), you may feel an unfulfilled need to delve very deeply into every area you pursue. This would be unrealistic to achieve and if you do achieve it, it would be utterly exhausting. Keep things in perspective and be fair on yourself about how much to expect from yourself.

It’s ‘Good enough’ when it’s second nature

Mastery requires more than knowing how to do something. As you move up through each level of competence, it requires practice and more practice until doing it becomes second nature. Set realistic expectations for yourself on a path of continual up-skilling. Become as good as you need to be to enjoy it – it is each to their own, not everyone have to become an expert at it.

Self-doubt

You cannot protect yourself by holding back. If don’t take your passion seriously, it won’t amount to anything. Inspiration is great therapy for driving away self-doubt – find inspiration by spending time reading materials related to your passion, like blogs and magazines. Find ways of focussing on your passion and secure little wins and plus points to keep going and build confidence. Always take the next vital step forward, while speaking kind words of encouragement to yourself.

Make time

Sometimes we lose the balance in our lives, and we don’t make time for doing the things we are passionate about. Be creative and when taking stock of your activities – mix and match them until you have allocated the time needed for the things you love doing. If seriously time-strapped, creatively use any small pockets of free time for practise.

Find the fire-starters

Find out what you enjoy doing, what interests you and ignites a lasting fire! Become enthusiastic about what you do by diving deeper than ever before into it, discovering new and interesting things about it. Visualize your passions and create a vision collage with images and inspirational words that remind you what your passions are.

What activities could you immerse yourself into, get lost in? Which things, when doing them, make you feel energised and completely unaware of time?

You LOVE doing it. You find it addictive. You thoroughly enjoy it...

What does it for you?

It can be pretty much anything, you name it – here are some examples to get you exploring: Is it reading a good book, writing, walking, bike-riding, swimming, watching sports, model building, exercising, listening to music, taking long drive on open country roads, messing with musical instruments, gadgets, wheels, day dreaming, taking photos, your job, your fitness programme, writing letters, articles, blog-posts or fiction, chopping firewood, nature hikes, artistic endeavours, studying, spending time with family and friends? Be sure to notice which things light the fire in you.

Now what?

Take the plunge and start doing a lot more of what you love doing, and really immerse yourself into it! Following your passion lends greater meaning to your life. When you take action, you would start noticing related ideas everywhere you go to incorporate into your activities. Go forth and grow a varied and interesting life!

Late afternoon

Late afternoon - the lowering sun releases soft rays, spilling hazily into long deep shadows, and lighting up playful sparkles in white-water of the waves. Gazing at whispers of magic slow-dancing on a global lazer-beam.

How this image came into being

The other day, on walk in the late afternoon, I was armed with my camera and had no plans. Then I noticed a stretch of the see that looked rather magical. I started snapping away at the sparkles, waves and rocks. I was taking the photos into the sun using a macro setting which produced the starry-effect I love so much, and also the very over-exposed two-tone appearance of the waves and the rocks. Before I knew it, I had taken 270 photos and my card was full, and I had to quit. It was so much fun.

Then a day or two later at home, the stitching together began. I chose about 25 of the photos to make up an imaginary scene similar to the one I saw, but including all the different dynamics which happened at different moments, into one image and this 'photo' came about. It is 2.5 meters by 1.05 meters, which is an aspect of the golden ratio. Also used the golden ratio to create the basic layout, and to determine the position of the sun's shine line and the other focus areas of the image.

I was hoping to achieve simplicity, removing detail and leaving aspects of the image open to the imagination. The seven sets of waves and the extra out-of-focus edges of the photo can bring the observer into a very tranquil meditative state.

I think this huge landscape image would look very nice above a black leather couch, on a red or other warm colored wall. Or next to a dining room table - as the dynamism of the waves would reflect conversations and vibrant activities. Also, it could work in an entrance hall of an office or meeting room, to reflect the dynamism and energy of the company and its people.

And now, my next challenge is to find a way to get it sold :-)

Positive words as affirmations

Titles that made me have a look :-)

Article or book titles that are powerfully intriguing, hilarious or shocking are the first port in deciding whether to have a closer look. Here are some of those titles:

• Can an old dog learn new tricks?
• 500 More Things Every Technology Professional Needs to Know
• Girls dont like guys, girls like cars and money
•  Lightning strikes twice: iPhone 5 prototype lost in CA bar
• Alton attorney accidentally sues himself
• Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says
• Australian army vehicle missing after being painted with camouflage
• Boy 8 saves sister - "I wouldn't do it again, she's been a pain this week"
• Ten commandments - supreme court says some OK, some not
• Utah Poison Control Center reminds everyone not to take poison
• Federal Agents raid gun shop, find weapons
• Teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25

Send me your ones and I will add them if they make me smile :-)

Finding magical experiences

To experience something magical this is what to do:

Delve into the unknown,
curious as can be and
act against all odds.

Ask as many questions
as you can come up with.

Chances of having
a magical experience
is always in your favour.

The time is always right,
you are always ready -
let it be - magical!

Cute creatures

These cute creatures belonging to  various categories of cuteness...The puppy was the tiniest and most adorable little fur-ball ever and its owner was giving it so much love and attention. The turtle is unbelievably tiny - and cuuuuute... smaller than a raspberry! It will take him a year to eat that raspberry. Those purple chicks are not naturally purple, they are made purple so the eagles won't catch them - they have such cute fluffy heads. Lastly, I know - the one you've been waiting for, no doubt he's cuuuuute - wouldn't mind getting stranded on his island, and join him for a lovely fish-braai - looks like he's a very good fisher man.

Ideas worth $20 and executions worth millions...

Do you have an idea for developing web-based software?

37signals's e-book helps you to get real in the realm of business, design, programming, and marketing.

Amongst many favorite parts in this book, this is my most favorite part:

Be an executioner!

It's so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas - people who want me to sign an nda to tell me the simplest idea. To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions. Explanation:

Idea quality

• Awful idea = -1
• Weak idea = 1
• So-so idea = 5
• Good idea = 10
• Great idea = 15
• Brilliant idea = 20

Execution

• No execution = $1
• Weak execution = $1000
• So-so execution = $10,000
• Good execution = $100,000
• Great execution = $1,000,000
• Brilliant execution = $10,000,000

To make a business, you need to multiply the two.

The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20.

The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000.

That's why I don't want to hear people's ideas. I'm not interested until I see their execution.

- Derek Sivers, president and programmer, CD Baby and HostBaby

Singles Awareness Day

From all of us at GraphiCouture,
we wish you a very special
Valentines Day!

P.s. If you want the day to be special,
then make it so! :-))

The Goal of making money

The Goal is a must read novel for every business owner & employee about turning around a production plant on the verge of being shut down.

Key concepts:

• The Goal: Making money
• Productivity: What you do that results in making money
• Bottleneck: The factor that places a limit on reaching the goal
• Non-bottlenecks: Factors that have spare capacity

Objectives - based on system wide measurements:

• Increase throughput - money coming in
• Reduce investment - inventory and inaccessible money
• Reduce operating expense - money spent to make throughput happen

Management - ask these questions for each objective:

• What to change?
• What to change to?
• How to cause the change?

Five step process of ongoing improvement:

• Step one - identify bottleneck
• Step two - exploit bottleneck
• Step three - subordinate entire system to step two decisions
• Step four - evaluate the systems bottlenecks
• Step five - if the bottleneck has been broken, go to step one

Operational Accounting:

• T = Throughput = money coming in
• I = Inventory = money currently in the system
• OE = Operational Expense = money spent to make throughput happen
• NP = Net profit = throughput - operating expense = T-OE
• ROI = Return on investment = net profit / investment = NP/I
• TAP = TA Productivity = throughput / operating expense = T/OE
• IT = Investment turns (IT) = throughput / investment = T/I

Net profit needs to increase along with simultaneously increasing return on investment and cash flow. Operational accounting should be included in accounting and management courses and software solutions.

"I view science as nothing more than an understanding of the way the world is and why it is that way." - Eli Goldrat

Approximately 1:1.618

The ratio of approximately 1:1.618 has many names, but we prefer calling it "The Golden Ratio".

We proportion our works to approximate the golden ratio, believing that this ratio offers an aesthetically pleasing proportion.

The golden ratio is found in art, architecture, music, living creatures, and of course our work...

Here are three samples of logos we designed using the golden ratio:

Ideating

Where does the next idea come from?

The ideating procedure begins where you are stumped. Resign to that, however expect the idea to come - unexpectedly...

Fuel your mind by means of any technique, however weird and playful (really) - keep going!

Perceive... observe... notice...

Be on the lookout for the idea, expecting it to arrive at any instant.

When it appears, doodle it down, so it doesn't slip back into the dark depths of oblivion it appeared from.

That's the spirit!

Reads on ideas:
"Lateral Thinking" - Edward de Bono