Back to Blog

What gifts have you given, or been given?

2024 has no doubt provided us all challenges and rewards – so far. Sometimes they come at us out of the blue. Other times we see them coming or, in the case of rewards, we work towards them. Recently I attended the opening of a new multi sports facility at a former school of mine. The occasion was marked with a wonderful mix of formality and light heartedness. In the process, over many years, of reaching the milestone of opening the building there has no doubt been a healthy mix of challe...

Lucky 13!

Are you superstitious? I’m not. The investigation I’ve done into “why is 13 considered unlucky” essentially reveals that it’s not. Unless you think it is. Enough postulation.Why is "Lucky 13" the topic of this? “Toddy Talks” is 13. Woop woop.Here are 13 things to think about that you might be able to apply and or learn from. I have. 1)        Stuff happens. Deal with it. “This too shall pass”.2)      &nb...

What's in your CVA?

Recently I dropped my vehicle off for its warrant of fitness. A routine procedure. “Give me an hour and it’ll be done” the service manager said.Half an hour later my phone rang. “It’s failed” he said. “There’s a chip in your CVA”.“Where?” I said.“In your CVA. You’ll need to get it fixed before we can give you warrant”.Not wishing to appear ignorant I hung up and went to collect my vehicle with its chipped CVA. I assumed it would have something to do with the windscree...

Context and Perspective

Have you noticed that if an opposing view is shared on an online platform it is more than likely to get a barrage of commentary along the lines of “how could you?” Or “get back in your box”.An opposing view doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. It is simply different and in most cases comes from the perspective of the person holding the view. Their context creates their perspective.Context doesn't change a fact - it can’t. The fact is absolute. What context does do, is alter the way tha...

The book or the movie?

Given the choice would you rather read the book or watch the movie? We all have our preference for the way we take in information. Some of us like the detail that a book provides while others prefer the more animated, perhaps highlights reel, version provided by the movie. Today I'm offering you the "email or the podcast". Recently I was invited, by the Team at Rabobank, to record a podcast with a focus on resilience. It's a big topic and one that a 29 minute chat provides the opp...

"Be there" and.................lose your phone

If the events of the past 2-3 years have done nothing else, they have reinforced how much we as humans crave interpersonal contact. When we were all locked down what did we crave? Being able to get out and see people. When there were limits on the size of gatherings that could be held what did we want? To be able to have gatherings of as many people as we could. When we were joining meetings on online platforms, and to some extent we still are, what were we looking forward to? Having those same ...

What gives you a sense of pride?

Doesn't it feel good when you do something you've been meaning to!  It doesn't have to be a big thing either. It might be something as simple as tidying up your desk, making a call to someone you've had on your mind for a while or starting an exercise habit.  It's easy to find, and aren't we constantly reminded of them, things going wrong in the world. At the same time there is a whole lot going right, being done well and making people feel proud of what they have done.  That sens...

Three things...

1) “All of a sudden” it is February. 2) 10% of the year has passed. 3) What does the rest of the year hold? With so much uncertainty around us as the world copes with the pandemic perhaps it is important to find a few simple things to focus on. Things you can control. “You can be calm about change if you embrace it and strive to make it lead to better things”. If embracing the uncertainty is what you choose to do, and then you strive to make it lead to better things - what are those thin...

Are you taking responsibility?

One of the responses we are seeing to the global pandemic, from where I sit, is an increasing tendency for a higher authority, eg “the government”, to be expected to take responsibility for the circumstances people find themselves in.  Is that how it should be?  Don’t get me wrong. I totally respect that there are situations where, as a society, there are pockets of people who for whatever genuine reason need some assistance from the state.  What worries me is the apparently...

Which "P" matters most?

In these uncertain and ever changing times keeping some form of focus can be difficult.  In thinking about putting this together I thought simplicity would be a good starting point. Perhaps find a single letter of things that can keep things simple and then put something together around that.  "Priorities" was one of the first words that came to mind and then the "P" word floodgates opened : priorities, plan, protect, purpose, patience, positivity,  persistence, perseverance,...

Food for thought...

It’s an old expression - “Food for thought”. The more you think about it, no pun intended, the more the importance of it dawns.  We spend a lot of time making sure we have enough food on our respective tables to sustain ourselves physically but how careful, or selective, are we about what we “feed” our mind?  Further to that, as time has progressed, we have become increasingly aware of how continually ingesting certain foods will make some of us physically sick.  Whilst ...

10 Lessons learned looking forward

With the world now hunkered down to battle a new bio security threat there are some interesting observations to be made and lessons to be learned.  How have you coped with the changes you have had to make? What are you learning during a period in lockdown? What will be the lessons you take with you into the future? The answers to those three questions will be as unique to us as we are as individuals. We all have our own way of coping and we have probably learned new ones. We are l...

20 Things for 2020 with 20 days to go

As we conclude the second decade of the 21st century I suspect there will be plenty of posts, or puns, about having 2020 vision for next year.  Having had that thought I then thought some more.  What might be 20 things to think about and/or do for 2020?  1) Have a plan       If you aim at nothing you will hit it. I’m not suggesting map out a comprehensive plan ( you can if that works for you), more like some key heading of things you’d like to get done in 2...

Experiences or Things?

What is more important in life - Experiences or Things?  Many years ago a mentor of mine gave me some advice:  “Go through life accumulating experiences, not things”. At the time I think it was largely,  but obviously not entirely, lost on me. We were young(er), getting our family established and it seemed there was a relentless requirement for “things” and that “experiences” could wait.  As it turned out, the advice - as it often does - proved to be spot on. Kids...

The Significance of Eight

There are a lot of “Top 10 ways to become....” or “Three simple steps to.....” type claims made aren’t there?  Do you sometimes wonder which one of them is right? Are they all right to a greater or lesser extent?  Or where did the data came from that allowed whoever put those lists together to do it?  One man, with an absolutely iconic name, who spent a little over 8 decades on the planet created an “8 Step Formula”. That man was Zig Ziglar.  From door to door s...

Do you appreciate how good you are?

In recent weeks I have been drawn to think about the way people perceive themselves.Ask someone how they are. Typical response - “not too bad”. Not many people will respond “ good thanks” or “excellent”.In a world where social media, phones and ubiquitous connectivity mean that our lives are potentially always on show there seems to me to be an increasing tendency for people to look at what everyone else is up to and feel a sense of inadequacy.“Is my job as good as theirs, my holid...

Robots or People Skills?

Recently I was asked to speak at a Chartered Accountants Conference on this:  "Opportunities in New Zealand in the future".  Big topic!  On the face of it, the obvious answer to the question was to head down the technology path - in one form or another. In reality I wasn't aware of the circumstances of all the people in the audience and I'm certainly no tech expert. On the strength of that I decided that outlining specific opportunities was both fraught with danger and highly unli...

ASB Rural Awards

Check out some of the great shots from the ASB Rural Awards I recently MC'd at the Wairakei resort, Taupo. The evening combined Annual Awards with celebrating 25 Years for the ASB Rural business. ...

Young Grower of the Year 2018

I had the pleasure of being MC at The Young Grower of the Year 2018 National Awards held recently in Napier. What an excellent event it was. Check out some of the winners pics below....

What's happening to "freedom of speech"?

“Is “being offended” a choice?’ The subject line of this post is one I’ve pondered for some time.  Since leaving the corporate world 7 years ago this month one of the main differences I have noticed, and to some extent enjoyed, is that I can have an opinion publicly on things now that will not, by inference, be applied to the brand of the corporate I might be working for.  As an independent contractor my view is my view. It does not by association become that of my “employe...

The washing machine broke down. How's yours?

It’s a new calendar year and, as at the time of writing this, “all of a sudden” 7 percent of it has gone.  We took some time out on the proverbial “charger” during January, as many people do, which was excellent. If you’ve done something similar I’m sure you will be familiar with what appears to be a “mountain of washing” when you get home. We had one. Into the washing machine the first load went. About two thirds of the way through the cycle it stopped. Error message and ...

How much is enough?

When is enough enough? How much should I do? Will I know when to stop? Probably all rhetorical questions. In recent weeks the question has consistently raised itself in my mind. “How much is enough?” Am I doing enough to keep in touch with people? Is the amount of exercise I’m doing enough? Is the mix of work and play about right? Am I reading or learning enough? Sometimes the answer is instinctive. You just know. Invariably we feel as though we could have done more don’t we, but if we d...

Are you “winning” or are you”#winning”?

Are you “winning” in what you are doing? How do you know? What does “winning” look like? More importantly – what does winning “feel” like? There are a multitude of measures we can use to determine our level of success. The ones we use will vary according to what we are involved in. When it comes to dealing with people, even in this increasingly digitally connected age, there is still no substitute, in my view, for person to person contact to create the best results. To win. Kim Wic...

Life’s not Perfect. Be “The Man in the Arena” anyway.

Life isn’t perfect.  Is it just me or has there been a lot of publicity lately about people who “got things wrong”, or situations that “aren’t resolved correctly”?  Are we being dictated to by a noisy minority? Or if not dictated to, at least bombarded! In the age of omnipresent social media, where most of what we say and do is somehow recorded either consciously or unwittingly, “incidents” are often transmitted to a potentially global audience either as they happen or ...

A Platform for the Future

So, with a look back at 5 years in operation, what are 5 key things to take forward into the future that might work for you: 1) Do what feels right Coming into self employment from over two decades in the corporate world provided a certain liberation to the extent that you make your own rules. That provides both freedom and uncertainty. Freedom in that you can choose what to do or not do. Uncertainty in a world with almost limitless choices; which ones do you make? As time has gone on it has bec...