Today is the last of the series in which I say what I would do differently if it was 2007 and I was starting out as a financial planner again.
10 more things I would do differently:
1. I listened to a CD about making appointments and the gentleman on the CD suggests cold calling between 8am and 10am. I think he gave these times for a couple of reasons, first of all, a lot of the gatekeepers are not at work and you can get through to the people that you want to talk to, and secondly, I think for most salespeople cold calling is the most unpleasant thing to do so if you do you calling between 8am and 10am you eat your frog so to speak. That is the worst thing is out of the way and you can concentrate on your sales calls and follow ups.
2. I would certainly try to look the part by buying quality shirts and suits. There is a temptation to buy cheap stuff until you make some money so you can reinvent your wardrobe. This just makes you look cheap and why should someone who looks cheap be telling me about my investments?
3. I would try to get to know some of the other financial planners in the other companies in Tokyo. I think you can learn from them both what to do and what not to do. They are a resource for continuous improvement so why not sit down and have a chat? I would especially like to chat with some of the more successful ones.
4. I would join some kind of club. What I mean by this, in Tokyo there are clubs that wealthy expatriates join. These are great sources of networking opportunities. Of course I have to make some money first and if I can join these clubs then I know that I have done quite well and if I play my cards right, business opportunities should eventuate.
5. I would use Sunday evenings to plan my week ahead. This was one of my biggest problems in that I wasn't doing any planning and then on the rare occasions I did, I wouldn't work it. It is all very well having a plan, but if you don't work it then you might as well go and do something else. Tending bar for example.
6. At the start of my career as a financial planner, I consistently got to the office at 7am and did some study for two hours. I can imagine doing that again, maybe incorporating my one hour of reading into the morning schedule. It would a great way to start the day and you would feel like you have accomplished something before you picked up the phone to make your first cold call.
7. I would work on Saturdays consistently and also on Sundays. I think a financial planner's work is 24/7 so you should be available to talk on the weekends. I didn't mind working weekends and I would do more of it. I think a lot of prospects would be more receptive on the weekends and because they are giving that time up, you would think that they are serious about going through the process.
8. I would, before I started, do a thorough inventory of my strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn't worry about my weaknesses and then identify my strengths and compose a sales process that highlighted my strengths.
9. This is a little difficult but I would try to find people that are similar to me to sell to. Of course you are going to run into a whole bunch of characters but as they say you sell to people who are like you so it would go without saying that I look for them. That's easier said then done and they would take some gentle coercing, I tell you.
10. One of the major themes has been my half-assedness. How can I overcome this? I think that I have to concentrate on what I am doing and concentrate on that activity until done. So, for example, when my friend gave me this challenge with the blog, the tendency would have been to get to day 14 and then give up. But I have tried to stick to it to prove to myself that I can do things to completion and to 100% commitment.
Wednesday 31 October 2012
Tuesday 30 October 2012
Back to the Future Part Two
Yesterday I talked about ten things that I would do differently if knowing what I know now I returned to that start of my financial planning career in 2007.
Today I would like to talk about ten other things that I would do differently:
1. I would strive to have a meeting by 10am every Monday morning in my schedule. I don't mean set a meeting at that time, what I mean is meet a prospective client. I think that this is a great way to start the week and gives you momentum of the rest of it. Most people are busy at this time preparing for the week and having meetings etc. I think if I had this meeting then I would know that the prospect is half interested and I may be onto something.
2. I'm learning at the moment that I can start up conversations with total strangers. It is all about noticing something about them. Being observant and commenting on it. This goes back to that rejection things that we talked about yesterday, they might not want to talk to you but that's fine. You tell yourself that they maybe are having a bad day or are concentrating on something and it's got nothing to do with you. It is amazing how many times you start talking to someone about something relevant and their face lights up and you can't stop them. It is because you made the effort. As a salesperson you have to be talking to everyone, no matter how grumpy they look.
3. I was told early on, that sales is about scripts. You can't fly by the seat of your pants. You have to have some kind of prepared speech that you use in your sales call. I knew this but I never did actually write down my scripts word for word or in fact practice them. You know those standup comedians who sound as though they are just having an ordinary conversation with the audience, well in fact they have been practicing that for months. My friend told me about Jerry Seinfeld's first six minute appearance on the Johnny Carson show. Apparently Seinfeld had been practicing for six months. The rest now is history. What is he worth now? About $800 million?
4. I think I would watch my weight more closely. I don't think that it is a big thing because I know of some morbidly obese salesman who do OK but sometimes with some people it is a problem and could affect your sale and at the end of the day you are looking after yourself. What is more important than your own health?
5. I would spend a set amount of time each week to learn the products. I mean really learn them. Not the half-assed way that I did. (Here we go again, here is that half-assed theme again.) I found out that during initial meetings with prospective clients that you would get asked questions about what have you got. These initial meetings are not just about collecting information so you go back to give them a presentation next time, they were sometimes giving them a presentation straight away because you may not get a second meeting. You had to have all the toys before you arrived in other words.
6. I believe in 2012 that your use of social media for your marketing is another must. I never worked that out properly how you do that but I did write a blog etc but like everything in my life it was a half-assed. (I've said it once I'll say it again, are you sensing a pattern here?) The use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter is very useful in today's age but it shouldn't just be your be all and end all. It is just part of your marketing system.
7. They say you only have one chance to make a first impression. One of the important things in a sales job is your dress. I spoke with a financial planner in Palmerston North who dealt with a lot of farmers and he told me that if he turned up to a sales call in suit and tie, he would be kicked off the farmer's property as people want to deal with people who are similar to them. In saying that, in Tokyo you have to turn up in suit and tie. That is the uniform for men in that city and anything else is displaying your personality which you don't want to show until you know the person you are calling on.
8. I believed that there were markets outside of Tokyo that were good prospects for the services I was offering. I did have a couple of areas in which I could have done something in and I had the help of people that were going to help me which was great. I believe that is the value of networking in which you meet people and if you make the right impression then you can call upon them on a later date. So, if I were to start again I would investigate those markets and make a concerted effort to enter them. This is another half-assed thing that I did.
9. I think if I was to start again I would make the whole job a game. I'm not being frivolous when I say that but I would make sure that I do the required amount of activity before I went and had a beer for instance. Don't get me wrong, I think that I progressed as a person greatly during those five years, both socially and intellectually. However, I was too eager to have a beer when I should have been doing some work, or should have done work that would have made me deserving of that beer.
10. I would try to improve my sales skills on a regular basis. About three years ago, my friend and I started an activity which we still do to this day. The who idea was to read for an hour a day in your field. The idea been with the knowledge that you obtain with your reading that you become an expert. I think that I would concentrate on sales skills and financial literacy. In the past I have read other subjects, which is fine, but I need a concentrated burst of reading on those subjects.
There you go, part two. Tune in for part three tomorrow.
Today I would like to talk about ten other things that I would do differently:
1. I would strive to have a meeting by 10am every Monday morning in my schedule. I don't mean set a meeting at that time, what I mean is meet a prospective client. I think that this is a great way to start the week and gives you momentum of the rest of it. Most people are busy at this time preparing for the week and having meetings etc. I think if I had this meeting then I would know that the prospect is half interested and I may be onto something.
2. I'm learning at the moment that I can start up conversations with total strangers. It is all about noticing something about them. Being observant and commenting on it. This goes back to that rejection things that we talked about yesterday, they might not want to talk to you but that's fine. You tell yourself that they maybe are having a bad day or are concentrating on something and it's got nothing to do with you. It is amazing how many times you start talking to someone about something relevant and their face lights up and you can't stop them. It is because you made the effort. As a salesperson you have to be talking to everyone, no matter how grumpy they look.
3. I was told early on, that sales is about scripts. You can't fly by the seat of your pants. You have to have some kind of prepared speech that you use in your sales call. I knew this but I never did actually write down my scripts word for word or in fact practice them. You know those standup comedians who sound as though they are just having an ordinary conversation with the audience, well in fact they have been practicing that for months. My friend told me about Jerry Seinfeld's first six minute appearance on the Johnny Carson show. Apparently Seinfeld had been practicing for six months. The rest now is history. What is he worth now? About $800 million?
4. I think I would watch my weight more closely. I don't think that it is a big thing because I know of some morbidly obese salesman who do OK but sometimes with some people it is a problem and could affect your sale and at the end of the day you are looking after yourself. What is more important than your own health?
5. I would spend a set amount of time each week to learn the products. I mean really learn them. Not the half-assed way that I did. (Here we go again, here is that half-assed theme again.) I found out that during initial meetings with prospective clients that you would get asked questions about what have you got. These initial meetings are not just about collecting information so you go back to give them a presentation next time, they were sometimes giving them a presentation straight away because you may not get a second meeting. You had to have all the toys before you arrived in other words.
6. I believe in 2012 that your use of social media for your marketing is another must. I never worked that out properly how you do that but I did write a blog etc but like everything in my life it was a half-assed. (I've said it once I'll say it again, are you sensing a pattern here?) The use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter is very useful in today's age but it shouldn't just be your be all and end all. It is just part of your marketing system.
7. They say you only have one chance to make a first impression. One of the important things in a sales job is your dress. I spoke with a financial planner in Palmerston North who dealt with a lot of farmers and he told me that if he turned up to a sales call in suit and tie, he would be kicked off the farmer's property as people want to deal with people who are similar to them. In saying that, in Tokyo you have to turn up in suit and tie. That is the uniform for men in that city and anything else is displaying your personality which you don't want to show until you know the person you are calling on.
8. I believed that there were markets outside of Tokyo that were good prospects for the services I was offering. I did have a couple of areas in which I could have done something in and I had the help of people that were going to help me which was great. I believe that is the value of networking in which you meet people and if you make the right impression then you can call upon them on a later date. So, if I were to start again I would investigate those markets and make a concerted effort to enter them. This is another half-assed thing that I did.
9. I think if I was to start again I would make the whole job a game. I'm not being frivolous when I say that but I would make sure that I do the required amount of activity before I went and had a beer for instance. Don't get me wrong, I think that I progressed as a person greatly during those five years, both socially and intellectually. However, I was too eager to have a beer when I should have been doing some work, or should have done work that would have made me deserving of that beer.
10. I would try to improve my sales skills on a regular basis. About three years ago, my friend and I started an activity which we still do to this day. The who idea was to read for an hour a day in your field. The idea been with the knowledge that you obtain with your reading that you become an expert. I think that I would concentrate on sales skills and financial literacy. In the past I have read other subjects, which is fine, but I need a concentrated burst of reading on those subjects.
There you go, part two. Tune in for part three tomorrow.
Monday 29 October 2012
Back to the Future Part One
At the start of 2007 I was teaching English in Japan. I really was enjoying my time in Japan and the work was OK but nothing too exciting. I would teach at secondary schools in the day time and then work at companies in the evening time. I would also work on the weekends as well. I would work all day on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays.
One day I decided that I needed to do something else although I wasn't sure what that was. I knew that my friend was doing something but I wasn't 100% sure what that was and I made some enquires. It turned out he was working for an international financial planning company. I was told what he did, and I didn't really understand but I decided to give it a try anyway.
As it turned out, I didn't do a very good job. I had no idea what I was doing and in the end I didn't attain the required result and left the company to come back to New Zealand.
I was thinking the other day if I was to be time traveled back to 2007 and was starting again and knowing what I know now what would I do differently as in all honesty I only gave it a half assed effort, which is what I do with everything actually.
Lets imagine that it is 2007, what would I do differently? Here are ten things:
1. I would have had a good think about it. I would have worked through my thought processes in a systematic way and tried to come up with reasons why I should change my job. What characteristics I have that make me a good teacher and what characteristics I have that make me a good financial planner. I would also come up with a list of at least 20 ideas about why I want to change and then make the decision from there.
2. I would do some research to what exactly is a financial planner. Do you know that when I changed careers I had no idea what I was going to be doing and went in blind. Admittedly that is OK in that industry but it didn't do my confidence any good. For the first two years I had no idea what anyone was talking about. In other words I would do my homework.
3. Lets say for argument's sake that I have decided to change careers and have entered the company as a financial planner. I would be prepared. At the very least, up to 2 weeks before starting my job I would have been collecting names of prospective clients. I would be collecting their contact details and be prepared for day one. From memory I went in with nothing and stuffed around all day. Not a great start and it only got worse.
4. I would cold call. I think that it is a legitimate part of the salesman's prospecting arsenal. I believe at the very least, doing it would give me confidence for everyday life and it would allow me to experience what every great salesman experiences and what we should be experiencing in everyday life, that is rejection. I remember listening to an Anthony Robbins recording in which is said the key to success is massive rejection. We as human beings try to do everything to avoid being rejected when in fact we should be embracing it. Counterintuitive I know, but that is the way it is.
5. I would organise my time better. I am absolutely crap at this, even now. I know that if I just sit back for five minutes and think about what I am doing then I know that I will get a great deal more done, rather than do something, get bored with it, try something else, the do a half assed job with that and then try something else. It is just a never-ending circle of nothingness that accomplishes not much.
6. As I said before I would organise my time better. This means organising my days, weeks, months. I never did have a viable plan, a business plan if you will and everyday I was literally flying by the seat of my pants. I must admit though, that coming up with these plans are all very well, it is working those plans that I bet most people have difficulty with. Having the discipline to follow them and change them if needed is the hard bit.
7. I certainly would be more creative with my networking. As you can imagine in a big city like Tokyo, there are events going on most days and nights. I tended to attend things that were very well known throughout the expatriate community and so this would attract, of course, all sorts of sales people and you would meet people who had their guard up from "hello." Of course this could have been in my head.
8. To continue on in the theme of been in my head, the internet had proliferated a whole bunch of new industries and one of those is the PUA industry. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, this is the community of guys ( and a few women) who sell a whole bunch of products and books about seducing women. One of their big themes is the idea of 'inner game.' This is when you are approaching a woman your inner mind is telling you that you shouldn't do it, you will get rejected etc. So, in other words your confidence is at low. I think if I was to go back to the financial planning industry I would work on my confidence and my own self esteem as well as my thinking of networking. Sometimes I was not comfortable networking as I felt cringy and I didn't know what I was talking about half the time.
9. On that note I would do a lot more reading of newspapers, magazines and online articles. Try to get a thorough understanding of the marketplace. I would also listen to the webcasts on a regular basis. I studied a couple of papers at Massey University during my working time and I did these as you would expect half assed. I think that I would continue studying these papers as it is a good thing to have on your business card as it gives you credibility and extra knowledge is not a bad thing. In fact it is an asset in any field.
10. This kind of job is a lifestyle. You should be living it 24 hours a day. I believe that the best salespeople, whether they be financial planners or real estate agents etc are living their jobs 24 hours a day. By that I don't mean that they are at their desks until 5am, have one hours sleep and go back by 7am, I mean they are fully engaged. When they are at work they are working. They are doing everything to get the sale. They are in the present. This is something that I have heard a great deal recently. Finally I would give it 100% effort. No half assed anything. Blair as a half-assed being needs to be assigned to the garbage bin.
I had a great opportunity to make something of myself and to a certain extent the whole experience wasn't wasted but I could have done a lot better. Now I have to decide whether I want to try it again. If I do I will be going through the above ten points thoroughly this time trying to improve on past performances.
One day I decided that I needed to do something else although I wasn't sure what that was. I knew that my friend was doing something but I wasn't 100% sure what that was and I made some enquires. It turned out he was working for an international financial planning company. I was told what he did, and I didn't really understand but I decided to give it a try anyway.
As it turned out, I didn't do a very good job. I had no idea what I was doing and in the end I didn't attain the required result and left the company to come back to New Zealand.
I was thinking the other day if I was to be time traveled back to 2007 and was starting again and knowing what I know now what would I do differently as in all honesty I only gave it a half assed effort, which is what I do with everything actually.
Lets imagine that it is 2007, what would I do differently? Here are ten things:
1. I would have had a good think about it. I would have worked through my thought processes in a systematic way and tried to come up with reasons why I should change my job. What characteristics I have that make me a good teacher and what characteristics I have that make me a good financial planner. I would also come up with a list of at least 20 ideas about why I want to change and then make the decision from there.
2. I would do some research to what exactly is a financial planner. Do you know that when I changed careers I had no idea what I was going to be doing and went in blind. Admittedly that is OK in that industry but it didn't do my confidence any good. For the first two years I had no idea what anyone was talking about. In other words I would do my homework.
3. Lets say for argument's sake that I have decided to change careers and have entered the company as a financial planner. I would be prepared. At the very least, up to 2 weeks before starting my job I would have been collecting names of prospective clients. I would be collecting their contact details and be prepared for day one. From memory I went in with nothing and stuffed around all day. Not a great start and it only got worse.
4. I would cold call. I think that it is a legitimate part of the salesman's prospecting arsenal. I believe at the very least, doing it would give me confidence for everyday life and it would allow me to experience what every great salesman experiences and what we should be experiencing in everyday life, that is rejection. I remember listening to an Anthony Robbins recording in which is said the key to success is massive rejection. We as human beings try to do everything to avoid being rejected when in fact we should be embracing it. Counterintuitive I know, but that is the way it is.
5. I would organise my time better. I am absolutely crap at this, even now. I know that if I just sit back for five minutes and think about what I am doing then I know that I will get a great deal more done, rather than do something, get bored with it, try something else, the do a half assed job with that and then try something else. It is just a never-ending circle of nothingness that accomplishes not much.
6. As I said before I would organise my time better. This means organising my days, weeks, months. I never did have a viable plan, a business plan if you will and everyday I was literally flying by the seat of my pants. I must admit though, that coming up with these plans are all very well, it is working those plans that I bet most people have difficulty with. Having the discipline to follow them and change them if needed is the hard bit.
7. I certainly would be more creative with my networking. As you can imagine in a big city like Tokyo, there are events going on most days and nights. I tended to attend things that were very well known throughout the expatriate community and so this would attract, of course, all sorts of sales people and you would meet people who had their guard up from "hello." Of course this could have been in my head.
8. To continue on in the theme of been in my head, the internet had proliferated a whole bunch of new industries and one of those is the PUA industry. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, this is the community of guys ( and a few women) who sell a whole bunch of products and books about seducing women. One of their big themes is the idea of 'inner game.' This is when you are approaching a woman your inner mind is telling you that you shouldn't do it, you will get rejected etc. So, in other words your confidence is at low. I think if I was to go back to the financial planning industry I would work on my confidence and my own self esteem as well as my thinking of networking. Sometimes I was not comfortable networking as I felt cringy and I didn't know what I was talking about half the time.
9. On that note I would do a lot more reading of newspapers, magazines and online articles. Try to get a thorough understanding of the marketplace. I would also listen to the webcasts on a regular basis. I studied a couple of papers at Massey University during my working time and I did these as you would expect half assed. I think that I would continue studying these papers as it is a good thing to have on your business card as it gives you credibility and extra knowledge is not a bad thing. In fact it is an asset in any field.
10. This kind of job is a lifestyle. You should be living it 24 hours a day. I believe that the best salespeople, whether they be financial planners or real estate agents etc are living their jobs 24 hours a day. By that I don't mean that they are at their desks until 5am, have one hours sleep and go back by 7am, I mean they are fully engaged. When they are at work they are working. They are doing everything to get the sale. They are in the present. This is something that I have heard a great deal recently. Finally I would give it 100% effort. No half assed anything. Blair as a half-assed being needs to be assigned to the garbage bin.
I had a great opportunity to make something of myself and to a certain extent the whole experience wasn't wasted but I could have done a lot better. Now I have to decide whether I want to try it again. If I do I will be going through the above ten points thoroughly this time trying to improve on past performances.
Sunday 28 October 2012
London's calling
One of my possibilities for next year is to go to London and have a go there. Since I have experienced living in Tokyo maybe it could be interesting to live in one of the biggest English speaking cities in the world. Of course the problem is what would I do there.
Today I would like to talk about 10 unique services that I could provide in London. Presently my friend is a weight loss doctor, predominately for women over the age of 40. Please be aware that I haven't checked to see if these services are provided in London or not. They are just ideas that I have and that I could provide.
1. Financial planning advice for New Zealand expatriates.
2. Financial planning advice for Japanese expatriates.
3. An all in one place for New Zealanders and Australians to come to to find out about accommodation, employment etc. I could also offer advice on places to go and avoid as well as where the gyms are etc.
4. In a continuation of the above theme, a real estate office that helps people from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, find accommodation. Whether it be flats, houses, even rooms in people's houses.
5. Another service is as a travel agent so Kiwis etc can travel through out Europe cheaply and I have the tickets for them. I'm not sure if it still happens but I could be the middleman when people are looking for traveling partners when they go by combi van through Europe.
6. Helping Japanese tourists with what they should buy for presents for people back home is an interesting one. For Japanese buying for friends, family and work colleagues is a big thing, but what should they buy, where should they go. Enter Blair to help them take the anxiety out of those decisions.
7. Set up an English language school for Japanese students. I know many people come to the UK to learn English. Do they get all the service they need? I could give it to them.
8. Provide a service for Japanese tourists who wish to do home stays or even farm stays in the English countryside. I think these would be quite popular for the right price. It also depends on the quality of the stays. I could be the go between for the tourists and the people who are opening up their homes.
9. I could be a cricket agent. What I mean by this is have English cricketers, who wish to play in New Zealand during their offseason, come to me. Then I connect clubs in New Zealand with players in the UK. I could also do it the other way.
10. This is a bit of a different idea but I could be a personal shopper. What I mean by that is I tell people that I could do their supermarket shopping for them while they are at work. When they arrive home they have it waiting for them at the door.
These are just initial ideas and they can change or be added to in the near future.
Today I would like to talk about 10 unique services that I could provide in London. Presently my friend is a weight loss doctor, predominately for women over the age of 40. Please be aware that I haven't checked to see if these services are provided in London or not. They are just ideas that I have and that I could provide.
1. Financial planning advice for New Zealand expatriates.
2. Financial planning advice for Japanese expatriates.
3. An all in one place for New Zealanders and Australians to come to to find out about accommodation, employment etc. I could also offer advice on places to go and avoid as well as where the gyms are etc.
4. In a continuation of the above theme, a real estate office that helps people from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, find accommodation. Whether it be flats, houses, even rooms in people's houses.
5. Another service is as a travel agent so Kiwis etc can travel through out Europe cheaply and I have the tickets for them. I'm not sure if it still happens but I could be the middleman when people are looking for traveling partners when they go by combi van through Europe.
6. Helping Japanese tourists with what they should buy for presents for people back home is an interesting one. For Japanese buying for friends, family and work colleagues is a big thing, but what should they buy, where should they go. Enter Blair to help them take the anxiety out of those decisions.
7. Set up an English language school for Japanese students. I know many people come to the UK to learn English. Do they get all the service they need? I could give it to them.
8. Provide a service for Japanese tourists who wish to do home stays or even farm stays in the English countryside. I think these would be quite popular for the right price. It also depends on the quality of the stays. I could be the go between for the tourists and the people who are opening up their homes.
9. I could be a cricket agent. What I mean by this is have English cricketers, who wish to play in New Zealand during their offseason, come to me. Then I connect clubs in New Zealand with players in the UK. I could also do it the other way.
10. This is a bit of a different idea but I could be a personal shopper. What I mean by that is I tell people that I could do their supermarket shopping for them while they are at work. When they arrive home they have it waiting for them at the door.
These are just initial ideas and they can change or be added to in the near future.
Saturday 27 October 2012
Hooray!!! It's the weekend!!!
It is interesting how some people will name the days of the week not by their proper names, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc. but by how many days to the weekend. For example, " only three days to the weekend."
Today is Saturday and after an interesting week of work I am enjoying a day off from work. It is so good that I have tomorrow off from work too. Lucky me!
I find that if I am busy I look to do other things as well, so after two 3am finishes in a row, I woke up at 6.30am to get in a car to travel to Paraparaumu and attend my first Toastmasters conference. As I write this my eyes are feeling a little heavy and I'm not sure how I'm going to get through the next part of the day but I should get into a state where I have an open mind and try and learn something.
This is an unusual weekend day for me so I thought that today I would discuss ten things that you can do that will make your weekend enjoyable, maybe even memorable. Lets go:
1. Improve yourself. As I said today I am at a Toastmasters conference. This is all part of my self improvement and a chance to meet lots of other people. Ordinarily I wouldn't do this and my first instinct would be to say no but I believe you have to to try these things before you say no, unless it involves a parachute or a bungee cord.
2. It is always nice to get away for a couple of days. Go away with someone special and just spend the time together. I like going to a lake or beach area. There are usually other people there but they are also away for the weekend so everyone is relaxed and it is a great chance to unwind.
3. Join a sports club. In Japan I played Touch on Saturday afternoons. These were largely pick up games and we had a big mailing list, so we would turn up at the ground and play and then sometimes afterwards we would have a beer or three. A great way to unwind and have some exercise. Of course Touch is just an example, I used to play cricket or hockey. My father plays golf. The possibilities are endless.
4. Call a friend you haven't seen for a long time and go and see them. Chances are they will be very pleased to hear from you and I can almost guarantee that they will say to you that they have been planning to contact you for quite some time but have never got around to it. Who knows, you may be able to reconnect and have another mate to add to your drinking buddies.
5. On the subject of drinking, is there nothing wrong about going out for a few? Maybe go to a couple of clubs and have a dance (although real men don't dance) and even brush up on your seduction technique. Sometimes people need blow off some steam and having a few pints is the perfect solution to that.
6. Test drive your dream car. My favourite car is a BMW so why don't you call up the local dealer and organize a test drive? You know that you have always wanted to get behind the wheel of that car so go do it. Of course the biggest problem is convincing the salesperson that you can afford it.
7. In Japan I used to like going to a hot springs place or one of those big spa places. Some of the big public bath houses are fantastic and you can easily spend all day in them and I did. Not sure what places near my current home that I can do that but it would fun trying to find one.
Today is Saturday and after an interesting week of work I am enjoying a day off from work. It is so good that I have tomorrow off from work too. Lucky me!
I find that if I am busy I look to do other things as well, so after two 3am finishes in a row, I woke up at 6.30am to get in a car to travel to Paraparaumu and attend my first Toastmasters conference. As I write this my eyes are feeling a little heavy and I'm not sure how I'm going to get through the next part of the day but I should get into a state where I have an open mind and try and learn something.
This is an unusual weekend day for me so I thought that today I would discuss ten things that you can do that will make your weekend enjoyable, maybe even memorable. Lets go:
1. Improve yourself. As I said today I am at a Toastmasters conference. This is all part of my self improvement and a chance to meet lots of other people. Ordinarily I wouldn't do this and my first instinct would be to say no but I believe you have to to try these things before you say no, unless it involves a parachute or a bungee cord.
2. It is always nice to get away for a couple of days. Go away with someone special and just spend the time together. I like going to a lake or beach area. There are usually other people there but they are also away for the weekend so everyone is relaxed and it is a great chance to unwind.
3. Join a sports club. In Japan I played Touch on Saturday afternoons. These were largely pick up games and we had a big mailing list, so we would turn up at the ground and play and then sometimes afterwards we would have a beer or three. A great way to unwind and have some exercise. Of course Touch is just an example, I used to play cricket or hockey. My father plays golf. The possibilities are endless.
4. Call a friend you haven't seen for a long time and go and see them. Chances are they will be very pleased to hear from you and I can almost guarantee that they will say to you that they have been planning to contact you for quite some time but have never got around to it. Who knows, you may be able to reconnect and have another mate to add to your drinking buddies.
5. On the subject of drinking, is there nothing wrong about going out for a few? Maybe go to a couple of clubs and have a dance (although real men don't dance) and even brush up on your seduction technique. Sometimes people need blow off some steam and having a few pints is the perfect solution to that.
6. Test drive your dream car. My favourite car is a BMW so why don't you call up the local dealer and organize a test drive? You know that you have always wanted to get behind the wheel of that car so go do it. Of course the biggest problem is convincing the salesperson that you can afford it.
7. In Japan I used to like going to a hot springs place or one of those big spa places. Some of the big public bath houses are fantastic and you can easily spend all day in them and I did. Not sure what places near my current home that I can do that but it would fun trying to find one.
8. Why not go and see a show that you may not go and see normally. I'm suggesting something like the opera. I know I wouldn't go. Make a night of it. Put your finest clothes on, go to a fantastic restaurant and enjoy the opera. Even if you don't like opera I'm sure that you will remember the event and maybe repeat in the near future.
9. Go to the supermarket and/or the local market and buy your ingredients, take them home and cook like you have never cooked before. This is your time to be creative, try that thing that you have always wanted to try and be a world famous chef for one night.
10. If you are living in a big city, why don't you pick an area that you don't know very well and go explore it. I know I did that a few times in Tokyo and it is amazing the types of places, shops and restaurants that you can find.
9. Go to the supermarket and/or the local market and buy your ingredients, take them home and cook like you have never cooked before. This is your time to be creative, try that thing that you have always wanted to try and be a world famous chef for one night.
10. If you are living in a big city, why don't you pick an area that you don't know very well and go explore it. I know I did that a few times in Tokyo and it is amazing the types of places, shops and restaurants that you can find.
Happy Weekend Everybody. Have a good one.
Friday 26 October 2012
Is this working out for you?
Dear the manager of the Jetts gym in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
I have been a member of your gym for the past six months or more and because I didn't have to lock in to a contract or pay everything up front and because it is very cheap to use your facilities I have used the gym on a number of occasions and for what I wanted, it is fine.
However, no one or nothing is perfect so I would like to give you ten ideas in which I think that you can give users a better experience over all.
1. The showers need to be cleaned on a semi regular basis. I don't think they are disgusting they could just be that little bit cleaner. The shower curtain especially needs to be washed maybe every second or third day. It can get quite disgusting if people don't leave the door open or if it has high usage over the week.
2. I hate it when people use machines for seats. They do a set which lasts for ten seconds and then sit for three minutes. I know that I could just go up when I want to use the machine but you never know what reception you are going to get. Please police that better. I know that every gym in the world you will get people doing that so it's not a new problem but it would just be good if we can stop it.
3. The paper towels that you use for cleaning the machines are in my mind ridiculous. Is it not viable to provide towels at each station so that they can be cleaned down that way? Are you worried that they will be stolen by people? I suppose it is Palmerston North after all. We do have stupid people in this town.
4. The little cubby holes that you use for people putting their belongings in are not the best. These need to be lockers. I know that you have security cameras and things but one of these days, either something will be taken by mistake and that person may not bother returning it or something will be stolen. It is just a matter of numbers. Put in lockers in which you put your stuff in and get a key with a band around it so you can wrap it around your wrist.
5. Are steppers out of fashion? Have those cross trainers taken over? In the past I have, I wouldn't say enjoyed them but have always got a good workout on them. Why are there none in our gym? You have the rowing machines, which I quite like by the way. I can see the benefits of them but no steppers. that I don't understand.
6. How well patrolled are the car parks for our gym? I know that Jetts has six car parks dedicated for the gym but I have seen many times people parking there and going off into The Plaza for a spot of shopping. Is it possible to get them towed or fined on a more frequent basis? People in the service industry have to realise that the whole experience is important. Just by asking, "how's your day been?" is not a great example of customer service.
7. I don't know the role of the people who work at Jetts but it would be quite nice if they are surveying the work out room occasionally rather than standing with their backs to the room using the computers. If I am doing something wrong on a machine it would be nice to know especially from a safety standpoint.
8. Is it possible to have the windows in the corner by the traffic lights to be blacked out? It can quite disconcerting if you are in that area and people are staring at you through the windows while you are doing your sit ups. It is nice to look outside sometimes but every Tom, Dick and Susan doesn't need to know what you are doing.
9. This is not a new idea but something like the boot camp that you had starting June was a good idea but I think that the price was quite prohibitive for a lot of the gym's members. Please do have something like that but keep the costs down.
10. Could you put a seat in the shower rooms? I know that there is not a lot of room in there but having something like that would make it a little bit easier for everyone. I know for certain I would be one of the first people to thank you if you did that.
I know that Jetts is a franchise system and you are dictated by what you can and can't do by head office but maybe you can take some of these ideas to the suits in Auckland or Australia or whether the decisions are made.
I have been a member of your gym for the past six months or more and because I didn't have to lock in to a contract or pay everything up front and because it is very cheap to use your facilities I have used the gym on a number of occasions and for what I wanted, it is fine.
However, no one or nothing is perfect so I would like to give you ten ideas in which I think that you can give users a better experience over all.
1. The showers need to be cleaned on a semi regular basis. I don't think they are disgusting they could just be that little bit cleaner. The shower curtain especially needs to be washed maybe every second or third day. It can get quite disgusting if people don't leave the door open or if it has high usage over the week.
2. I hate it when people use machines for seats. They do a set which lasts for ten seconds and then sit for three minutes. I know that I could just go up when I want to use the machine but you never know what reception you are going to get. Please police that better. I know that every gym in the world you will get people doing that so it's not a new problem but it would just be good if we can stop it.
3. The paper towels that you use for cleaning the machines are in my mind ridiculous. Is it not viable to provide towels at each station so that they can be cleaned down that way? Are you worried that they will be stolen by people? I suppose it is Palmerston North after all. We do have stupid people in this town.
4. The little cubby holes that you use for people putting their belongings in are not the best. These need to be lockers. I know that you have security cameras and things but one of these days, either something will be taken by mistake and that person may not bother returning it or something will be stolen. It is just a matter of numbers. Put in lockers in which you put your stuff in and get a key with a band around it so you can wrap it around your wrist.
5. Are steppers out of fashion? Have those cross trainers taken over? In the past I have, I wouldn't say enjoyed them but have always got a good workout on them. Why are there none in our gym? You have the rowing machines, which I quite like by the way. I can see the benefits of them but no steppers. that I don't understand.
6. How well patrolled are the car parks for our gym? I know that Jetts has six car parks dedicated for the gym but I have seen many times people parking there and going off into The Plaza for a spot of shopping. Is it possible to get them towed or fined on a more frequent basis? People in the service industry have to realise that the whole experience is important. Just by asking, "how's your day been?" is not a great example of customer service.
7. I don't know the role of the people who work at Jetts but it would be quite nice if they are surveying the work out room occasionally rather than standing with their backs to the room using the computers. If I am doing something wrong on a machine it would be nice to know especially from a safety standpoint.
8. Is it possible to have the windows in the corner by the traffic lights to be blacked out? It can quite disconcerting if you are in that area and people are staring at you through the windows while you are doing your sit ups. It is nice to look outside sometimes but every Tom, Dick and Susan doesn't need to know what you are doing.
9. This is not a new idea but something like the boot camp that you had starting June was a good idea but I think that the price was quite prohibitive for a lot of the gym's members. Please do have something like that but keep the costs down.
10. Could you put a seat in the shower rooms? I know that there is not a lot of room in there but having something like that would make it a little bit easier for everyone. I know for certain I would be one of the first people to thank you if you did that.
I know that Jetts is a franchise system and you are dictated by what you can and can't do by head office but maybe you can take some of these ideas to the suits in Auckland or Australia or whether the decisions are made.
Thursday 25 October 2012
Am I a Bookworm?
Books! We have all read one, haven't we? I know I have. So far this year I have read 49 books. I'm quite pleased with myself there. I'm sure that I will read a further half dozen or so before the end of the year.
I'm sure, like me, you may have a few books that you want to read and for whatever reason you haven't. Today I would like to make a list of the ten books that I would like to read hopefully in the coming months.
1. Sweet Poison. I saw an article on the Sunday current events show. This piece was done by Peter Fitzsimmons and it talked about this book and how sugar is ruining our lives. I have an advanced sweet tooth and any sweet food that is in my vicinity will be consumed. I remember in 2002 I read Fast Food Nation and that put me off McDonalds for a long time and I must say that even now it isn't part of my diet. I have the odd lime shake from the place.
2. The Bible. I am not religious but I think that any good reader worth their salt should read this once in their lives. I'm put off by the length of it and all of the church stuff but I'm sure that there are a few good passages that are applicable to me.
3. Making a difference. This is a book written by New Zealand businessman, Owen Glenn. They say if you want to do things and be successful at it, you do what people before have done. So, I am interested to read how Owen Glenn got started in business and what are his secrets.
4. Jack Reacher. I have read a few Jack Reacher novels and have enjoyed all of them so far. I tend to get quite lazy when it comes to reading novels but with Jack Reacher books I should have no excuse. They are easy to read and they are written for people like me. On a slightly different topic, how did the people involved in the production of the Jack Reacher movie decide to cast Tom Cruise. Jack Reacher is just under 200cm tall. Tom Cruise is 170cm. Can you see why I am ranting?
5. Think and Grow Rich. This is a classic. I have read it a number of times and I have the electronic version. All of the get rich gurus that are out there today mention this book as something they read along the way or even an inspiration for them to do what they do. He talks about the secret in the book but when I read it I never found it. I think this time when I read it I will find it.
6. The Fan. I have seen this a couple of times on DVD and have enjoyed but like most book/movie productions I can imagine the book is better. This is book is set in the baseball world and is about the mad keen fans that follow the sport. Robert DeNiro plays the fan in the movie adaptation.
7. Fifty Shades of Grey. I have only just heard about this book. It sounds as though it is quite popular especially amongst women. So what better way to understand the mind of a woman by reading things that she will read too. I understand that there are another two books in the series.
8. The 4-Hour Chef. The new book by Tim Ferris will be out in November this year. I have read his second book but have started his first book but have not managed to finish it. I do enjoy his writing and I got some good ideas from his second book and I look forward to this one for getting good ideas for nutrition.
9. How I raised myself from failure to success in selling. I have attempted sales in the past and haven't done too well. It doesn't mean I want to give up on that career. This book is an oldie but a goodie and is packed with relevant information that will never go out of fashion.
10. Slim and healthy without dieting. This book is written for middle aged women who want to lose weight but in that book I hear that a lot of the tips the author gives are relevant for men as well. I look forward to reading this book and hopefully implementing some of the ideas.
There we have it 10 books. 3 fiction books, 6 non-fiction books and one book that I am not sure on. Lets just leave it at that. If anyone out there has any ideas I'm always open to them.
I'm sure, like me, you may have a few books that you want to read and for whatever reason you haven't. Today I would like to make a list of the ten books that I would like to read hopefully in the coming months.
1. Sweet Poison. I saw an article on the Sunday current events show. This piece was done by Peter Fitzsimmons and it talked about this book and how sugar is ruining our lives. I have an advanced sweet tooth and any sweet food that is in my vicinity will be consumed. I remember in 2002 I read Fast Food Nation and that put me off McDonalds for a long time and I must say that even now it isn't part of my diet. I have the odd lime shake from the place.
2. The Bible. I am not religious but I think that any good reader worth their salt should read this once in their lives. I'm put off by the length of it and all of the church stuff but I'm sure that there are a few good passages that are applicable to me.
3. Making a difference. This is a book written by New Zealand businessman, Owen Glenn. They say if you want to do things and be successful at it, you do what people before have done. So, I am interested to read how Owen Glenn got started in business and what are his secrets.
4. Jack Reacher. I have read a few Jack Reacher novels and have enjoyed all of them so far. I tend to get quite lazy when it comes to reading novels but with Jack Reacher books I should have no excuse. They are easy to read and they are written for people like me. On a slightly different topic, how did the people involved in the production of the Jack Reacher movie decide to cast Tom Cruise. Jack Reacher is just under 200cm tall. Tom Cruise is 170cm. Can you see why I am ranting?
5. Think and Grow Rich. This is a classic. I have read it a number of times and I have the electronic version. All of the get rich gurus that are out there today mention this book as something they read along the way or even an inspiration for them to do what they do. He talks about the secret in the book but when I read it I never found it. I think this time when I read it I will find it.
6. The Fan. I have seen this a couple of times on DVD and have enjoyed but like most book/movie productions I can imagine the book is better. This is book is set in the baseball world and is about the mad keen fans that follow the sport. Robert DeNiro plays the fan in the movie adaptation.
7. Fifty Shades of Grey. I have only just heard about this book. It sounds as though it is quite popular especially amongst women. So what better way to understand the mind of a woman by reading things that she will read too. I understand that there are another two books in the series.
8. The 4-Hour Chef. The new book by Tim Ferris will be out in November this year. I have read his second book but have started his first book but have not managed to finish it. I do enjoy his writing and I got some good ideas from his second book and I look forward to this one for getting good ideas for nutrition.
9. How I raised myself from failure to success in selling. I have attempted sales in the past and haven't done too well. It doesn't mean I want to give up on that career. This book is an oldie but a goodie and is packed with relevant information that will never go out of fashion.
10. Slim and healthy without dieting. This book is written for middle aged women who want to lose weight but in that book I hear that a lot of the tips the author gives are relevant for men as well. I look forward to reading this book and hopefully implementing some of the ideas.
There we have it 10 books. 3 fiction books, 6 non-fiction books and one book that I am not sure on. Lets just leave it at that. If anyone out there has any ideas I'm always open to them.
Wednesday 24 October 2012
Putting the foot down.
We in New Zealand have just had a long weekend. Monday was a public holiday so many people celebrated Labour Day and Labour Weekend by going away for the weekend. Packing up the car and going to their baches, cribs or tents and caravans.
As with every holiday weekend the police keep statistics on how many people died in traffic accidents. Unfortunately 7 people died this past Labour Weekend. My thoughts are with families who lost family members this past weekend. I can't imagine what they went through when they heard the news of their loved one's death.
How can we prevent these accidents from occurring? What can we change to make it more difficult for these statistics to increase? Here are some of my ideas:
1. Lower the tolerance of drink driving to zero. It is amazing that some people will drive to a pub and then try to calculate how many beers in how many hours they can have like it is some kind of complicated mathematical problem. Sometimes I find it it ridiculous the lengths that people will go to. Make it zero and then all of the guessing will taken out of it. Of course in saying that transport to and from this kinds of establishments will need to be improved although that could be arranged by the establishment themselves.
2. The speed limit on the open road is 100km/h. I consistently drive between 96 to 100km/h. I am amazed how often I am passed on the open road. There seems to be a misconception that around town it is OK to drive at 60km/h and on the open road it is OK to drive at 110km/h. Where drivers got these arbitrary numbers from is anyones guess. If you think about, in built up areas it is 20% more than the limit while on the open road it is 10%. What should they so in 70km/h zones? Drive at 80.5km/h because that is 15% more? Slow down. Don't be in such a hurry to get anywhere. You are probably only arriving 5 minutes earlier anyway. This is another one that should be looked at closely. Have the speed limits and enforce them strongly.
3. I have talked about speed limits but it seems that people get even more irritated with people who drive too slowly. People get angry and do stupid things to get past the slow coach and accidents occur. Just on a side note I find it mildly amusing how people's personalities change when they get behind the steering wheel of a car. Talk about Dr. Jeykll and Mr.Hyde. So why don't we have a speed limit of 85km/h to 100km/h? This would keep the slow coaches off the roads and keep everything running smoothly.
4. Have prohibitive consequences for people who are not wearing seat belts in both the front seats and back seats of cars. This will make sure that people buckle up more readily. I'm sure every year people's lives could be saved if they wear seat belts.
5. A couple of weekends ago I drove to Whanganui which is about a 45 minute drive from Palmerston North. What I noticed about the road was that it has improved a great deal and there were many passing lanes what I didn't see were places where people can pull over. Some times for drivers it can be quite disconcerting with cars up your ass trying to get past. If possible I try to let them past and that would be easier if we had areas on the side of the road that we could pull into.
6. Make it a rule to have a rest after driving for a period of two hours. Cars will be fitted with a timer that can not be altered once started. If the police officer checks the timer and finds that it is gone over the time period then penalties could be enforced. Also the timer will also calculate how long the car has stopped for, so for example the minimum time is 5 minutes.
7. Because of the one lane each way concept that is most New Zealand open roads, a barrier between the lanes is not feasible but it could be done on the double yellow lanes. I wonder if a lot of head on collisions are at double yellow lines. So build barriers along those double yellow lines. The only problem I see with this is that there are a great deal of farm entrances and other smaller roads along these major highways and that may cause difficulty for people trying to off.
8. I said before that we need areas to the left of the road to be used so people can move over, do we also need more passing lanes? This will allow the traffic to flow more freely and hopefully bring down the road toll.
9. How much is a life worth? This question can not be answered. Can New Zealand improve it's public transport system so it is more worthwhile for people to travel by public transport to their holiday destinations? Less people are on the roads and people are using trains, planes and buses. I think the road toll would be lower if that was the case. This would be cost a great deal of money to implement but if it helps save one life, wouldn't it be worth it?
10. I said before that people following closely behind you can be disconcerting. I don't think there is any law that says how far you have to be behind a car. Should there be? I'm sure that this would be quite difficult to judge and it would be a subjective thing on the part of the police but if you start pulling people up for it then that could help. So, what I am saying is that we should standardize following distances.
Those are just some of my ideas. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
As with every holiday weekend the police keep statistics on how many people died in traffic accidents. Unfortunately 7 people died this past Labour Weekend. My thoughts are with families who lost family members this past weekend. I can't imagine what they went through when they heard the news of their loved one's death.
How can we prevent these accidents from occurring? What can we change to make it more difficult for these statistics to increase? Here are some of my ideas:
1. Lower the tolerance of drink driving to zero. It is amazing that some people will drive to a pub and then try to calculate how many beers in how many hours they can have like it is some kind of complicated mathematical problem. Sometimes I find it it ridiculous the lengths that people will go to. Make it zero and then all of the guessing will taken out of it. Of course in saying that transport to and from this kinds of establishments will need to be improved although that could be arranged by the establishment themselves.
2. The speed limit on the open road is 100km/h. I consistently drive between 96 to 100km/h. I am amazed how often I am passed on the open road. There seems to be a misconception that around town it is OK to drive at 60km/h and on the open road it is OK to drive at 110km/h. Where drivers got these arbitrary numbers from is anyones guess. If you think about, in built up areas it is 20% more than the limit while on the open road it is 10%. What should they so in 70km/h zones? Drive at 80.5km/h because that is 15% more? Slow down. Don't be in such a hurry to get anywhere. You are probably only arriving 5 minutes earlier anyway. This is another one that should be looked at closely. Have the speed limits and enforce them strongly.
3. I have talked about speed limits but it seems that people get even more irritated with people who drive too slowly. People get angry and do stupid things to get past the slow coach and accidents occur. Just on a side note I find it mildly amusing how people's personalities change when they get behind the steering wheel of a car. Talk about Dr. Jeykll and Mr.Hyde. So why don't we have a speed limit of 85km/h to 100km/h? This would keep the slow coaches off the roads and keep everything running smoothly.
4. Have prohibitive consequences for people who are not wearing seat belts in both the front seats and back seats of cars. This will make sure that people buckle up more readily. I'm sure every year people's lives could be saved if they wear seat belts.
5. A couple of weekends ago I drove to Whanganui which is about a 45 minute drive from Palmerston North. What I noticed about the road was that it has improved a great deal and there were many passing lanes what I didn't see were places where people can pull over. Some times for drivers it can be quite disconcerting with cars up your ass trying to get past. If possible I try to let them past and that would be easier if we had areas on the side of the road that we could pull into.
6. Make it a rule to have a rest after driving for a period of two hours. Cars will be fitted with a timer that can not be altered once started. If the police officer checks the timer and finds that it is gone over the time period then penalties could be enforced. Also the timer will also calculate how long the car has stopped for, so for example the minimum time is 5 minutes.
7. Because of the one lane each way concept that is most New Zealand open roads, a barrier between the lanes is not feasible but it could be done on the double yellow lanes. I wonder if a lot of head on collisions are at double yellow lines. So build barriers along those double yellow lines. The only problem I see with this is that there are a great deal of farm entrances and other smaller roads along these major highways and that may cause difficulty for people trying to off.
8. I said before that we need areas to the left of the road to be used so people can move over, do we also need more passing lanes? This will allow the traffic to flow more freely and hopefully bring down the road toll.
9. How much is a life worth? This question can not be answered. Can New Zealand improve it's public transport system so it is more worthwhile for people to travel by public transport to their holiday destinations? Less people are on the roads and people are using trains, planes and buses. I think the road toll would be lower if that was the case. This would be cost a great deal of money to implement but if it helps save one life, wouldn't it be worth it?
10. I said before that people following closely behind you can be disconcerting. I don't think there is any law that says how far you have to be behind a car. Should there be? I'm sure that this would be quite difficult to judge and it would be a subjective thing on the part of the police but if you start pulling people up for it then that could help. So, what I am saying is that we should standardize following distances.
Those are just some of my ideas. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
Tuesday 23 October 2012
I can do...
Do you know what a stock take is? Some people call it taking inventory. I work at a horse race course in the catering division. At the end of each month we have to count everything we have. In other words count all of our stock. We do a stock take. I tell you something, the first time I did this it took me forever as I didn't know what I was doing. Slowly it has become a little easier and it doesn't take me very long at all.
What's this got to do with anything, I hear you say. Sometimes when we are in the depths of despair and we think that things are going to get worse and worse, we should stop and think about what we are good at and basically the things in life that we are excel at. You should try this exercise too. It is quite difficult because for me some things I do naturally and without thinking, some people find that quite impressive because they don't have that skill or ability.
Today what are 10 things I am good at:
1. I wouldn't say that I am good at making friends but I seem to be able to make contacts quite easily. Some people don't like networking events and for straight business purposes I don't think that I was good at turning introductions into deals but what I did find that was useful was I had a big list of people I had meet and generally I could call them up, tell them where I had met them and organise things with them. For example I had a friend come and stay with me in Tokyo and I organised for him a chance to speak to a couple of groups that I had contacts with.
2. I'm quite good at remembering faces. Names, not so much unless they have given me a business card in which I can see how their name is written, then I will remember. I'm told that we learn differently and I am definitely a visual learner. I have to see it written for it to go into my brain. Sometimes my current boss will tell me what needs to be done but because he hasn't written it down it basically goes in one ear and out the other.
3. I have a good memory for certain things. My friend used to tease me about remembering what road signs said before we passed them and things of a similar nature. But I do remember things like that. I suppose it goes back to being a visual learner and also I like to look around as I travel in a car for instance. I remember I was in Shinjuku, Tokyo with a previous employer and he joked that I was always looking around streets, looking at shop signs and the like, seeing what was about. I thought it wasn't funny, I just thought of it as me getting to know my environment.
4. This is a bit of a negative one but I am very good at starting things and not seeing them through to completion. However, when I do put my mind to it I do come up with some very good results. I just wish that I put that kind of effort in everything as opposed to half-assed with what I have done with 98% of stuff up until now. Examples of successes would be I lost 17 kgs of weight in only 2 months in 2002. I really focused on that and had staggering results. I also was quite shy around women. So one day I decided to join an online dating site and I just got into that so much that I changed my life around in that area. I'm far from the finished article but I am far better than what I was.
5. I am a good teacher. In Japan I considered myself as an edutainer, in other words someone who entertained as well as educated. I try and make lessons interesting and a little bit different. Something that they may have not done before. Also I think that I am a good coach. I remember a few years ago taking eggs to a cricket practice. I used them for catching practice. Something a little bit different and something memorable. My goal was that I wanted them to come back next week.
6. I'm decent at public speaking. For many people the idea of getting up in front of people and talking is an idea that they don't want anything to do with but I do it and sometimes I do it quite well. Lets just say that it doesn't scare me.
7. I'm good at reading, writing and speaking Japanese. Japanese is quite a difficult language to learn but once you get the pattern it can be simple to remember. Unfortunately I find my spoken language has gone down over the last few years but I can still read a lot more than my peers so that is an advantage on my side I believe.
8. Some people may laugh at this but I consider myself quite creative. I think people get in a rut of how they do things so I try to do something a little bit different. Whether it is putting something unusual in the mashed potato or thinking of something to do that not many other people would think of. I'm your man for that.
9. I think compared to the average Joe Blogs, I am a good writer. I don't know what you think but some of these blogs are OK. I have written novel length pieces before and some passages in them are not too bad. I actually enjoy writing and when you get on a roll, lots of good stuff can come out.
10. I think I am quite good at accessing the situation that I am in and acting accordingly. Having lived overseas for a considerable length of time I have experienced a few different cultures and I haven't put my foot in it on too many occasions. I think the secret is to have a big smile on your face, be interested and don't try and take over and play the fool.
What's this got to do with anything, I hear you say. Sometimes when we are in the depths of despair and we think that things are going to get worse and worse, we should stop and think about what we are good at and basically the things in life that we are excel at. You should try this exercise too. It is quite difficult because for me some things I do naturally and without thinking, some people find that quite impressive because they don't have that skill or ability.
Today what are 10 things I am good at:
1. I wouldn't say that I am good at making friends but I seem to be able to make contacts quite easily. Some people don't like networking events and for straight business purposes I don't think that I was good at turning introductions into deals but what I did find that was useful was I had a big list of people I had meet and generally I could call them up, tell them where I had met them and organise things with them. For example I had a friend come and stay with me in Tokyo and I organised for him a chance to speak to a couple of groups that I had contacts with.
2. I'm quite good at remembering faces. Names, not so much unless they have given me a business card in which I can see how their name is written, then I will remember. I'm told that we learn differently and I am definitely a visual learner. I have to see it written for it to go into my brain. Sometimes my current boss will tell me what needs to be done but because he hasn't written it down it basically goes in one ear and out the other.
3. I have a good memory for certain things. My friend used to tease me about remembering what road signs said before we passed them and things of a similar nature. But I do remember things like that. I suppose it goes back to being a visual learner and also I like to look around as I travel in a car for instance. I remember I was in Shinjuku, Tokyo with a previous employer and he joked that I was always looking around streets, looking at shop signs and the like, seeing what was about. I thought it wasn't funny, I just thought of it as me getting to know my environment.
4. This is a bit of a negative one but I am very good at starting things and not seeing them through to completion. However, when I do put my mind to it I do come up with some very good results. I just wish that I put that kind of effort in everything as opposed to half-assed with what I have done with 98% of stuff up until now. Examples of successes would be I lost 17 kgs of weight in only 2 months in 2002. I really focused on that and had staggering results. I also was quite shy around women. So one day I decided to join an online dating site and I just got into that so much that I changed my life around in that area. I'm far from the finished article but I am far better than what I was.
5. I am a good teacher. In Japan I considered myself as an edutainer, in other words someone who entertained as well as educated. I try and make lessons interesting and a little bit different. Something that they may have not done before. Also I think that I am a good coach. I remember a few years ago taking eggs to a cricket practice. I used them for catching practice. Something a little bit different and something memorable. My goal was that I wanted them to come back next week.
6. I'm decent at public speaking. For many people the idea of getting up in front of people and talking is an idea that they don't want anything to do with but I do it and sometimes I do it quite well. Lets just say that it doesn't scare me.
7. I'm good at reading, writing and speaking Japanese. Japanese is quite a difficult language to learn but once you get the pattern it can be simple to remember. Unfortunately I find my spoken language has gone down over the last few years but I can still read a lot more than my peers so that is an advantage on my side I believe.
8. Some people may laugh at this but I consider myself quite creative. I think people get in a rut of how they do things so I try to do something a little bit different. Whether it is putting something unusual in the mashed potato or thinking of something to do that not many other people would think of. I'm your man for that.
9. I think compared to the average Joe Blogs, I am a good writer. I don't know what you think but some of these blogs are OK. I have written novel length pieces before and some passages in them are not too bad. I actually enjoy writing and when you get on a roll, lots of good stuff can come out.
10. I think I am quite good at accessing the situation that I am in and acting accordingly. Having lived overseas for a considerable length of time I have experienced a few different cultures and I haven't put my foot in it on too many occasions. I think the secret is to have a big smile on your face, be interested and don't try and take over and play the fool.
Monday 22 October 2012
Cafe Culture
I live in a city of 85000 people. There are three McDonalds outlets. There are two KFC outlets. There are four Subway shops. Wendy's and Carl's Jr are currently in construction. Burger King is also here. What have I left out? There must be some kind of franchise or chain shop that we don't have. Oh yes, I remember now, there is no Starbucks.
Why is that? There seems to be a Starbucks in every other major provincial city in New Zealand. I believe that there was one in Palmerston North but it closed down a couple of years ago.
How can you run a successful cafe in Palmerston North? I must admit I am not an expert about cafes so my opinion just comes from my experience in being in a number of cafes and what I think people should do to run that cafe in the metropolis that is Palmerston North.
1. You have to charge provincial prices. I would hazard a guess that prices in the Starbucks around New Zealand are the same. This would fly in Auckland but in places like Palmerston North it just doesn't work. People may go there on a Sunday afternoon but would bypass it on Monday through Friday mornings on the way to work. New Zealanders generally don't like to give away their money easily especially people in the provinces and top dollar for a cup of coffee is not a done thing.
2. You have to decide what kind of market you are going to target and structure your menu and location for that market. For example if you are going to target a more older crowd you don't want to put exotic foods and things that people don't know what it is. You have to have more recognisable food, traditional if you like at a lower price.
3. You have to decide what kind of food is going on that menu. Are you going to have the traditional sausage rolls, mince pies, doughnuts and sally lunns on the menu or are you going to have wraps, quiches and slices. This would depend on where the cafe is located. Personally in this town I think you have to have a combination of them both. The market is too small to only cater to one section of the population. Some grumpy old man is not going to want to eat quiches.
4. I think for a cafe to be successful it needs to be open a great number of hours. I know that Cafe Cuba is open from early in the morning until late at night and that seems to be successful and so a cafe needs to be open from say 7am to 11pm, even 6am to 12am. That way you will get people who want that breakfast and people who want a coffee or dessert after seeing a movie late at night.
5. Location, location, location. A cafe in Palmerston North has to be in George Street. No argument. That's where it should be. It can't be open on the Square at midnight as you will get drunken louts coming in and that is not why people go to a cafe. They go there for quite conversation not abuse from drunken young people.
6. The marketing of your cafe in Palmerston North needs to be good. If you do a good show then the word of mouth will be excellent in this town. If you are crap that will get around twice as fast, so be careful. You need to use radio to get your message across. There are a plethora of radio stations in Palmerston North, use them. Make sure that you are the person on the ad or even better get a local celebrity to voice your ad. You will be surprised how many people listen to the radio so that medium is a must.
7. In 2012 this is a must, have a website with your menu on it. The number of establishments I look up on the internet that don't have their own specialised website is mind boggling and you may be losing customers to other places if you don't have one.
8. Nice friendly, well groomed and intelligent staff are a must. I think this is important and it should go without saying but sometimes the service in this country can leave a little to be desired. Some people believe by asking, "How's your day going?" they are showing good customer service. That is bullshit. You create good customer service by doing things correctly and politely. If you want to talk to the customer talk about something relevant to them, not something generic that they hear fifteen times a day and they don't know how to answer. I have two stories I remember a long time a go at Pak N' Save a check out assistant spoke with me about something I had in my trolley. it was relevant to me and I had a good experience. A few weeks a ago I was in a cafe in George STreet and ordered something and she got it wrong and then argued with me when I said that she got it wrong. Unfortunately for the owners I won't go in there again.
9. The decor of the cafe needs to be neutral. This is not a flashy town. If you decorate your cafe too flashy and gaudy it runs the risk of being known as somewhere where alternative people go to rather than who you want to attract, the mainstream.
10. I've said a few times in this post and I'm going to say it again, PRICE or as the say on The Apprentice PRICE POINT is important. Remember who your market is and price it accordingly. This is so important. I believe Starbucks priced itself out of the Palmerston North market.
At the end of the day if you are going to have a successful cafe in Palmerston North, you have to be conscious of price, location and just general awesomeness because if it is then the word of mouth, in other words the grapevine will run overtime and you will be working overtime to keep up with the demand of your cafe.
Why is that? There seems to be a Starbucks in every other major provincial city in New Zealand. I believe that there was one in Palmerston North but it closed down a couple of years ago.
How can you run a successful cafe in Palmerston North? I must admit I am not an expert about cafes so my opinion just comes from my experience in being in a number of cafes and what I think people should do to run that cafe in the metropolis that is Palmerston North.
1. You have to charge provincial prices. I would hazard a guess that prices in the Starbucks around New Zealand are the same. This would fly in Auckland but in places like Palmerston North it just doesn't work. People may go there on a Sunday afternoon but would bypass it on Monday through Friday mornings on the way to work. New Zealanders generally don't like to give away their money easily especially people in the provinces and top dollar for a cup of coffee is not a done thing.
2. You have to decide what kind of market you are going to target and structure your menu and location for that market. For example if you are going to target a more older crowd you don't want to put exotic foods and things that people don't know what it is. You have to have more recognisable food, traditional if you like at a lower price.
3. You have to decide what kind of food is going on that menu. Are you going to have the traditional sausage rolls, mince pies, doughnuts and sally lunns on the menu or are you going to have wraps, quiches and slices. This would depend on where the cafe is located. Personally in this town I think you have to have a combination of them both. The market is too small to only cater to one section of the population. Some grumpy old man is not going to want to eat quiches.
4. I think for a cafe to be successful it needs to be open a great number of hours. I know that Cafe Cuba is open from early in the morning until late at night and that seems to be successful and so a cafe needs to be open from say 7am to 11pm, even 6am to 12am. That way you will get people who want that breakfast and people who want a coffee or dessert after seeing a movie late at night.
5. Location, location, location. A cafe in Palmerston North has to be in George Street. No argument. That's where it should be. It can't be open on the Square at midnight as you will get drunken louts coming in and that is not why people go to a cafe. They go there for quite conversation not abuse from drunken young people.
6. The marketing of your cafe in Palmerston North needs to be good. If you do a good show then the word of mouth will be excellent in this town. If you are crap that will get around twice as fast, so be careful. You need to use radio to get your message across. There are a plethora of radio stations in Palmerston North, use them. Make sure that you are the person on the ad or even better get a local celebrity to voice your ad. You will be surprised how many people listen to the radio so that medium is a must.
7. In 2012 this is a must, have a website with your menu on it. The number of establishments I look up on the internet that don't have their own specialised website is mind boggling and you may be losing customers to other places if you don't have one.
8. Nice friendly, well groomed and intelligent staff are a must. I think this is important and it should go without saying but sometimes the service in this country can leave a little to be desired. Some people believe by asking, "How's your day going?" they are showing good customer service. That is bullshit. You create good customer service by doing things correctly and politely. If you want to talk to the customer talk about something relevant to them, not something generic that they hear fifteen times a day and they don't know how to answer. I have two stories I remember a long time a go at Pak N' Save a check out assistant spoke with me about something I had in my trolley. it was relevant to me and I had a good experience. A few weeks a ago I was in a cafe in George STreet and ordered something and she got it wrong and then argued with me when I said that she got it wrong. Unfortunately for the owners I won't go in there again.
9. The decor of the cafe needs to be neutral. This is not a flashy town. If you decorate your cafe too flashy and gaudy it runs the risk of being known as somewhere where alternative people go to rather than who you want to attract, the mainstream.
10. I've said a few times in this post and I'm going to say it again, PRICE or as the say on The Apprentice PRICE POINT is important. Remember who your market is and price it accordingly. This is so important. I believe Starbucks priced itself out of the Palmerston North market.
At the end of the day if you are going to have a successful cafe in Palmerston North, you have to be conscious of price, location and just general awesomeness because if it is then the word of mouth, in other words the grapevine will run overtime and you will be working overtime to keep up with the demand of your cafe.
Sunday 21 October 2012
This weekend's sports action
I am an avid sports watcher and I would just like to comment on two incidents over the weekend that have caught my eye and made me think about what is going on.
First of all, on Friday night (UK time), Leeds were playing Sheffield Wednesday in a South Yorkshire derby. In other words a football game. After Leeds scored, a few Leeds supporters came on to the ground after their team had scored with one coming up to the goalkeeper and pushing him quite violently in the face. The shock value alone would have been enough to hurt him and he needed medical attention.
Here is my take on this, this kind of action is disgusting and is a disgrace for football in the United Kingdom. It is assault and the guy should be put in prison as far as I am concerned.
What can Leeds United and more specifically, English football do, so that this kind of incident never happens again.
1. Ban the guy for life and also ban some of his mates. Make an example of him and then show that that kind of abuse won't be tolerated and do it harshly. A pre-emptive strike so to speak. You would have to be a complete moron not to take any notice of that.
2. Play in front of empty stadiums. Unfortunately this is punishing the 98% of the fans who are there for the football and will be a big hit in the accounts of the football clubs but drastic times require drastic measures.
3. I know that after the Hillsborough tragedy, fences are not allowed but if players are continuing to be under threat from spectators then they may not have a choice.
4. Hire the local rugby team to stand behind the goals and act as bouncers and give them permission to smash anyone who dares come on the field. The rugby players will be wearing boots so if a spectator does come on then they have an advantage. The boots can also be used for rucking the offender.
5. Rather than a fence, they could have a net in front of the spectators. This net can be lowered at the touch of a button. It is also build quite high so the ball doesn't get lost amongst the spectators.
I don't know whether these ideas will work because in the UK, it seems that football is not a matter of life or death, it is more important than that. Maybe the problem is not just a football one but a society one on a whole. Some of the people who watch the matches seem to have a couple of screws loose.
The next incident I want to comment on is from a rugby match on Saturday in the town of Pukekohe, just south of Auckland in New Zealand. Counties Manukau was playing Southland in the semi-final of the championship section of the National Provincial Rugby Competition. In the first half, one of the Southland players was shown to be lying on the ground, apparently injured. He was put on a stretcher and carried off the ground.
It come through after the game that the player has suffered a cardiac arrest and was in an induced coma in an Auckland hospital. I wish that he has a speedy recovery and even if he can't play rugby again I hope that he has a long life in the sport that he obviously loves.
The first thing I want to comment on is the comparison between what happened with Fabrice Muamba earlier this year and this incident. After Fabrice Muamba was carried off the ground, the football game was stopped and his club, Bolton even postponed their following game. Yesterday's game continued as usual.
What I'm thinking about what does that say about the differences between football and rugby and even British society and New Zealand society? I can't work it out. I think the football game was right to be stopped, because at the end of the day human life is more important that anything else, while the rugby episode showed that life does go on. It is confusing.
Anyway, I'm glad to see that Fabrice Muamba has made a fantastic recovery. Lets hope that the Southland player can make a similar recovery and if he can't play again he can coach which he wants to do.
Rugby people in New Zealand are blaming the condensed nature of the competition and the fact that rugby is a physical game the stress on the body is quite high.
What can the rugby officials do to make the competition less stressful on the players:
1. Have a minimum of 6 days between games for teams.
2. Scrap mid-week games and only play Friday through Monday.
3. Increase the numbers in a team from 22 to 24.
4. Have 4 quarters of 20 minutes each instead of 2 halves of 40 minutes with ample drinks breaks. (The traditionalists are going to hate this.)
5. Play games earlier in the year.
For people who want to here are some videos of the two incidents.
Football: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9xElKblt5E
Rugby: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/7844177/Southland-star-serious-after-collapsing-on-field
First of all, on Friday night (UK time), Leeds were playing Sheffield Wednesday in a South Yorkshire derby. In other words a football game. After Leeds scored, a few Leeds supporters came on to the ground after their team had scored with one coming up to the goalkeeper and pushing him quite violently in the face. The shock value alone would have been enough to hurt him and he needed medical attention.
Here is my take on this, this kind of action is disgusting and is a disgrace for football in the United Kingdom. It is assault and the guy should be put in prison as far as I am concerned.
What can Leeds United and more specifically, English football do, so that this kind of incident never happens again.
1. Ban the guy for life and also ban some of his mates. Make an example of him and then show that that kind of abuse won't be tolerated and do it harshly. A pre-emptive strike so to speak. You would have to be a complete moron not to take any notice of that.
2. Play in front of empty stadiums. Unfortunately this is punishing the 98% of the fans who are there for the football and will be a big hit in the accounts of the football clubs but drastic times require drastic measures.
3. I know that after the Hillsborough tragedy, fences are not allowed but if players are continuing to be under threat from spectators then they may not have a choice.
4. Hire the local rugby team to stand behind the goals and act as bouncers and give them permission to smash anyone who dares come on the field. The rugby players will be wearing boots so if a spectator does come on then they have an advantage. The boots can also be used for rucking the offender.
5. Rather than a fence, they could have a net in front of the spectators. This net can be lowered at the touch of a button. It is also build quite high so the ball doesn't get lost amongst the spectators.
I don't know whether these ideas will work because in the UK, it seems that football is not a matter of life or death, it is more important than that. Maybe the problem is not just a football one but a society one on a whole. Some of the people who watch the matches seem to have a couple of screws loose.
The next incident I want to comment on is from a rugby match on Saturday in the town of Pukekohe, just south of Auckland in New Zealand. Counties Manukau was playing Southland in the semi-final of the championship section of the National Provincial Rugby Competition. In the first half, one of the Southland players was shown to be lying on the ground, apparently injured. He was put on a stretcher and carried off the ground.
It come through after the game that the player has suffered a cardiac arrest and was in an induced coma in an Auckland hospital. I wish that he has a speedy recovery and even if he can't play rugby again I hope that he has a long life in the sport that he obviously loves.
The first thing I want to comment on is the comparison between what happened with Fabrice Muamba earlier this year and this incident. After Fabrice Muamba was carried off the ground, the football game was stopped and his club, Bolton even postponed their following game. Yesterday's game continued as usual.
What I'm thinking about what does that say about the differences between football and rugby and even British society and New Zealand society? I can't work it out. I think the football game was right to be stopped, because at the end of the day human life is more important that anything else, while the rugby episode showed that life does go on. It is confusing.
Anyway, I'm glad to see that Fabrice Muamba has made a fantastic recovery. Lets hope that the Southland player can make a similar recovery and if he can't play again he can coach which he wants to do.
Rugby people in New Zealand are blaming the condensed nature of the competition and the fact that rugby is a physical game the stress on the body is quite high.
What can the rugby officials do to make the competition less stressful on the players:
1. Have a minimum of 6 days between games for teams.
2. Scrap mid-week games and only play Friday through Monday.
3. Increase the numbers in a team from 22 to 24.
4. Have 4 quarters of 20 minutes each instead of 2 halves of 40 minutes with ample drinks breaks. (The traditionalists are going to hate this.)
5. Play games earlier in the year.
For people who want to here are some videos of the two incidents.
Football: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9xElKblt5E
Rugby: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/7844177/Southland-star-serious-after-collapsing-on-field
Saturday 20 October 2012
Can the summer game regain its past glories?
I am a cricket fan. I played cricket at school. I played cricket when I left school and even played while I was living in Japan. I have played cricket in four different countries and it would be quite nice to play in other countries but that is for later.
In the international game, the 20 over format of the game has taken off around the world. Presently in South Africa, the T20 Champions League is taking place. This is like the football equivalent with the winners of the various domestic leagues fighting it out.
However, the grandaddy of it all is the IPL or the Indian Premier League. Since this has started, various other countries have tried to create their own leagues. Australia has the BBL which seems semi-successful. Sri Lanka started the SLPL. Bangladesh also had the BPL and I'm sure South Africa and the West Indies have something. I know that the West Indies had quite an awesome competition until their benefactor got chucked in jail.
New Zealand also has it own competition called the HRV Cup. It started in it's current format a couple of seasons ago and has quite a bit of television coverage. Traditionally domestic cricket in New Zealand hasn't had a great deal of coverage on TV.
So, can an IPL type league in New Zealand succeed. In a word, No. However I do have some ideas on how to make the HRV Cup more marketable.
1. This year the HRV Cup starts on November 2 with one game a week on Friday nights. Yes, not a great idea. Can you imagine watching cricket at night in the beginning of November? One word, brrrrrrr. I know they want the television coverage and they don't have much competition on those nights with the exception of the A-League or the NBL but this kind of cricket needs to be played in late December early January, period. No arguments. That is when it is played.
2. This is not a new idea and they do it but let me emphasize it, here is where you play these games, Mount Manganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Kerikeri, Paraparaumu, Nelson, Rotorua, Queenstown, Taupo, Gisborne (sorry, I don't know the holiday spots in the South Island very well) Why these places? This is where people go on holiday and I know when you are on holiday you are looking to do stuff and a HRV Cup is perfect. I go to the stock cars when I am at Mount Manganui and enjoy it. Do you think cricket would get the same type of people coming to it? You bet.
3. The pitches have to be better. People want to come and watch 195 plays 190, not 103 all out plays 105 for 8. They want to see sixes and fours and exceptional fielding like this. They want to see wickets all over the place. This is no different to what Kerry Packer had thought when he created World Series Cricket in 1977.
4. I think that I have said this in a previous post and I am going to say it again I think that it is time for cricket players to start specialising. Either you are going to play first class/test cricket or you are going to play T20 cricket. (I don't know where 50 over cricket fits into that.) I think we are seeing it more and more with T20 specialists. People like David Warner, Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum say that they love playing for their country and they love playing test matches, and I'm sure that they do, especially McCullum but when push comes to shove and if they had to choose then they would go for T20, not just for the money but for the less strain that it puts on the body and I think they like playing in front of the big crowds. I know I would. New Zealand could lead the way in this by saying that you either play one or the other.
5. For the HRV Cup to succeed unfortunately you need to bring in overseas players. I say unfortunately because ideally you want your home grown players to be playing but like basketball and football that just isn't realistic. I think you have to bring the best players. That is just how it is. A couple of years ago Central Districts had Michael Yardy and Ian Blackwell as their overseas players. Both very good players who have played county cricket for a long time and have on occasions played for England. From what I could tell they both made great contributions but those players don't get people to the grounds. Chris Gayle does. David Warner does. Tillakaratne Dilshan does. Virender Sehwag does. That is a lot of money you need. Will you get it back? Maybe.
6. For those of you who don't know T20 cricket originated from a game called Cricket Max which was invented by former New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe. It was a 20 over game divided into four innings of 10 overs each. Bowlers could only bowl 4 overs and if you bowled a no ball the next ball was a free hit. Also there was a zone down the ground so if you hit that you got double the runs. So as you can imagine there were some massive scores. I went to the final in 1997 in Napier and Mark Greatbatch went absolutely nuts. So bring back the Max Zone. I know that it isn't an original idea but it is a good idea.
7. I think New Zealand cricket have to and they probably already have that the HRV Cup will not be as big as the IPL but why not try. Sometimes they need that one person to start pushing them to think beyond what they have. A Donald Trump type of guy could do that. Who do we have in New Zealand that would force them to think big? The Mad Butcher? He's a rugby league guy though.
8. I don't have great knowledge of the running of the IPL but I suppose like most professional franchise teams they are owned by one guy. New Zealand cricket needs to go cap in hand to these people. Is Graeme Hart a cricket fan? I doubt he would want to invest in a cricket team but you never know. After all for a lot of these guys, owning a sports team is an ego thing. Like they have done in Australia the six provinces need to change to a franchise system. Who knows, if I some money I might buy one.
9. Cricket generally in New Zealand needs to get its popularity back. Come to think of it, to compare the HRV Cup and the IPL is like comparing Tokyo and Palmerston North, you can't. But as the Chinese say a journey starts with a single step and for the HRV Cup to succeed cricket needs to regain its fans and how does that happen? The national team does better.
10. I'm not sure what the viewer figures are but does the HRV Cup need to be a bit more on terrestrial television. It is a Catch-22 though because pay TV is where you get your money from. If it is on TV a bit more would more fans pay for Sky? I'm sure they have done some research for that.
In the international game, the 20 over format of the game has taken off around the world. Presently in South Africa, the T20 Champions League is taking place. This is like the football equivalent with the winners of the various domestic leagues fighting it out.
However, the grandaddy of it all is the IPL or the Indian Premier League. Since this has started, various other countries have tried to create their own leagues. Australia has the BBL which seems semi-successful. Sri Lanka started the SLPL. Bangladesh also had the BPL and I'm sure South Africa and the West Indies have something. I know that the West Indies had quite an awesome competition until their benefactor got chucked in jail.
New Zealand also has it own competition called the HRV Cup. It started in it's current format a couple of seasons ago and has quite a bit of television coverage. Traditionally domestic cricket in New Zealand hasn't had a great deal of coverage on TV.
So, can an IPL type league in New Zealand succeed. In a word, No. However I do have some ideas on how to make the HRV Cup more marketable.
1. This year the HRV Cup starts on November 2 with one game a week on Friday nights. Yes, not a great idea. Can you imagine watching cricket at night in the beginning of November? One word, brrrrrrr. I know they want the television coverage and they don't have much competition on those nights with the exception of the A-League or the NBL but this kind of cricket needs to be played in late December early January, period. No arguments. That is when it is played.
2. This is not a new idea and they do it but let me emphasize it, here is where you play these games, Mount Manganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Kerikeri, Paraparaumu, Nelson, Rotorua, Queenstown, Taupo, Gisborne (sorry, I don't know the holiday spots in the South Island very well) Why these places? This is where people go on holiday and I know when you are on holiday you are looking to do stuff and a HRV Cup is perfect. I go to the stock cars when I am at Mount Manganui and enjoy it. Do you think cricket would get the same type of people coming to it? You bet.
3. The pitches have to be better. People want to come and watch 195 plays 190, not 103 all out plays 105 for 8. They want to see sixes and fours and exceptional fielding like this. They want to see wickets all over the place. This is no different to what Kerry Packer had thought when he created World Series Cricket in 1977.
4. I think that I have said this in a previous post and I am going to say it again I think that it is time for cricket players to start specialising. Either you are going to play first class/test cricket or you are going to play T20 cricket. (I don't know where 50 over cricket fits into that.) I think we are seeing it more and more with T20 specialists. People like David Warner, Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum say that they love playing for their country and they love playing test matches, and I'm sure that they do, especially McCullum but when push comes to shove and if they had to choose then they would go for T20, not just for the money but for the less strain that it puts on the body and I think they like playing in front of the big crowds. I know I would. New Zealand could lead the way in this by saying that you either play one or the other.
5. For the HRV Cup to succeed unfortunately you need to bring in overseas players. I say unfortunately because ideally you want your home grown players to be playing but like basketball and football that just isn't realistic. I think you have to bring the best players. That is just how it is. A couple of years ago Central Districts had Michael Yardy and Ian Blackwell as their overseas players. Both very good players who have played county cricket for a long time and have on occasions played for England. From what I could tell they both made great contributions but those players don't get people to the grounds. Chris Gayle does. David Warner does. Tillakaratne Dilshan does. Virender Sehwag does. That is a lot of money you need. Will you get it back? Maybe.
6. For those of you who don't know T20 cricket originated from a game called Cricket Max which was invented by former New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe. It was a 20 over game divided into four innings of 10 overs each. Bowlers could only bowl 4 overs and if you bowled a no ball the next ball was a free hit. Also there was a zone down the ground so if you hit that you got double the runs. So as you can imagine there were some massive scores. I went to the final in 1997 in Napier and Mark Greatbatch went absolutely nuts. So bring back the Max Zone. I know that it isn't an original idea but it is a good idea.
7. I think New Zealand cricket have to and they probably already have that the HRV Cup will not be as big as the IPL but why not try. Sometimes they need that one person to start pushing them to think beyond what they have. A Donald Trump type of guy could do that. Who do we have in New Zealand that would force them to think big? The Mad Butcher? He's a rugby league guy though.
8. I don't have great knowledge of the running of the IPL but I suppose like most professional franchise teams they are owned by one guy. New Zealand cricket needs to go cap in hand to these people. Is Graeme Hart a cricket fan? I doubt he would want to invest in a cricket team but you never know. After all for a lot of these guys, owning a sports team is an ego thing. Like they have done in Australia the six provinces need to change to a franchise system. Who knows, if I some money I might buy one.
9. Cricket generally in New Zealand needs to get its popularity back. Come to think of it, to compare the HRV Cup and the IPL is like comparing Tokyo and Palmerston North, you can't. But as the Chinese say a journey starts with a single step and for the HRV Cup to succeed cricket needs to regain its fans and how does that happen? The national team does better.
10. I'm not sure what the viewer figures are but does the HRV Cup need to be a bit more on terrestrial television. It is a Catch-22 though because pay TV is where you get your money from. If it is on TV a bit more would more fans pay for Sky? I'm sure they have done some research for that.
Friday 19 October 2012
How can Palmerston North market itself better in Japan
As regular readers of my blog will know, I was born, bred and educated in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I have also lived the last 15 years of my life in Japan. So I am qualified to talk from both points of view. How should Palmerston North market itself better for the Japanese market?
Here are my ideas:
1. The city council or the people that do the marketing for tourism need to have a Japanese language website. I wrote Palmerston North in Japanese into the google search engine and the first site was the Wikipedia Japanese page. The next one was someone's tour diary and the third one was a generic tourist one. Not necessarily for Palmerston North but for New Zealand.
2. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the City of Knowledge. I know in the 1990's, Palmerston North was marketed as the City of Knowledge and for good reason. I know that Massey University and IPC would do their own marketing but can they combine forces with the city to market as one, or are they in competition with each other?
3. Palmerston North needs to combine with the rugby academy to get Japanese rugby players here. I know that they probably have many Japanese players already but imagine what it would be like for Palmerston North to be known as the home of rugby in New Zealand.
4. For about three or four years while I was living in Japan I would entertain a teacher from a high school in Palmerston North. He was on a tour in Asia trying to recruit students for his school. I'm not sure if the other high schools do this but is it possible for the schools of this area to collaborate and to enhance the city of Knowledge theme by saying that Palmerston North is the place to get a high school education?
5. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the English language capital of New Zealand. The city that you can come to and it is cheap to live and you can learn English in a great environment. Some Japanese people pay big money to learn English so why can't Palmerston North get a slice of that pie?
6. Farm stays are popular amongst Japanese tourists and this is one way to get tourists to come to the Manawatu. I know that there are numerous diary farms in this area. I'm sure that tourists would love the opportunity to stay for a couple of nights and help with milking in the mornings. This is something that may not be done in downtown Tokyo and I think that the tourists would love it.
7. How can Palmerston North and the Manawatu use their windmills to market to the Japanese population? This is something that is rare in Japan with it's reliance on nuclear power, although in saying that, nuclear power for obvious reasons seem to be on the way out in the land of the rising sun, so Palmerston North could market itself as the clean power of New Zealand, so why don't you come and see the windmills? It could be interesting. Actually come to think of it, I haven't been up to the windmills yet. Maybe I should.
8. Golf!!! There are some interesting golf courses in and around the Palmerston North area. Japanese tourists could base themselves in Palmerston North and play a different course over a 5 day to a week period. They could start at Manawatu, then go to Rangitira, maybe play at Apiti. That course is unique with the small fences around the greens to keep the grazing sheep out. Possible other courses could be Rangitikei with the last round being at awesome courses like Cape Kidnappers or Paraparaumu.
9. Baseball is the number one sport in Japan. It is covered on television every day during the season and millions of fans go to the stadiums during the season. However in the winter Japan as you can imagine it gets quite cold and baseball, although played can be quite uncomfortable in the cold. Do you think if the proper facilities were built, a Japanese team or a number of Japanese teams would come to train in our summer? This idea is out of left field, so to speak but it is doable. Pardon the pun.
10. Finally, why don't we market Palmerston North as what it is, a stable, middle of the road, real New Zealand town with education, sporting and tourist opportunities? That sounds quite boring but that is what it is. Take it or leave it.
Here are my ideas:
1. The city council or the people that do the marketing for tourism need to have a Japanese language website. I wrote Palmerston North in Japanese into the google search engine and the first site was the Wikipedia Japanese page. The next one was someone's tour diary and the third one was a generic tourist one. Not necessarily for Palmerston North but for New Zealand.
2. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the City of Knowledge. I know in the 1990's, Palmerston North was marketed as the City of Knowledge and for good reason. I know that Massey University and IPC would do their own marketing but can they combine forces with the city to market as one, or are they in competition with each other?
3. Palmerston North needs to combine with the rugby academy to get Japanese rugby players here. I know that they probably have many Japanese players already but imagine what it would be like for Palmerston North to be known as the home of rugby in New Zealand.
4. For about three or four years while I was living in Japan I would entertain a teacher from a high school in Palmerston North. He was on a tour in Asia trying to recruit students for his school. I'm not sure if the other high schools do this but is it possible for the schools of this area to collaborate and to enhance the city of Knowledge theme by saying that Palmerston North is the place to get a high school education?
5. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the English language capital of New Zealand. The city that you can come to and it is cheap to live and you can learn English in a great environment. Some Japanese people pay big money to learn English so why can't Palmerston North get a slice of that pie?
6. Farm stays are popular amongst Japanese tourists and this is one way to get tourists to come to the Manawatu. I know that there are numerous diary farms in this area. I'm sure that tourists would love the opportunity to stay for a couple of nights and help with milking in the mornings. This is something that may not be done in downtown Tokyo and I think that the tourists would love it.
7. How can Palmerston North and the Manawatu use their windmills to market to the Japanese population? This is something that is rare in Japan with it's reliance on nuclear power, although in saying that, nuclear power for obvious reasons seem to be on the way out in the land of the rising sun, so Palmerston North could market itself as the clean power of New Zealand, so why don't you come and see the windmills? It could be interesting. Actually come to think of it, I haven't been up to the windmills yet. Maybe I should.
8. Golf!!! There are some interesting golf courses in and around the Palmerston North area. Japanese tourists could base themselves in Palmerston North and play a different course over a 5 day to a week period. They could start at Manawatu, then go to Rangitira, maybe play at Apiti. That course is unique with the small fences around the greens to keep the grazing sheep out. Possible other courses could be Rangitikei with the last round being at awesome courses like Cape Kidnappers or Paraparaumu.
9. Baseball is the number one sport in Japan. It is covered on television every day during the season and millions of fans go to the stadiums during the season. However in the winter Japan as you can imagine it gets quite cold and baseball, although played can be quite uncomfortable in the cold. Do you think if the proper facilities were built, a Japanese team or a number of Japanese teams would come to train in our summer? This idea is out of left field, so to speak but it is doable. Pardon the pun.
10. Finally, why don't we market Palmerston North as what it is, a stable, middle of the road, real New Zealand town with education, sporting and tourist opportunities? That sounds quite boring but that is what it is. Take it or leave it.
Thursday 18 October 2012
Inspiration in the movies
Today I would like to change tune a little and talk about movies. I'm sure everyone out there have watched a few movies in their time and probably have two or three movies that are your favourites.
What are my favourite movies and what ones have been an inspiration for me? Lets have a look:
1. Empire of the Sun: This is a Stephen Spielberg movie and it is a coming of age movie starring a very young Christian Bale. There is no Batman here. I like how the young hero in the movie changed from a spoiled little boy who basically lived in the lap of luxury in wartime Shanghai to a boy who had to grow up very quickly in a prison camp.
2. Chariots of Fire: This movie is set in and before the 1924 Paris Olympics. It is centered around two main characters, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell. Both are determined sprinters and are looking to get to the Olympics despite difficulties. Liddell is very christian and his family members want him to do church work while Harold Abrahams is Jewish and has a very professional attitude to his running despite the time being a very gentleman-like amateur period. The idea of competing was more than the idea of running and winning. I like how both athletes over came their problems to win a gold medal and fulfill a dream.
3. The Shawshank Redemption: What guy doesn't say that this movie is one of their favourite movies? When you ever ask a guy what their favourite movie is they will all say this one. Sometimes you wonder if they are saying it because they don't want to say Weekend at Bernie's or Weekend at Bernie's 2 but it is an inspirational film and it has taught me persistence. The fact that he took 20 years to get out of their. He knew that he wasn't guilty but he didn't fight and protest he just went about his job and didn't make any commotion with the exception of a couple of times and he finally got his freedom.
4. Dead Poet's Society: If you are not a Robin Williams fan you may want to give this a miss because you think that it will be all full of his type of comedy, but this is one of those movies that he plays a serious role and I reckon that he has influenced a generation of teachers. I like it how he challenges the traditional way of thinking of the school and in doing that inspires the boys to think a little bit more out of the box than what they normally would have done. I also like the list of characters in the movie with their different personalities. I can certainly identify with one of them, although I am not going to tell you which one it is.
5. Forrest Gump: Quite frankly this is one of the best movies ever made. I like how someone so, and I hate to use this word, simple could achieve so much with just hard work, determination, loyalty and trust. I like how they incorporated a whole bunch of world events in the movie and I also liked the friendships that Forrest made in the movie. It showed me the beauty of friendship and that if you look after them they will look after you. I also enjoyed Forrest Gump investing in a "fruit company." I wonder how much those shares are worth now.
6. The World's Fastest Indian: I had to put in a New Zealand movie, didn't I. I first saw this movie on a flight from Tokyo to Sydney. I had never heard of it and so had bypassed it for other movies on the flight until I saw what it was about and I thought that I better watch it. Burt Munro is an inspiration to people who have a dream and will do anything to achieve it. The fact that he is portrayed as a common man makes it even more inspirational. The persistence he shows and the love to his chosen profession makes it obvious that he is going to achieve his goal. I think the key word is love. He loved what he was doing and he did it. Fantastic.
7. Cast away: Another Tom Hanks movie. Is there a pattern developing here? For people who don't know this movie, Tom Hanks plays a FedEx executive who catches a ride on a trip to the South Pacific and unfortunately the plan crashes. He survives and the whole movie is about his four and a half years on the island. I like it how he survived and became very resourceful with what he had. He was also driven by the love of his wife and the will to survive.
8. The Pursuit of Happyness: This is another awesome true story of persistence, hard work and love. Chris Gardner was struggling as a salesman for medical devices and lost his wife and home. All he had was his son and the ability to work. He worked smart and with a combination of good luck and good management managed to make it as a stock broker and the rest is history.
9. Braveheart: No, it isn't because I like to see guys in skirts. Braveheart is another example of what can be achieved with combination of love and having a purpose. William Wallace wanted the English out of his country and he fought and ultimately lost his life for that purpose. It was obvious his love of his country as well as for a woman that inspired him to do what he did. When I think about it the love of someone is an important ingredient in success. It allows you to have a rock behind you encouraging you, supporting you in your attempt to do something special.
10. Yes Man : A Jim Carrey movie I hear you say. I'm a bit like you in when I think about Jim Carrey I think of his slapstick movies and his funny faces and sometimes, unintelligible dialogue. The message in this movie is that life is full of opportunities and if you keep on turning your back on them then eventually life might turn it's back on you. So if you have time to do things do it. Say yes to life as they say in the movie. You may only get one chance so you may as well give it a go. Do you think Felix Baumgartner even thought about it before he said yes?
What are the main themes in these movies? Persistence, Love, Hard Work are some of the major ones. I think if you find a purpose and work at it with persistence then you can achieve anything. These movies are examples of that.
What are my favourite movies and what ones have been an inspiration for me? Lets have a look:
1. Empire of the Sun: This is a Stephen Spielberg movie and it is a coming of age movie starring a very young Christian Bale. There is no Batman here. I like how the young hero in the movie changed from a spoiled little boy who basically lived in the lap of luxury in wartime Shanghai to a boy who had to grow up very quickly in a prison camp.
2. Chariots of Fire: This movie is set in and before the 1924 Paris Olympics. It is centered around two main characters, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell. Both are determined sprinters and are looking to get to the Olympics despite difficulties. Liddell is very christian and his family members want him to do church work while Harold Abrahams is Jewish and has a very professional attitude to his running despite the time being a very gentleman-like amateur period. The idea of competing was more than the idea of running and winning. I like how both athletes over came their problems to win a gold medal and fulfill a dream.
3. The Shawshank Redemption: What guy doesn't say that this movie is one of their favourite movies? When you ever ask a guy what their favourite movie is they will all say this one. Sometimes you wonder if they are saying it because they don't want to say Weekend at Bernie's or Weekend at Bernie's 2 but it is an inspirational film and it has taught me persistence. The fact that he took 20 years to get out of their. He knew that he wasn't guilty but he didn't fight and protest he just went about his job and didn't make any commotion with the exception of a couple of times and he finally got his freedom.
4. Dead Poet's Society: If you are not a Robin Williams fan you may want to give this a miss because you think that it will be all full of his type of comedy, but this is one of those movies that he plays a serious role and I reckon that he has influenced a generation of teachers. I like it how he challenges the traditional way of thinking of the school and in doing that inspires the boys to think a little bit more out of the box than what they normally would have done. I also like the list of characters in the movie with their different personalities. I can certainly identify with one of them, although I am not going to tell you which one it is.
5. Forrest Gump: Quite frankly this is one of the best movies ever made. I like how someone so, and I hate to use this word, simple could achieve so much with just hard work, determination, loyalty and trust. I like how they incorporated a whole bunch of world events in the movie and I also liked the friendships that Forrest made in the movie. It showed me the beauty of friendship and that if you look after them they will look after you. I also enjoyed Forrest Gump investing in a "fruit company." I wonder how much those shares are worth now.
6. The World's Fastest Indian: I had to put in a New Zealand movie, didn't I. I first saw this movie on a flight from Tokyo to Sydney. I had never heard of it and so had bypassed it for other movies on the flight until I saw what it was about and I thought that I better watch it. Burt Munro is an inspiration to people who have a dream and will do anything to achieve it. The fact that he is portrayed as a common man makes it even more inspirational. The persistence he shows and the love to his chosen profession makes it obvious that he is going to achieve his goal. I think the key word is love. He loved what he was doing and he did it. Fantastic.
7. Cast away: Another Tom Hanks movie. Is there a pattern developing here? For people who don't know this movie, Tom Hanks plays a FedEx executive who catches a ride on a trip to the South Pacific and unfortunately the plan crashes. He survives and the whole movie is about his four and a half years on the island. I like it how he survived and became very resourceful with what he had. He was also driven by the love of his wife and the will to survive.
8. The Pursuit of Happyness: This is another awesome true story of persistence, hard work and love. Chris Gardner was struggling as a salesman for medical devices and lost his wife and home. All he had was his son and the ability to work. He worked smart and with a combination of good luck and good management managed to make it as a stock broker and the rest is history.
9. Braveheart: No, it isn't because I like to see guys in skirts. Braveheart is another example of what can be achieved with combination of love and having a purpose. William Wallace wanted the English out of his country and he fought and ultimately lost his life for that purpose. It was obvious his love of his country as well as for a woman that inspired him to do what he did. When I think about it the love of someone is an important ingredient in success. It allows you to have a rock behind you encouraging you, supporting you in your attempt to do something special.
10. Yes Man : A Jim Carrey movie I hear you say. I'm a bit like you in when I think about Jim Carrey I think of his slapstick movies and his funny faces and sometimes, unintelligible dialogue. The message in this movie is that life is full of opportunities and if you keep on turning your back on them then eventually life might turn it's back on you. So if you have time to do things do it. Say yes to life as they say in the movie. You may only get one chance so you may as well give it a go. Do you think Felix Baumgartner even thought about it before he said yes?
What are the main themes in these movies? Persistence, Love, Hard Work are some of the major ones. I think if you find a purpose and work at it with persistence then you can achieve anything. These movies are examples of that.
Wednesday 17 October 2012
2013 - The Next Step
For people who know me, then you know my story. For people who don't, I'm now living in Palmerston North, New Zealand. This is the city in which I was born and raised and educated in and left when I was 23 years old. I lived in Japan for just under 15 years and at the beginning of this year I returned to Palmerston North. I would have preferred to stay in Japan but circumstances dictated that I should return.
For the last seven months or so I have been working in the bar of a function centre at the local horse racing track. I know that this job isn't going to be for the rest of my life and I have even told my boss that I'm not going to be staying there for ever and that I will be working until the end of the year.
So, the good thing is that I have options to what I want to do in 2013. I think that it is great that in today's age we do have all of these options and one can make an educated decision on what he or she wants to do.
For me, here are some options that I have:
1. Stay working at the race course. It is quite enjoyable and I do enjoy the hours that I work. I like working on the weekend and starting work at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and working through to after midnight. Definitely not your typical 9 to 5 job.
2. Go to teacher's college and become a teacher. I taught in Japan for close to 10 years. My family think that I should do that for various reasons. They can see that I would make a god teacher. Teachers also seem to have good collegiality (I just learnt that word the other day) and holidays are good. For example 6 to 7 weeks over summer is quite nice.
3. Return to Japan and hopefully do what I did before. I was a financial adviser for expatriates in Japan. I was not successful in this job because my prospecting systems were not very good. For me to return to this I would have to look closely at these systems and do it better.
4. Become a financial adviser in Palmerston North. I have talked to a couple of people who do this job in Palmerston North and it wouldn't be too bad. I do have a good network here in my hometown and I'm sure that I will be able to tap into that and get some kind of viable business going.
5. A third option of the financial adviser stream is to go to London. I have contacts in that industry and it is another viable option. I do know people socially as well in that city so it wouldn't be a lonely existence.
6. Return to Japan and go back to being an English teacher. As I said before I spent nearly 10 years doing that job. I did enjoy it and you meet some interesting people especially when you teach in companies. I have had the honour of working in some pretty high profile companies and that is a real experience.
7. Look for a job in the tourism industry in New Zealand. This industry has always interested me and it is something that I would probably enjoy. Also you get to live in some pretty cool spots. I suppose with my ability to speak Japanese, I may be of use in places like Rotorua and Queenstown.
8. Return to university. I said before if I want to become a teacher than I would have to go to teachers college but I don't necessarily have to go there, I could look to study something else and start a new career that way. (I could be one of those mature students who sits up the front and always gets 95% on his exams.)
9. Start my own business. I don't have any ideas at the moment but there must be something out there that I can fill the gap in the market. (I sense another blog post coming along.)
10. Marry a rich woman. (No comment necessary.)
These are just ideas that I have and they are not my first choices by any means but it is good to get them down on paper so to speak. I think a big thing for me is not the job per se but where I do it. For example being a financial adviser in Napier doesn't appeal.
For the last seven months or so I have been working in the bar of a function centre at the local horse racing track. I know that this job isn't going to be for the rest of my life and I have even told my boss that I'm not going to be staying there for ever and that I will be working until the end of the year.
So, the good thing is that I have options to what I want to do in 2013. I think that it is great that in today's age we do have all of these options and one can make an educated decision on what he or she wants to do.
For me, here are some options that I have:
1. Stay working at the race course. It is quite enjoyable and I do enjoy the hours that I work. I like working on the weekend and starting work at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and working through to after midnight. Definitely not your typical 9 to 5 job.
2. Go to teacher's college and become a teacher. I taught in Japan for close to 10 years. My family think that I should do that for various reasons. They can see that I would make a god teacher. Teachers also seem to have good collegiality (I just learnt that word the other day) and holidays are good. For example 6 to 7 weeks over summer is quite nice.
3. Return to Japan and hopefully do what I did before. I was a financial adviser for expatriates in Japan. I was not successful in this job because my prospecting systems were not very good. For me to return to this I would have to look closely at these systems and do it better.
4. Become a financial adviser in Palmerston North. I have talked to a couple of people who do this job in Palmerston North and it wouldn't be too bad. I do have a good network here in my hometown and I'm sure that I will be able to tap into that and get some kind of viable business going.
5. A third option of the financial adviser stream is to go to London. I have contacts in that industry and it is another viable option. I do know people socially as well in that city so it wouldn't be a lonely existence.
6. Return to Japan and go back to being an English teacher. As I said before I spent nearly 10 years doing that job. I did enjoy it and you meet some interesting people especially when you teach in companies. I have had the honour of working in some pretty high profile companies and that is a real experience.
7. Look for a job in the tourism industry in New Zealand. This industry has always interested me and it is something that I would probably enjoy. Also you get to live in some pretty cool spots. I suppose with my ability to speak Japanese, I may be of use in places like Rotorua and Queenstown.
8. Return to university. I said before if I want to become a teacher than I would have to go to teachers college but I don't necessarily have to go there, I could look to study something else and start a new career that way. (I could be one of those mature students who sits up the front and always gets 95% on his exams.)
9. Start my own business. I don't have any ideas at the moment but there must be something out there that I can fill the gap in the market. (I sense another blog post coming along.)
10. Marry a rich woman. (No comment necessary.)
These are just ideas that I have and they are not my first choices by any means but it is good to get them down on paper so to speak. I think a big thing for me is not the job per se but where I do it. For example being a financial adviser in Napier doesn't appeal.
Tuesday 16 October 2012
I believe I can fly.
Yesterday, one of the main news stories around the world was the jump made by Felix Baumgartner. I was fascinated by the whole thing and watched quite a few news stories on the Internet last night. I still don't understand what the scientific benefits of the jump are but I'm sure there are some.
Apparently Felix Baumgartner said that his daredevil jumps are now behind him and he wants to become a helicopter pilot. That sounds good and I'm sure that he will make a great pilot. What else can he do? What will you like to see him do? I have a few ideas and here they go:
1. Hanglide off the top of Mount Everest.
2. Jump off the top of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo,Japan. (This is more for the reaction of the Japanese authorities who traditionally are not happy to support anything like that.)
3. I know that he has flown across the English Channel so I would quite like to see him fly across the Cook Strait. That would be cool. He could start in the South Island and land in Lambton Quay across the road from the Beehive.
4. Do something off the top of the Eiffel Tower. Some kind of real James Bond stunt. That would be awesome.
5. It would be cool for him to fly off the Ayers Rock in his Red Bull get up. Although in writing that it may be that there are cultural restrictions on that.
6. The next one is similar to the Cook Strait stunt but something like flying between the pillars of Hercules would be quite interesting. Flying from the Rock of Gibraltar to some peak in North Africa would be quite historical.
7. Yesterday's jump was amazing but I would like to know how far away from the original take off point did he land. My point is if he took off from a Pacific Ocean island or atoll, would he be able to land there too?
8. No jump resume would be complete without jumping off a building in Dubai. Isn't there a building 800 meters high in Dubai?
9. Flying from the high rises on Hong Kong Island to Kowloon would be a real eye opener and you can bet your house that there would be thousands watching it from the water and it would be very spectacular.
10. This is not really a sky dive but a bungy jump would be cool for him to do. Imagine if yesterday was a bungy jump. It would have had huge bungy cord.
I would just like to say that I would never do any of these. The daredevils can do it all themselves.
Finally if anyone can tell me what happened to the ballon with the capsule carrying Felix Baumgartner I would love to know.
Apparently Felix Baumgartner said that his daredevil jumps are now behind him and he wants to become a helicopter pilot. That sounds good and I'm sure that he will make a great pilot. What else can he do? What will you like to see him do? I have a few ideas and here they go:
1. Hanglide off the top of Mount Everest.
2. Jump off the top of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo,Japan. (This is more for the reaction of the Japanese authorities who traditionally are not happy to support anything like that.)
3. I know that he has flown across the English Channel so I would quite like to see him fly across the Cook Strait. That would be cool. He could start in the South Island and land in Lambton Quay across the road from the Beehive.
4. Do something off the top of the Eiffel Tower. Some kind of real James Bond stunt. That would be awesome.
5. It would be cool for him to fly off the Ayers Rock in his Red Bull get up. Although in writing that it may be that there are cultural restrictions on that.
6. The next one is similar to the Cook Strait stunt but something like flying between the pillars of Hercules would be quite interesting. Flying from the Rock of Gibraltar to some peak in North Africa would be quite historical.
7. Yesterday's jump was amazing but I would like to know how far away from the original take off point did he land. My point is if he took off from a Pacific Ocean island or atoll, would he be able to land there too?
8. No jump resume would be complete without jumping off a building in Dubai. Isn't there a building 800 meters high in Dubai?
9. Flying from the high rises on Hong Kong Island to Kowloon would be a real eye opener and you can bet your house that there would be thousands watching it from the water and it would be very spectacular.
10. This is not really a sky dive but a bungy jump would be cool for him to do. Imagine if yesterday was a bungy jump. It would have had huge bungy cord.
I would just like to say that I would never do any of these. The daredevils can do it all themselves.
Finally if anyone can tell me what happened to the ballon with the capsule carrying Felix Baumgartner I would love to know.
Monday 15 October 2012
Whose speech is it anyway?
In a previous post I talked about Toastmasters. Toastmasters is an organisation that helps you with your public speaking and leadership. Every meeting runs to a strict schedule and one of the activities is called Table Topics. Table Topics is basically a chance at improvised speech making. The Table Topics Master has to give the participants a chance to give an improvised speech which he or she gives them.
Coming up with topics for this part of the meeting can be challenging and guess who has to be Table Topics Master next week. Yes, you guessed it, me. What should I ask my fellow club members to talk about? Do you have any ideas? Lets see if I can think of ten ideas.
1. I think the simpler the better. The first time I ever participated in Table Topics I had to talk about the crocodile not being able to poke it's tongue out of it's mouth. So, I ask you, how would you answer that? It had me stumped. My point is, there is nothing wrong with asking about their favourite movie or their favourite food. For people who may not be so confident talking in front of people these kinds of topics can be easy for them to get in the groove. When you start asking about Einstein's Theory of Relativity it isn't helping anyone.
2. Have a collection of current events and ask the speaker to give their point of view on it. Opinions are always a good one. For example, today we saw the Austrian guy jump out of a capsule at 128000 feet and free fall and parachute to the ground. So, you could ask about that and ask the question, an inspiration for mankind or a waste of money?
3. Take a collection of words that are real but no one has probably ever heard of and ask the speakers to give a definition of them. I remember playing a board game like that a few years ago but I don't know what the name of the game was called. I think it might be Balderdash but I'm not 100% sure on that.
4. Use public holidays as a theme for Table Topics. A simple question could be how is the perfect way you would celebrate Christmas? Another idea could be to talk about a memorable New Years' Eve that you have had.
5. Ask the speakers to tell something about themselves that everyone may not know and may find very surprising. This isn't a real example but in my club we have a great deal of farmers in it. A farmer is traditionally thought of as been male and quite conservative. So wouldn't it be funny if one of them said that they like musicals or something similar.
6. The other day I wrote a post about if I won the lottery. This is a perfect example for a Table Topic. I'm sure that you would get a various range of answers from someone saying that they would blow it on material things to someone who would probably invest it in low risk low yield bonds. I can imagine that you would get answers that were enthusiastic and creative while you would also get answers that were for won't of a better word almost boring.
7. I talked about your favourite food before, you could elaborate on it by asking about the strangest food you have ever eaten or the different ethnic foods that you have had. This sounds easy but trying to think of something straight away is, I reckon, quite challenging.
8. I am Table Topics Master on October 23rd. Using the internet (Wikipedia is usually good for this) get the speakers to talk in more detail about what happened today in history. For example, on the 23rd of October 1915 about 30,000 women marched in New York City demanding suffrage. Imagine you are a gentleman of the time and talk about your opinion of this event.
9. If you had someone come to visit you in your hometown for one week where would you take them? What would you do? Where and what would you eat? This maybe easy if you live in New York but if you are doing this for Palmerston North then that could be a challenge.
10. For the more romantic people, ask them what they would do on their perfect date. This can be a fantasy one or a date that they have had in the past.
I'm sure that there are thousands of other ideas for table Topics. Here are just ten. Hmmm, I wonder which ones I can use next week.
Coming up with topics for this part of the meeting can be challenging and guess who has to be Table Topics Master next week. Yes, you guessed it, me. What should I ask my fellow club members to talk about? Do you have any ideas? Lets see if I can think of ten ideas.
1. I think the simpler the better. The first time I ever participated in Table Topics I had to talk about the crocodile not being able to poke it's tongue out of it's mouth. So, I ask you, how would you answer that? It had me stumped. My point is, there is nothing wrong with asking about their favourite movie or their favourite food. For people who may not be so confident talking in front of people these kinds of topics can be easy for them to get in the groove. When you start asking about Einstein's Theory of Relativity it isn't helping anyone.
2. Have a collection of current events and ask the speaker to give their point of view on it. Opinions are always a good one. For example, today we saw the Austrian guy jump out of a capsule at 128000 feet and free fall and parachute to the ground. So, you could ask about that and ask the question, an inspiration for mankind or a waste of money?
3. Take a collection of words that are real but no one has probably ever heard of and ask the speakers to give a definition of them. I remember playing a board game like that a few years ago but I don't know what the name of the game was called. I think it might be Balderdash but I'm not 100% sure on that.
4. Use public holidays as a theme for Table Topics. A simple question could be how is the perfect way you would celebrate Christmas? Another idea could be to talk about a memorable New Years' Eve that you have had.
5. Ask the speakers to tell something about themselves that everyone may not know and may find very surprising. This isn't a real example but in my club we have a great deal of farmers in it. A farmer is traditionally thought of as been male and quite conservative. So wouldn't it be funny if one of them said that they like musicals or something similar.
6. The other day I wrote a post about if I won the lottery. This is a perfect example for a Table Topic. I'm sure that you would get a various range of answers from someone saying that they would blow it on material things to someone who would probably invest it in low risk low yield bonds. I can imagine that you would get answers that were enthusiastic and creative while you would also get answers that were for won't of a better word almost boring.
7. I talked about your favourite food before, you could elaborate on it by asking about the strangest food you have ever eaten or the different ethnic foods that you have had. This sounds easy but trying to think of something straight away is, I reckon, quite challenging.
8. I am Table Topics Master on October 23rd. Using the internet (Wikipedia is usually good for this) get the speakers to talk in more detail about what happened today in history. For example, on the 23rd of October 1915 about 30,000 women marched in New York City demanding suffrage. Imagine you are a gentleman of the time and talk about your opinion of this event.
9. If you had someone come to visit you in your hometown for one week where would you take them? What would you do? Where and what would you eat? This maybe easy if you live in New York but if you are doing this for Palmerston North then that could be a challenge.
10. For the more romantic people, ask them what they would do on their perfect date. This can be a fantasy one or a date that they have had in the past.
I'm sure that there are thousands of other ideas for table Topics. Here are just ten. Hmmm, I wonder which ones I can use next week.
Sunday 14 October 2012
That's a novel idea!
I would like to introduce you to National Novel
Writing Month or Nanowrimo for short.
This is a, I'm struggling to find the correct word. It isn't a competition, it
is a challenge to write a novel in November. 30 days to write a novel. They say
that a novel is over 50000 words so they challenge you to write 50000 words in
30 days. For the more mathematically gifted people out there, they will realise
that 50000 words in 30 days is approximately 1666 words a day. That sounds a
lot but I assure you even the most typing-challenged people around and that
includes me, 1500 words does not take that long and remember that you don't have
to write a perfect novel you just have to get things on paper.
Today
I would like to talk about 10 ideas that you could turn into novels. Some of
ideas could be generic or I could come up with some specific ideas. I'm not
sure. I haven't thought of anything yet. So this post could take me 15 minutes
to write or it could take three hours if I get writers block. Something that I
hope doesn't happen in November.
Anyway,
the following are ten ideas that you can turn into novels:
1. Write
an autobiography. You don't have to use your name and you can use names and
places that don’t have anything to do with you but in fact you are writing
about yourself. The beauty of this is that you can write it about the past or
even better about your future. For example you could write about yourself
flying on your private jet or something similar.
2. How
about writing a novel about a trip that you took or a trip that you want to go?
You could write about the things that you see or even better the characters
that you would meet or even better did meet. Be creative with this. I bet a
whole bunch of you are thinking that you go backpacking or whatever. But, what
about going for a trip to Mars or something like that?
3. Do
you watch the news or read the newspaper? Why not pick a current events story
or even a story from a long time ago and write a story about it? Make some
fictional characters and write a side story to something that we know well. For
example you could make a side story about someone who almost stopped Apollo 11
from launching.
4. You
could write a story about your friend, about his or her life. I’m sure you have
talked to your friend over the years, even met some of is or her friends, so
who better to write a fictional biography about that person. You!
5. What
are your hobbies? Think about what you enjoy and what you do in your free time
and incorporate that into your writing. Their could be a murder at your local football club, that is if you like mystery writing. If you are into flying you could do something that is set around your local aerodrome. The sky is the limit so to speak.
6. How about creating a novel centered around your work. For me I could have it set in a function centre at a racecourse and during a function something happens that changes the whole night and scars the lives of the people involved. This one is a bit cliche but if you are a lawyer you could talk about your job and a trial. Sounds a little bit like a John Grisham novel but it is your job and you should be able to write about it confidently.
7. What are you dreams, goals ambitions? You can write about those either in the first or third person. Who knows, writing these things own on paper may give you the kick up the backside to get you doing it or even you may come up with ideas that you haven't even thought of that you can get those and dreams achieved.
8. If you want to write a romance novel you could write a novel about your current relationship or your ideal relationship or that dream relationship with the god. They tell me that those romance books are some of the best sellers on Amazon so if you do a half decent job then you could be on the ay up that list.
9. Think about some kind of person that has been a big influence in your life. It could be a teacher from high school or a sports coach or some one you have had a great deal to do with in the community. Write about that particular person having a second life that very few people know about if any.
10. Do you have a favourite sport? Why don't you write a novel about a season in your sport. Imagine you are an English Premier League footballer and you write something about your season and the players in your team and the fans that you meet.
Whatever novel you write make sure you have fun doing it and if you attempt he Nanowrimo project remember that perfection is not required and that it is your chance to get something on paper and who knows what diamond in the rough you may find.
Good luck.
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