http://www.bettaplan.com/ bettaplan.com Blog en Thu, 17 May 2012 22:07:25 EST http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/habits-and-ritual http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/habits-and-ritual We forget. Doctors get sick, dentists get toothache and specialist in any field, are likely to fall victim to their own discipline. We specialize in helping people to get organized and to develop good habits. For any of us this is hard work when we start the process, but we know the results can be spectacular. We have been doing this for more than 10 years, in one form or another, so one would expect that we will have this all down pat. One would be wrong. Last week I found myself spinning out of control and overwhelmed by events, tasks and responsibilities, so if you feel like that... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/we-all-know-the-answers-or-do-we- http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/we-all-know-the-answers-or-do-we- Do we ask the correct questions ? Most of us react to any problem presented, by seeking a solution and that is ok, but how often do we end up with a wrong solution and why. Finding a solution to a problem presupposes that the problem or question is valid and correctly stated or identified. Experience shows that thsi assumption can be an enormous mistake. For those reading this comment and thinking "this guy is smoking something" I would suggest a quick read of this. Groupthink has many nasty repercussions and we can all fall into this trap. The concept is not confined to... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/what-are-we-grateful-for- http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/what-are-we-grateful-for- How the time has disappeared, already we are at the back end of May and it feels as though January was only yesterday. You might have noticed that the website blog has not been updated for some time and this posting will, in a way, explain the reason, but first I have to give a bit of background. The year started with a serious “bang”, not what we wanted or anticipated, but then nature has a way of getting our attention. In early January we experienced some devastating floods in Queensland Australia, where we are based. The floods peaked on the 13 January but the... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/can-we-handle-the-truth http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/can-we-handle-the-truth Now at the start of a new year I feel compelled to say it as it is. Can we handle the truth ? Whatever our current circumstance - it is a direct result of what we have Thought and Done up till today. Our future depends on what we Think and Do from this point on. It is really as simple as that. We are all creatures of habit and our habits govern our behaviour. To change out lives we have to examine our habits and the resulting behaviour and then be brave enough to make a decision to change those habits that are holding us back. Change is uncomfortable and without a real commitment and... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/hot-air-balloons-ups-and-downs- http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/hot-air-balloons-ups-and-downs- As we work and grow, we learn. We learn many new things and in the process forget as many things. At times we have to learn the same lesson many times before it “sticks” in our mind. Our lives get busy and we are driving as hard as we can but in the process we miss some of the lessons in front of our noses. Recently I was reminiscing with some friends about the many years I owned and flew hot air balloons, when one of them asked about how much control one has in directing such a craft and whether one was simply at the mercy of the prevailing winds. This lead to a detailed... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/womens-magazines---friend-or-foe http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/womens-magazines---friend-or-foe Flicking through an issue of a women's magazine can be tantalizing or make you want to throw a tantrum...depending on your frame of mind at the time and what's printed on those gorgeous glossy pages. I sat and did just that the other night and I wondered, not for the first time, who it was exactly that could afford the $350 pair of knickers, $45,000 engagement ring or $1500 pair of heels beautifully pictured on the 'Must Have's' page, or the stunning clothes shown in the fashion spreads that even on the 'Budget' page cost $300 and more for a single item. I know it isn't me!! And curiously,... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/time-to-maybe-say-no http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/time-to-maybe-say-no A recent newspaper article had this headline “ Female anger is on the rise as time-stretched women struggle to keep up with hectic schedules…” Even allowing for some “artistic license”, we have to acknowledge some truth in this headline and it raises the question as to what can be done to alleviate this challenge. Having cogitated, deliberated and ruminated on this problem I suspect I might have found one positive action we can all take towards reclaiming our sanity. We have all learnt the flexibility in the words that are used around us, when No means Maybe... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/firewalls-and-missed-opportunities http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/firewalls-and-missed-opportunities In the process of building our businesses one of the most frustrating components must surely be the difficulties we encounter in contacting the correct people in other businesses. This normally requires us to find some way to gain an introduction to a particular person via somebody who knows somebody and so on. The “firewalls” that people create around themselves are normally justified on the basis that a person is busy and really should not be bothered by some insignificant “outsider” who will probably only waste their time. These are all bad reasons and... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/why-read http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/why-read We encourage everybody that works with us to read and to learn, never stop and always look for new sources of knowledge. We generally accept that attending a fitness class is good for us and that the frequency of partaking in such activities will determine the results we achieve. Reading is the mental equivalent to physical exercise. If we are not prepared to determine what we feed our brain, it will have to subsist on "junk food" as in TV, media delivered messages or random sources in our environment. This might not be all bad, providing consumption is in moderation, but leaves open the... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/unskilled-and-unaware http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/unskilled-and-unaware What have we done to improve ourselves lately ? Some years ago, Cornell University published a somewhat technical paper, titled “ Unskilled and Unaware of it : How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated Self-Assessment - “. They say - People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/out-of-africa http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/out-of-africa Lessons ! Last week, while traveling in Africa I found a small business with big plans. Now we are all inclined to view business in a somewhat formal way, with management, motivational and process theories, accurate measurements, planning and a host of other "business" imperatives. These are all valid but maybe we have to be careful to not get sidetracked into so much theory and principle that we forget the fundamentals of business. To provide a product or a service to willing customers, prepared to pay your price and for you to be able to deliver the product or service at a profit. What... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/he-who-has-all--the-answers-- http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/he-who-has-all--the-answers-- Change is a choice Way back in 1975, the then Ceo of Digital Equipment ( Deq ) stated that they could see no reason why anybody would want to have a computer in their homes. It is worth noting that Deq and its products has long since disappeared. During the early 1900's the Chairman of the US Patent office stated that - anything that can be invented had been invented. One might conclude that we are smarter today, have a better understanding and more clarity, but one would be wrong. A few days ago I had a meeting with a senior person in a very large organisation. We were discussing the... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/simplicity http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/simplicity A short and simple message. The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over complicate our lives and forget what's important and what's not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what's going on... http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/one-day-to-a-birthday http://www.bettaplan.com/blog/one-day-to-a-birthday My daughter is having a birthday tomorrow and birthdays are one of the many landmarks we use to measure the passage of time. All too quickly the years march by and we continue to rush hither and yon. We normally celebrate the passage of a year with some festive activities and that is fantastic, but it raises the question as to why we have to wait for a special occasion, to show others that we care. When they were kids we used to have “unbirthdays” that is a celebration and even small gifts, for no particular reason. At other times somebody would declare that the following day...