30 Second Speech

By Bryan Dyson, Former CEO of Coca Cola

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it. Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends and have proper rest. "Value has a value only if its value is valued."

My Message:

The message here is straight forward and a great way of pointing out that some things in life are more forgiving than others. Some things you can get back and others if you are not careful could be lost forever, which can leave you feeling remorse. How do you juggle your 5 balls? Are you willing to let the rubber one bounce every now and again to protect the glass ones? Some of your glass balls might already have the odd scratch here and mark there, but that's only because you weren't willing to allow the rubber ball to bounce. You should always remember and value the valuables in life, sometimes you only realise their value when its too late. Family, friends, health… these are your roots. If you cut the roots you can't survive and the entire tree will die, nothing will be left other than your career or work life. Work will always be there, jobs come and go. You can get them if you so desire. Ends will always meet. Food will find a way to be put on the table, but you must always find a way in your busy schedule to bless and be grateful to the most valuable things in your life… Family, Health, Friends and Spirit. Hold on tight to these things as you need them for the long-haul and don't ever let them drop and shatter.

May you have an awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"Your beliefs become your thoughts,Your thoughts become your words,Your words become your actions,Your actions become your habits,Your habits become your values,Your values become your destiny."- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Boiled Frogs

Biological studies have shown that if a frog is placed in a container along with water from its own pond, it will remain there, utterly still, while the water is slowly heated up. The frog doesn't react to the gradual increase in temperature, to the changes in its environment, and when the water reaches boiling point, the frog dies, fat and happy. 'On the other hand, if a frog is thrown into a container full of already boiling water, it will jump straight out again, scalded, but alive!'

Sometimes we behave like the boiled toads. We do not notice the changes around us or we simply choose to ignore them as its easier. We think that everything is fine and that anything bad will simply just go away… In our own lives and in the community at large. We ignore challenges, we procrastinate and choose not to solve life's trials. We do not make amends with people we have fought with and eventually as time progresses we get old and die without the opportunity to make sudden changes that impact a better way of living. It's better to emerge from a situation slightly scalded, alive with the scars of knowledge and life experience than to die with unsolved and missed opportunities.

May you have an excellent week!

Darren Zwiers

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." ― Barack Obama

2013, Your Year!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to all my readers. I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your positive feedback and insights in 2012. It has been an awesome year. This email proudly marks my 108th to go out, (over 2yrs of writing) and I promise to be giving you even more uplifting content in 2013. Instead of opening with a story this week I thought I would share a slice of wisdom for you to take into the coming year…

As everything we do in life there are no second chances, either we lose or we win! Everything is mental; most of the time we bring to our lives what we think about. Our journey has two paths, one towards light and the other towards darkness. Yes, life is a choice! Everything and Everybody starts from scratch; it is your choice in what place you wish to finish. If you accept mental poverty, all kinds of poverty is what you will get. If you wish and aim for wealth and success that is what you will certainly gain. This is the same for all areas of our lives. Change your attitude to "I can win now"! Be cheerful and relaxed, regardless of any circumstance. Always keep your focus on solutions; don't let anybody rob you of your happiness, especially that it is uniquely designed for you only. Don't allow challenges or circumstances to defeat you, they are always disguised as opportunity and fulfillment. Make sure to do the right thing. Demand from yourself whatever it takes to win - clarity, focus, effort, persistence, sacrifice, discipline, passion, and love - not only to survive but also to win and win with honour. Believe it or not, life is a give and take. We stop receiving as soon as we stop giving and this for all areas of our lives!! That's the ultimate balance of life!!! If opportunity doesn't come knocking, build a door. Remember with absolute faith that every tomorrow you WILL do even better, never stop trying. Make 2013 your year! Keep believing in yourself! Every single day make sure to have a positive attitude and outlook on life, yes it will be difficult at times, but that's what separates the winners from the losers... a consistent wining attitude. Remember the only thing that is stopping you from being successful, righteous and happy is yourself.

Let go and make 2013 the best year ever.

I look forward to sharing a positive and inspired 2013 with you.

Stay Awesome!

Darren Zwiers

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be You!

From The Guardian February 1, 2012 (Top 5 regrets of the dying)

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying." Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again." Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me (most common regret).
2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

My Message

I could write about each one of these points, but want to focus on the most common regret "the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me". We are all born in this world with our own unique DNA, our own unique personalities, looks and of course ambitions and dreams. If this is the case why do we spend so much of our time living out other peoples desires and wishes. We are all destined for greatness and the minute we start living a life that we think others see fit, we go completely off course, which leads to future regret as mentioned above. This life is yours, its your journey and has to be lived consciously, freely and with your own choices. Live for others but not on their terms. In fulfilling your own dreams of great goals, others benefit automatically. We are the only species on this planet who can afford to live a well-planned life of choice and discretion. If you take care to do so, you will have no regrets when you live your last breaths.

May you have an awesome week.

Darren Zwiers

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Power Of Dreams

In 1938, Soichiro Honda was still in school, when he started a little workshop, developing the concept of the piston ring. His plan was to sell the idea to Toyota. He laboured night and day, even slept in the workshop, always dreaming that he could perfect his design and produce a worthy product. Finally, came the day he completed his piston ring and was able to take a working sample to Toyota, only to be told that the rings did not meet their standards! Soichiro suffered ridicule when the engineers laughed at his design, but he refused to give up. Rather than focus on his failure, he continued working towards his dream. After another two years of struggle and redesign, he won a contract with Toyota. With the contract in hand, Soichiro Honda needed to build a factory, but building materials were in short supply. Still he would not quit! He invented a new concrete-making process that enabled him to build the factory. The factory was bombed twice and steel became unavailable, too. He started collecting surplus gasoline cans discarded by US fighters – "Gifts from President Truman," he called them. Finally, an earthquake destroyed the factory. After the war, an extreme gasoline shortage forced people to walk or use bicycles. Honda built a tiny engine and attached it to his bicycle. Mr Honda wrote to 18,000 bicycles shop owners and, in an inspiring letter, asked them to help him revitalise Japan. 5,000 responded and advanced him what little money they could to build his tiny bicycle engines. He continued to develop and adapt, until finally, the small engine 'The Super Cub' became a reality and was a success. Honda began exporting his bicycle engines to Europe and America. In the 1970s there was another gas shortage, this time in America and automotive fashion turned to small cars. Honda was quick to pick up on the trend. The company started making tiny cars, smaller than anyone had seen before, and rode another wave of success. Today, Honda Corp employs over 100,000 people in the USA and Japan, and is one of the world's largest automobile companies. Honda succeeded because one man made a truly committed decision, acted upon it, and made adjustments on a continuous basis. Failure was simply not considered a possibility.

My Message

We've all heard of Honda's Slogan "The Power Of Dreams" but up until this day I never realised that the success of this Billion dollar corporation was built by one mans dream and his willingness to never be defeated. Mr Honda made his dreams a reality with a series of failures and fortunate turns of luck. Steve Kirk, Honda's Communications Manager said in an interview "Mr Honda believed that success is 99% failure; in other words, he wanted the people who worked for him to keep trying, not to fear getting something wrong because they would get in trouble with management, but to feel free to dream dreams and try the impossible. He said: "We only have one future, and it will be made of dreams if we have the courage to challenge convention.'" Soichiro Honda never ever gave up and neither should you. Don't expect overnight success.  Transformation can take years, and this story is evidence that many successful people fail many times before they get their desired results. Never

stop dreaming and never stop finding practical ways to make your dream a reality!

Enjoy this beautiful short animation of Soichiro Honda's initial inspiration for his motor company and how it became a reality.

"There is a Japanese proverb that literally goes 'Raise the sail with your stronger hand,' meaning you must go after the opportunities that arise in life that you are best equipped to do." - Soichiro Honda

"Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% that is called failure." - Soichiro Honda

May you have an awesome week.

Darren Zwiers

"Living In The Moment"

Song by Jason Mraz

"If this life is one act

Why do we lay all these traps?

We put them right in our path

When we just wanna be free

I will not waste my days

Making up all kinds of ways

To worry about all the things

That will not happen to me

So I just let go of what I know I don't know

And I know I'll only do this by

Living in the moment

Living our life

Easy and breezy

With peace in my mind

With peace in my heart

Peace in my soul

Wherever I'm going, I'm already home

Living in the moment..."

> You can hear the full song here

I was lucky enough to see Jason Mraz in concert on Saturday night and the above song pulled on my heart strings as its words absorbed into my mind. These lyrics are so powerful and true. A vital ingredient to living a peaceful life is to live in the moment. My friend said to me yesterday, "I have the Sunday blues" and my response was "well that's only because you not here right now, your mind is in Monday and you trying to live the day ahead of you." We all have this unique ability to focus on things that aren't happening right now, which allows us to reflect on the past and learn from it; it allows us to anticipate and plan for the future; and of course it allows us to imagine things that might never occur. Having said this there is nothing wrong with that, the only problem is we allow this to be a driving force and it removes us from our present state and quite frankly nothing in the world exists other than right now. The past has been, the future is coming and all that is required of you is to live in the moment. Stop setting worry traps for yourself, you only making your journey uncomfortable. The moment you understand this you can live a more exuberant, more empathetic, and more secure life. You will gain a higher self-esteem and be more accepting of your own weaknesses. So, whenever you feel anxious about your future or your past, just stop, breathe and remember it only exists in your mind, let go and carry on living in the moment...Life is waiting for you right now!

May you have an awesome week.

Darren Zwiers

"What day is it?" It's today," squeaked Piglet. My favorite day," said Pooh." ― A.A. Milne

The Mensch Of Malden Mills

Aaron Feuerstein was born in 1925 to a family who had owned and operated a company named Malden Mills since 1906. Malden Mills was one of the largest employers in the town of Lawrence Massachusetts and would continue to grow, eventually employing over 3,000 workers. Malden Mills' prior research investments paid off and would soon rebound with the release of its newest textile, "Polarfleece." Trademarked as "Polartec Climate Control Fabrics," Polarfleece soon became the most in-demand textile in the U.S. and around the world, purchased in mass by the U.S. military and companies such as North Face, Eddie Bauer, Ralph Lauren and L.L.Bean. The tragedy of this story began in December 1995, shortly after Malden Mills invested millions of dollars into new equipment and research into creating Polarfleece out of recycled materials. A fire destroyed the factory complex and left all of the employees out of work. At the age of 70, Aaron Feuerstein could have easily pocketed the insurance money, closed up shop and retire. He also could have followed the trend of other large corporations and relocated overseas. Instead Feuerstein decided to rebuild the factory right where it had stood and ensure that the jobless employees were still paid a full salary during the down-time (at a cost of $1.5 million per week). He also pledged to keep their family's benefits for at least 3 months. Feuerstein became affectionately known as "the Mensch of Malden Mills". Despite running a company making millions each year, Aaron never spent company funds (or even personal funds) on lavish expenses such as private jets and chauffeurs. His commitment to his employees and their community despite the cost and his dedication to ingenuity and honest business practices makes him a moral hero, a model for future business owners and CEOs. "I think it was a wise business decision, but that isn't why I did it. I did it because it was the right thing to do" – Feuerstein.

My Message:

When I heard about this story and immediately after reading it, I  knew I had to share it with you. In today's business climate, stories like these are rare and noble people like Aaron are few in number. It is so heart warming to see beautiful people like this in the business arena making a beneficial impact on humanity... such a great eye-opener. Aaron credits his decision to his belief in Jewish Law, which prohibits oppressing the working man, because he's poor and he's needy, amongst your brethren and amongst the non-Jew in your community," He stood by his values through the most challenging times in his business career and today people look up to him as a true hero. His response is "I just do what is right." You have the power to be brave and noble like Aaron in your everyday work and personal life, maybe not on the same scale as Aaron, but doing the 'right' thing is what it is all about. How often do you suppress the actions of your own heart and instead do what other people 'think' are right? This is your time to become an independent person, a leader, a role model and an ambassador of righteousness. Do what you know is the right thing and don't stop doing it. The world isn't waiting on you to become a person of greatness, its all up to you to make the change today.

May you have an awesome week.

Darren Zwiers

The Quote:

"I think it was a wise business decision, but that isn't why I did it. I did it because it was the right thing to do," - Aaron Feuerstein.

What's going to be on your tombstone? "Hopefully it'll be, 'He done his damnedest,'" says Feuerstein. "You know, that I didn't give up and I always try to do the right thing."