Lay blame or accept responsibility

Australia thought they could just show up & win the Rugby League World Cup, but fortunately New Zealand had different plans.

Rather than accept defeat gracefully, the Australian coach, Ricky Stuart, decided to blame the referee.

New Zealand has been in a similar position of blaming the referee when the All Blacks were eliminated in the playoffs in the Rugby World Cup after France scored off a (suspected) forward pass.

Laying blame is one of the most disempowering activities we can perform. If we want to move forward & grow, we are better to accept responsibility, learn and then move on.

There will always be someone or something to blame - or we can accept responsibility & move on, a better, stronger, more empowered person.

When a brand sells out

I read an interesting post about the James Bond movies and some overtly placed product brands. You can check out the whole post at: James Bond Brand Shaken by Product Placement.

I was disappointed by Ford & Sony's placements in Casino Royale and thought that they tarnished their own brands, but also the good name of James Bond. Having said that, I was surprised that product placements have been a regular feature of James Bond films for many years.

I would be interested to know Ian Fleming's views on product sponsorship, after all I'm sure the brands he mentioned in the Bond books did well as a result and why shouldn't Fleming be rewarded for their success? A branding dilemma?

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Sales Success

In his book, Sales Success, Robin Daubney makes some interesting observations about highly successful salespeople. They all have a very positive mental attitude. He quotes a study that attributes 94% of success to a positive mental attitude and only 6% on aptitude or ability.

Top earning salespeople were analysed and they found that they:
- Had high levels of determination
- Had strong self-discipline
- Had a great desire to succeed
- Worked hard
- Had good health

Local CARFT Show

I passed a sign yesterday advertising a local craft show.

In fact I probably passed hundreds of signs, but this one stood out in my mind. Why? Because of the spelling of "craft". I am sure this was done accidentally, but it was actually effective because it made it stand out.

I'm not advocating going out & misspelling signs, but our brains are obviously programmed to pick up things that aren't right. Maybe it's something to help our ancestors spot the prowling lion on the African plains!

I guess if we want to stand out we need to be unexpected & different!

Quick & easy cannelloni recipe

This is perfect for dad's to cook when mum is away. It quick, easy & cheap.

Ingredients
Chicken, cheese (ricotta, feta, tasty), cannelloni, pasta sauce, spinach, oil.

I cut the chicken in small pieces, cooked it, added the spinach.

I then added the chicken & spinach with a can of pasta sauce, tub of ricotta cheese, some feta cheese & grated tasty cheese (but I think other varieties of cheeses would work well) and mix it all together.

Get the kids to stuff the cannelloni tubes (straight out of the packet) & lay them in a roasting dish. Drizzle with oil (I used rice bran). Cover with another can of pasta sauce, grated cheese & breadcrumbs.

Bake for 35 minutes on 155C or until pasta is cooked.



Serve with salad. My kids loved it & I enjoyed it because it was easy, delicious & the kids ate the lot!

What are you in control of?

What are you concerned about? The economy, global warming, investment markets, the election? What can you control? Your appointments, your attitude, motivation, and helping the people you are talking to.

Stephen Covey, in the first of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Be Proactive, writes about the Circle of Influence which sits inside the Circle of Concern. Basically, encouraging us to focus on what we can control. An example would be if you were concerned about world hunger. You can’t save the world, but by buying a goat for a family in Kenya, you can influence some change.

I encourage you to focus on what you can control and not to get distracted by all the media “noise”. There is a lot of opportunity to help people protect & create financial security for their future. Ask key questions to find out what is important to the people you are talking to, then give them what they want.

Sicko - Michael Moore (warning - some spoilers)

Lets start by saying this is a biased view of the American "health" system, however even if part of what is in the movie is true, it should sound a warning about a system that needs its' own health check.

It's interesting to see how the wealthy companies are pulling the politician strings and we see who is actually creating government policies. It does make a mockery of what we thought was a democracy.

I was touched by the Cuban scene where the participants were able to get better treatment in Cuba.

Moore also looked at other health systems including France, UK, Canada and Norway. He was also biased by not looking at what didn't work so well in these systems. For instance, New Zealand's health system is far from perfect, however compared to American standards, there is no way I want to be sick in the US. I am happy to have private healthcare to look after my family if the public system doesn't deliver to expectations.

With ageing populations around the world there will be continued pressure on health systems as demand exceeds supply. However with scientific advancements we should see an increase in medical care. The ageing population will also be a large portion of the voters and will have a larger say in determining health policy.