First of all thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of this experience.
The challenge crossed my path at exactly the right time. I was going through a stage where I felt that there wasn’t enough balance in my life. I was working hard at my job and I was reaping the
reward of my work, but something was missing. The Kaizen Challenge has provided me with a structure to bring this balance back into my life.
I am working harder on my relationships than ever before. This includes my relationships with colleagues, friends and my relationship with my family members.
I have learned how important patience is. This was a big problem for me because we live in a world of “quick fixes”. We are conditioned this way by the mass media and companies with huge advertising budgets. On this point I also want to mention that I am no longer reading any newspaper. I spend minimal amounts of time watching television and one of the programs that I don’t watch is the news. I have realized that the so called news is more entertainment that anything else.
So many people (including myself before the challenge) love to say that we do not have enough time. When I started the challenge my days were already very full but I had to fit it in somewhere. This meant that I had to get up one and a half hours earlier in the morning. Not one day did I even consider not getting up that early. I have effectively increased my productive day by one and a half hours. I will keep this routine going forward.
I have realized how important it is to approach people with love and sincerity, whether they are clients, tenants or family. In some way this gives me a feeling of power. When one needs to be firm and you are coming from this base of love people will still respect you.
I think that love also brings out the authenticity in all of us because you are ignoring your ego when you are radiating love.
I have also become a policeman to my thoughts. When I find myself thinking negative thoughts I will address it immediately by replacing it with something positive. Also when I am in conversation and it turns negative I will try and change the topic. I have realized that this negativity is energy sapping.
I think one of the most valuable tools that I got from the Kaizen Challenge was how to take back control of your life.
After setting my goals for the day and achieving them you experience that control and I just love that feeling. This also taught me once again the importance of being true to yourself. If you make an appointment with yourself, keep it.
Hannes, as you said in one of the mentoring lessons: “Self discipline will set you free.” The challenge made me realize this in a big way.
For me the challenge is only the start of things to follow. I think Kaizen makes us realize that we never “arrive”. We must keep on learning and improving ourselves.
Hannes, once again, my sincere thanks.
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