COMPOUND INTEREST

​What is it that you really want
to do, to build or to achieve?
Most things don’t happen overnight.
Anything worthwhile usually
takes some time to put in place.
So, in a busy world,
with limited resources,
how can we make it happen?

It’s about doing something every day.
It’s about adding a piece today,
and then another piece tomorrow.
This is the way we achieve
all that is important to us,
and how we build our future.
Put your priorities first each day
or you simply won’t get round to it.

Seize this moment.
Make a plan. Be determined.
Start today with one piece.
Tomorrow, add another piece.
The next day, add the next piece,
and every day, no matter what,
keep adding a piece.
Do something every day.

MISSIONARY WORK 
  
Imagine if we all have
a mission to fulfil.
Imagine if we were all given
 this task at birth.
 
Imagine if we spend our lives deciphering
this task and working to achieve it.
Imagine if we helped each other,
to understand and achieve their mission.
 
Imagine then, if all our tasks
were part of the same great mission.
Imagine if we could see that all lives
are connected as one.
 
Imagine if we knew that those who
went before us, were also part of this mission.
Imagine that those who come after us,
will also take up the reins of this mission.
 
Imagine when this great mission
is achieved, and what this will mean.
Imagine that your life and work right now
are the perfect fulfilment of your mission.

 ABRIDGED
 
Take me to the end.
To where the river splits.
Here the choices are clear.
I can go back the way that I have come.
I can instead turn right,
for the less-trodden path.
Or my third option
is to get across the river!
 
I have been walking along this tributary
outwards and back again for years
assuming all the while
this was the only path.
I could turn right and uncover another way,
or go back on familiar ground.
Or I can decide to go forward.
I can start working out how to cross the river.

​LIFE INSURANCE
 
Insurance is a way of life.
We cover our house, our cars
and indeed, our life.
But life insurance doesn’t protect us,
it just helps those we leave behind.
 
So, what if there is a heaven and  God?
What if we’ve ignored this throughout
our lives, and then we find they do exist?
Perhaps we should buy some real life insurance
so that our future in heaven (if it exists), is protected.
 
We cannot buy this life insurance,
for it is available to everyone for free.
To avail of this lifelong offer, simply spend
some time thinking about the possibility
of God,  and having a life beyond here.
 
God or heaven may not exist,
but it makes sense to think about it,
as an insurance policy, just in case.
Who knows, you may need
to cash it in someday.

​BLUEBERRY MUFFIN

A man in a yellow jumper
is sitting on the bench
just in front of me.
He seems to be asleep.

All around him is a collection of holdalls,
carrier bags and a pull-along case.
It seems like all his possessions
are there with him.

I am sitting with my Americano,
and blueberry muffin.

After a while my man gets up slowly,
unable to really stand up straight.
He begins to load himself
like a donkey, with all his bags.

He’s clearly done this many times,
for most goes over his shoulders
and around his back
leaving his hands free for the final bags
and the pull-along case.
Off he shuffles.

Twenty minutes later he comes back,
 with all his bags neatly packed
into one shopping trolley.
He heads off slowly, down the street.

A  police car arrives
and travels alongside him,
 clearly checking out the situation.
My man stops as the police get out.
He follows them, with his trolley,
 to the police station.

I write this and finish my Americano,
and blueberry muffin.

​​OUT OF DATE
 
We only ever truly appreciate
something, when it’s over.
It is when we look back
that we get a sense
of what was there.
And what has now gone.
 
So, in the midst of all events
we remember that
we cannot see the full value.
We cannot see all that is there.
It is only when it is gone,
that we can fully appreciate it all.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE. 
​1. Reflect on a  key event in your  life and compare how you think about it now  compared to how you felt at the time. 
2.   What  events are happening with you at the moment? Where might there be value that you are not fully appreciating? 

DICTATION
 
In this moment
a thought is born,
and the idea comes.
The words flow
and the writing
takes shape.
Ready to share.
 
Every moment
holds a thought,
so let your ideas come.
Let your words flow
and your writing
take shape.
And get ready to share.

​PREDICTIVE TEXT
 
You cannot even begin
to imagine,
what will happen
over the next 10 years.

Look at where you
were 10 years ago,
what you were doing,
and what your work was.

So be open to all possibilities.
Expect the unexpected.
Embrace all with gratitude.
This time will be truly amazing!

You cannot even begin
to predict,
the  blessings that await you,
over the next 10 years.

PARADIGM SHIFT

It is not what I must do.
It is not what I must be.
It is not who I am.

It is not which direction to take.
It is not about time.
It is not about action.

It is not about the world.
It is not about me.
So, what is it?

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.  How do we step out of all that  we know and all that we are?
​2. How can we change everything? 

​WHEELBARROWS
 
It is people who create, drive and sustain businesses.
The company's success is simply a by-product
of human endeavour and teamwork.
 
Yet we make the share price
or the return on investment,
the key measures of success.
 
In the future we need to be better
at capturing personal and group achievements
along with the economic ones.
 
We must learn to harvest individual innovation,
the new models of collaboration,
and problem-solving approaches that are helping
our organisation to succeed each day.
 
And then we can leverage this
into all sorts of products, services
and new ways of thinking.
 
It's a bit like two people inventing the wheel,
and then we only use this to sell wheelbarrows.
We have of course, learned to go to the next stage,
and use the wheel in millions of other ways.
 
But the wheel is still a by-product.
What about the two people who invented the wheel
or solved a problem in your workplace?
 
That’s where the real opportunity and value is.
Individuals are the key to success,
if we can just free ourselves of wheelbarrows.