You have a great idea. Make sure you have the right mind-fit to keep with it.

Sport has always been a way to measure success against endurance. Whether lining up at the start or approaching a hill mid race, I am mindful of the way my shoes, visor and clothes (add on's) fit, to how I can concentrate in keeping with the pace. This ability to understand how add-on's assist you to win or lose, has made me aware of the fit between physical and external aesthetics.

"Aesthetic - a principle of taste or style adopted by a particular person, group, or culture, the Bauhaus aesthetic of functional modernity"

Bio-mechanics helps to examine the relationship between biological and mechanical worlds. A little like an add-on, which maybe likened to a shoe. As with any add-on, the fit must be exact or it does not fit the purpose. Instead of being an accessory to a win, it is a distraction resulting in a loss.

"Bio-mechanics - 1. the study of the action of external and internal forces on the living body, especially on the skeletal system 2. the development of prosthesis".

Knowing what drives you to start a business venture or become an entrepreneur, can help one to get the right fit of assistance, should it be required. There are so many examples of physical success with the correct add-on's. One example is a swimmers clothing. To enable a swimmer to swim confidently their clothes must fit and be streamlined. Similarly at the beach to enjoy your time in the sun, it is advisable to put on sunscreen so that you can have a successful day out. With a runner, the type of shoe suitable for a particular surface and / or distance, is paramount to the mindset of a successful race. There should be no feeling of discomfort in the form of fit, weight, or balance that could act negatively as an add-on.

When you have your business up and running, do not add unnecessary add-on's to it, which will only weigh it down and make it clunky. Keep the fit light and comfortable so that it can keep working without the need for constant adjustments. Source and use quality fittings as it is easier to go with the flow, than have to turn back to catch up.

Andrea

TempDirect

Experience in sport can help you off the field, when you are finding the pace difficult to keep up with, and to stay on track.

As time has been my teacher, my learning continues, too. I have gained valuable insights into areas of interest, as a participant in Social Media. Similar to an athlete, one can control the energy that is put put into ones posts, however your audience may not always keep up with you. Keeping your audience on track requires their participation and your guidance, to where you want to meet up.

One sport that is beneficial in learning to get the right balance is horse riding. Where some people prefer western riding as the saddle is more comfortable and gives a deeper seat, my sisters and I were taught to horse ride using the English method. This method uses different saddles depending upon the given discipline , and the requirement to post (rise up and down to the trot) on the horses diagonal. You do not learn to post to the trot before you can balance at the walk. You advance to walk once you have got seated at the halt. You get your balance through your seat, from your horse. To do this you must have your horses attention.

When asking to change pace or direction, you prepare yourself to give a clear instruction to the horse. A well schooled horse is trained to listen to your aids. Between the two of you, you perform together to get the desired result. This way your audience and judges can keep up with your performance. You don't expect to get a good result if you cannot communicate your aids to your horse. Similarly if your horse is not listening to your aids, the results can be misinterpreted by your audience and, if you are being judged you may be marked poorly.

Horse riding taught me that by keeping your balance when posting, the journey is more comfortable for you and your audience, and you can advance to compete at higher levels, should this be your aim

When shaing space on the various blogging platforms available, we must give credit to having a good seat to keep one instep with their audience. Give praise to your audience as without them, one cannot post.

Andrea

TempDirect

Freedom - 'the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to, without being controlled or limited'.

Choice - ' an act of choosing between two or more possibilities'.

Circumstance - 'a fact or event that makes a situation the way it is'.

Choices are not a given that one is born with. Choice's may be determined by your Circumstances.

Should you be born in an area remote to the world's resources, you are dependent upon the Choices of those made around you. These Choices may include access to medicine, housing, internet, education, transport, and influences. It is the Freedom to access these benefits that brings about Choice. A companies limitations on Freedom may limit you on the access you have to these Choices.

Should you be born in an area that has ready access to the riches of the world's resources, then your Choices are not limited by Circumstance. You have the Freedom to access medicine, housing, internet, education, transport and influences.

Use your Freedom of Choice. Next time you open your wardrobe, look at how you have chosen your clothes, shoes, and ties. Those with limited access to Freedom, Choice and Circumstance are waiting on you to show your support.

Freedom Comes About Through A Choice of a Given Circumstance/s.

Use Your Choices to Enable Freedom to Change Circumstances.

Go and examine your wardrobe - you have the freedom to make change.

Andrea

TempDirect

It didn't take much to convince me as a student, that there was a lot of space between words and their meanings.

Having to write in long hand what my teacher dictated in a lesson, and then change the sentences to condense the meaning , developed my listening skills to hear the intended message. And so it was with a sense of relief that Shorthand was offered as a subject at school, and I enrolled as the attraction to the simplicity of the language seemed a progression of the written word.

Shorthand opened up a realm of possibilities for me, as longhand writing took away attention that could otherwise be used to listen to the order and meaning of the words spoken. Traditional longhand notes had previously kept me busy and sometimes missing the point, to keeping up with the speaker. I was not given the opportunity to think about what I was writing, as I was often behind the teacher's lecture to question their point of view (correcting spelling, grammar etc). However with Shorthand, instead of being left behind, I was able to think ahead to where the conversation was going. This is where Shorthand trains one to listen only to the sound and shape of a word. I could accentuate the strokes to indicate what was in bold and needed to be emphasized, and dependent upon where the word sat on the line or below it, decide how it was be to used to join the sentence.

With Shorthand, one could skip over the small injunctions to connect the greater message. I was hooked. Similarly to how Social Media uses a hook to get the attention of the reader. You may notice how short a heading is, and yet how it can successfully deliver the body of the message to its audience. Not all messages can encourage audience participation with the bare minimum of words. It is the note taker who is responsible for capturing the spoken word that ensures the message is given across accurately. Often the heading is accompanied by an image that can give the title more depth.

The beauty of Shorthand is that the written symbol represents the spoken message, without the need of unnecessary flourish. I am not saying that flourish is unwanted. Some stories are best written as novels, such as Shakespeare. The reader is engaged through the use of exaggerated and period wording as this helps to create the scene for the audience.

There is a duty to the reader when having their attention. Part is to keep the reader up with the story line, and part is to fill in the gaps that may otherwise have been spoken. To enable you to understand where the link between Shorthand and Social Media is, the following Heading may assist:

Longhand : Why Go Where No Man Has Bothered To Go Before

Shorthand : Go Where No Man Has Gone Before

The beauty of Shorthand is in its simplicity to deliver the message.

Andrea

TempDirect

People are at their most vulnerable when they allow their weaknesses to show. This may not be true in all instances however, for the greater part there is some truth to this statement.

A weakness does not need to be defined as one whole. There is physical, mental and emotional weakness. A weakness may come about due to a lack of knowledge, experience, or faith. With knowledge there is an advantage of equality. With experience there is the possibility of success. With faith there is the ability to overcome a challenge. Knowledge is a tool that when used, can enlighten a person who may have failed to understand your view. Experience is a personal key that you can give to another who may have failed their first attempt at trying. Faith is a keepsake that when you share it, it never fails in giving strength. It is easy to believe that one may have failed at a given task, when another steps in where they believe we have left off.

Sometimes an accomplishment does not happen in one step. There may be several steps necessary to achieve a gain. This may be where it seems you have failed to complete your mission, and another will step in to take control. Don't take this intrusion as an acknowledgment of a failing. Instead, lead by staying back so the intruder eventually sees what appeared to be a failing is in fact, the act of allowing a gain.

Give credit due to failure where it seeks to gain.

Andrea

TempDirect

It has been said that people are likened to creatures of habit. If this were true then those that can change their habits may be likened to creatures of change.

Life has various stages of change, similar to those of a business. When starting out, both are dependant upon the attention given to detail to thrive. The initial process may begin like many others, depending upon the health of your venture. However as the journey progresses, you may need to take another route from others before you, as growth and talent will dictate the route required to thrive. Don't fight the course of change, as long as you keep your Finish Goal in sight, then there is always more than one way to reach your destination. As your business and child grows, so should it's interests to keep stimulated. Although the business may have started out by needing your undivided attention, as it grows one must trust that it takes a village to raise a child, and so you must trust that your business can grow in a similar way. Look around you to see what knowledgeable people and trusted resources are available to allow your venture to bloom. Don't let your sights be blinded by the restraints of others. Look ahead to see where there is smooth sailing so that you can avoid the obvious hazards. Like the much pressured Titanic, when you allow your ego to rule your journey, you can run your business aground. Better to surround yourself with people who support your business, and with their best interests at heart being your venture, give it the guidance required to allow it to adapt it's journey , after all a journey shared has more to give it's audience.

A successful venture takes a community to support it. Acknowledge growth, seek support, link arms and go forth with confidence.

Andrea

TempDirect

It can be difficult when working within the constraints of a singular business's Mission to discover your own life's purpose. When working within a square, it maybe good to remind ourselves that individual pixels create the larger picture.

Many great Mission Statements are formed by people who had to make their own journey to lead others to support theirs. Take for example an early childhood experience you may remember fondly. It may have been through watching a parent reach out to someone in need and seeing how this one action caused one or more positive outcomes. Similarly, you may have witnessed an act of cruelty that repulsed you, where the person who carried out the cruel action caused two or more negative outcomes. Both experiences however, should not lead one to avoid the action which they witnessed and believed to be wrong. Remember the act that repulsed you and look at ways to influence others so that it may not be repeated. People may have a tendency to admire what is deemed socially popular or acceptable. This does not mean that the popular choice is right for you, or that the wrong choice correct for them.

Decisions can be based upon these tendencies to follow example. Through the process of aging comes a knowledge of one’s own experiences. Some of this knowledge is limited through experience, due to a number of factors. These limitations to experience is where one looks outside of their environment to form knowledge through another’s lessons. We thank the likes of Social Media where Influencers can regularly post of their positive actions to motivate others to stay focused on their missions. When we start to follow another’s knowledge based on their experiences, it is interesting there may be a link to our shared Mission after all. You may not be creating your own aircraft; however, you may be supplying the fuel to fly it. Similarly, you may not see how you are contributing to world peace, but you didn't enlist in the army.

No matter which experiences helped shape you today, you can change your journey by learning through another's experiences and insights.

Keep updated with the popular Influencers but do not let that inhibit you from becoming one.

Have the faith in your own strengths so that you too will have others follow your journey.

Acquire Knowledge. Influence through Action. Lead through Lessons.

Andrea

TempDirect

For the past 16 years I have lived down a No Exit rural road.

Prior to this I lived on a suburban main road. There were 4 roads that criss crossed its path, meaning access was made possible dependant on the direction one approached it and the view differed depending which direction one travelled when they reached our home. As the letterboxes were close together you would look for a feature that stood out to gauge your distance to our home. As children, my sisters and I were competitive horse riders and athletes, our parents our supporters.

I discovered from an early age that running was my inherited passion. My grandfather had earned the title of Fastest Boy in Fiji and I had acquired his remarkable aptitude. He was able to show me through demonstrations the correct technique for running, and also share his experiences in athletics through storytelling. One story he imparted to me still stands true today. Each time you look over your shoulder to see where your competitors are, you get put off stride. Don't waste energy looking back, instead be satisfied with your progress looking forward towards the end, and know how many steps you need to reach the finish line. Look for variation on the route - where there is a hill, it is an opportunity to overtake another competitor who cannot sustain their stride. Train a longer distance everyday than required for the competition. It is better to be stronger than meet at the same level. Don't look at each day's training as being repetitive, instead look at each day's training as sustaining your fitness.

Never once have I stepped outside my No Exit property and thought I have been running the same direction for 16 years. No two days are the same and the focus of each run differs to how I ran the previous day.

If you have a passion and a knowledge for what you do, then you know, where there is a headwind, when you turn around it will drive you home. And that is the advantage of starting off in one direction only with a will to remain on track.

Andrea Smith

www.tempdirect.nz