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What Do Children Dream of Doing?
By John Whiteman January 25th, 2012 Living Your Dreams, News, Schools Program No Comments
In January 2011 I successfully climbed the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro the tallest freestanding mountain in the world. Every year I look to do something special, something that I have dreamed about doing. It lifts my Spirits and creates such an amazing feeling inside. Live your dreams and do the things in life that you had always wanted to do.
Dreams don’t have to be as large as this though, climbing Mt Kilimanjaro was a big one but so was seeing one of my son’s scoring his first goal in a school football match, learning to Kite surf (kitesurfthechannel.com). The Special Moments in life are often the ones that don’t cost a fortune; they are the ones that bring your life alive.
I have noticed that the older we get the more we place obstacles in the way of living our dreams and it made me wonder when do we actively stop looking to live our dreams, as well as when do we start to become aware of our dreams.
When I was kindly invited to take a group of 4 and 5 year olds on a Mock climb Mt Kilimanjaro afternoon I decided to find out.
What your child dreams about doing isn’t at all about what they want to become when they get older. I am in my 40’s and still struggle with this question myself! They dream about what they want to do Now. The primary objective of this was to learn and see if it was possible to help these children live their dreams. When you Live Your Dream, you create self-belief, confidence and wellbeing.
We set-off on an afternoon of discovery and fun, climbing the Mock Mt Kilimanjaro.
At the Summit of the Mountain having had all children successfully completed their adventure, each child chose a dream that they would love to experience…….
What I was delighted to find is that everyone’s dream was non-material and the majority extremely achievable. Cuddles from my Mother, to go camping overnight and fishing with my Father, were just some of the wonderful dreams, which were totally achievable.
So What Does A Child Dream and how can schools nurture and develop these dreams in conjunction with academic achievement? So that children cultivate the belief that living their dreams is possible and grow in confidence expanding the horizon. Something so simple often goes unnoticed in our striving for achievement.
What could be more special though than your child living their dreams?
If you would like to know more about my work creating happiness from the inside-out or running a schools talk or program please let me know.
Looking for Enlightened Service
By John Whiteman December 31st, 2011 Enlightened Business, Entrepreneurial Business, News, The Way in Business No Comments
As I am looking for companies who provide examples of Enlightened Service I returned to the Montage Resort, Laguna Beach CA. Am I looking for the Holy Grail? Over the next 3 days I would find out.
What strikes me first is in the effortless flow that is created upon my arrival. Eye contact and speaking to me and not at me, creates a difference to how I feel straight away. I do not need to search for where I need to go next as I am ushered there in a welcoming and friendly way.
The handover to the check-in desk effortlesly took place. They know that I am a returning guest and that my children are booked into the kids club in the afternoon. We are given lots of attention and welcomed back like old friends.
I am asked if I can be helped in any other way before being escorted to my room and asked if I would like a personal tour of the resort to refresh my memory. In our bedroom is a handmade banner featuring our children’s favourite cartoon characters to welcome them back from the girls at the kids club.
This might not be the sector of business that you are in but this level of service and attention can be applied in your business. It will create a stickyness which will bring you greater brand awareness, return customers and happier staff.
At lunch the choice on the menu does not over or underwhelm me, it is just right. The food perfectly cooked and the dressing on the side allows me to make my meal just the way I like it, which is sometimes not the way a chef intends me to like it. The food is placed on my plate like a painting of exquisitness that makes me pause for a moment to savour how it looks.
We are all blessed with choice. This choice allows us to be an individual. In our individuality I can be me. Yesterday’s business was all about conditioned service. The Mcdonalds model where one size fits all. Enlightened Service creates special moments that make you feel unique.
So back to the end of my lunch. I am asked how I like my coffee, not just a cappucino, latte or macchiato but exactly how do I prefer it to be.
This is Enlightened Service in action.
Bank Lending to Fuel Business Growth
By John Whiteman August 27th, 2011 Entrepreneurial Business, News, The Way in Business No Comments
The turmoil and instability of the banks over the last few years has struck fear into entrepreneurial business, leaving many stagnant and struggling for survival. But I feel that the time is right for it to start changing. When entrepreneurial fear subsides bank lending will help stimulate the much-needed growth in the UK economy.
Wise entrepreneurs are beginning to put into place their business growth ambitions for the coming years.
Calm balance is needed for a business to flow and that is where a successful entrepreneur should stay focused.
Whilst we are often taught to strive for what we have not got and often continuously push hard to achieve it. Small steps of change in an upward trending economy is often the easiest way in which to realise your commercial dreams.
The banks are ready to lend, but there is a lack of supply of good quality businesses looking for geared growth. If you are looking to develop a long-term relationship with a new bank now is a good time.
A cautionary note however must be advised, do not over gear and take into consideration the likelihood that interest rates will rise as growth occurs.
- John Whiteman
Forecasting Your Cashflow
By John Whiteman August 17th, 2011 Entrepreneurial Business, News, The Way in Business 1 Comment
When a company is in crisis there is often a management lack of awareness of its true financial position. In order to de-risk your company and create more balance running an ongoing cashflow forecast helps you see more clearly.
Not being able to see the wood for the trees occurs even in the largest of companies and is often due to the failure of a Financial Director/Manager to display and communicate financial information in a way that is fully understood by a Managing Director or CEO.
Companies that know where they are, generally know where they are going, and ones that do not are often lost.
Having your end of year accounts up to date is not a priority when you are in a crisis. Your cash position today and what is likely to happen in future weeks is always the most important issue.
Awareness of this is created through the accurate construction and running of either a 9 or a 13 week rolling cashflow.
Having a cashflow allows you to project into the future and when things are hand to mouth it is critically important that strict controls are placed on the management of the cashflow.
A cashflow can be produced easily by an in-house finance team with the key being its accuracy and the actions taken each week based on the figures.
You are likely to find that your future cash flow projections will be very accurate over the first 4 weeks and then gradually become less accurate. The preference for a 13-week cashflow over a 9 week cashflow will give you the ability to see quarterly costs which might sometimes be forgotten.
When a cashflow has been produced it will show clearly when your company will run out of cash. With this awareness your next focus should shift towards how you control cash collection.
Running a cash collection system on a hand to mouth basis is not good enough if you want a business to flow. You need to create awareness of the actual cash position in a company and active planning is the best way to do this.
- John Whiteman
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