New Zealand entrepreneur's big thinking leads him to open in New York

 

 

 





Success: Michael Hill opens a store in the US big smoke of New York. Photo retailnews.co.nz

Thinking about success this week brings me to the subject of New Zealand jewellery store owner, entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Hill opening a jewellery outlet in New York.

http://www.michaelhill.com/queens+center+store+openning.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwpYeqBRDOwq2DrLCB-UcSJAASIYLjsbFzdfuJCApiRf9ozhFfvwMoGjYMIJDL9cFA73NrfxoC5dPw_wcB

As one tv announcer said, like the words of the popular song, New York, New York: 'If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, it's up to you, New York, New York.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hill_(entrepreneur)

Mr Hill started from humble beginnings and also had some set backs over the years but he has certainly gone ahead and not let anything get in his way.

Are you inspired by someone who has done well in life?

Tell us about it in the comments!

BTO

Quotes to keep us in success mode

These quotes are obviously thought up by people who don't let much get in their way!

I am always encouraged by these kinds of thoughts and I wanted to reshare them on my blog.

What thoughts and ideas have encouraged you the most?

Share them in the comments box!

BTO

Positive affirmations may determine how we progress





Belief: This affirmation above you can try to beat the loneliness blues. Photo - prolificliving.com 

This website called Prolific Living has an amazing view and some great ideas about how we need to constantly build our mood and our belief in ourselves through positive affirmations. Have a look:

http://www.prolificliving.com/100-positive-affirmations/

I first came across positive affirmations when I began working freelance as a distributor with a health and nutrition company back in the late 1980s, early 1990s.

I was quite young, and when I first heard about positive affirmations at a sales conference and how they worked, I felt a whole new world had opened up to me.

I had a thirst to drink in this stuff and still do. I still believe that what is fed into our minds is what becomes reality. Because as it has been said; 'where the mind goes, the feet will follow.'

A bit like when my dad was giving me driving tips in my youth - telling me not to concentrate my gaze to the centre line, or the car would follow (or rather the driver of the car). Great tip!

It's like the saying; 'if you think you can't, you won't' but 'if you think you can, you will.'

What Prolific Living points out is, we can have all the love in the world for and from the people around us; our parents, extended family, friends, work colleagues and extended network.

But if our parents for instance, find/found it hard to believe in themselves even though they do their best to fill their child/children with confidence they, themselves don't have, in my experience, we have to find that confidence ourselves and start a 'self-talk' process.

My mother was an accomplished artist (drawer, painter, sketcher) and musician and my father was also a good musician, farmer and had many great things to impart.

But despite their accomplishments, I don't believe either of them believed in themselves. My mum would always play down her abilities and my poor dad struggled with his self-confidence all his life. So it's no wonder I do the same - even now in my latter middle age!

I just want to mention, that they were always encouraging to me and their love was totally unconditional. An only child (and not spoilt)! Not all children can say that, sadly.

Now, getting back to self-talk: I don't mean we go around babbling to ourselves, sounding like the men in white coats need to be called to haul us away to a padded cell!

But it's about what we say to ourselves. The language we use to ourselves, about ourselves.

Things like: 'I'm not good enough to try that.' 'They won't want me, I'm too old,' or 'what makes me think I could do that?'

All of these are negative self-talk statements that are so destructive to self-confidence, mood and even how we progress in life.

Here in the link below is more information about positive affirmations and how they affect the mind and eventually how we act: http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_00000a.htm

Do you struggle with positive thinking? Tell us about it in the comments. Thanks.

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Getting rid of the stinking thinking to realise your dreams



Pushing barriers: Motivator Paula Gosney believes we must push past how we feel to complete what we set out to do in life. Photo - LinkedIn and Paula Gosney.

I, like anyone, can be inhibited from going forward with a good idea, by invisible barriers mentioned in this excellent advice from motivation expert Paula Gosney:

http://www.beliefschool.com/the-sneakiness-of-comfort-by-paula-gosney-belief-school/#comment-38

I have found the fear of failure in going forward, can be really negative.

It is so easy to get bogged down with the worry about failing and forget about how practicing your craft, eventually gets you to your desired destination in life.

Here's an example of letting the thinking negatise you: During the weekend, Facebook sent me a list of people who had not responded to my connection requests - people I know well in real life, outside Facebook, some of which really surprised me. And hey, that's quite ok.

There could be a number of reasons for their non-response, some of which I believe is more about a problem with Facebook than any problem with my personal and business connections!

Anyway, at the time, what do I immediately think? The stinking thinking starts to kick in doesn't it: You know the kind of thoughts called NUTs - Negative Unhelpful Thoughts, like: 'Nobody likes me', 'what the hell am I trying to do this for?', 'why do I think anybody wants to support me in this'.

The kind of stupid negative thoughts that plague all of us at times!

Then I turn to my blog page, which has just toppled over 1000 views and my Google+ page, which is now up to well over 40,000 views, not to mention the 'reach' numbers some of my posts on Facebook actually get!

Although there are pages with more views, my numbers are pretty good for online places of huge competition to get noticed.

And as a friend nicely reminded me: 'Well, you're not a pop star, you know'! Thanks. Really needed to be reminded of that. LOL.

Seriously, as funny a thought my being a pop star is, I actually appreciated being brought down to earth!

So, I need to just persevere with what I'm good at and stop the negativity and don't worry about some of the not so good things that happen. These happenings keep us grounded.

Do you doubt yourself sometimes?

Let us know, in the comments, what makes you feel doubtful about yourself. Is it people's comments, or your own confidence levels?

War time pieces as essential survival items



 

Returned time piece: Watch worn by L/Corpral Harold Flower of Maungaturoto, who served in WW1 with the 7th Reinforcements, 4th Batallion H Company, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, killed in action at Belgium on 7th June, 1917 - Generic photo - courtesy Mathew Ward @History Needs You and The Kauri Museum, Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand. www.nzmuseums.co.nz



 



I've been trying to find heartening and uplifting stories for this year's ANZAC commemorations, which marks the 100-year anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign in WW1 and the ANZACs that were involved there.

http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/2visiting/tgallipoli.html

But one general war story, which has been etched in my mind, is about a New Zealand gunner - a relative of mine by marriage, and his treasured time piece (not the soldier in the above photo).

His watch as I understand it, was a treasured item and had, of course, travelled with him to the battle fields with both surviving various combative events for a while before the soldier, sadly, eventually didn't survive but the watch did and was recovered some time later ... still ticking perfect time and given to family members ... still ticking perfect time, it had been hanging on display, on a nephew's dining-room wall for years ... still ticking perfect time and I understand it still keeps perfect time today.

We often talk about not trusting mechanical things but you can't help thinking this watch must have been created out of really sturdy stuff!

The website below has some interesting information about time pieces that survived wars, including  the watch worn by Maungaturoto soldier, L/Corpral Harold Flower, in the photo above:

http://www.timeforremembrance.com/

Do you have any heartening war stories about any soldiers' possessions that managed to be returned to family?

 

We would love you to tell us about them in the comments section!

Why do some people mistreat animals such as dogs?



Loving dogs: Television dog whisperer Cesar Milan with one of his equally well-known canine charges, pit bull, Daddy. Milan believes dogs behaving well and being well-treated comes down to who owns them, not the type of breed they are.

This story in the link below will break your heart:

http://hendrickboards.com/save-emily-jc?tracking=55237049df14b&utm_source=hb&utm_medium=hb-emily-jc&utm_campaign=emily-jc

I'm not an animal owner at the moment but do love animals and I get disgusted by stories like this. We are supposed to be creatures of reason and that means allowing the good side of our natures to rule our lives. There is no excuse; be it economics (using this hideous method of making a living), power or sport for treating animals like this. This is not what they are for.

Even these breeds, who are called 'fighting dogs', have a probable purpose for hunting but that doesn't mean they should be put in a ring with other like breeds and made to fight it out to the death.

People who have no compunction but to do this to an animal, it makes you cringe to think what they may do to other people and if they are parents, what kind of life do their children have?

In our country, I understand bad, dog owners only have to wait for about five years before their slate is clean and they can start again, owning animals!

I think, once you've been deemed a bad, dog owner then you should be considered to always be a bad owner until you jump through some pretty big hoops to prove yourself to be otherwise, to be perfectly honest!

The animal rights website below gives some very interesting and educational information about breeds used for fighting and why they are used:

http://www.animal-rights-action.com/dog-fighting.html

The website says Pit Bull and Staffordshire Bull terriers are often considered to be 'nanny dogs' because of their good and gentleness with children.

Well known international dog whisperer Cesar Milan says, the dog fighting issue has, 'nothing to do with the size [of the dog] or the breed, it has to do with who is behind the dog'.

Dog fighting isn't the only mistreatment of animals.

It comes down to people being serious before getting an animal as a pet - that they think about whether that animal will become an important part of the family and be cared for and loved, just like all humans in the group, because getting bored with an animal and giving up caring for it, is not acceptable, as any vet, RSPCA and animal advocacy groups will tell you.

What do you think about dog fighting and mistreatment of animals?