The power of “Thank You”

A short while ago I woke up feeling very sorry for myself.

I blew my pity party balloons and got ready to wallow in my sad state… oh AND I had a bottle of misery just waiting to be downed by me.

I thought prayer would help and so I started: “Oh God please help me…” and as I begun to utter my very long list of complaints (including ailments that had enveloped my body) – I thought Father would comfort me and tell me everything would be just fine- instead I heard Him say: “Oh quit whining and be grateful!!!”

In that moment I made a decision. I realised that, yeah, I was going through a rubbish patch but I had so much more to be grateful for.

That entire day each time I caught myself about to complain – I held my tongue and instead said something positive – or highlighted something I felt was a blessing or evidence of the Father’s grace.

That day, for the first time in a long time, the physical pain I’d been feeling stopped. My mood changed and my spirits were lifted. All because I chose to think and speak different.

I popped my pity party balloons, decided to take a nice hot bath instead of wallow in the mud of despair and chucked out the bottle of misery that had been waiting by my bedside.

It’s easy to complain. Without even trying I’m sure you’ll find that there is ALWAYS something to complain about.

There are many times when we feel we’ve earned a pity party and we are extremely generous in allowing ourselves to indulge in being down.

There’s a lot of power in being grateful.

We are strengthened when we choose to speak positive words and words of life.

We are made weak and become easy to defeat when we fill our mouths with words of doom and gloom.

We miss so much when we choose to complain instead of standing strong on the power of gratitude.

Complaining contaminates every area of our lives and sucks the energy out of everything and everyone we come into contact with.

Life isn’t perfect for anyone. It may be easier for some but the truth is: We each have those moments when we just want to turn the lights out – crawl into bed and die for a while.

I may sound dramatic but I’m almost certain you know what I mean.

Sometimes you can’t control the things that happen to you. But you can control how you allow them to affect you.

And sometimes the most powerful thing to do in the face of adversity is to give thanks.

The power of that will, almost always, trump the floods of misfortune that face us all at one point or other.

 

Hannah Viviers is founder of Hannah Viviers Business Training and Author of mommy24.com. She recently started the amazing Facebook Page: ‘Why Africa is Great’

You’re welcome to leave a comment or email Hannah directly at hannahviviers@yahoo.com

The Love Connection: CANCELLED

We were SO looking forward to our Feb 9 Event but have had to cancel it.

Unfortunately I haven’t been well and been ordered bed rest for a while – I’m not sure when I’ll be up and about again but I’m already MUCH better.

Out of all the events we’ve hosted thus far The Love Connection event was so personally important to me because of the subject matter we were tackling: Partnerships  we build and how they affect our personal and business lives.

We do apologise to everyone who had contacted us, excited to attend – we assure you this doesn’t mean cancelled for good – I know we’ll have the opportunity to still host this event going forward.

Bestest Regards,
Hannah V

 

Hannah Viviers is founder of Hannah Viviers Business Training and Author of mommy24.com. She recently started the amazing Facebook Page: ‘Why Africa is Great’

You’re welcome to leave a comment or email Hannah directly at hannahviviers@yahoo.com

Did you know that You’ve been programmed to fail?

I’m really REALLY mad today!

I’m updating our Personal Development Course material and it frazzles my mind how much incredible information is out there. And yet… people reject it!

Few things irk me more than people who REFUSE to learn.

I’ve fired clients for their insistence on: “Oh Hannah I just don’t read!”

They’re a waste of my time and energies.

Saying you “don’t read” is rejecting information in the information age!…  Now you see why I’m frazzled?

Just like life’s too short to wear uncomfortable bras or ball-squishing underwear – life’s far too short trying to coach people who refuse to learn.

I come across people who want me to “tell” them how to build successful personal or business brands yet they’re not willing to do the nitty grittys that it takes to achieve these things. There are no short-cuts and no you don’t acquire knowledge and experience via osmosis – you learn and apply. Period.

The world’s systems are programmed to program us to fail.

The systems have been around for centuries and work brilliantly.

They want you to remain in the dark. They need you to remain stupid. They target you with useless information so you remain without the actual knowledge you require to fulfil who you were designed to be. The less you know the better they succeed in using you for their own designs.

From an early age we’re taught to comply. To colour within the lines that someone else drew, to follow the rules no matter how ancient and outdated they are, to be quiet when turds are flung at us and “take it” because “that’s how things are”.

NO!

I’m mad that darkness is prevailing because there is so much we have in us that will never be explored because we refuse to step out and try. We ignore the many calls to re-program ourselves.

Never has there been opportunity to re-program ourselves than there is now.

World systems ridicule geniuses and shame them from being amazing. Luckily for us some of those geniuses ignore the ridicule and show us their WOW and we’re blown over.

World systems teach us, from very early on in our lives, that any kind of failure demands punishment so we grow up fearing to try anything because we’ll be punished – but really how else do people learn if they don’t try and fail?

I still have scars on my knees and elbows from learning how to ride a bike – and I love my scars because they taught me the freedom of wheels!  Please inbox me if you learned to ride without falling – it’ll be a first for me and I’d love to hear how you did it!

Because we’re programmed to shelve our dreams and comply we see nothing wrong with the world bending and twisting our kids into the same submission.

Choosing to remain stupid is stupid.

We can  re-program our minds and our ways of thinking. And we have the opportunity to save our kids from being robbed of their wonder.

We can  break out of the moulds that carved out the lives of our forefathers and in turn bullied us into denying who we were created to be.

So brilliantly have we been programmed that we fear starting something new because failure is a very real possibility. We’ve been taught that failure is the absolute worst things that can happen to us. It’s not.

Starting something IS hard.

Almost on a daily basis I speak to people who are trying to find themselves. Trying to start a new project that has been beckoning them for as long as they can remember – and here’s the truth: there is nothing romantic about a start-up. It wrenches everything in you.

There’s nothing romantic about “doing your own thing” when you’re starting out.

It may seem cute the way Hollywood depicts it but being broke and hustling is NOT romantic. It’s hard, it’s exhausting, it’s hugely unpleasant and often it’s very very lonely.

In the beginning you feel like a schizo – one moment you’re high on what you envision the next you’re down in the dumps, depressed because business isn’t coming in or everything you seem to try fails. No friend you’re not crazy. You’re starting something spectacular and this is how it goes. Everything you’re feeling is absolutely normal.

It’s easy to slip into roles that someone else has designed for you.

It’s really REALLY hard to carve your own path and create your own unique role in this highly competitive world.

There are many times I want to pack it all in – call it a day and stop trying.

And then I ask myself: “But Hannah what is the alternative?”

The alternative is soul-destroying – been there (for a VERY long time) and I’d rather not return thank you very much.

Being different is hard.

If you’re like me and bringing a service or product into a market that doesn’t always get you – it’s exponentially harder.

But here’s the tremendous opportunity: if you’re creating something unique, for a long time you’ll probably have no competitors. Others may eventually imitate what you offer but if you buckle down and decide you’ll remain on top and do what you must to stay there – it’ll be very hard to dethrone you.

But that comes EVENTUALLY. For now, if you’re starting, it’s one step at a time. It’s painful and it sure isn’t fun.

The world and its systems have been carefully designed to make you fail: One writer described it as being programmed to be a factory worker and never the factory owner.

Steer clear of people who love being factory workers. They’ll contaminate your journey. Seek like minded crazy folk who are also re-programming their destinies.

Having lots of money when you’re miserable is not success.

Running away from your dreams and envying those who’re pursuing theirs is not success.

Kissing ass to get a promotion in a job you hate and you KNOW is not for you is just humiliating and a waste of your much-needed talents.

Now that you know, that it really was all a plot for your downfall, what are you going to do about it?

 

Hannah Viviers is the Creator and Host of the Dream BIG TV Show

You’re welcome to reach out to her on her Facebook Page where she posts Loads of inspiring content daily.

It’s all a dream until you DO!

So one of my friends, Elungile Mzimba, started an AWESOME project for schools in rural areas last year: it’s aimed inspiring at kids in these schools to dream big.

You’ll be amazed that some kids don’t even dream in these areas because for them getting out of where they are seems so impossible.

So Elu called up a few of her friends last year – told us what her project was about – We called it Masiqaqambe a Xhosa term meaning Let Us Outshine, Let Us Stand Out, Let Us Be Bright. That’s the richness of Xhosa- one word can mean so much!

Anyway Elu’s focus for the project was toward her home province of the Eastern Cape.

The first school the Masiqaqambe (MasQ) project visited was Imingcangathelo High School (IHS).

Upon the return of the MasQ team, those of us that couldn’t make the trip to the school were moved by photographs of some of the learners who wept as Elu and others from the project spoke about how they too had come from where those kids were now. But they had worked hard and they had made it!

While Elu and her team spoke to the matric group – others who had volunteered their time spoke to the teachers and parents about their roles in the learners’ success.

So inspired were they that during the winter holidays IHS arranged for the matrics to be housed at the school for a winter program – teachers taught in that period without being paid a single cent for their time – WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!

Before their visit to IHS Elu had found out from the school what the matrics really needed – she drew up a list, called up her friends – it was amazing how people pulled together to make the list happen.

Some donated money, others stationery and so on.

Two computers were promised to students who would top the class for the finals. Again Elu’s friends (and in some cases family of friends) came together and made the promises made by the MasQ team happen.

So here’s the punch line for the IHS story: In 2011 the matric pass rate at IHS was 48%….

But in 2012… wait for it…. The pass rate for the matric year 2012 was 78%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk about a whopping jump!

And all because one woman had a dream to inspire others to dream! And acted on her dream!

The story does not end there.

After hearing the MASSIVE changes that had taken place at IHS – Another school in the Eastern Cape, Mente, asked Elu and her team to come and work the same wonders at their school.

Elu tells me as they drove to the school she and the people with her just felt all energies drained.

This was a place far from roads the average car could go because the roads were virtually non-existent.

When the MasQ team arrived at the school they heard stories that are quite commonplace in many schools like these – kids dropping out of school, poor attendance, rampant teenage pregnancies…

In South Africa the general closing date to apply to universities is September 30. But by the time MasQ visited Mente in September not one of the Mente students had applied to go to university yet!

Punch line for Mente: The previous year, 2011, only 3 matrics had passed! ONLY 3!

Making matters worse there were rumours doing rounds in the community that there were plans to shut Mente down due to dismal performance.

Elu says even after MasQ’s visit to the school there was a damp, sombre, feeling among her team that, despite their efforts, not much would happen for Mente.

How wrong they were!

At the beginning of 2012, 56 matrics had enrolled at Mente for their final year of high school. By September, due to rampant drop out, only 35 students remained.

After MasQ’s visit to Mente the stats are as follows:

– All 35 learners remained in school for the rest of the year and actually took the exams.

– 23 passed!

– of those 23, 3 obtained exemptions

– Of the 12 that failed all but one qualified for supplementary exams

– meaning only 1 student actually failed completely and has to re-do their year in 2013.

All this from a school that had only managed to get 3 learners through the previous year!

The acting Principal at Mente sent Elu a heartfelt thank you! Here’s a piece from that email:

“Elu thank you to you guys… ever since you came the learners’ spirits were boosted. There was a new attitude. So many started requesting testimonials from me for their post-school applications etc and now we see the results!”

I want to honour my friend Elu for her courage to start this amazing, life-changing program.

And I want to honour all her friends who showed up and made things happen both at IHS and Mente.

Every single one of you is testament of what can happen when we have the courage to step out. More than that just the other day I was truly questioning whether we ever really had Ubuntu in Africa or it was something made up…

But for me what is happening in the Eastern Cape because of your selflessness IS Ubuntu.

May we remember where we come from – and that our hearts as Africans should forever be: To never leave a brother or sister behind.

To the MasQ team: here’s to another great year.

I know that already plans are under-way to inspire more young people, educators, parents and entire communities in 2013!

To Elu – strength my dear friend and sister – you have started something truly Great.

May YHWH guide you and make the circle bigger 🙂  as you endeavour to change the hearts and minds of young people in the Eastern Cape – who knows how far your dream will reach!

Much Love,

Hannah Viviers

 

P.S.  My friend has started something truly great. Please support her by sharing this story on as many platforms as you can.

 

Hannah Viviers is founder of Hannah Viviers Business Training and Author of mommy24.com. She recently started the amazing Facebook Page: ‘Why Africa is Great’

 

You’re welcome to leave a comment or email Hannah directly at hannahviviers@yahoo.com

Top reads to kick start 2013

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill This book is NOT for the faint hearted! It’s for people on the go and ready to make some major changes in how they think so they can get rich. I got exhausted and excited after reading just the first few pages of this book. It’s a must for anyone who really wants to create wealth in their lives.

In search of Excellence by Tom PetersI read one article by Tom Peters and was hooked by his brilliance.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell – So many great business leaders recommend this book – I haven’t started reading it – but I thought to include it here because all the rave can’t be for nothing.

What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School – Wouldn’t you like to know? This one’s by Mark H. McCormack.

 

Happy Reading!

And please you’re welcome to share your best business reads.

 

Hannah Viviers is founder of Hannah Viviers Business Training and Author of mommy24.com.

You’re welcome to leave a comment or email Hannah directly at hannahviviers@yahoo.com