ARE YOU ADDING A “TO DO” LIST, TO A “TO DO” LIST?

This is a new year and instead of just starting over again, how about picking up where you left off last year and keep on running the race.
In my opinion, the beginning of the year is not the time to start new things and have new resolutions, but to find those things that you did do right and that made you happy the previous year and continue.

Often people make New Year resolutions and by 1 February, most have been forgotten – to be real, some of you will not even start.  Every year when I get to the gym the week after New Year, the place is buzzing and there is not enough parking to accommodate all the New Year’s resolutions, but I have learned to stay calm and let the novelty wear off and by 1 February, everything is back to normal.  The same crew pitches up in the gym that has always been there and life just carries on.This is not to say that we cannot decide to make changes in our lives, but why do it on 1 January if history has proven that the failure rate is so high?  I think we should make resolutions on the spot.  Don’t start your diet on Monday, start it when you think your jeans are too tight.  Make a bucket list, but start doing things to get there.  There is some planning involved, but just start!

How often do you hear someone say “I would like to visit Paris”, but he/she doesn’t even have a passport.  My comment to that is usually “Well, get in your car right now – Parys in the Free State is not that far”, because in my opinion – that is a pipe dream.  If you don’t start by doing something to move in that direction, you are not seriously planning to do that anyway and you are just setting yourself up for failure. All of us have dreams that may never be realised – but how do you know if you don’t try.  Susan Boyle would never have been the singer she is today, if she didn’t take the step and risked being ridiculed by the best in the business (Simon Cowell). There are the top 10 resolutions for 2013 (Google Facts)

1. Eat healthy and exercise regularly
2. Drink less
3. Learn something new
4. Quit smoking
5. Better work/life balance
6. Volunteer
7. Save Money
8. Get organized
9. Read more
10. Finish those around the house “to-do” lists

There is not one thing on this list that cannot be started on any other day.  So, what makes 1 January so special?  On any other day, this will just be a list of things you would like to do, but to make this list on 1 January, puts a lot of pressure  on you and by the end of January, you feel like a complete failure.

In my opinion, if you feel the urge to volunteer, go help out somewhere for a day and see how it goes from there.  If you want to get more organised, find a place for things and put it away.  If you want to read more, buy a book today.  If you do not give your family enough attention, switch off your computer, and go home.  I find number 10 hugely entertaining, you are adding your “to do” list, to your “to do” list.

I feel like I want to yell from the rooftops, “Stop making lists, and start doing something!”  There is nothing wrong with making a list of things to do if you are planning your year, because planning is the first step in achieving.  But making a list of things and by 2 January you have not put any planning behind how you are going to achieve this, I am afraid to say – your list will look the same again next year, only you will be more overweight, you may now be a raging alcoholic, your wife/husband has left you because you don’t spend any time together, the only thing that you have read the past year is your horoscopes (does anybody see the irony in the “horo” (horror) part of a horoscope.)
So, don’t make resolutions on 1 January – make them every day and draft the action steps to get there.

 This whole bog can be summed up in one sentence.  “If you wanna go to Paris, get a passport”

Castor Projects revolutionises performance management Issued by: All Scan   [Johannesburg, 11 April 2013] -

Castor Projects Consultants (CPC), one of SA’s leading mobile device repair service providers, today announces it is implementing Intuitive Dashboards to revolutionise the speed of performance management reporting against critical service key performance indicators (KPIs).

Using Intuitive Dashboards, senior managers gain instant, interactive access to accurate management data submitted by CPC’s technical staff located across SA, empowering them to rapidly analyse their performance, improve effectiveness and enhance client service.

Previously, performance information was manually consolidated from 45 individual reports, taking four hours a day to produce management reports. As a result of implementing Intuitive Dashboards, which provides customisable dashboard views of the most critical information required, CPC will save five working days a month. In addition, Intuitive Dashboards provides an accurate perspective of CPC’s overall performance across product, HR, forecasting and financial KPIs.

Intuitive Dashboards unites critical management information residing in existing disparate data sources, presenting users with relevant information in a visually engaging, interactive dashboard format. By delivering proactive alerts to potential variances and shortfalls, as well as highlighting trends, users can take fast action to maintain performance levels and maximise opportunities, which ultimately aids efficiency, service delivery and cost-effectiveness.

Stephan Haupt, Director of Castor Projects, comments: “We needed a solution that would enable us to make faster, more proactive decisions on a day-to-day basis, so we can focus on critical areas of the business that need immediate attention. We used to spend up to four hours a day pulling data together to produce management reports, but using Intuitive Dashboards, we now have real-time access giving us an accurate picture of how we’re performing. Intuitive Dashboards is extremely easy to use, so we can drill-down to analyse our data more deeply with just a few mouse clicks. I’m also impressed by the highly visual, customisable dashboards which makes it extremely simple to interpret and act on our data.”

Haupt concludes: “We operate in a highly competitive market and it’s imperative we deliver a service that is second to none. Intuitive Dashboards enables us to manage productivity more effectively than ever before, because we can now act quickly to deal with potential performance shortfalls across our business. There are so many applications for the software across the organisation – if we have the data, we can now analyse it and use it to spot trends. Intuitive Dashboards is an essential business enabler for forward-looking organisations which have the desire to drive significant performance improvements and exceed their clients’ expectations with exceptional service.”

South Africa-based Allscan, a leading document imaging and BI solutions provider, is managing CPC’s implementation of Intuitive Dashboards. Chris Botha, Managing Director at Allscan, comments: “Intuitive Dashboards is the perfect solution for organisations that need the power to analyse, interpret and manage critical operational data. Using Intuitive Dashboards, CPC can now achieve their strategic goal of realising actionable business insight from their management information, in order to gain a sustainable competitive edge.”

Roger Stocker, Sales Director at Intuitive Business Intelligence, says: “We’re delighted to welcome CPC to our expanding list of mobile telephony clients. Using Intuitive Dashboards, CPC benefits from rapid, real-time dashboard access to their critical performance data, enabling them to closely manage costs and service delivery, as well as identify efficiencies and improvements across all their business operations. Ultimately, Intuitive Dashboards will help them to act fast, take decisive action and stay one step ahead of the competition, and we’re extremely pleased to be working with them.”