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  • Envy is the religion of the mediocre

    Envy is the religion of the mediocre

    I bang on about mediocrity a lot. Maybe I should interrogate that and see why that is, and what mediocrity in others mirrors for me … but not today.

    I found a piece by Carlos Ruiz Zafón in his book The Angel’s Game that gives an articulate description of one aspect of mediocrity. It has clarified things for me in terms of the zeitgeist of the world today, it may be helpful to you too.

    “Envy is the religion of the mediocre. It comforts them, it responds to the worries that gnaw at them and finally it rots their souls, allowing them to justify their meanness and their greed until they believe these to be virtues.

    “Such people are convinced that the doors of heaven will be opened only to poor wretches like themselves who go through life without leaving any trace but their threadbare attempts to belittle others and to exclude – and destroy if possible – those who, by the simple fact of their existence, show up their poorness of spirit, mind and guts. Blessed be the one at whom the fools bark, because his soul will never belong to them.”

    If the fools are barking at you, you can be sure that you’re on the right track. You’re holding your light. You’re in your power. Your frequency is vibrating as it should. Your soul is intact.

    1. You who are pregnant with potential, don’t play small to make other people feel better.
    2. You who are as smart as a whip, don’t dumb down your shit so that others can feel smart.
    3. You who are as bright as the brightest star, don’t dull your genius to fit in.

    This is how you survive mediocrity, morons and monsters.

    You’re the job.

    Love, Jacques.

  • LinkedIn Profile written for Lomo Senoamadi – laboratory equipment supplier

    LinkedIn Profile written for Lomo Senoamadi – laboratory equipment supplier

    Helping laboratory professionals run efficient laboratories that deliver results. Founder of BICS, the first 100% Black female-owned laboratory solutions partner in Africa. Instrument Mechanic | Laboratory lover.

    I specialise in helping manufacturers, industrial and medical facilities run streamlined, efficient, and well-maintained laboratories so that they can save costs and deliver on their mandates.

    I’m Lomo Senoamadi, former instrument mechanic turned laboratory solutions partner.

    My love affair with laboratories started 18 years ago, in 2003, when I was exposed to my first laboratory. I was totally hooked.

    I was enthralled, enchanted and energised by what could be created, forged, and breathed to life amongst the beakers, chemicals and micro sampling bottles.

    I immediately quit my job as an instrument mechanic and started BICS on 6 August 2003, the first 100% Black female-owned laboratory solutions partner in Africa.

    I secured my first contract to provide a solution for a laboratory for Rand Water, and the rest, as they say, is history.

    Today, BICS is a solution provider for 72 laboratories at 38 clients, and helps more than 500 laboratory personnel run streamlined and efficient operations so that they can achieve their mandate.

    We have forged a solid reputation for delivering laboratory solutions. Today, 18 years on, we are still a solutions partner for our first client, Rand Water.

    Our hard-fought and enviable reputation for excellence, delivery and service has brought clients like Coca-Cola, Unilever Khanyisa, Eskom and Lafarge, amongst others, into our fold.

    We provide more than 70 different products, from glassware, testing instruments, chemicals & reagents to every conceivable piece of apparatus that is needed to drive an effective laboratory.

    ~ We offer lab equipment installation, repairs, calibrations and maintenance services.
    ~ We consult and advise our clients on laboratory architecture and design.
    ~ We constantly innovate to save costs and improve efficiencies for our clients.

    If you’re looking for a laboratory solutions partner with a field-tested and solid reputation for getting results, reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn or our website.

  • LinkedIn profile commission for Jonathan Hughes, Key Account Manager

    LinkedIn profile commission for Jonathan Hughes, Key Account Manager

    LinkedIn Profile for Jonathan Hughes: Key Account Manager | BDM at WRC Technologies | SFC | Scrum Master I Product Owner | Assist businesses in acquiring new clients by expanding and maintaining their existing client base.

    “Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last.” – Sherlock Holmes

    ++Recently awarded Scrum Master and Product Owner Certifications++

    I help sales-focused organisations find more clients, upsell & cross-sell and retain & grow their existing client base.

    My name is Jonathan Hughes, business development manager, key account manager and avid Sherlock Holmes reader.

    When I read Arthur Conan Doyle’s, The Sign of Four, I became totally hooked on Sherlock Holmes. You may ask, “How’s Sherlock Holmes pertinent to my business and generating more sales?”

    Well, being a good detective and being a good business development/key account manager has similar parallels. I have a verifiable track record of reaching and maintaining my sales targets.

    I have many of the traits that make a good detective and business development manager:

    • I’m infinitely curious about how human behaviour works.
    • I know how to dig out clues to find opportunities to acquire and grow a business.
    • I have an analytical mind, I know how to get the right information, and act on it.
    • I’m empathetic and know how to read people.
    • I have well-tuned listening skills.
    • I’m observant, and in tune with the moods of others.
    • People generally like me because I am always a gentleman (not my words; clients have told me this), balanced, pragmatic, dedicated, dependable, conscientious and a team player.

    These ‘detective’ traits have made me good at helping sales-focused organisations find clues that mitigate danger, exploit opportunities and build on strengths when it comes to business development.

    To this end, I’ve completed a considerable amount of short courses to help me become the best business development manager / key account manager I can be. (Please see my LinkedIn media section for more information on the courses I have completed or my CV)

    Negotiation, mindfulness, teamwork, customer experience, sales skills, Agile project management and scrum master training, you name it, I’ve done it. Because of my Agile Training and Scrum Master background, I am able to pull together diverse sales teams so that they can achieve their sales targets.

    All these skills and more than 30 years of selling, make me a great asset to any business development team.

    I’m currently generating business for WRC Technologies, a data protection IT concern. We provide data centre, cyber security and data management services to organisations with 200+ staff.

    Reach out to me on 078 825 8979 or my LinkedIn profile, and let’s see how we can unlock the hidden sales potential in your organisation.

  • Let the fiasco of failure fuel your fire

    Let the fiasco of failure fuel your fire

    My beloved child has just turned 16. They’ve been struggling for close on five years with the way they relate to the world (more like forever). They are an empath to the highest degree. Think when you ‘ugly cry’ in a sad movie and multiply that by 10. The pain and suffering in the world eviscerates their heart with the glass shards staying in for weeks.

    Something had to give and they untethered from this reality. The cutting, the deep depression, the hopelessness of it all were manifest to their turmoil.

    Their mother and I tried everything to help her get their feet back onto the ground. We have employed shamans, Reiki masters, NLP practitioners, psychologists, you name it. All for nought. I’ve begged, pleaded and bargained with Allah to give me their pain so that they don’t suffer. That’s not on the cards either, apparently.

    Long story short, since April they’ve been to a state psychiatrist who prescribed pills to help balance them chemically. It has been nothing short of a miracle. They’re back. They’re human. They’re sentient. They’re love. They’re joy.

    I thought our family was broken. It’s not. It is fractured and healable.

    Separation from Reality

    But, this is only the backstory to my own separation from reality and diving into the darkness that sometimes enfolds me.

    They live in George with their mother, Simone’. I was visiting my child a month or so ago. Simone’ said to me, “Why don’t you take Aruna to the clinic to fetch her pills.”

    Now I’m thinking that we’re going to a mainstream clinic … a Medicross kinda vibe. Aruna directs me to the clinic through a local township. I’m thinking that this is one hell of a fucking detour to get to the clinic. “Turn here,” they say. To my horror we drive into a car park where a mass of people trying to get into a nondescript building … evidently, the clinic.

    When we get inside it’s like a dystopian nightmare, Covid be fucked. Bodies pressed together, sick festering souls, all screaming for solace, pain relief and peace.

    My child is taking this all in her stride. Clearly, this is not her first rodeo. This is her reality. She’s at peace.

    I, on the other hand, am having a breakdown. I excuse myself and go outside as tears of frustration, disappointment and self loathing start pouring out of me.

    You’re a fuck up

    How is it that I got myself into this financial situation where I can’t take my child to a private psychiatrist and get her medications from a Dischem? How is it that I’ve failed so miserably to provide for my family? How is it that my mother was right when she said I was a fuck up, a fiasco of failure and a disappointment to others, just like I was to her?

    This was my Damascene moment. This was my rock bottom. My wake up call.

    Right then, in that dystopian car park of Hades I decided to show up differently. Take back my power which I’ve been giving away for years (maybe lifetimes). I decided to stop suffering and to stop the self loathing and to embrace the untold gifts that await me (and you), if I only decided to accept them.

    The changes were subtle and profound.

    • I allowed my partner in so that she could really love me.
    • I decided that it’s ok to make bucketloads of money like I used to.
    • I decided that it’s ok to love myself unconditionally.
    • I decided to take back my power from those I’ve given it to.

    Miracles do Happen

    It’s been a miracle since I shifted my perception.

    • From couch surfing for the last couple of years, I now have a 3 bedroom place that I can call home. My own.
    • Work is flowing in.
    • Soon, Allah-willing more money will flood in and, I’ll be able to manifest what I want: To be with those that I love, to travel and to live.

    So, perhaps it is like they say: You have to hit rock bottom and smash against the wall before you can truly heal. In the Hero’s Journey this would be the ‘dark night of the soul’. Where hopelessness, separation, desolation, abandonment and doubt feed off you, stripping you down to a no thing.

    I don’t recommend hitting rock bottom – it’s hell, let nobody kid you about it. It tears your mind apart, it shreds your soul and eviscerates your emotions. It brings out your shadow and everything ugly about you. You vomit out the bile that’s been your life up until now. But, once you are purged, it opens up the possibility of something new.

    Redemption

    Go now. Don’t hit rock bottom. I wouldn’t recommend it. Go make a choice now to change things you don’t like. Take back your power. Stand in your power. Raise your vibration, raise the world.

    We can do this together, you and I.

    I love you, Jacques.

  • Do something scary Saturday: Dads connect with your family today. Now!

    Do something scary Saturday: Dads connect with your family today. Now!

    If you’re a dad and husband. (And, a human):

    Let’s tell the mother of our children how deeply we appreciate her for doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to bringing them up and teaching them how to become awesome humans. 

    Tell her that you love ( ♥ ͜ʖ ♥) her.

    Let’s look our soulmate deeply in her eyes, and hold her gently, and tell her how much we appreciate her for having our back every step of this journey.

    Tell her that you love ( ♥ ͜ʖ ♥) her.

    Let’s take each of our children aside and tell them how proud you are of them, no matter how they choose to show up in this world.  Tell them that it is because of them that you have the most awesome gift in the world … to be called father, dad, papa. 


    Tell them that you love ( ♥ ͜ʖ ♥) them.

  • LinkedIn Profile Commission by Hanrie Fridjhon, Enneagram business coach

    LinkedIn Profile Commission by Hanrie Fridjhon, Enneagram business coach

    I help people, and the organisations they serve, to become more self-aware, develop grit and empower them with skills to thrive.

    I’m a business coach (Enneagram, leadership and communication) and human potential trainer.

    My name is Hanrie Fridjhon (here’s my profile on LinkedIn), empathetic, experienced and versatile (my clients’ words, not mine). My teachings resonate with, and have helped cleaners to CEO, and everyone in between.

    The common thread is that:
    • You must want to develop yourself.
    • You want to be more self-aware and accountable.
    • You have a burning desire to stretch yourself beyond your limiting beliefs.

    I bring 25 years of coaching and training experience that has been honed and fine-tuned in 1000s of boardrooms and classrooms. My approach is to stay curious and open to new possibilities in an ever-changing world.

    Some of the themes I cover:

    • Communication skills
    • Conflict resolution
    • Dealing with diversity and inclusivity
    • Critical thinking
    • Conducting effective meetings
    • Effective teamwork
    • Negotiation and influence

    Please have a look at our website for the full range of our offering.

    I customise and design training and coaching to ensure that it is appropriate for you.

    Let’s set up a “chemistry” call to see if we’re the right fit. hanrie@pro-activecommunications.co.za

    Rainmaker, professional speaker and writer, Jacques de Villiers has been commissioned to write many LinkedIn profiles for his clients. Find out how you can work with him.

  • How to write sales letters that convert, even if you suck at writing.

    How to write sales letters that convert, even if you suck at writing.


    Have you ever looked at your business and thought that it would be further along than it is now?

    I was there in 2007. I left a secure job and decided to start my knowledge sharing business as a speaker, coach, trainer and consultant. You may remember that in 2008 the sub-prime mortgage meltdown pretty much decimated the world economy, including South Africa.

    The bottom fell out of my fledgling business and it was almost dead on the vine as companies battened down the hatches to ride out the storm. I climbed into my savings and bought a direct response copywriting course from the USA.

    It was kinda my last throw of the dice and I had no Plan B. When I received the course in the mail a couple of weeks later I devoured it and learned everything I could about direct response advertising.

    I then read everything I could lay my hands on by some of the top copywriters the world has ever seen: David Ogilvy, Joanna Wiebe, Drayton Bird, Joseph Sugarman, Robert Collier, Victor Schwab, John Caples, Eugene Schwartz, Gary Halbert, Claude Hopkins and many others.

    image

    Find Out How You Can Attend The Mastermind

    That was a smart move on my part.

    Smarter still was when I bought Gaffney’s Business Contacts in South Africa – chambers of commerce and industries yearbook and buyers guide.

    I designed a course called How To Persuade Anybody To Do Almost Anything. I decided to aim for sales teams in small towns, nationally. I knew that most companies probably couldn’t afford to send their teams to Johannesburg where I was based.

    So, going to them was a smarter option.

    I physically retyped every name and email address into an Excel spreadsheet and started marketing hard via email.

    For the next 5 years I took my trusty laptop, projector and screen and set up training sessions in hotels, boardrooms and guesthouses in small towns across the country. From Malmesbury to Magaliesburg. From Nelspruit to Nylstroom. Klerksdorp, George, Plettenberg Bay, East London, Port Elizabeth, Upington … you name it, I trained sales teams there.

    Before I’d wiped my eyes out, more than 4000 delegates had enrolled on my seminar over the subsequent 5 years. All because of a database and one powerful email sales letter.

    As a consequence I started consulting to companies and writing their direct marketing copy, landing pages, marketing scripts and telesales scripts. This created a copywriting business that is still going strong today.

    It’s undeniable that I know how to write copy that converts. Perhaps this could be useful to you. I’ve put my decades of copywriting experience into a day mastermind session which I’ll be running on 1 December at the state-of-the-art Capital Hotel, Sandton. You’ll learn all the strategies, secrets and hard-won, field-tested direct response copywriting knowledge I’ve amassed over the last 20 or so years.

    image

    Work with me on 1 December.

    You’re the Job.

    Jacques

    I’m excited to have the the Capital Hotel Group as my preferred venue partner. I’ll be holding my masterminds in Cape Town, Nelspruit, and other towns where they are represented.

    imageFind Out More.

    About Jacques de Villiers

    Jacques de Villiers legacy writer
    • As a copywriter and author, Jacques has written more than 12-million words circa 1996. He has published 973 articles; 323 on real paper BI (before Internet).
    • Sales copywriting skills (initially email marketing and later, sales landing pages): He has generated in the region of R27-million for his clients.
    • He has ghostwritten and edited 33 books.

    Fast facts

    • He has led nine sales teams in the past 20 years as an outsourced sales leader.
    • He has presented keynotes 1567 times both locally and overseas on marketing, copywriting and sales. He has presented in Milan, Teheran, Sydney and Port Louis, amongst others.
    • He has provided services for 327 clients over the last 20 years. Of those, 11 have been with him for nine years or longer (one for 17 years), and still retain his services. He is known for building deep relationships.
    • He has written a small 62 000-word piece of text for his own account: What If Hollywood Doesn’t Call? A Fractured Monk’s Guide to Enlightenment.
    • He qualified as a Dale Carnegie Instructor
    • He has a Journalism Certificate from Intec College
    • He has a National Diploma in Public Relations
    • He studied under the unrivalled crisis and reputation management expert, Brian Gibson
    • He was Past National President of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa
    • He is a Stef du Plessis Founder’s Award recipient for services to the speaking fraternity.
    • He is a Distinguished Toastmaster
    • He is a Toastmaster of the Year recipient
    • When he’s not helping entrepreneurs build the business they want to, you will find him bass fishing, playing chess, studying military cultures and philosophy.

    ENROL HERE

  • Move it up

    Move it up

    Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and have a small panic attack because you feel as if you’re running out of road and running out of time?

    I do. I have plans for my life, but these might not be the plans that are destined for me, and I might be called back to Eden before I can manifest them.

    I’ve decided to move things up and get as much out of this experience as I can. I’m not going to wait for ‘when the time is right’ or for ‘when I’m ready’. I’m doing shit now. I’m starting my new books, now. I’m loving myself, now. I’m taking those trips, now. I’m telling the woman in my life, “I love you”, now. I’m taking my sister for lunch, now. I’m telling you who are reading this how much I appreciate you, now.

    Maybe you want to join me and move things up. Don’t kid yourself, there’s never going to be a perfect moment to do this. Well, there is … and, it’s now.

    Remember, you have everything that is needed for this extravagant journey that is your life. When you were born, you were born full, not empty. There’s no reason to strive for things to fill you. You’re overfull of potential, love and grace. Strive for things because it is pleasurable and because it pleases your creator. Your creator is always pleased when you are pleased, when you are pure potential, when you manifest the light in you, when you hold your power, when you’re YOU.

    Go now, after you’ve read this piece, go and make that connection, give that hug, tell someone who needs to hear it that you love them (and, whilst you’re about it, tell yourself that you love you).

    Go now!

  • Hold Your Centre, Hold Your Light

    Hold Your Centre, Hold Your Light

    Have you ever looked at your adult self in the mirror and thought that you’d be further in front?

    Recently, when I looked in the mirror it became apparent to me that as hard as I’ve been working on it from a spiritual and emotional perspective, I have been playing small again so that others can feel big. I dumb down my shit so that others don’t feel inadequate (those people video). I deflect so that I don’t rock the status quo. I shut up so that others can be heard (even if they talk the biggest load of shit).

    It’s exhausting being so inauthentic. I’m not small. I have a big, brash, fiery, enthusiastic and generous personality. I care deeply enough to do what’s right, even if it disadvantages me. I’m awesome. I’m smart.

    I know how to write brilliantly. I’m not a Shakespeare, but I’m at least Charles Bukowski (without the sex, drugs and alcohol).

    “This is definitely the best article I’ve read since lockdown. Since ever!” Jeanette de Klerk Smit

    My real superpower is seeing the potential in others and inspiring them to reach that potential and helping them market themselves.

    An issue of control

    So wowed! 15 minutes with Jacques and I feel like a rockstar. I’ve been feeling so insecure about what I’ll do after Unisa, about what marketable skills I really have. One short chat about the LinkedIn profile he’s doing for me, and I suddenly feel like I’ve got the talent, experience and knowledge to build not only a business, but a brand on. Jolene Raison

    I’ve been toning my personality down ever since I can remember because it can be too much for some people.

    A number of years ago I was involved with the mink and manure set, breathing the same rarified and expensive air as them, and scraping horse shit off my shoes. One had to speak just so, ‘dahling’. It was exhausting hiding my Karoo roots.

    On the spiritual path I’m on, everyone is just so zen, soft spoken and courteous. It’s exhausting when I can’t raise my pulse with some enthusiasm and effervescence.

    And everyone is woke. I feel that when I open my size 11 mouth, I’m sticking my size 10 foot in it every bloody time.

    If I was woke and classified my condition as an affliction, it would be called Social Tourette’s.

    My partner, who is super smart and intuitive, put it in perspective for me. She said that my job is to hold my frequency, centre and power. It’s not my job to make people feel better. It’s my job to shine my light.

    She said that it’s not my job to be responsible for other people’s success. That’s their journey. My job is to hold my light.

    This answers the question for me why I quit as an inspirational speaker. I felt responsible for every audience member’s success. That was not my job as a speaker. I could show them a way that worked for me, and that could be helpful to them. That’s it. What they chose to do with the information was not my business.

    “We are not here to fix things, we are here to witness how they work.” Etsko Schuitema.

    Sit at the grownups' table

    I’ve come to realise that not everyone has the same register and resonance as me, and that’s ok. They’re not my people. I need to find my people. People who appreciate my talents, my worth and my opinion are my people.

    I’ve decided not to drop my standards. I’m not dumbing down my writing. I’m looking for race horses, who, when they don’t understand a word, go and look it up in the dictionary. Those that think the words are too difficult and put down my text … they’re not my peeps.

    I’m going to hold my centre, my light and my authenticity. It’s less exhausting and way more exhilarating. I’m never dumbing shit down … it’s a race to mediocrity.

    Thank you for holding your frequency and your centre. Shine your light. Vibrate magnificently. I appreciate you.

    You’re the Job.

  • An Issue of Control

    An Issue of Control

    One of the biggest things I struggle with as I traverse this spiritual journey, is the concept of submitting to a higher power and relinquishing control of this entire endeavour.

    If it was only about submitting some things and keeping control of some things, then it would be easy. Who doesn’t want someone else to deal with one’s burdens, and take credit for one’s successes?

    The challenge is that we are told to submit and give up control of everything to a higher power.

    In Sufism we call it fanā (فناء‎ ) – basically, the annihilation of the human ego before God.

    I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to surrender my ego and my identity that I’ve worked so hard on consciously creating. Although, being a LinkedIn profile writer, is probably not the highest thing I could shoot for now, is it? In my youth I shot for philosopher … LinkedIn profile writer feels like settling (and, settling for anything that is not the highest expression of myself feels like hell).

    A friend of mine said the other day, “Surrendering feels like loss.” I think she’s right, it does feel like loss.

    Of the four things that underly any worthwhile pursuit … security, power/status, fulfilment and harmony, status is the biggest driver for most of us. And, that’s a race to the bottom, I tell you. Trying to impress anyone is an exercise in futility because it leaves one weakened, insecure, dissatisfied and disillusioned in the final analysis.


    All paths lead to nowhere, so find a path with heart. Carlos Castaneda


    The antidote to status is to:

    • Submit because you and I have no control of the outcomes (Covid is testament to this).
    • Be in awe and gratitude that we get to play here for a little while.
    • Do meaningful work so that we can become masterworks and make this life a masterpiece.

      We really are the point of it all. This story you’re living has been written to enchant you. Just by being born we have more than is our due. This means that we’re in overtime every day. Let’s just make the most of our life, and enjoy it for what it is.

      A gift.

      A moment in time.

      A miracle.

      No amount of money in your bank account can fill that hole in your chest called insecurity. Etsko Schuitema

      Let’s do something that scares us today … let’s be grateful, in awe and be present.