Wake Up Tiger

my blog has moved ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 15 May 2014 13:29:00 +1000

... to here:

www.wakeuptiger.com

It's a better experience so please visit the new site.

Thanks

Richard :)

questions worth asking your self ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 14 May 2014 16:32:00 +1000

A question that makes you think about your self and your life is a question worth asking.

Here is my list of Questions for YOU -- thought provoking questions to get YOUR mind moving and YOUR heart racing:

The Question Question

Do you ask questions, or do you just settle for what you know?

Time and Age Questions

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
If the average human lifespan was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
If you could live one day of your life over again, what day would you choose?
How have you changed in the last five years?

Beliefs and Values Questions

What’s the biggest lie you once believed was true?
Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?
What small act of kindness were you once shown that you will never forget?

Work Questions

What motivates you to go to work each day?
What job would you never do no matter how much it paid?
Have you done anything lately worth remembering?

Brand YOU Questions

Why do you matter?
What do you love most about yourself?
What’s the best part of being you?
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

If some of these questions do resonate with and challenge you, try asking them next time you’re at a social or work function. Change the conversation FROM:, ‘So, where do you live?’ and ‘What car do you drive’ TO: ‘So, what do you live for?’ and ‘What drives you?’.

And yes, you will almost certainly get weird looks from some people. But hey, at least YOU are the one being yourself, sticking your neck out and asking the questions worth asking.

age old thinking ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 10:14:00 +1000

The Industrial Age started about 200 years ago. It laid the foundations and principles of our schooling, our workday, our economy, and our expectations.

Today we are still surrounded by the ways of the Industrial Age. By the expectations, beliefs, and standards of an era that started 200 years ago.

Industrialisation requires standardisation and conformity. Standardisation in the Industrial Age was not a choice -- it was impossible to industrialise without it. Conformity in the Industrial Age made production easier, more efficient, safer and cheaper. Fitting in and duplicating are the tenets of the Industrlai Age.

The price we pay for this is that we lose our humanity. There is no place for originality, diversity and individual thought and opinion. We settle for low expectations and small dreams. And it takes personal revolutionaries like Jim Morrison to call us to action:

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. Your trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your senses for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen on the inside first.

the angel in the stone

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 12:05:00 +1100

I edit for a living. Actually, that’s not true. I am a brand strategist. And at the beginning of every big project I amass a vast array of information, ideas and opinions.

My job, as the brand strategist, is to clear away the clutter, expose the truth that sits at the core of this array of information, ideas and opinions, and shape the words that articulate this truth in a powerful way.

The process is very much like being a sculptor, chipping away at the rock diligently and purposefully until the image reveals itself – a concept Michelangelo spoke of often:

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

For Michelangelo the idea was already there, inside the slab of stone, and his eyes and hands were the vessels by which the idea was brought forth. Sculpture, like editing and brand strategy, is about chiseling away at the unnecessary, at the external, in pursuit of the truth within.

Now I’m a pretty avid consumer of books in the self-help, motivational, growth and inspiration space. Watkins’ Spiritual List of the 100 most spiritually influential living people includes many of my enlightened guides. The Dalai Lama [at #1.]. Eckhart Tolle [at #3.]. Deepak Chopra [at #4.]. Paulo Coelho [at #7.]. Richard Bach [at #14.]. And Neale Donald Walsch [at #21.].

At the core of all their work is the human condition, and how to deal with the stress of leading a cluttered, confused life, and the fear of an ultimately meaningless existence. I see these people as guides, each issuing their own call to action to shedding the excess baggage, the dead weight, and silencing the noise. To choosing yourself. To living your truth. And they are incredibly in demand across the globe. Why is that?

I reckon it’s because we live in an age inundated with ways to connect, things to watch, and stuff to buy. Our mantra has become “bigger, faster, better, more.” None of which brings us nearer to our truth. In fact it does the exact opposite – it alienates us from the things that really matter.

More and more we are beginning to realise that, and so we are in search for ways to cut through the clutter. We want simpler, more meaningful lives, filled with people and experiences and things we actually do care about.

What The Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, and Paulo Coelho offer us is precisely what Michelangelo did, what editors do, and what brand strategists do. A big fat personal edit of the clutter, the excess baggage, and the dead weight, so we can each get closer to our own truth.

I began the editing process for myself with big, rudimentary chips at the slab of stone. Less trying to impress or please others. Less buying stuff to look good. Less mindless dinner parties and polite conversations. Less meetings and emails.

Less choices and options. Fewer “friends” on Facebook.

Now I have more time and energy to spend with my family, on my self, and doing the one thing I love doing most of all – waking up people’s tigers [which includes having the headspace and the time to write articles such as this one].

It wasn’t easy, but I slowly chipped away at the excess and clutter and, as a result, the angel in my marble is starting to emerge.

I edited my world, and you can too.

bluebird

noreply@blogger.com (Ricardo) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:39:00 +1100

there's a bluebird in my heart
that wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?

-- Charles Bukowski

create your own

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:31:00 +1100

The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock waiting to be found.

The most successful people realise that in life they create their own love, they create their own meaning, they generate their own motivation.

someone woke up today

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 12:18:00 +1100

Someone woke up today.

Someone woke up today and kissed someone they love on the forehead.

Someone woke up today and kissed someone they love on the forehead, and before they left for school or work they said "I love you. Have a good day. I'll speak to you later."

Someone woke up today and kissed someone they love on the forehead, and before they left for school or work they said "I love you. Have a good day. I'll speak to you later." And they replied "I love you." And they kissed them goodbye.

Someone woke up today and kissed someone they love on the forehead, and before they left for school or work they said "I love you. Have a good day. I'll speak to you later." And they replied "I love you." And they kissed them goodbye ... for the very last time.

Someone woke up today. But they won't wake up tomorrow.

happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:37:00 +1100

happiness

Like a slippery fish, the instant you turn happiness into a goal it isn’t attainable any more. That's because happiness isn’t something you can work towards. It isn’t something you can put someplace in your future, and overcome barriers to get to.

And if you did set up a "happiness" standard for your life -- if you say, "In order for me to be happy my life has to be this way" -- what you've done is set up a false standard for your self and your life which is guaranteed to make you eternally unhappy.

Happiness isn’t at the end of the rainbow. Happiness is at the beginning of the rainbow. Happiness is today. Happiness is now.

Following the rainbow is happiness, not getting to the end of it.

you choose ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 9 Jan 2014 19:12:00 +1100

the biggest choice you never made ...

Who am I, and who do I choose to be, in relationship to the oppressed and downtrodden?

Who am I and who do I choose to be, in relationship to the disaffected and the disadvantaged, the disavowed and disconnected, the dispossessed and disenfranchised?

Who am I and who do I choose to be? That is the question.

And as in all things, there are two ways to choose anything. One way is to choose it, the other way is not to choose it. The key thing is not to allow yourself to be defined by default. If you think you're making no choice by making no choice, you're wrong, because not to choose is to choose. It is a choice not to choose.

And if you're running your life this way the biggest choice you will ever make could be the choice you never made.

trapped

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 16:36:00 +1100

Trapped inside your Weltanschauung

The greatest obstacle to change and possibility is that we are trapped inside what the German sociologist Karl Mannheim called ourWeltanschauung, or worldview.

Your worldview is your underlying mental frame of reference and belief system. If you are a lawyer, and spend most of your time with other lawyers or professionals, this will condition your expectations and aspirations. You will feel that you need to have a relatively high salary, live in a relatively expensive house in a relatively expensive suburb, take overseas trips, and that working 70-80 hours a week is quite normal. You will eat in the same restaurants, drive the same cars, shop at the same shops, read the same newspapers, say the same things at dinner parties, and think the same things in bed at night.

And since you rarely interact with different people who see the world differently -- because you instinctively keep to the circle of people who share the same worldview as yourself -- you become trapped inside your Weltanschauung.

When was the last time YOU spent an afternoon with a bee keeper, a mortician, or a shamanic healer?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 6 Nov 2013 14:17:00 +1100

Work

The thought once occurred to me that if one wanted to crush and destroy a man entirely, to mete out to him the most terrible punishment, one at which the most fearsome murderer would tremble, shrinking from it in advance, all one would have to do would be to make him do work that was completely and utterly devoid of usefulness and meaning.

-- Fyodor Dostoyevsky [he who knows the true meaning of "punishment"]

courage

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 1 Nov 2013 14:14:00 +1100

Courage

The word courage is interesting. It comes from a Latin root cor, which means "heart". So to be courageous means to live with your heart.

Only weaklings live with their head; afraid, they build a world of logic around themselves. They close every window and door -- with mythology, beliefs, concepts, words, agreements, and theories -- and inside those closed doors and shut windows, they hide.

Truth is an experience, not a belief. Make sure you have the courage to open every window and door, and experience what comes floating your way ...

Are You Living Your Résumé or Your Eulogy?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 16:47:00 +1000

A school friend of mine died six weeks ago. He was 52, and motor neurone disease had slowly nibbled away at his body for over three years.

I was asked to write his euology for a service that was being held in Cape Town – so his old class mates could pay tribute to him. As I started thinking what to say and how to say it, it dawned on me how the eulogies that celebrate a person’s life are very different from the way we define success, and live our everyday lives.

So, for example, you will never hear things like this in an eulogy:

“His crowning achievement was when he made Sales Director.”

Or:

“His Porsche 991 was testimony to his success and greatness as a businessman.”

Or:

“We especially remember him as a person who had a MBA.”

Eulogies [thankfully] are not résumés. Our eulogy will be the first and only formal marking down of what our lives were about. The eulogy is the foundational document of our legacy – how we cared; how courageous we were; how funny we were; how we were as a human being; how people remember us; how we live on in the minds and hearts of others.

No matter how hard we play the “success” game, the eulogy is ALWAYS about the other stuff – what they gave to others; small kindnesses; lifelong passions; unique and curious habits and traits; and the things that made us smile and laugh.

So the question is: Why do we spend so much time on what our eulogy is not going to be? Or, worded another way, “Why do we spend so much time living our resume, and so little time living our eulogy?”

Because even those who die with amazing résumés – who’s lives were synonymous with success, accomplishment and business achievement – even their eulogies are about what they did when they weren't achieving and succeeding, and who they were as human beings.

I wish we could bring a little of that magic back into the way we market ourselves [translation = your resume]; the jobs and roles we do at work [translation = your job description]; and the way we live our lives [translation = how you define success].

brand YOU

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:14:00 +1000

Ode to a Generalist

Specialisation is for insects.

A human being should be able to change a nappy, plan an invasion, steer a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance the accounts, build a wall, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly.

in the shadow of a great lie

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 12:14:00 +1000

Individuals and societies don’t have the same fundamental need. Individuals need and want to be happy. Society needs and wants individuals to consume more.

These different goals present a dilemma, which society cunningly solves by persuading us that consumption will bring us happiness. Society convinces us that what’s good for the economy is good for us too.

And so we live in the shadow of a great lie. We want more and more. And it's a bottomless pit of dissatisfaction, because it's never enough. And by the time we figure that out we're old, and just about ready to make space for a new, younger consumer and shopper. The cycle of human life?

REMEMBER: Happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want.

rich enough

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 14:00:00 +1000

One day the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah" said his son.

"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

His son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

With this the boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Too many times we forget what we have, and concentrate on what we don't have. What is one person's worthless object is another's prize possession? It is all based on one's perspective.

It makes me wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for the abundance we have, instead of worrying about wanting more?

shake the dust

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 10:09:00 +1000

This is for the fat girls.

This is for the timid boys.

This is for the school-yard wimps, this is for the childhood bullies who tormented them.

This is for the nighttime cereal eaters and for the retired, elderly Vinnies store front door greeters.

Shake the dust.

This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them, for the bus drivers crossing the Harbour Bridge in peak morning traffic, for the men who have to hold down three jobs simply to hold up their children, for the nighttime HSC students and the midnight party goers who are trying to fly.

Shake the dust.

This is for the girls with the brothers who are going crazy, for the twelve-year-olds afraid of taking public showers, for the girl who loves somebody else.

Shake the dust.

This is for the poetry teachers and for the people who go on vacations alone, for the tired and the dreamers, for the ones who are told to speak only when you are spoken to, and then are never spoken to.

This? This is for you.

Do not let a moment go by that doesn’t remind you that your heart beats 100,000 times a day and that there are enough gallons of blood to make you an ocean.

Do not settle for letting these waves settle, and the dust to collect in your veins. All that pushes and pulls, pushes and pulls for you.

Shake the dust.

So when the world knocks at your front door, clutch the knob and open on up, and run forward into its widespread greeting arms with your hands before you, fingertips trembling though they may be.

Shake the dust.

[adapted from Shake The Dust by Anis Moigani, slam poet extraordinaire]

your life ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 16:57:00 +1000

Your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
Be on the watch.
There are ways out.
There is a light somewhere.
It may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
Be on the watch.
The gods will offer you chances.
Know them.
Take them.
You can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
And the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
Your life is your life.
Know it while you have it.
You are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

– “The Laughing Heart”, Charles Bukowski

the worst boss in the world

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:28:00 +1000

That would be YOU.

Because the boss of you is YOU. You manage your day, your time, where you work, and your career. You manage how you do your job, how you sell your services, the way you talk to others, and the way others think of you.

The only person who's seen every performance you've ever done is you. The only one who has seen every email you've written and every meeting you've been to is you.

And the chances are you're not doing a very good job at being your boss. That your boss reckons you're not good enough, not talented enough, or not ready to speak up, and is really down on just about everything about you. And just in case you're not sure, listen to what your boss is saying [hint: it's the voice in your head].

Being a good boss is a choice. If you and your boss choose to agree that you are really good at what you do, that you do have a whole heap of talent, and that you do have much to contribute to the conversation, then that's just how it will be.

There may not be a thousand people giving you a standing ovation as you leave your desk at the end of your day. That's okay. At least you're working for a great boss.

on beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 14:51:00 +1000

We got it all wrong; dead wrong.

We're taught that exotic is beautiful. We're taught to believe that miniature waists and perfect tans are beautiful. We're convinced that the blonde girls with the gorgeous smiles will win every time.

But the truth is that originality is beautiful. Big brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes. Curves. Natural skin tone. Your hair colour, your smile. Your voice, your laugh, your personality.

Every inch of you is beautiful. Every single part of you shines with your beauty.

You, my dear, are beautiful.

time enough

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 14:30:00 +1000

Never say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to James Dean, John Keats, Mozart, Bob Marley, and Byron.

As a matter of further interest, do you know how many years these people lived for?

James Dean = 24

John Keats = 25

Mozart = 35

Bob Marley = 36

Byron = 36

Life expectancy in ancient Greece and Rome was 28 years. Today kids are being born who will live to

120 -- some even predict 150 years.

Time is on our side. Our challenge is to stop trying to chase time, and grab the time we have -- by being and living in the moment of time that is NOW.

what rabbit are YOU chasing?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:53:00 +1000

There was a champion greyhound, who had never lost a race. Yes sir, he was a winner the likes of which no other greyhound racing dog had ever been.

One day, just out of the blue, he hung up his racing paws and retired. He headed off to a quiet farm, and spent his time chasing through the long grass and basking in the glorious rays of the sun.

"Why did you stop racing?", his greyhound mate and big admirer asked him. "You were the best of the best. You won every race at every event. You were the king. You were a success. Why have you thrown it all away?"

And the champion greyhound replied, "Well, you know that rabbit we chase after at every race ... it's not a real rabbit."

-- story told to me by Andy on my visit to the USA last week

time running out ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:27:00 +1000

Imagine a life without keeping time. Just about impossible.

We know the month, the year, the day of the week. There's a clock on the wall, a watch on your wrist, electronic digits on the dashboard of your car. You have a calendar, a diary, and a schedule. And that is how your days are run -- like clockwork.

All around us, keeping time is ignored. Birds are not late. Trees don't have a watch to check. Dogs don't worry about birthdays and getting old.

That's because time doesn't actually exist -- clocks exist. We made up time, and we alone measure time. And because of this, we alone suffer the biggest fear that no other creature endures.

The fear of time running out.

at the end of my comfort zone ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 1 May 2013 18:02:00 +1000

For four years now I have asked groups of people to give themselves a score out of 10 when I make this statement: I am on fire and my work is remarkable.

And the average is a 7 ... ALWAYS a 7. They tell me it won't be a 7 in New York. It's always a 7. Without exception. That's because we have created a culture where we constantly remind one another about the dangers of standing up, standing out, being different, and being at odds with the group.

Nobody wants to be a 10 or a 4. Because the cardinal sin in the corporate cubicles and boardrooms is to be at odds with the group. The guy who scores himself a 10 is labelled "an arrogant prick". The girl who scores herself a 4 is labelled "loser". Not literally, or to their face, but everyone is thinking it -- and everyone knows everyone else is thinking it.

And so a 7/10 is the default setting. The comfort zone. Everyone in the room has been conditioned to prefer fitting in than standing out. Everyone in the room has been seduced into being invisible. Everyone in the room is there to do someone else's bidding, not to speak their truth. The comfort zone.

My work, and just about everything I do with every waking moment of my life, is to get people to shift from being a 7 to being a 10. To help people discover and realise their full 10/10 potential.

And the first thing I always tell them is Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, so stop being a fucking 7 :)

man ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:41:00 +1000

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered:

Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.