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Hamster Syndrome
Sunday, 14th October 2007
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Hi Everyone, we’ve reached over 1000 visitors since launching on September 07. Thank you all for your support and I hope we continue to grow the site to inspire and motivate the Youth of the world wherever they may be.
For those of you who have spent a bit of time with me, you would have heard me mention Hamster Syndrome. Its a metaphor I use to describe what a person goes through when they are frustrated at a particular situation and it starts to make them angry or depressed and when they try to do something about it, they only seem to sink deeper into their problems.
Its just like the hamster in the wheel. He begins running, the wheel turns. He runs faster, the wheel turns faster. He slows down, the wheel slows down also. In other words, whatever he does inside that wheel has no direct impact on getting himself out of the wheel. Something else has to change. Either someone has to take him out of there, or the stand needs to break in order for the wheel to roll away. Either way an external influence needs to occur in order for some change.
And that’s how you fix hamster syndrome. You need external influence. So talk about your situation with a close friend or relative or partner. Two heads are better than one and often they can see things within your situation that you will never have thought about simply because you are too busy running inside your wheel.
Unfortunately Hamster Syndrome is part of life, but at least we can take steps to manage it when it does occur so that we can continue to be happy, inspired and motivated because that’s when we perform at our best.
Dream, Build, Inspire, Lead!
AJ~
Author: AJ Kulatunga
Category:
hamster syndrome, motivation, inspiration
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October Business Month
Sunday, 7th October
October is my favourite time of the year in the Northern Territory simply because of October Business Month. There are so many fantastic events and networking opportunities that all business owners go crazy learning whatever they can about improving their business and maximising their business connections through solid networking.
Last week I attended a few events and there was so much inspiration that I’ve probably picked all my blog topics for the rest of the year. I’ll briefly give you an overview about each one of the events I attended and I might put up additional postings during the month as they occur.
Monday, 1st October 2007 - Massage Anyone?
A good family friend of ours recently retired from government and plunged head first into the wonderful world of small business ownership. Sincere congratulations go out to Chandra, as he is the proud new owner of the Jade Therapeutic Centre on 3/44 Cavenagh Street. The Centre contains individual Migun Thermal Massage Beds that provide you with automatic massages in all the right spots. You pay for whatever amount of time you like and lay down on one of the heated massage beds and let the machines do their work. The business has been operating for the past two years, so they’re definitely doing something right! If you’re feeling tired or stressed out, I highly recommend visiting the centre and getting one of these amazing massages. A few minutes on one of those beds can relieve a week’s worth of tension and have you fully relaxed and ready to take on the world again!
Tuesday, 2nd October 2007 - October Business Month Launch
I attended the launch of October Business Month at Sky City Casino. It was great seeing a few old faces that I’ve met along the way since I’ve been in business and the guest speaker - Mr Peter Switzer was quite entertaining and interesting. I had a chance to catch up with him afterwards and he very kindly accepted an invitation to be interviewed for Dream, Build, Inspire, Lead! so stay tuned for the interview.
Wednesday, 3rd October - The Secret
I didn’t attend any seminars today but I did watch a dvd called “The Secret” given to me by Nathaniel Peek from Pixel Harvester . He’d originally borrowed it out thinking it was a thriller movie but instead it was actually a motivational documentary. The main idea in the documentary is that it explains the “Universal Law of Attraction” , which is something I find fascinating as it appears so simple but not many people do it. This is going to be a separate post in itself so stay tuned for that also!
Hang on… I just remembered that I did attend a seminar today! It was “Success Beyond Tomorrow” and it was basically a bunch of presentations by various Government, business, and industry experts presenting topics on how they could all assist small business. It was an interesting session and I made some good contacts. There was one guy there from the Australian Taxation Office that I think deserves a medal because its a VERY hard task to present the ATO in a positive light and state that they actually want to assist small businesses with compliance instead of auditing them out of business. Mick did a great job and certainly put my mind at ease...although the rest of the room gave him quite a hard time!
Thursday, 4th October - Speed Networking
I attended the Young Professional Network’s Speed Networking Session at Lewinskys Restaurant and it was a grand success. I met some really fantastic people whom I’ve never met before - and also saw a few familiar faces from around the place. Darwin is like that, sometimes you’ll meet people you know and other times you’ll meet complete strangers that have lived in Darwin for a long time but you’ve never seen them. If you’re not a member of YPN, I highly recommend getting on board as they’re a fantastic bunch of people who are passionate about fostering social and business connections amongst Young Territorians.
Also, a special hello to the travelling Youth Worker that I met after the event. Thank you for your thoughts on how to inspire and motivate the Youth of the NT, and good luck with your dreams!
Friday, 5th October - Thinking Big
Thank god it was the end of the week because I was feeling quite worn down by all the networking I’d been doing throughout the week. But I still wanted to check out Rob Hartnett’s presentation on how to grow your business by thinking big. I must admit that it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be and I didn’t really learn anything revolutionary, but it was still great food for thought and I know that every person who attended got excellent value out of it.
So there we have it, quite a week indeed! Please check out the DBERD Calendar of Events and attend at least one of the events. You’ll thank me later!
One final thing I’d like to mention is that whenever I travel outside of Darwin people often ask me why I still live there. My usual response is “it’s the place to be for business”. During the opening of October Business Month, the Minister for Tourism - The Honourable Paul Henderson mentioned in his speech that the Territory is the “Land of Opportunity” and having spent the week in seminars and networking events I realised that sums up the Territory entirely. While I’m not familiar with how things work for other states and territories around australia,one thing is for sure - in the Territory, all you need is one good idea and there are heaps of people up here to assist you to turn your idea into reality.
Dream, Build, Inspire, Lead!
AJ~
Author: AJ Kulatunga
Category:
october business month, motivation, inspiration, networking
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Passion Fruit
Sunday, 30th September 2007
Last week I had lunch with a friend of mine whom I haven’t caught up with in ages. She had some big news and proudly announced to me that she and her other half were going into business together. I thought this was fantastic as I’m always a big fan of the entrepreneurial spirit.
She went on to tell me about the venture and as she spoke she got really excited and her eyes lit up and she almost jumped out of her chair from excitement! The way she spoke with such conviction and determination even managed to get me fired up about the venture too!
And that boys and girls is the thrill you get when you do something in your life that you are passionate about!
When I was down in Sydney I had the unique opportunity to meet with one of the Council Members of the Australian Computer Society. He spoke to us about the importance of passion in every aspect of our lives. He is a Senior IT Lawyer and he said that he would not be where he is today if he wasn’t passionate about law. At the same sitting, I also got to listen to the 2006 Young Professional of the Year (who just happens to be a good friend of mine) who spoke about how her and some other aspiring Young Professionals started the ACS’s Young IT Board because they were passionate about developing tomorrow’s leaders today. These people have used their passion to pave the way for the rest of us to follow in their footsteps.
Doing something that you are passionate about opens so many doors for you. Passion also carries you through the dark times and pushes you beyond your limits that you ever thought possible. The more things you do in your life that you are passionate about, the more joy you get. Imagine if you were passionate about your job or your studies, imagine how much more you could get done because you love what your doing.
I’m really lucky because I’m passionate about being in business and I love working with my clients to enhance their business. Its just an amazing feeling when you wake up in the morning and REALLY want to go to work. How many of us experience this on a daily basis???
So I challenge you, do something you are passionate about and reap the rewards immediately!
Incidentally, very best of luck to Mags and Paul for their new and exciting venture - Spokes NT! You’re an inspiration to all those around you!
Dream, Build, Inspire, Lead!
AJ~
Author: AJ Kulatunga
Category:
passion, motivation, entrepreneurship
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One Step Ahead of the Game
Monday, 24th September 2007
Last week The Australian Computer Society (ACS) flew me down to Sydney to participate in the Young IT Board meeting. I’ve been an active member of Young IT for the past two years and its been a really great experience and I’m sure that the best is yet to come.
Around the table we had some of the brightest and talented Young Professionals in the country including two recipients of the Young Professional of the Year Award, one Young Professional of the Year finalist, two entrepreneurs and a partridge in a pear tree...well almost!
These guys and girls are really lovely people and we were all locked up in the one room to discuss what we could do to inspire, motivate and provide professional development opportunities for Young People within the ICT Industry. I love getting together with them twice a year just to share ideas and experiences from all over the country. Its quite inspiring and motivating.
So having said that, this week I thought I’d talk about the relevance of joining a professional society in your industry and use my involvement with the ACS as an example.
There’s two sides to joining a professional society - three if you count the finances involved in joining, but we’ll just focus on two for now.
The first side is how people view you. Being a member of a professional society means that you adhere to codes and ethics and that acts like a special guarantee that you are who you say you are, and you do whatever you say you are going to do. Offering a guarantee like this is gold in your professional lives as it means that employers will want to hire you as you’re perceived to be less troublesome and will bring direct results to your company.
The second side is what you get out of it. I should mention at this point, what you get out of your membership to a professional society is directly proportional to what you put into it. To realise the full benefits you need to be an active member and attend events, participate in discussion forums, and tap into the list of contacts available for you to expand your network.
For me personally, being a part of The Australian Computer Society has excelled my personal and professional development beyond my wildest dreams. The people who I have met along the way have opened up many doors for me, and also a couple of information windows as well! Whenever I need some information to do with my career or a IT technical question, I know exactly who to call for an answer. Even in this short time I was in Sydney, I met a graphics designer, a php developer and a software auditor, who I all hope to work with in the near future to expand BLKMGK’s services.
Then there’s the travel - all expenses paid for me pretty much! But don’t get me wrong, while they fly me all over the place, I’m expected to perform at a VERY high standard. This really doesn’t bother me as it fits in perfectly with my work hard / party hard philosophy, plus the people I get to work with are inspiring and motivate me to keep going with whatever I’m doing so that’s always a bonus.
In terms of Professional development, the ACS has a bunch of discounted courses that I can tap into to gain increased certification in whatever area I would like to specialise in. For example MSCSE, Project Management and also the Computer Professional Education Program (CPEP) which is a post graduate qualification that teaches you some hot topics that you can use instantly to perform better within your organisation. I think its a fantastic program, although I’m slightly biased as I’m the face of their new ad campaign.
Another benefit of joining such a society is that the membership fees should be tax deductible (but check with your accountant first!).
So I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you REALLY are serious about developing your career and putting yourself one step ahead of the game in today’s highly competitive society, then I challenge you to join a professional society in your industry and reap the benefits that it offers.
Dream, Build, Inspire, Lead!
AJ~
Author: AJ Kulatunga
Category:
professional development, ACS
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