Browsing through recent issues of Looking Sideways, I�ve noticed that my articles have been brutal and blunt; so un-motivational speakerish. I�ve got to say that most of them have a �glass half-empty� feel to them � no Pollyanna here. Even Bruckner hinted that my last article, You Can�t Turn A Sow�s Ear Into A Silk Purse, was rough � even by my standards.

Perhaps I�m going through my Blue Period. Picasso had the suicide of his friend Casagemas to set off the spark for this bleak period in his life and in his art. What�s my excuse? I suppose I�m a Stockdale Paradox writer: Confront the brutal facts (yet never lose faith). Source: Good to Great by Jim Collins

So I thought I�d change tack and do what the neuro-semantic practitioners like to call a �pattern interrupt� and share a fourth dimensional experience with you that should inspire you to visualise more well-formed outcomes (the jargon the NLP guys come up with is confounding) in future.

Wednesday 31 August (Johannesburg)

Designing a �teambuilding� page for www.motivators.co.za. �Who should I put in this page? �I wonder what�s happened to John Ingram of River Tours & Safaris. Last did some work for John about three years ago.� Put company details on the website.

Thursday 1 September (Johannesburg)

Receive a phone call from Shannon from John Ingram�s office asking if I can facilitate on one of their team builds on Monday 12 September. Why am I not surprised? This sort of stuff happens to me all the time. You know the feeling, don�t you � when you think of someone, suddenly they phone you.

Saturday 10 September (Durban)

10h30: At Christopher�s home, watching Bass fishing on ESPN (only American�s can make Bass fishing seem like a Rugby cup final).

Say to Christopher, �You know, I�d really like to take up Bass fishing again.� I last fished for Bass five years ago.

Monday 12 September (Intundla Game Lodge, outside Pretoria)

09h00 � 13h00: Facilitate a teambuilding session for John Ingram�s client.

15h00: Chilling out. Overlook dam and spot the biggest Bass I�ve ever seen.

Got to take photo, got to show Christopher. �
Get camera.

Mmm � maybe it won�t come out so great.

Go to reception.

Find rod with the ugliest rubber worm I�ve ever seen at the end of it.

There�s a hook � and that�s all that matters.

Five casts.

Hook into Bass.

Adrenalin rush.

Land Bass.

Smart clothes get dirty.

Who cares?

See pictures of the one that didn�t get away.

What�s the Lesson?

Just by giving minimal thought to both John Ingram and Bass fishing, I created the reality in just 12 days.

Note to self: Think more about what you want to achieve than about what you can�t achieve.

Second note to self: visualise more (and bigger) and you will have more success

Mmmm � how much is the Lotto worth this week?

Copyright 2005 by Jacques de Villiers 

This article may be copied or republished with the following credit:

"By Jacques de Villiers, Inspirational Speaker, Johannesburg, South Africa.
+27 (0) 82 906 3693   www.jacquesdevilliers.com "