A Balancing Act
The critical ingredient for a successful and fulfilling life is about achieving the right balance in all parts of your life.
Quote
“It’s not what you say, but what you do that counts” Corporatemonk
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
The All Important Question
It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine of life that we can sometimes take for granted importance of progress. One way to ensure you are always moving forward is to ensure you are always asking yourself the all important question at the end of the day, the week, the month, the year!
What did you do, with what you got?
You see we are all skilled in different areas, it is not what area you’re skilled in that counts, what matters is what you did with what you got, for this is the true measure of progress! Take a second to think about what you got and what you are doing with it?
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
A Conversation with a Millionaire
I once had the privilege of having a conversation with a Millionaire, I wanted to know the secret of success so I asked him straight out, “Sir in your frankest opinion, what is the real difference between you and I?
His reply was short, to the point and something that changed me forever. He said “Fabian, you really want to know the difference between you and I?” I replied “Yes of course, please tell me” at this stage I was virtually on the edge of my seat with anticipation.
He said “The real difference between you and I is simply the way we think!” The same circumstances will fall on us all, circumstances of failure, criticism, opportunity and extreme pressure, the reason I am where I am is because I have learned how to think, and once you know how to think, everything will change for you.
I was so inspired by his words that it lead me to this conclusion;
“Teach yourself how to think not act, for action is simply a by product of your thoughts, true success comes from first knowing how to think, then acting accordingly.”
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
The Two Wolves That Guide Us
Today’s thought is inspired by a story brought to my attention recently by my father, Nick De Marco.
“A Father once told his son, we all have two wolves that battle to live deep inside us, one wolf represents our negative emotions, such as the desire for revenge, deception, hate, hurt, lies, procrastination, and the desire to always want to criticise others.
The other wolf represents our positive emotions, such as the desire to help others, achieve goals, forgive, become better, education, increase skill and the desire to become prosperous.
“Wow Dad, sounds like these two wolves don’t like each other too much, who will win in the end?” – “Which ever you choose to feed of course”
Remember,
“With every decision you make, A wolf grows stronger”
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
You Can Have More and More!
What does it mean to become better? Why would someone even what to become better? Better at what?
Their Job
Their Relationships
Their Skills
Their Disciplines
Their Happiness
Their Health
Their Financial Situation
The honest truth is that better is not something we can simply wish for. Better is something you must become by choice. Why is it important that we become better? Because small improvements in ability will translate into large improvements in results. I have learnt that nothing ever stays the same, we either get better or worse, increase in skill or decrese in skill.
Ask yourself, am I getting better or worse?
Remember;
You can have more than you got, because you are always free to become more than you are!
First Friday Thoughts for 2010
FIRST FRIDAY THOUGHTS for 2010
By Fabian De Marco
Small Differences make all the Difference
Well the new year is underway and already the days seem to be flying by. I thought it was only right that we kick things off with a couple of questions!
What am I going to do this year to ensure I achieve everything I want to?
What am I going to do this year to ensure I not only move forward, but streak ahead?
What am I going to do this year to ensure I am working at 100% every single day?
The honest truth is there is no miracle answer, what I have been able to come up with is this – It’s the small things that add up and make all the difference in the end.
What if I worked 1 extra hour a day this Year?
What if I spent an extra 5 minutes on the treadmill every gym session this year?
What if I ate healthy food 5 days a week this year?
What if I talked to one new person a day this year?
What if I walked the walk this year?
I wonder, I just wonder what December 31st 2010 may look like?
Final Friday Thoughts for 2009
FINAL FRIDAY THOUGHTS FOR 2009
By Fabian De Marco
The Most Important of all
As we approach the end of the year I took a moment to look back through our collection of Friday Thoughts. Many topics were discussed such as the value of Discipline, Ambition, Taking Action, Patience, Persistence, Success, Goal Setting, Motivation plus many more.
However there is one topic I have neglected to mention, perhaps the most important of all - HEALTH!
We sometimes take for granted that good health is a privilege and to a certain extent well with in our control. Now there are certain elements of health that are unfortunately out of our control, however the elements that are well with in our control include diet, fitness and exercise. Now I am the first to put my hand up in guilt here, in saying that however, I am beginning to realise the following;
“Good health is the starting point of which all success begins. Make 2010 the year of good health and we may find success showing up on our door step unexpectedly”
CONTINUED FROM (PART TWO ) – It was a day that would not turn out as expected…..
Shane and I had a restful sleep that first night….but with the day that was in store for us, we were going to need it. Around 6am, we rose and began our trek to Barranco Huts, a staggering 13,074 feet above sea level. It was still dark, and the air had a crisp chill about it. At this altitude, very little wildlife survives on the mountain, so nature was eerily quiet as we took our first steps into the darkness.
The Umbwe Route is not a common route for climbers given the steepness and limited time for altitude preparation. Compared to some of the other more common routes, the Umbwe Route rises far more quickly towards the summit. Our spirits were high after a good night’s rest, and the excitement of moving higher towards the summit push came over us.
As we pushed higher, daylight finally arrived revealing the sheer enormity of this magnificent mountain. Kili is one of the largest dormant volcanoes in the world and the highest peak in Africa. Its summit stands out like a magnet to climbers.
The jungle was getting noticeably thinner with the increasing altitude. Soon the vegetation disappeared and we scrambled over rock and dust.
Our climbing pace was fast and the track that wound up the side of the mountain was still steep. Our accent was so fast we hit Barranco Huts by about 11am.
Park Rangers occupy Barranco Huts to sign climbers through to the next camps. We needed to make a critical decision: head to the Lava Towers Camp site and make a push for the Summit from Arrow Glacier via the Western Breach, or push across to Karanga to make our summit attempt via Barafu Huts.
An avalanche had recently killed several climbers on the Western Breach, so we decided to push on to Karanga which was another 6-8 hours of climbing. With Karanga at the same altitude as Baranco Hut, the risk of altitude sickness would also be considerably less. The path to Karanga traverses around the side of the mountain. We had only been climbing for a day and a half, so as long as we remained below 13,200 feet, we had a good chance of avoiding severe altitude sickness.
We lunched at Barranco then pushed on towards Karanga. We were still feeling fresh, but we knew this next leg would test us our fitness. We pushed higher from Barranco Huts towards an altitude of 14,150 feet – at this altitude you 
could start to feel the effects of the higher altitude given our rapid accent. Breathing was getting harder and our heads were feeling light.
It now looked like we were walking on the moon, the vegetation had disappeared and the landscape was made up of dark volcanic crushed rock. The traverse through the cliffs high on the mountain was a little hairy. Our heads were light and our 25kg packs were tipping us off-balance on some of the outcrops.
We made it through the cliffs unscathed and started to descend. The descent was a welcome relief to our heads – we started to feel strong again. It was now a matter of just completing the traversed walk – another 3 hours hiking to Karanga.
We could now see Karanga in the distance, but what was between us and a good night’s sleep and a meal was a massive canyon. It was extremely deep and very steep but we had to cross it to get to the other campsite. We were both totally exhausted, but we knew this was the only obstacle we had left for the day. It was time to dig deep into the energy reserves and get it over with.
We put our heads down, dug deep and powered on. It was a massive canyon and we thought we would never get to the top, but we finally made it. We set up camp and settled in for the night to reflect on what was a huge day.
From Karanga, we could see the summit behind us. We both sat there and stared at the peak. As the sun set, it was an amazing and beautiful sight. Again, butterflies and a sense of excitement came over us knowing that our summit attempt was within days.
This day was a demanding push, but tomorrow was a fairly easy climb to Barafu Huts, an altitude of 15,360 feet. There we would set up camp, rest for the day and go for the summit at 12.30am in the morning.
That was how the next day was meant to play out, but it did not go quite to plan. It would turn out to be one of our greatest challenges of the climb with plenty of drama.
TO BE CONTINUED….. (Make sure you subscribe by email or RSS feed to receive the rest of the series)
If you would like to view more photos from our adventure, please go to the Corporatemonk facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/corporatemonk/58164569715
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
The Unseen Value of Patience
What is the true value of patience? In a recent discussion with friend and mentor Mohamed Hage something was brought to my attention which hadn’t previously occurred to me. In order to achieve true success and happiness in life, whether it be in sport, business, relationships or even self-development, you must understand the importance “patience” plays in the process.
Imagine the patience involved for a gold medal winning athlete. We are fortunate enough to join in the journey at the final stage and share in the excitement of victory. However only the athlete themselves truly understands the amount of patience required to train seven days a week, for over ten years, including strict eating habits and constant disciplined sleeping patterns, all for a moment that can be decided in a split second.
Remember;
Next time you feel like things just aren’t happening for you, remember the gold medal winning athlete and the amount of patience required for true success!
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
Don’t Become a Prisoner of Hope
Something that I learnt from the University of Hard Knox is that while hope is a very powerful emotion, when in pursuit of a goal it must never be relied upon for success. In the past I found it easier to focus on hope, forgetting that in order to achieve success I needed to take action steps EVERYDAY!
I often found myself staring into the ocean watching eagerly for my ship of success to come in, when all along I knew deep down it had never even left the port. Ask yourself, “am I staring in Hope or am I taking action steps everyday?”
Remember;
Very rarely if ever will success be handed to you on a gold platter, if you want it, you’ll have to come get it!
Friday Thoughts
FRIDAY THOUGHTS
By Fabian De Marco
The Punishment for Complacency
For anyone who has ever had to drive and park in the city on a week day you would know just how expensive it can be. I was in the line preparing to pay for my parking last week when I noticed a lot of commotion coming from the guy in front of me.
It was a little hard not to over hear what was being said as the guy was now virtually yelling at the cashier. It turned out that the car park had a strict policy on their parking rates. which were;
1 Hour = $19.00
2 Hour = $45.00 etc
The guy in front of me happened to have his ticket scan up as 62 minutes and was asked to pay the full $45.00. He was not a happy chappy, however the cashier refused to negotiate simply stating, “Sorry Sir, but the cut off is 60 minutes.” Eventually the gentleman had to face the reality that if he wanted his car back anytime soon, he would have to pay the full $45.00 – Which he reluctantly did!
What have we learnt from this?
Whether it is in Business, Relationships, Health or Friendship if you take your eye of the prize, even for just 2 minutes, the punishment for complacency severe – Always, Always keep your eye on the prize!
