MOTIVATION –  Taking Action?


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC – November 2012

Al Batt says “It is easy to sit up and take notice.  What is difficult is getting up and taking action.”

It’s been a long, hard year.  I’ve seen more tears than I have smiles.  I’ve see people in pain, emotional pain and even physical pain, as they have watched their lives fall apart, as they have been retrenched or divorced, or watched helplessly as their businesses have fallen down. I have lost some of those people to suicide, to drugs and to absolute despair.

It’s been hard for me to watch as many looked at their shattered lives, in horror and disillusionment, all the while bemoaning their bad luck, the bad economy, bad management by the government, too much power by SARS, perceived power of ex husbands or ex wives and their over zealous lawyers.

Some have given up completely and succumbed to whatever fate and consequence that awaits them.  Most cling to some or other notion that they will be rescued in the nick of time by some sort of divine intervention.  I suspect that they will be very disappointed and some will become even more disillusioned and despondent.

Some have gotten back onto their feet, shaken their fists at the Gods (whomever you perceive them to be) and done something about their plight.  Unfortunately many have done the same thing all over again expecting and even believing that they will get a different outcome – I suspect that at some point everything will come crashing down around their ears again and they will wear the same shell shocked, deer in the headlights, look that they have worn many times before – only to repeat the cycle all over again.

Some, a small quantity of folk, have not only taken notice of their predicament, but they have learnt the lesson, taken cognizance of the pertinent aspects of those lessons, discarded what was not needed, gotten up and done things differently.  They have found themselves on a completely different path in life, one that is sustainable and profitable and even self satisfying.  These individuals have, by their own actions, created their own ‘divine intervention’, their own luck and have changed their own destiny’s.

These folk have, by their actions, shrugged off the negativity that surrounded them, become deaf to all the whining and moaning, blocked out all the angst of government misadventure, SARS untimely interventions, economic woes and risen above the petty admonishments of the general business populace. They have done what they needed to do, not only to survive, but to live and to make a difference.

So who are you, or where are you in this world of perceived hardship?  Are you one who merely takes note of all that is going on around you or are you the one that gets up and does something positive about where you are going and where you want to be?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za