Dear Readers

I've been blogging for a while now, and I've managed to amass some loyal readers along the way.

Now, I want to ensure that my posts are what you want to hear and so, I've put together a quick poll to find out what your post preferences are.

Do you see where that bright arrow at the top of my post is pointing? Got it? Great! 

Now all you need to do is select your favourite types of posts so that I can create more posts like these in the future.

You have until midnight on the 28th Feb to complete this poll :)

It May Feel Like Schmoozing But...

Many people scoff at the idea of team-buildings,
but they're a great platform to build your network

I've recently had occasion to reach out to the network of peers and classmates that I built up at varsity, as well as my extended family network. Now, a lot of people I know cringe when they hear the word "networking", and I'm guilty of this as well. I have always felt that networking for the sake of networking feels a little fake. It feels as though you're sucking up to the people you're talking to. Schmoozing. Yuck.

I think a lot of people really battle with the concept of networking, especially people who are fresh out of school and varsity. Making small talk and finding out about what someone does with the hope that one day, in the future, they may be able to help you out, has never really appealed to me. When I'm networking for the sake of networking I feel as though I'm not being true to myself and I'm not being true to the people that I'm meeting. I like to think that I'm a genuine person, who is interested in people for the sake of being interested in them, as opposed to being interested in them for what they can do for me. 

However, I've found recently by changing my concept of networking, I've been able to put a whole new spin on my feelings about it. I now view networking as "relationship building" and the whole concept has suddenly become a lot more palatable. It's these relationships that I've built up over the days, weeks, months and years that I view as my network. These are my friends, family members, old classmates and colleagues.

I think that part of the concept of networking is sometimes feeling a bit lame when you call up a stranger out of the blue, asking for a favour. When I know someone at some sort of personal level, I find it that much easier to call them up to ask them for some help. I also find that if I know someone personally, I'm more comfortable asking them to refer me to someone from their own network of friends, family and colleagues. If I already have a connection with someone, no matter what it is, I find it easier to strike up (or continue on with) a relationship with them. And that, at the end of the day, is what networking is all about. Building relationships with people. 

When My Phone Rings

I was chatting with some colleagues the other day and apart from the fact that we work in the same place, we all had one other thing in common. 

When our phone's ring, our hearts sink.

It doesn't matter whether it's the middle of the day in the middle of the week, in the evening, early in the morning or over the weekend. If it's the middle of the night, as I struggle to get my brain cogs turning, I know for sure that this sinking feeling is an indication that in the next 5 minutes I'm going to have to drag myself out of bed and go to work.

The first thing that any of us think any time that we hear our phone ringing is

"bugger, what's gone wrong at the factory now? I hope I don't have to go in."

We never think, oh, it must be my friend calling to meet for drinks or dinner. The thought of parents calling to say hello is the furtherest thing from our minds when our phones ring. 

Instead our hearts start pumping and adrenaline starts building up, preparing you for the inevitable call to work because something has gone wrong and you're the lucky person who has to go in and fix it - possibly for unknown hours on end.

Even when we're expecting a call from someone, that feel of dread rises up until we see the number. If we're lucky enough that it's a friend or family member, we start to breathe and calm the panic that started to flutter in our stomachs. If it's someone from work, you can be guaranteed that in the next minute or so you're going to need to drop what you're doing and prepare yourself to go to battle. Yes, battle. Adrenaline then really gets pumping and only stops when you've solved the problem and are back home.

Private numbers are the worst. 

Because at work all the landlines are set to private number. You should generally answer private number calls during business hours. Even though private number calls also turn out to be those annoying people who are trying to sell you another cell phone contract or insurance that you don't need and can't afford. Or it's some bloody annoying person/program that calls your number 5 times a day EVERY DAY and hangs up as soon as you answer the phone. 

I've taken to waiting a few seconds before saying hello when I get called on private number, because if it happens to be that stupid "hanging up" person I want to waste as much of their airtime as possible. Then I suspiciously speak and only once the person has introduced themselves to me (and I've verified that they're not from work or trying to sell me something) then I become friendly.

I don't know if other people have this problem with their work. But we do. And the fact that my colleagues feel the same way that I do makes me feel a little better about hating it when my phone rings. 

TED Talk - Robots With Soul

My weekly TED Talk arrived in my inbox this morning. It's a talk given by Guy Hoffman and it gives a background on his journey with animation and how he creates robots that are less like robots and more like people. This talk really appealed to the engineer in me, as well as the creative in me! 

Here's his talk. Enjoy!

For more interesting talks - click to visit* the TED website. You can sign up for daily or weekly talks that will challenge conventional thinking and expose to you many different, interesting people and their work, beliefs, callings and research. 

*Please don't blame me if you use up your monthly/weekly/daily allowance of bandwidth watching TED Talks! :)

A Thought on Friendship

We all have those friends. The ones who you don't see for months, or even years. The ones who leave you feeling energised and excited about life. The ones where you can spend hours chatting and never run out of things to say. 

Often, we don't see those friends as much as we would like. But, perhaps, that's part of the mechanisms of that particular friendship. These are the friends that did their growing up with you. They went through the whole "awkward teenage" stage with you and stuck around to make sure you were staying true to yourself. People who you feel comfortable enough admitting your quirks to and who will then tease you mercilessly for those aforementioned quirks whenever they appear. You are honest with each other even when you know that the other person may not necessarily approve, but they'll love you anyway. They've become your "stand-in" siblings and though not related by blood, you consider them family.

These friends know your secrets, they know the essence of who you are. You are incredibly different, yet remarkably similar. They challenge you, bring you down to earth and encourage you to spread your wings. They introduce you to new topics and ideas that you have never heard of before.

It's friends like these that keep life interesting and varied. Without them our lives would be incredibly one-dimensional and our outlooks would stagnate. But with them in our lives are enriched, made more colourful and we continually grow and learn from each other. 

I have quite a few friends like this and in the past month I have been lucky enough to see two of them. They were the inspiration for this particular post. However, this post is dedicated not only to these two friends, but to all my friends out there that I don't see or talk to very often but who enrich my life just by being a part of it. Xxx

Dinner with my non-blood related twin in Joburg a few weeks ago

Visiting my DDS (dearest darlingest sister) in Tzaneen over New Year

If Diets Worked, We'd All Be Thin Already

I recently posted my views on diets and dieting and this morning when I logged in to my e-mail I found a TED Talk waiting for me and I immediately watched it. It's a 13 minute talk on Why Dieting Doesn't Usually Work by Sandra Aamondt and she gives some scientific insights into why diets don't usually work. She talks about a body's weight set-point, intuitive vs controlled eaters, dieting in children, family members teasing about weight and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Take a squiz at the video below.

I am so excited by this video as it sums up my view on food, eating and lifestyle. My "set-point" hasn't changed much since high-school and I think that this is partly because I've always been encouraged to eat when I'm hungry and stop eating when I'm full. 

Near the end of her talk she mentions, "if diets worked, we'd all be thin already. Why do we keep doing the same thing and keep expecting different results. " It's a profound statement and makes you think whether diets are really worth it.

She finishes off by asking us to stay mindful of when we're eating and to learn from your body. She encourages all of us to eat when you're hungry - and stop eating when you're full! Instead of trying to control your stomach through diets, let your stomach control your eating.

To Diet Or Not To Diet

"diet" noun

1 the kinds of food that a person, animal or community habitually eats:

a vegetarian diet

            the activities, pastimes, etc. in which a person or group habitually engages:

screen violence is becoming a staple diet of the video generation

2 a special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to 

loose weight or for medical reasons

Oxford Dictionaries

In the last few months I've heard the word "diet" thrown around a lot. 

I was sitting on a plane recently and had 2 ladies sitting next to me who spent almost the entire trip talking about food and dieting. I spent a few days with a new friend who is a dietitian. Family and friends have been talking a lot about food because, well, it was Christmas time and a lot of holidays revolve around food. It's got me thinking about diets and dieting...

Now, for those who know me, I'm probably the last person on earth who should be talking dieting. I've been skinny my whole life and have never been "on a diet". When I was small my folks struggled to get me to just eat what was on my plate and I was well into junior school before the words "I'm hungy" became a regular part of my vocabulary. I haven't ever had to battle with crazy weight fluctuations. I'm incredibly lucky in this regard and am frequently reminded of this from comments (some of them absurd, but I take them as a complement) from friends, family, co-workers and even strangers. 

There are many reasons people go on diets but I think the main two reasons are to loose weight or for health reasons. I don't agree with the concept of "going on a diet" for a week or two. Instead, I believe in changing your diet so that you are able to sustain it over the long term. I also believe in the 80-20 principle, in that if you eat well 80% of the time, it's OK to have that sweet, chocolate or extra-creamy pastry every now and then. I eat when I'm hungry and if it goes for too long, I start getting grumpy (just ask my boyfriend).

So, that's my outlook on diets and dieting in a nutshell. I know there are more complexities to dieting than this, and I'm sure that my opinions on dieting will change as I grow older and my metabolism slows down. However, I hope that in the future, if I need to diet for some or other reason, I will look at trying to change my diet and lifestyle to incorporate the advice given to me, rather than going on a diet for a while and then going back to my old way of eating, only to have the same problem resurface over and over again.