51: Service

Life feels worthwhile when it’s been used for the betterment of others

Yes, that may come across as preachy, yes it’s probably an unpopular POV in what has become an extremely selfish world

But it doesn’t make it any less true

Being there for others, especially those you love and care about, those you are grateful to have in your life….it’s the best feeling in the world

Why spend your life consumed by selfish wants and needs when you can just as easily pass the time in service to your fellow man, in service to humanity

I’m not talking about complete disregard for your wants and needs because the irony of being helpful to others is you gain a greater sense of what actually fulfils you and what you want out of life

And even more ironic than that is you begin to realise that you already have that ‘feeling’ that you think those things outside of yourself would bring

It’s already within

Service is a great antidote to that feeling of emptiness. It’s a great shield against self centred worries and concerns that more often than not paralyse you into inaction

No service requires, demands even, that we act. Action is at the centre of a call to serve, engaging with the world and actually living life is what a life of service is all about

Serve others and without consideration for your own needs, you’ll soon discover that yours have been met too

Be well

SRZ

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33: Good Work

There’s a certain kind of satisfaction that comes from having worked really hard on something you truly enjoy and put your all into

Nothing can take away from a good days work when you know you’ve done all you can do

Contentment and satisfaction are it’s own reward

Good work brings with it it’s own reward

Just thinking out loud

I am satisfied

Be well

SRZ

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12: Become a Prosumer

We live in a capitalist society

We also live in a world where we are told that we are not enough and marketing companies exploit that fact

Every week there’s a new miracle diet, cosmetic line, fashion trend. In other words, a new special something to solve all your problems

If you feel you lack something, worry no more because here comes the news honey thing that will fix that lack in your life

Consumption

There’s nothing wrong with it. I love the latest gadget, clothes and other stuff

But if that’s all I did

If all I ever wanted was to consume, consume, consume then guess what? Eventually all that consumption would consume me

At least I’d feel it in my bank account

Here comes that word again, balance. Something needs to balance out all that consumption

Produce

You need to be a producer. A producer creates, they bring something of value to the market place

Producing something will make you wealthy. However you measure wealth, money, love, loyalty, health. These things come from production not consumption

A productive individual actively works towards making things happen

If you produce nothing, you’ll earn nothing. If all you do is consume, eventually you’ll be consumed

But if you merge the two, you can comfortably be a ‘prosumer’ – a hybrid of of a producer and a consumer

That means you not only write the checks but you produce the paper it’s written on! Think about it

Close the circle between producing and consuming and the wheel will keep turning

You consume too much food and produce no energy output to balance it out and watch your body mass expand until it causes health problems

Even having money without letting go of some results in a hoarding stingy heart. Why do you think the wealthy are philanthropic?

The yin and yang keep the balance of man

Produce, consume then produce again

Be a prosumer

Food for thought

Be well

SRZ

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6: Stillness For Steel-ness

Okay, so steel-ness is not a word

But I hope the wordplay worked

I’m in need of some quiet time

I should make time to meditate and be still

But I haven’t done it in a long time

I keep putting it off. There’s never enough time

Yet my inner person is craving it

So why do I avoid something I crave so much?

Because I fear it at the same time

I worry that I won’t like who I find waiting for me within if I took the time to look

I’m worried that before steel-ness comes from stillness, it will break me first

Perhaps it’s all the frustration I fail to to discuss or disclose for fear of upsetting others

Or maybe it’s the disappointments I bury deep inside to help me better cope with life

Who truly knows?

The inner me does

I know this may all be too hippie dippie for some. Too woo woo for others and even bizarre for another set of people but this is me

I’m a mixture of urban black boy meets spiritual interests, centred and grounded in creative exploits

I can pretend to be someone else, something else but it would never satisfy me in the end

So stillness it is

At some point I will overcome the fear of what lies beneath the surface and decide to take a look

How bad can it be?

Be well

SRZ

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5: Do Not Drop The Ball

Just returning home from work

I left I don’t wear that as a badge of honour

At least not for the obvious reasons most people would brag about putting in long hours at work

“Do you know how hard I grind?! I won’t let anyone out work me!!”

Yeah I’m not bragging about it from that perspective

But I am proud of myself. I’m proud of the fact that I knew myself well enough to know that if I didn’t stay behind and do the additional work that’s recently began to pile up then it just wouldn’t get done

The ‘additional’ work was perhaps 20% 9-5 job and the rest of it was my personal dreams

Things I’ve been putting off and procrastinating on because I’ve been rationalising that ‘I’m tired’ ‘I just got home’ ‘Everyone needs a break’

Of course they do, we all do. Who doesn’t need a break from time to time? We all need to recharge and reset our batteries

But just be careful that your short pause to rest and catch a breath doesn’t turn into a permanent vegetative state

We all must keep it moving in life

Everything in moderation, all things in balance….but

Nobody said anything about having or keeping everything in perfect balance at all times

Sometimes you will feel overworked because your time is required in a work capacity more than usual

Other times it will be your personal life demanding more of you, more from you

And all you can do is keep the juggling act going

Do not drop the ball

Be well

SRZ

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2: 80:20

Ever heard of the Pareto principle?

Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto noticed that 80% of the wealth and land was owned by only 20% of the population

This mathematician figures out that there was a huge disproportionate group of people struggling while a small number of people thrived

This rule has gone on to be duplicated in all forms of life including business and personal

You spend 80% of your time with 20% of your friends and family

20% of your clients are responsible for 80% of your business income

Etc etc etc

So with that in mind – how can you and I figure out what and who these 20% factors so we can work towards increasing our focus on them

This is what I’m currently thinking about. My mind is chewing on this equation and how it applies to my life

Still thinking about it 🙂

Be well

SRZ

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1: Celebrate The Journey

“You’ve had a great year you know” her voice, although slightly tired for an early Saturday afternoon was as sweet as ever

Nicole was still serving as my cheerleader, personal motivator and best friend, “do you ever stop and actually celebrate your wins?” She asks, “erm, yeah…guess so” I haphazardly reply but she knows me well enough to see past that

“No, you don’t and that’s a shame. You should stop every once in a while and celebrate how far you’ve come” she continues “in fact, that should be the topic of your next blog”

“Good idea” I reply, “are you gonna credit me in the post?” She asks through a smile that I can picture even though I can’t see her (I’m not one for FaceTime, she wouldn’t mind) “why would I do that?” I retort and she let’s out her signature ‘Nicole laugh’ – our phone conversation continues as normal about our day to day lives but the point she made sticks with me

So here I am writing about celebrating the journey regardless of whether we’ve made it to our destination yet or not

Small victories are worthy of our self praise, celebrations and can actually help reinforce our self belief in what we are ultimately working to accomplish

This year, one of my feature films was selected for two film festivals. I completed a documentary that will be coming out in America (my first international project!) at the end of this year or early next year

I filmed a low budget feature film over the summer called ‘Insanity’ – a drama about break ups and break downs and that will soon be in the post production stages –

I’m writing my final film for 2018 that I hope to film in December as it’s Christmas themed – if I achieve that then I would of essentially made three feature length films this year

I also secured my first corporate contract for film making and although it’s still a current contract that I’ve yet to fulfil, my eyes have been opened to the possibilities out there for future corporate work centred around filmmaking

As an introvert I went out more this year than ever before. I still turn down most social invitations but now it’s because I’ve learned even more about myself and as stupid as it sounds coming from an introvert: I like my own company and like being alone for long periods of time

Theres also a bunch of other projects that are in various stages of development that I’m somehow involved in, directing, producing, project managing or what have you

So yes it’s been a very good year in some respects

Not to mention, this blog: although very slow in growing it, I at least stuck with my commitment to write a post daily. For the most part, I’ve kept up with that

Listing the above just reminds me of two things: 1) success is a science and you can get a lot done if you just try and apply yourself and you do it consistently

I don’t even feel or classify myself as successful (yet) but yet the results are slowly starting to build up

2) none of it will make you happy because happiness is an art, not a science. You can have the whole world and still feel soulless. Sometimes, this year I’ve felt the lowest I’ve ever felt because although I achieved ‘things’ – maybe I felt lonely, discouraged or plain unhappy with myself or my life

Relationships are were it’s at. Life feels sweeter when experienced with others

Anyone can purchase a house but it’s the people within it who will make it feel like a home

So celebrate your small wins, it’s part of the art of being a more fulfilled human being

Be well

SRZ

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