ILD – FAT

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I love fat people. Cuddly, happy, smiling and always ready to help…

Oops! Wrong start to the blog on LIFE and the “F” in the acronym 😊

Let’s start again, but before we do, I must tell you a story. Once I went to Lyons Wholesalers, across the road from the Wits Business School. I had come to know them as providing an excellent product at a fraction of the price – especially Pringle clothing. It’s an old fashioned store full of people my mother worked with when she worked at Ansteys in West Street, Durban – you know the one with the tube into which you inserted the invoice and the money for a purchase and minutes later, the change came down another tube – that kind of store. Anyhow, I was looking for a suit that day and the gentleman – you know the one, pants with braces and no jacket, but he wore those elastic armbands that kept your sleeves from going over your hands – came over and asked me what I required. “A navy blue suit,” I answered. “Oh, sir” he said, “that you’ll find in this section – for the “fuller figure, you know.”

I bit my tongue like my Granny taught me, stared at him with steel-blue eyes trying to get him to drop his gaze, but as he never did [for he knew my type from years of failed confrontation], and I ended buying from him. I do remember, he had to take up my leg length and soon conveniently forgot that that happens only when your waist size is perforce bigger than the length that your legs require.

Now stop giggling and let’s get on with this…

I’ve been cheeky responding to an acronym with another acronym. You see FAT stands for Faithful, Available, Teachable and this is one of those insights you’ll never read in a Harvard textbook as it just comes from experience. I was introduced to the idea by a minister on a Sunday morning. He was talking about the qualification for elders and deacons in the church to which I belonged. FAT people make good church leaders was his premise. I was a little sceptical in the beginning as a result of being “of fuller figure” myself, but I managed to remember that sermon to this day. The reason is that you often remember something that is practical and proves unbelievably meaningful to you.

“Faithful” speaks volumes and anyone who has experienced “unfaithful” knows exactly what it means. Faithful people stand by you. They encourage success and they avoid “kommentaar” in the presence of mistakes and even, failure. You see, we all know the glow of success – that warm fuzzy “I did it!” feeling that flows through you. Little successes or big ones, a monthly award or the trip overseas, the feeling is the same; just the depth and the duration differs. Loads of dopamine pumped through your brain into your cells. Faithful people are there to congratulate you, avoiding any gnawing jealousy and just giving you genuine praise, but even more important for me is the fact – and I know this in my own life – those faithful people put you on the stand in the first place. That’s incredibly humbling and my immediate response is to say THANK YOU again to the hundreds of people who have teamed up with me to make a success of what we were doing.

God knows, I appreciate each of you and, hopefully, so do you. For example, when I was asked to run Card Acquiring [the machine or internet through which you “swipe” your card at a point of sale], I was given a target of taking the division from under 20% to over 40% market share in 2 years. When I left 2 years later, we had a market share of 38%. Do you really think that I did that alone? Yes, I worked my guts out as usual, but who do you think created the break-through opportunities that made it possible? My teams across the country, of course! We did some simple things such as improved motivation of the sale teams and stepped-up the efficiencies of our acquiring by rolling out the latest technologies, we turned on, at great courage in those early days, the internet payment system but then we also improved relationships with our Corporate banking colleagues.

In doing this, we hunted big corporate relationships and had success with a few who were big hitters. Recognise the strategy? Frankly, just like you with your customers and your calling pattern and your building of solid relationships. In the process, faithful people came alongside our effort. Sceptics and negatives left behind – we were off to get us a big fish – and we did. Even the corporates that allowed us in and let us access their point of sale tills were faithful to Nedbank Card, and our ability to process their credit card business. How would you feel as a CFO if you motivated a change to the Exco, implemented it and then on the 3rd day of business, the tills went down for two hours? Of course, they believed in us to deliver on our promise; they were faithful! And, so were we. If ever “whatever it takes” was a motto, it was on those implementations and those first few months. Morning meetings, reporting, outage real-time feedback by till, by store anything it took to retain their trust.

You got the picture? Faithful people, by any other name [loyal, committed, related, involved, etc] give you allegiance and receive it in return. If and when you succeed, you can give bonuses and increases and even shares, but at the end of the day they appreciate your appreciation. I can honestly tell you, I could never repay the faithful people in my life. Never! Faithfulness mirrors your behaviours as a leader. Like we all know, you earn trust, and so you earn faithfulness. People do not give away their precious independence and dignity and respect to untrustworthy people. That does not imply you do not fail but what it does imply is the emotional reserves and contriteness to apologize and behave like you mean it. You can probably see by now that this attribute of leaders and followers is deep, earned, and psychologically contracted. It is friendship on steroids and foundational to lasting relationships. Leader, you get what you give, make no mistake about it.

“Available” is a little more practical but it also stretches boundaries. I’ve worked with people and have also expected that a report requested on Friday afternoon is available on Monday morning. If that request is asked too often, expect push-back, but if asked with courtesy and respect for reasons of urgency or importance an available person understands, they will deliver it on time. In turn, available people take your calls. They may tell you they’re in a meeting, but they surely get back to you as soon as it’s over. They are reliable and consistently so, but there is an element of available that is deeper than just practical availability. This is presence – not just “there”, but hearing, listening, accepting and understanding. How many times have I had an issue that needed ventilation [the new 702 buzzword!]. Just some time to be able to off-load, be listened to without judgement and then receive back some advice, an opinion or two or some rich experience from a mentor or confidante.

How we need more of this availability! As stresses mount in South Africa and the voices of leaders and wanna-be leaders become an overloaded cacophony, how we often need someone who is just available. Just ….available. The old saying, “A problem shared is a problem halved” is true and it’s only with available people that that can ever occur. You may need one as you read me, but are you one? To whom do people turn when they need one? You? Or, are you too busy, too important, too out-of-reach to be available for them? How many relationships could have deepened if you just took another 5 minutes before you looked at your watch? Think about it – and do it next time. Have a Nike moment: “Just Do it!” And remember the quote I’m sure I’ve shared before: “Some people give you their free time. Others free their time for you.” Be one of those!

“Teachable” It’s not the ability to learn that is important here. Heaven knows we’ve listened to teachers and parents and teenagers for long enough to learn and some of us have learned much and have the walls of degrees to prove it. The issue with teachability is the willingness to learn; that is an attitude of the heart not of the left-side brain of the head. Have you ever had to hand over a job to someone so that you could take up your new promotion? In comes your replacement. It’s quite obvious from the outset that they wonder why you and not they got the leg-up. They can answer you before you open the first screen.

They are clever, really clever and help you on the keyboard. Then, you open up having done that every morning for three years and start the lesson only to find know-it-all knows it all. They really do, but the problem is, they don’t. They interject, roll their eyes, ponder their navel and generally show a quiet level of disdain for you, their teacher. Whenever I have trained, I have endured these awesome people; who needs this, I’m so clever? However, so many times the rubber hits the road with a thud when they have to do what has just been theory. You know, like estate agents and consultants, just fill in the form, hand it in and wait for the loan to be approved/the mandate to be signed. Oh really?! It takes years we know, of hard slog and mistakes and successes to create the relationship-based environment to be able to be successful. No one-day wonders here; rather the hard slog.

Teachable people know the privilege of their place “at the feet of giants”. They listen and question, they experiment and revert with mistakes to unpack the learning, and then they go out and succeed and revert with “war stories” and a fist full of mandates and applications. They know their place in humility, know their place in the power of skills, and even often have the gratitude to acknowledge those who taught and mentored them to success in the first place. Teachable people acknowledge the people, the past masters, who put them where they are today and, as usual, teachable people love to teach. You see, once you’ve experienced learning and internalised it, you can teach others. It’s called Progeneration and it’s the process of “passing on” to the next generation. It happens in homes, schools, factories, offices and in cultures and nations. It is critical to continued sustainability and success and I can assure you, the art and skill of growing others even to be better than you, is a blessing into old age. There is nothing so sweet as hearing that someone whose life you touched has advanced from teachable to teacher in their own right and by the way, you’re never done. Always hang out with someone better than you. You can always learn from them just by asking the deep questions that beg an answer in your mind.

Oh, and by the way, FAT people are not schloeps [spelling?]. FAT people are confident and committed. They may be learning, but that for a purpose perhaps even bigger than themselves. They may be faithful, but they’re also faithful to the truth, pointing out a wrong or a lack of ethics and values. They may be available, but they are courageous enough to set boundaries knowing that everything in life has an equal and opposite opportunity cost; especially their time that they use wisely.

FAT will hopefully always be something different for you. Something different to consider and something for which you strive. FAT people exist at every level of society, in every culture and for every season of your life. Be one.

HLJ’s other name is FAT. There for you, faithful, available and teachable. Willing to listen and willing to share.

Yours in Property.

FREEDOM

/in , /by

Good to be writing again after a hectic March so far. Life’s busy, hey?….even in Hermanus. Following on from Investment, Inspiration and Imagination in our LIFE series, we start with “F” in our acronym. Like Rights have Responsibilities, Freedom has boundaries. Sorry to burst your bubble, especially those of you Baby Boomers who still think the Hippie Age of Drugs, Sex and Rock ‘n Roll has not come to an end. It has! Good, wholesome boundaries accompany Freedom; Granny was always right. So what is this thing every American says they have, every Millennial believes they’re born with and the EFF talk about economically “in their lifetime?”

We turn to the immutable Google and find the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc whatever you want to, without being controlled or limited. Of course, it can also be the state of not being in prison. Thus, with my newly-defined sense of Freedom, I wish that certain politicians, executives of Eskom and those of VBS Bank et al, were not free, but prison is not what we have in mind for this blog; the first definition is our focus. Let’s face it, per definition, we’re not free. Your parents ensured that. Your teachers ensured that. Then, and maybe now still, your boss ensured that. As a free Homeloan Junction consultant, your bank manager ensured that. As a partner of anyone, your partner ensured that. So where does this utter idealism come from? Think about it. We have the notion of unrestrained Freedom in our minds and it is certainly something to be striven for – we have often been grateful in this blog for our Freedom of the Press – Freedom always comes with boundaries. Even the Press have their own Ombudsperson to regulate their Freedom to just let off steam and say it like it is, “without fear or favour.” So true Freedom must be something else other than wanton Freedom. What are these boundaries?

1. Laws

You can’t drink and drive. You can’t steal and not be charged. You can’t compete illegally and not expect a reaction. You can’t beat someone and not expect a retaliation then or later. You can’t buy or rent and not pay and when any of these and many other laws, whether we think they’re well-intended or not are not sacrosanct, you have not Freedom, but anarchy. In other words, your Freedom comes into jeopardy. Laws limit Freedom no doubt, but they exist to protect and defend and finally, are there for those who seek justice. How sad it is that State Capture can occur and yet those who committed it, could get away with it for so long? We need an Enquiry as long as the TRC to uncover the evil done by the rich to the poor others, but it will be laws that in the end result in the Freedom to convict and get a conviction or not. Let us hope that justice, another variously defined term, prevails. My imploration to you, the reader, is this: do not lose your hope, even as your Freedom has been attacked by evil, greedy forces, that the laws will prevail and justice will be done to the few for the many.

2. A sense of values

There comes a point in context and time when our values rise above our want for Freedom. Whether that is being pulled aside with 9 glasses of wine in you as you have been exercising your Freedom or, being in a board meeting and biting your tongue to not blurt out the truth [read: “your truth”] about a person or event. We speak then of obedience, sensitivity and confidentiality towards the person or about the matter. We can remember times when we were rightfully constrained to not “tell it like it is” even in the face of provocation. Similarly, values keep our Free hands out of the cookie jar and out of the till, as the saying goes. I put to you that values are boundaries; much-needed and often exercised for our own good.

3. Consideration for others

How easy it is to “let rip and let her have it.” Freedom lets you, but you too may end up in wards 4, 5 and 6 of the nearest hospital 😊 Consideration takes your foot off the pedal even when the road seems quiet, and slows down reaction times to the nanoseconds required to reconsider your behaviour. I often refer to taxi drivers in this context; they can drive me “mad” as well, but I know a company where the taxi driver is treated as a businessman driving his asset for gain. In achieving that, many payments are in advance, well-used vehicles are traded-in in good condition, various benefits are not abused and insurance is drawn on as a last resort, not the thing to be used.

It is an amazingly different approach to business and profitable by design. So, often when I see “those guys” going down the left shoulder of the road, racing along the right “Buses only” lane, I remember that perspective. How would you feel when a significant portion of the 40%+ tax on a litre of fuel goes to pay for corruption? How would you feel when the payment is too big and the month too short to afford it, as you often hear a complaint about Uber? How would you feel when your passengers are concerned about their jobs for being late when Eskom switches off the robots? Consideration for others gives our Freedom boundaries.

4. Common sense

Let’s be logical, “I did it my way” belongs in a song. Your way may be the highway if the people in our seventh paragraph decide your Freedom does not suit them. Common sense tells us that over-stepping boundaries in the pursuit of individual Freedom can have negative consequences.

5. Other boundaries

In his brilliant book, Sapiens, A brief History of Humankind, Professor Yuval Harari posits that there are other kinds of boundaries that enabled global domination by a few colonial countries. Included are: Money, Communism, Capitalism, Imperial Visions, Religion, Nationalism and Culture. These are huge swathes of invisible, but powerful beliefs that have influenced nations to conform within their borders and internationally to super-powers’ whims and fancies. Very interesting reading if you have the inclination, but to the topic, these mega-beliefs are boundaries to our Freedom.

So what is all this talk about non-existent Freedom about? How do we achieve it in our lifetimes? Does it do any good? Freedom exists for us to wish it upon ourselves and others. Nelson Mandela expressed it this way: For to be free is not merely to cast off ones chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. You and I have a right to Freedom but it is also our duty to enhance the Freedom of others. You see, I would go so far as to say that unless we enhance others’ Freedom, we will not ultimately be or become Free. Selfishness is its own inhibitor.

6. Some thoughts about Freedom for our consideration:

  • Freedom is a privilege of the few who are content. On Netflix there is a movie called Minimalist. In it, a range of people who have decided that minimal is more, share their journeys and their new location. For those of us who have been privileged to amass [relatively speaking] many things, minimalism may be anathema. Ouma se kombers, Mom’s broaches, fotos in custard-coloured albums, linen, tapestry, doilies, silverware, books, Singer sewing machines…even clothes. My friend, who has just lost 5 kilograms, was in his Lake Tahoe sweater the other day [like my big yellow jersey with a horse’s head on it that my sister knitted for me in Standard 8] and told us, “I love wearing old things.” Oh really? Lots of those in Hermanus, but he was in Lake Tahoe in the 80’s. You see contentment is Freedom. The Good book says, “Contentment with godliness, is great gain.” It is indeed. Ever seen less well-off people who are really happy? – they have it. Give some thought to the Freedom of contentment in your own life.
  • Freedom is not dependent on circumstances. They help, make no mistake, but they are not your sole determinant of your Freedom. You see, a little earlier I proposed that “Freedom exists for us to wish it upon ourselves” but let’s look a little deeper at this. Anxiety, fear, worry, depression, unhappiness, loneliness, and many other emotions are prisons of the mind. You can be walking along a beach with the sun on your face and the breeze on your back and be racked with worry. Life throws things our way and steals our Freedom, our physical, emotional and spiritual Freedom. As it does and if we let it, the prison door locks behind us and we relinquish our Freedom to that “other thing.” Please, don’t think I’m preaching to you – I know that sound in my own mind and the hopelessness it brings every time. You are not alone but please find someone with whom you can speak your heart out and share the burden. This too will pass; don’t allow these negative emotions to steal your Freedom.
  • Freedom demands that you hold your assets lightly. The simple act of dedicating your children when they are young, is an act of lightening your hold. Your favourite house, your car, your family, your bank account – everything, just hold them lightly. Of course those of you who know me know that I couple this kind of language with my Faith, but I have learned by personal experience and experiences of others, that “assets” are lent not owned. Life does happen while we’re making other plans and those of you who have suffered loss of money, loved ones, health, material possessions and even, peace of mind, know that what we own does not define us for any length of time. Rather, who we are and who we become is the benchmark of a legacy. I officiated at my dear Aunt’s memorial service three weeks ago and informed her son and grandchildren that while she was a matriarch of note and had left them Millions, her legacy would be immortalised in them. Even after her very successful life, her “legacy asset” could only be realised in her children and so it is for many of us. You are truly Free if you hold your assets “lightly.”

I’m going to close this heavy blog for some with lightness. Free people are grateful people. I often say, “Even on a bad day, I’m blessed.” The corny, “When life gives me lemons, I make lemonade” may sound pathetic, but it holds some truth. I may be at my lowest ebb, my health may be waning, relationships may be in the drink, business may be getting harder, assets may be dwindling, the “old days” may be grand in comparison, but here and now there is a silver lining. Not everything is as bad as it seems and some whisper of gratitude is becoming of us. Thankfulness for what I have and have done. Thankfulness for money in the bank, health that remains, people who love me and who I love, a son, daughter or wife who cares and will go out of their way to do so. Be grateful for the many blessings. Put your troubles in perspective and know you’ve [probably] come through worse before. Freedom is Grateful and Gratitude is Freedom.

At HLJ we enjoy our Freedom. Every day is Free. We are free to serve, make choices, help you with choices in your business, free to have associates and friends and business principles. We have earned our Freedom in many respects and stuck it out when the chill winds of adversity stifled us into almost-paralysing doubt, but we survived and Freedom resulted in our business, our attitudes and our sense of Thanks. Thank you for enjoying your own Freedom, but having the good grace to join us in this business as associates and even friends. We appreciate you.

Yours in Property.

INVESTMENT

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Shew, this month has been hectic! Yours as well?

We’re on the last of our three blogs on the “I” of the acronym, LIFE. So far, we have covered Live, Laugh and Love. Then Imagination and Inspiration – that was a tome as I re-read it 😊

Today, we’ll cover Investment and I promise it will be shorter. Nonetheless, I am again ready to “throw my heart into it”.

Albert Einstein dumfounds me when he says, “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.” Every time I read it, I think he must have had unaffordable debt and he couldn’t believe the cost of not being able to pay it off on time, but, of course, that’s tripe – if he ever had debt, he knew how much money he repaid. We, at Homeloan Junction know that at 10%, a 25-year bond is 2,5 times more than the original cost. Throw in the transfer, attorneys, etc and buying houses are expensive.

Of course, this type of compounded interest we all know well. Hopefully, we also know enough to never incur credit card, and upwards in the sense of interest rate debt. My rule is simple,what you can’t settle on your card at month end, can’t be bought. With that rule, I buy almost everything on my card and just settle the balance at month end. Negative compound interest kills and especially when no tax deduction lessens the load on our purse. The inverse is Investment. Here, compound interest works splendidly.

The other day I helped an elderly lady consolidate her investments; little bits and pieces in three financial institutions. Wow, what a surprise as I trawled through old records dating back to the late 90’s when she retired. Figures like R43000, R60000, etc, but nothing too rich. Unsophisticated investing – a unit trust, fixed deposits, money market, etc. To our surprise, the total amount was over R600000! The reason is that she has lived off her dwindling pension in real terms and never dived into even the interest of her investments. Then, every 6 months or so, she would be advised to re-invest and she did. The lot just grew and grew and the end result was unexpected. No wonder a friend of mine once asked me, “What’s the best investment?” I waited and he told me, “The one you stick to.” You see, the elderly lady could probably have done better in Naspers, but what she knew all well was that time and interest are directly correlated and maybe she didn’t maximise the opportunity, but she had enough. I am not an investment advisor, but here are some generic rules for Investment from personal experience.

Time is measured two ways, the length of time you save and the length of time you don’t.

You see, R500 per month over 40 years at 8% earns you R1745504. The problem of not starting 40 years ago can be expressed in three ways:

  • 30 years: R745180
  • 20 years: R294510
  • 10 years: R91473

This is the way we normally look at it and, often, we look at it relative to a fixed date, retirement, child’s education, the coffee shop we’ve always wanted to own etc.

There is another way and it’s not insurance broker-speak, just a fact of life – Cost of Delay. You see, the numbers of 40 and 30 years may kinda look alike, but the difference is R1000324. That’s a Million Rand! Compare it to the R91473 which you save in the first 10 years and the number is 11 x [1000324/91473] more than you could save. That’s the awesome power of compounded interest. It builds like a hockey stick at the end if you have not touched it.

You see, when the “fixed date” arrives and its retirement, the third problem is that you just don’t have 40 years of R500 per month to catch-up. Very sobering, I know.

In case you think you’re the only one who missed this, I took out a unit trust in 1976. It was R50 per month. As a guess, the JSE Index would have been about 500 then. Today it is 55000. Doing the sums, that’s 11.22% growth plus dividend yield of, say, 3,5% would total 14.72%. Using that “interest rate”, my little R50 per month investment would be worth about: R1900000. Makes you think, doesn’t it?!

So, the moral of the story is: Take out an investment while you’re young. Don’t delay, and then, stick to it.

You know as well as I do, that the money part of this Investment is the easy part. Life calls for an investment as well. For that thought, I turn once again to my old well-known guy, Dr Dennis Waitley, who said, “It takes as much energy to live a good life as to live a bad one. So live a good one.” There’s a thought, but we also know we don’t always put the “good” together long enough to make the ultimate difference. We sometimes stumble up and then stumble down and then stumble up again.

We all seem to do it; I include myself. On the negative side, it seems we have the ability to:

  1. Try
  2. Fail
  3. Regret we failed
  4. Regret we tried
  5. Then try again
  6. Repeat the cycle.

You there as you read it? The downward spiral of defeat and “if only’s”? You know that the only failure is failure itself. “Don’t judge me by my successes, judge me by the times I failed and then stood up again”, said Nelson Mandela. Read some of his books and this understanding of life permeates them. “I should have…”, “I could have…”, “I shouldn’t have…” are often on his lips but in the end, “I did, and if I failed as I or some may think, I tried again.” [My way of expressing this man’s attitude to Life]. Ultimately, despite the naysayers, Nelson Mandela succeeded beyond our expectations.

So let’s rerun a “good life”. One that you invest time, energy, and a focus on priorities into: 

  1. Try
  2. Fail
  3. Forgive yourself or ask forgiveness
  4. Learn
  5. Succeed
  6. Repeat the cycle.

You see, investment in yourself tries, parks the past, learns falling forward, and never gives up. Please hear me!


Taking from the financial lessons above:

  • Start as soon as possible. Lives also endure the cost of delay.
  • Invest regularly and as much as you can. A little study is better than none. An hour a day extra doing what you believe is important, not urgent, is 3650 hours of extra focus on your priority every 10 years, not just your “stuff”.
  • Opportunity cost is real. Redefine your focus by all means, but don’t stop doing what is right for you.
  • If you’ve wasted time, stop regretting it and get on using the time you have left.
  • Forgive yourself, you’re better than you think.
  • Celebrate successes, even if you’re alone.

I don’t want to go on to produce a tome like Inspiration, though I could. Thus, a closing thought from the Good book. Job is a well-known story – a great guy who loses everything and then recovers “twice as much as before.” At the end of chapter 42, the last verse says this: The he [Job] died an old man who had lived a long, full life. That fact stuck with me when I read it about 2 weeks ago. Long is easy – Job died at 140 years of age. Right now, scientists are telling us that the person who will live 200 years has been born. Whilst I’m thrilled that’s not me, the “full” caught my attention and has wandered through my thoughts since. What is a ‘full’ life? What things have I done, seen, been to, given attention to, consistently undertaken, left, adopted, listened to, read, spoken about, focussed on, achieved, believed, debunked, tried, striven for, loved, hated, bought, sold, eaten, experienced, achieved, learned, given birth to…that makes up a life that is “full”? I’m still teasing this out so I don’t intend to answer my question right now. However, I encourage you that if something in the question, or anything else above it, has struck you, read it again, begin to coagulate your thoughts, mind-map them and let them develop into something positive and forward-thinking.

As the business of HLJ, we are all on this journey. We have chosen to associate with each other. We have common ground, knowledge and resilience. Use what we have to make a better place from our inside out. Touch lives and encourage them upwards once again. For those on a high, imagine the possibility of being an inspiration to the rest of us and invest some time in all of us, and all of the others, you meet.

Yours in Property.

BUDGET 2019

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A real quickie this blog joining the chorus of feedback and comment on the budget.

NFB Private Wealth Management was succinct in its bulletin of 20 February 2019, commenting:

In less than 60 minutes Minister Mboweni presented his maiden budget in Parliament today. In a national election year, off the back of poor economic growth and dwindling confidence, it had to be a budget targeting renewed optimism for us at home and the broader investment community. As he started talking, the rand weakened but by the end of the day, had strengthened against all major currencies; perhaps a glimmer of hope? – Minister Mboweni

Little changed as regards personal taxes but inflation will mean that the man-in-the-street pays more. From the little bit I’ve experienced recently, Mark Kingon, acting SARS Commissioner, has SARS on its toes looking for unpaid tax. Beware! Fortunately, there were “no changes to retirement funds, trust tax rates, donations tax and estate duty” and CGT. That’s good news. At the corporate level, company tax remains at 28%, says the NFB report. Sin taxes have increased. E-cigarettes have not escaped the attention of the new Finance Minister and one of our colleagues is really irked about that ☹

My most annoying one is fuel levy [29 and 31c on petrol and diesel respectively]. If we understood what it means to use a taxi every day we would realise the 41% we pay in taxes in the price of every litre of fuel, is simply a tax on the poor subsidized, in the total, by the rich. We’re not exceptional but when added to the impending Eskom tariff increase, prepare yourself for a shock to your pocket. We’re staring down the barrel of higher inflation, controlled by increasing interest rates, in a tiny-growth economy, while fighting for job creation.

The introduction of a Chief Reconfiguration Officer [CRO] to oversee SOEs who rely on the government for funding should curb ever-increasing debt. Love it, Minister Mboweni! Government’s wage bill being cut “by R27-billion over the next three years” and a “freeze on performance bonuses and salary increases for certain state employees” is welcomed. The Minister concluded, “There are no quick fixes, but our nation is ready for renewal.”

Sin Tax 2019

Very short and sweet.

The Businesstech report was more detailed but I just draw out of it certain relevant points:

  • The minister painted a bleak picture as the country struggles with rising expenditure, failing SOE’s and declining revenues, but outlined several processes underway to try and rein things in.
  • Economically, real GDP growth for South Africa in 2019 is forecast at 1.5% and is expected to reach 2.1% by 2021.
  • In the medium term, spending reductions are expected at R50.3 billion, while provisional allocations of R75.3 billion have been budgeted, mainly to deal with the Eskom crisis.
  • The country’s budget deficit has widened because of Eskom and because of a revenue shortfall and is now seen at 4.5% of GDP in 2019-20 – up from the 4.2% forecast in the October mid-term statement. [Ed: We have reached the critical 60% Debt-to-GDP level, often referred to a fiscal cliff.]
  • State wages and compensation remains the largest category of spending, accounting for 34.4% of consolidated expenditure – a level which the Finance Minister described as “unsustainable”. Measures are in place to realise a R27 billion reduction in spending here, he said.

Eskom:

  • The big topic on everyone’s mind in the lead up to the budget was bailouts for SOE’s – and especially what was going to be done with Eskom.
  • According to Mboweni government will not take on the power utility’s debt, as has been suggested by Eskom in the past.
  • “I want to make it clear: the national government is not taking on Eskom’s debt. Eskom took on the debt. It must ultimately repay it,” he said.
  • However, he said that the restructuring plan – to split Eskom into three entities – is on track, and Treasury is setting aside R23 billion a year for the next three years to financially support Eskom during its reconfiguration.
  • The total of R69 billion is a “shareholder” move to assist the utility to pay its debt, however, it comes on the condition that Eskom cuts cost to cover debt-service costs and meet redemptions.

Land Reform:

  • While the government pushes ahead with its plans to make land expropriation without compensation more clear in the Constitution, Treasury is also allocating funds to accelerate land reform and acquire state land.
  • R18.4 billion has been allocated to accelerate land reform over the medium term, which will help finalise more than 1,700 restitution claims and acquire more than 325,000 hectares of land for landless South Africans.
  • This budget was presented by the ex-Governor of the SARB. He is highly competent and politically connected, but what I like about him most of all is untainted and honest. Can we do with a bit of those virtues right now!
  • Honestly, our country is in a shocking state after 10 years of Zuma [trust my maths, please, with at least 4 more years to come as “aftermath’]. However, whether Tito stays or goes, another strong Finance Minister will replace him and we will get through this. Again, honestly, the demise of Eskom is too horrific to contemplate so let’s get on the bright side. “Too big to fail”, was the way the World Bank or IMF described Eskom.

All of that said, in the property industry we will enjoy:

  1.  A 1.5% GDP growth this year – hopefully!!
  2. No increase in property-based taxes.
  3. A slight narrowing in affordability though we need to wait for Eskom’s tariff announcement.
  4. Probably, stable to improved job statistics.
  5. Better house sales year-on-year [I believe].

Compared to what we have lived with while we get out of the mess and approach the General Elections, I would take this if I was you.

HLJ does take it and remains positive.

Yours in Property.

INSPIRATION

/in , /by

Continuing with our series using the acronym LIFE and on the “I”, let’s explore Inspiration.

I have had the privilege of meeting many inspirational people in my life. Victor Vermeulen, the Transvaal cricketer who dived into an empty pool, is memorable. Constrained to his wheelchair and cared for by his amazing mom, he had us in tears and stitches as he spoke of his life and times. He paints by mouth and even coaches cricket in his spare time. Think about it… coaches cricket… from his wheelchair.

Similarly, Nick Vujicic, the Australian evangelist, who was born with tetra-amelia syndrome and therefore with no arms or legs, is also one of my most inspirational human beings. He struts up and down the stage and then falls over. Flat on his tummy in the video clip, he then tells the kids who are fixated on him, that you may fall and things look impossible, but you can always find a way to get back up. Slowly, he turns himself around and with his head on a firm cushion, he finds his balance and “stands” again. Love it!

When I watch and listen to these kinds of guys, the question: “So what’s your problem, Jack?”, pulses through my mind. Huh?! Fat flab – then do something about it! Relationships – sort them out! Petty issues like taxi drivers – get over yourself! Nothing that worries me day by day as things currently stand, even matter. Really!

Have a look at YouTube if you don’t believe me…

So why do I focus on disabled people to now? Perhaps mistakenly, in your opinion, they personify the courage of the human spirit. Victor: no legs, where once there was a batsman, no arms where once there was a scholar, no independence where once there was transport and venues, no privacy where once I showered and changed myself and then, in the hidden corners of my soul, all the doubt and hurt and “if only’s” and anger and self-un-forgiveness and all of that put aside in favour of life and love and others’ inspiration. What about Nick? He’s never had anything of Victor’s life before the accident; not one iota, but over the years, he has developed his mind, found a lasting Christian faith and journeyed with probably millions of people in audiences around the world lifting their spirits and sense of wellbeing. Wow! So what’s your problem, [your name]?

The other day, the Stormers came to train in our gym. Eben Etsebeth is larger than huge, larger than life and his bicep is bigger than my thigh. Flippen’ huge! If he’s not your hero, tough; when you see him you will be in awe and if you don’t know who I’m talking about, shame on you!! Jy watch seker nie rugby nie – Skandaal… He’s an inspiration and like Kolisi and others, we scream them over the goal line every Saturday in season. Just by playing the game, he’s an inspiration; in my gym, well, he changes the ambience of that sweaty place, but everything is in the right place and he had everything, and then honed it, to make him the great rugby player he is.

What about Nelson Mandela and so many other great leaders? You want to know them. You long to be known by them. You hang onto their words – you YouTube, TED and Wikipedia them. They inspire you and lift you up when you’re down and raise your sights when you’re up. That’s what inspiration does, but then, the other day I get this clip of an ant pulling a spider up a wall. I have no idea of the weight variance and, in case you wondered, the spider was dead, but, my goodness, was that little ant strong and determined. No wonder the Good Book says: “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.” – [Proverbs 6:6].

Big and small, human or otherwise, they inspire us. You could say, we are surrounded by inspiration. So what’s wrong when you and I cannot lift ourselves out of sadness, worry and agitation so many times? When finding things to be grateful for seems to be a trick of the motivationalists to detract us from our own weariness and problems. Ellende!

So what about you and I? Can we be an inspiration? We have all our arms and legs so there’s nothing to overcome. We have all of our faculties so we cannot be modern-day Helen Kellers who said: “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing, and, blind, she lived it; way before Facebook and YouTube and TED and TV – just newspapers, radio and a world stage with enthralled audiences whose hearts were quickened. So what about us? Educated and able to be, relatively wealthy, well-travelled with more holidays planned. Married with children and able to make them. Employed, some self-employed and connected to do our work better. So what about us? What about me?

One of my favourite quotes is that by Martin Luther King,

Not everyone can be famous, but everyone can be great. And then there is another that I have come to love sharing repeatedly [Longfellow: Psalms of Life]:
The lives of great men all remind us
That we can make our lives sublime
And departing, leave behind us
Footprints in the sands of time.

 

Rather than set the bar high focussing on what everybody else does and says, “Let’s get a little practical with our own lives…”

1. You have Influence

Whether you’re up or down, we know it. So, be up. My misery, problems and hassles worn on my sleeve may be real to me and based on Agrizzi’s evidence; my posture may be because I have synthesized the facts and I’m going to do something about it, but darn it, making my problems your problems always, in-depth and continually, affects you. I can have whatever, I can confide my deepest thoughts which hurt with a confidante but when I step out of the room, my influence makes or breaks your day. Make my day, please. I want motivated, I want enthusiastic, I want whatever hope is left in you and I want my kids to believe the world can be a better place because they’re in it. Leaders, your people don’t need sweat on your brow. Be scared, be real scared, but then get out and display confidence.

I must tell you this notion feels fake for me. For many years I never let on I was in pain – that my ear hurt after successive tumour operations. Nobody knew it and I’m fine was my pat answer. Then one day I shared that stance, in a spirit of what we like to call authenticity, with my Coach Supervisor who is also a psychologist, and she said to me, “You need to let go a little, give yourself some slack and share your true feelings.” I started to do that and felt really authentic. You ask me, “How are you feeling?” and unlike my usual, “I’m fine!”, I said, “My ear is hurting me and I’m taking quite a few pills a day for the pain.”

What then followed was hock and horror firstly but then a kind of distancing that was tangible in my relationships. You see, on the one hand, people could not think of Jack appearing miserable [he’s always so positive], and, on the other hand, they just couldn’t face my pain on top of their own issues. So I hear the word authentic and I understand it well, trying always to be as open and honest as possible., but I have learned to limit, once again, my complete honesty around any negative things or physical pain, preferring only to share my deepest opinions with confidantes. Honesty or hypocrisy, you decide! I want to be inspirational certainly without being perceived as fake and those who know me, know that.

2. Mix with Positive People

Allied to what I’ve opened up on above, mixing with positive people rubs off. Don’t be fooled, you are not bullet-proof and inoculated against bad news and often when you’re down, I’m up. It works like that in our relationships and we find ourselves able to comfort each other at different times. Enthusiasm is contagious and being enthusiastic is what people want you to be. They will pick up flakiness by their 6th sense, but they will also rise to genuine happiness and hope spoken out. I have lived with positive people in the business. They exude confidence, they always have a plan or consult to get the plan, they empower you by trusting you with information so that you can feel and be part of the solution, they form bonds with others and “get real” if and when it’s appropriate. Gail Kelly always goes through my mind when I write like this [if you don’t know her, you can Google what an inspiration she is].

3. Get involved

Not sure of that, I hear many of you say. I’ve got enough troubles of my own. Really, if that’s your opinion, go back and read my opening paragraphs. Involvement asks questions and listens to answers, it takes time to reply and not rush out your experience and your solutions, it respects the other person and does not pry. Let me get real about someone I know… He has bone cancer and a friend of his told my wife in confidence knowing that I would get the message. I do not want to breach confidence as I respect the privacy of people, but I’ve just received a call and been asked to go for coffee on Friday and was told that on Thursday he’s going to the doctor. Will he finally tell me about his illness? I don’t know, but I can tell you, I’m involved and waiting to become more so as matters transpire.

People need you at times in their lives; you don’t need to barge in larger-than-life with all the answers. Just stand by, be available and be prepared. To this latter comment, I was intrigued to hear during George Bush senior’s funeral a meeting in which his Deputy President, Dan Quayle, asked him what he expected of him. His answer was: “Be faithful and be prepared.” That’s involvement. In leadership positions, you will often hear me refer to FAT people – Faithful, Available, and Teachable and goodness me, have I been blessed to work with tens of such people in my career. They’re not puppy dogs that roll over when you speak, they’re competent, opinionated, hard-working and committed, but when the chips have been down and a single outcome required, they have been FAT. How grateful I am that I have been able to be involved in many lives of family, friends and associates and then felt their involvement in mine at crucial times – I am indeed, a man most blessed – thank you all who may be reading for being my inspiration so often.

4. Believe in Something Bigger than You

Crimped in the space of your mind, imprisoned but your little woes, even engrossed in your big ones, you can never inspire. In my humble opinion, it is the belief that there is a higher cause for our lives that takes us through and makes our “overcoming ability” an inspiration to others. Myopic behaviour is selfish and self-centred – me, me, me. Expansive, abundant behaviour enthuses others, brings out the best in them and makes them above average and even brilliant. You see, the Pygmalion Effect, having a genuine sense that others are better than where they’re at [of My Fair Lady movie fame], lift them to greater heights. Many classroom experiments have been done when I teacher was told the opposite of the true IQ of pupils. So the teacher gets to the class believing the bright kids are not-so-bright and the not-so-bright kids are really clever. Lo and behold, the grades of the bright kids’ decline and the not-so-bright kids’ grades improve, even dramatically. What causes that? – well, I posit that the way the teacher talks to the kids founded in what she thinks about them raises the capacity of the children to believe in themselves. They rise to her expectation of them.

So, taking that to our own situation, if you believe that there is something big, bigger than you, towards which to strive, upon which to trust, for which you serve and get involved, then just the way you get out of bed in the morning changes and changes dramatically. The Purpose is Power. A Sense of Belonging is Presence and Positivity about someone or something beats misery hands down. Some say that the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you discover Why. Sitting in limbo wondering and wandering meaninglessly? Find that higher cause and let It, or them, ignite you. You’re better than lounging around mentally and spiritually going to seed. Wake up! Stand up! And Get out! – be the difference you want to see.

As I close, I want to leave you with this quote by George Bernard Shaw that I know you have seen before, but bears repeating:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature, instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort of splendid torch which I hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

We are all on a journey. You and I coupled only by our humanity, but for those who are rich and famous, well done and for those of us who are not, we can at least be great. Be influential, mix with the positive and rub off on the negative, be involved, and live for a cause higher than you and for which you leave a legacy albeit just in the memories of your children. You have what it takes…

Yours in Property.

IMAGINATION

/in /by

It may be my imagination, but I know I have written about this subject many times. However, in our series based on the acronym LIFE, I cannot help but think that the first of the “ I’s”, should focus on so powerful a human attribute, but before I go there, I must admit that the year has started very slowly for me. I have an excuse for the last 10 days as the fires have ripped through Hermanus, including Camphill, Hemel and Aarde Valley, where my daughter stays. More than 100 mentally challenged residents and their staff were evacuated on Friday the 11th as fire ripped through the valley driven by winds gusting over 100kms per hour. Yesterday we all gave Thanks, at a community meeting, that no one was hurt and not one house was burnt: a modern-day miracle. However, for the days before that, I felt like the Retriever whose efforts to rise in the morning were sent to me on video. He wakes up from his snug duvet and pushes his nose into the air. Standing slowly, he stretches his back in an arch. Then, he slides his front legs over the edge of the bed and begins to slowly drag his body forward. As his back legs slip off the mattress, he collapses into another exhausted heap. Don’t laugh! Too much champagne and too many mince pies made you feel the same two weeks ago – com’on, admit it ☺

“Imagination rules the world”, said Albert Einstein. Let’s use an example that you read slowly to take in the moment:

Close your eyes and take a deep breath: Picture a beach, white sand stretching far into the distance. See the palm trees waving in the soft, cool sea breeze. Hear the lapping of the water on the sand’s edge as the sand colours slowly from blonde to light blue to deep aquamarine. Sunshine sparkles on the surface as little waves lap against the shore as you reach down and take a handful of textured paradise. While you’re there, smell the sea air – fresh, salty, cleansing. You want more and even your soul seems more at ease…Now…Before you join the Retriever on the bed, wake up. Now, if it were a place you’ve been to, identify it. Mine was Mauritius 2018.

Imagination refers to the human ability to mentally create things in our heads that we are not currently experiencing. Although the words are close synonyms, Fantasy is generally applied only to those products of our minds that are viewed as impossible or highly unlikely to happen in reality. I can imagine my wife and I taking a trip to Sydney which is possible but flying on the wing of a biplane is impossible. The wonderful thing about imagination is that both are possible in my mind even though the latter is impossible in reality. Just watch and listen to a 3-year-old and her imaginary friend play in the sandpit. Her and “Susi” do everything together, build sand castles, dig holes, walk the dolls and even slide the slides, but for all, it’s sheer bliss and companionship, it’s just not real.

So why did the Creator give us this faculty? It can be bliss or pain. I would put to you that nothing started unless a thought turned into an imagination and that began to drive the inventor, big or small, to reality. I’m sure that when Bell said you could talk down a copper wire or Edison reckoned candles had outlived their usefulness, they were laughed at. Imagine that retired SADF officer (I believe) dreaming while he was vacuuming his pool for the umpteenth time about a little plastic thing running around powered by suction, and cleaning the pool. Imagine if he said, “Ja, but it could never go up the sides so what’s the use?” The Kreepy would never have seen the light of day and South Africa would have missed out on one of her best inventions and exports ever.

Laughter is timeless. “Imagination has no age and dreams are forever”, said Walt Disney. I don’t know if you watched Mickey’s 90th birthday during the Season, but I was awestruck. First of all, a mickey mouse little character is not real, but he and latter, his darling Minnie Mouse, ruled the screen for an hour or so. Adults and kids, all shapes and sizes, some famous and some un-named dancers, sung his praises. His movies, many without sound and black-and-white, showed his life and times. In love, imploring, running in fear, standing up to be counted, driving cars and catching buses and all of it while having a glittering, glamorous 90th birthday. Mickey Mouse is alive and well and is still the main character at Cinderella Castle, Orlando, Florida. All imaginary!! Don’t despise the small things. After all, this began with a mouse, ends the same man, this time at the base of his statue at the entrance to Disney World. Watch the Birthday on Catch-up, probably also someone’s crazy imagination, until it became the product that it has become.

In all of this, the 5-senses have a crucial role to play. Your eyes are the window to your soul the saying goes, but imagination proves they see inside before they see outside. Smell, touch, taste and hearing all follow suit. Amazing faculties that can happen in the imagination and, let’s remember, also have the ability to be stored in memory without even having been experienced. Watch Masterchef – the three judges with their brilliant cameramen capture the taste and smell of the contestant’s dish for us. The sour of the lemons offset with the sweet of the jelly and the saltiness of the caramel – I’m miles away with only two senses really operational – sight and sound – yet I can smell and taste that dish enough to make me salivate. Wow! Imagination and dreams are different, but they can influence each other through the power of the senses.

Allied to all of this is Vision. One of my daily readings puts it this way: Vision is a “holy discontent”, a deep dissatisfaction with what is combined with a clear grasp of what could be. It is a picture – “a mental sight” – of the future that inspires hope. Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare (presumption). Vision combined with action can change the world. So that thing on the top of your Strategic Plan, your Vision, is the source of leadership power and influence. When Bill Gates envisioned a computer on every desk it became not a game or a business, but an obsession. His bi-product was the richest of the Richest, but I’m sure, his satisfaction was simply – “I did it.”

I want to go one step further before I close with a few thoughts. Faith is all of the above in action. Faith goes deeper than the senses. Faith, and its close partner, Hope, go to the heart of Man. Faith is not superficial nor is it weak. Faith is strong, determined, challenging, enduring and knows no end. Like Love, it never gives up. Faith relies on vision built by imagination. It may start in dreams, but it ends in action if only the action to believe. Faith starts deep within but reaches far with-out, beyond yourself or your circumstances. It truly is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. How is your faith?

I trust you have got the message. 2019 does not need to be like 2018. If 2018 was good, then 2019 can be better. If 2018 was bad, then 2019 can be better. What you think and then dwell on in your imagination could be the deciding factor in the outcome of this year. Not your bank balance, not the election, not your health not your team or your partner or your boss who is your partner – No! What you imagine and allow to take root in you, could be the deciding factor. As you imagine the worst and even catastrophise, your imagination becomes mental food and your thoughts begin to control your life with vivid imagery. PTSD is the imagination, based in traumatic reality, gone wild. How much more, positive imagery – Visualisation of a better you, a better job, a better sales record streaming 5-senses of Good into you and your relationships and into your circumstances? This is not dreaming! I’ve just asked the gardeners to dig out ground-cover to make way for new plants. The ground is now prepared and the new plants coming; soon there’ll be green again and then leafiness and then beautiful white flowers. Where and how do I see that simple future garden, but in my imagination? How much more my life when I take the time to imagine, raising my hope to believe greatness? Don’t ever underestimate that small voice inside of you.

At HLJ we don’t ignore it and we standby to kindle the flames in you. Please read this message from the heart again. Strip out the nuggets, forgive the writer if sections are boring and just begin the personal, deep journey to your powerful, influential imagination. Energy and hard work will follow and after that, Success. Picture it, taste it, experience it; a long time before it even gets to reality, frame it in your mind’s eye.

Yours in Property.