Dear {{FirstName}}

1. The Two Oceans Marathon - It Is Time!

At last years Two Oceans Marathon (which is, for the record a marathon and a third - so an ultra marathon) I reached the marathon mark (42.2 km) in just over 4 hours, with my calf muscles and knees screaming at me with 14km still to go, and swore I would never do it again. That evening, having completed the race in a personal best (PB) time, hobbling about on stiff legs and all ("What's wrong with Dad?" Jenna kept asking Mom), I was already planning my next onslaught. I think the condition is called runners amnesia. Well, it's this coming Saturday once again.

The organisers have a neat little online race calculator, which tells me that I am capable of doing the race this year in 30 seconds over five and a half hours - which for me would be a personal best by 12 minutes. So, if you are at all interested in following the fate and pains of the Mindset Shifter plodding away in the middle of the pack in search of a new PB, you can track my progress as follows:

Send an SMS with my race number (which is 21044) to 35015, an SMS will be sent back giving the details of race time at each of the timing points I have passed including the finish. And no, it won't cost R10 per sms and you won't win a BMW!

So, this is the plan. The race starts at 06h25. I should reach the 28km mark in 2hrs 38 min, 42km in 4 hrs 3 min (that's at 10h28 - so 10h30 is a good time to check whether I'm on track or not), and the top of Constantia Nek - 46km, in 4 hrs 32 min. It's quite an ask. But that's the plan. I'm gonna have to run like hell!

2. Travels of the Mindset Shifter

*feature article March 2008*

Last week I set off for Europe to deliver 3 different talks in 3 cities (all in different countries) in 3 consecutive days. The presentation skills workshop delivered to the Frankfurt Chapter of the German Speakers Association was great fun - and I discovered afterwards that one of the attendees had flown from Linz in Austria and stayed overnight just to attend the workshop. That's commitment to your craft!

Next day it was interesting and very scenic getting lost in Paris for an hour on foot dragging my bags around before finally finding my hotel - 300m from the underground station from which I'd alighted! I guess you can't always be sure about directions from the locals - or maybe it was my lack of French? Luckily, I had a chance to change and get to my speaking engagement in time. Mercifully, they allowed me to present it in English!

The following morning I was up early to travel by train to Amsterdam - my first visit there since 1984 - and very little seems to have changed on the surface. People still ride bicycles all over town, the trams still work efficiently, the canals are still there, and the place remains as charming as ever. Holland now has their own Professional Speakers Association and put on an excellent convention.

Paul du Toit, Professional Speaker, South African, Mindset Shifter,

Thank you to all those who attended my last Mindset Shift public seminar for the year at Avianto on 5 March. This seminar/talk will from now on only be available as an in-house presentation. See a comment from a recent delegate at my Mossel Bay seminar on 12 February in item 4 below

3. International Leadership Seminar - Inspiration, Wisdom and Courage.

This world-class morning seminar by three high calibre speakers is for leaders, entrepreneurs and managers who want to get great results through their people.

Elangeni Hotel, Durban Friday 4 April 2008

The Conference Park, Rivonia, Sandton Monday 7 April 2008

Speakers will be Alvin Law from Calgary, Canada (author of 5 Steps to Successfully Overcome Anything); Monica Wofford from Florida, USA (Author of Contagious Leadership); and Ronnie Muhl, SA's Cape Town based Everest man. Click on the hyperlinks above for YouTube footage - you'll need broadband! This seminar shows you

1. How to focus your team away from the negativity around you and back on to your vision
2. How to motivate your managers to lead for results without fear or intimidation in 7 easy steps
3. The only four reasons that companies ever need help and how to see if you have one of them
4. The strategies used by top teams to conquer seemingly insurmountable odds
5. How to identify the "Influencers" outside of management and get them to work for you, not against you
6. And how to ensure that the people you hired for their skills do not need to be fired for their attitudes

We'll be serving a delicious, quality continental breakfast from 07h30 at both events, seminar starts at 08h15, and we end at 12 noon. I'll be the MC, each speaker will have an hour, and there will be an opportunity for questions

{{FirstName}}, seats are R1,225 per person - but block bookings of 5 or more there is a 20% discount - therefore just R980 per person. Please go here for the details or phone 011 804 3520 or 0860 503 191. We suggest you act now!

For details on the Congruence soft skills training schedule (Gauteng only) please visit www.congruence.co.za - look on the right and click on "public courses". Please note that all our courses are offered in-house anywhere you want them to be delivered.

4. So, Motivational Speakers Don't Work? (not so, says Xolani!)

This received by email just a few days ago.

Good day Paul,

After a “hack of an experience”… an eye opener, a self affirming presentation from a world class speaker, a certain “black guy” approached and chatted briefly about how overwhelming an experience and how privileged he was to have been part of the proceedings that day. The response from you (Mr du Toit) was…”you are very fortunate, you must now seize the opportunities and make use of them”… It was in Mossel Bay on a certain Tuesday afternoon.

Afterwards I gathered my thoughts and actioned my plans, made a couple of contacts and soon was invited for an interview with one of the world’s leading construction companies (Bouygues UK). I must say that I didn’t know what/how to prepare for the day as when I looked at their incumbent requirements and key responsibilities, I knew very well that I could deliver BUT still I had to be prepared for such a big occasion and golden opportunity.

Before the big day, late at home I watched the DVD (Six Steps to a Winning Attitude) I had received from the seminar, digested almost every content of it, then flew to JHB the following day very positive and confident.

It is with sincere gratitude that today I say to you I have been offered an opportunity of a lifetime, by an International Construction Company.. a post of a Senior Quantity Surveyor (permanently), a full package that even now I’m still battling to fathom. I guess I’ve ceased the opportunity and used it as per your wish of course!!!!

…Your words subtly paralyzed my thoughts that day And that’s how powerful and influential they are!!!

I thank Heavens for affording us people like you and …”May His light shine upon you and your family”..

Regards, Xolani Bekani

How many people do you know who have the courtesy to thank someone who's words have changed their lives? Not many - but Xolani took he trouble. Says a lot about the person, wouldn't you say? Of course I am grateful for the accolades, but don't you think that Xolani did something special - he DID SOMETHING proactive with the information he received that day?

5. Response to Newsletter #86 Feb 2008.

I received a number of responses to the article I wrote in my previous newsletter about Leadership and Accountability. In it I expressed concern about our infrastructure deterioration, in particular our roads and other services. Here is a response I felt may interest you from James Robertson - published with his permission.

There is a principal that needs to be taken into account in what you write – decay of systems is NOT linear, it is exponential.

The longer things decay the faster they decay – the problem with the roads is NOT pothole repair – asphalt becomes brittle with age and roads need to be resurfaced about every ten years to compensate for the evaporation of the volatile component, significant cracks should be filled with liquid bitumen on an ongoing basis, if this is NOT done the pavement will eventually disintegrate and become a mass of potholes – there is a section of Barbara Road in Isando that is close to this point.

The crisis is MUCH GREATER than presented in your newsletter – the infrastructure is approaching a tipping point after which things will deteriorate MUCH faster and remediation will rapidly reach a point of being beyond the realms of the economy to achieve, the same applies to education, problem solving AND all the points that you raise.

There is plenty of evidence around the world of advanced civilizations that degenerated into primitive survival – Matchu Pichu, etc

I am increasingly persuaded that South Africa’s time is running out unless there is a radical change in attitude and a greatly increased level of awareness of the technical fundamentals – one of the critical issues is a massive shortage of engineering professionals and the sub-standard quality of many of the new graduates – one can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can NEVER fool technology – it just does what it does and when it breaks it breaks.

I would dearly love to find a way to turn things around – any suggestions?

With compliments from the Mindset Shifter www.mindsetshifter.com.

Footnote: The 3rd annual convention of the National Speakers Association of SA (NSASA) will be held in Durban from 4-6 April this year. Go to www.nsasouthafrica.co.za for details. There will be a number of excellent overseas speakers in South Africa to attend the convention around about that time. As you know, I have secured 3 of the main platform speakers to do a special appearance in Durban and Cape Town just for you. See item 3 above - and book now.