A week in Cape Town

After a year in this amazing city I still feel like I am on a very long holiday. I constantly meet new people and discover wonderful new places. I get to know more and more hidden spots and activities this great city and its surrounding have to offer. And I sure am not even close to the end of my discoveries, since I hardly travel more than 10 km away from my apartment in town. The multiple and most of all varied activities Cape Town has to offer are attracting and seducing many foreigners for years to give up their homes and settle here. I have met numerous foreigners in the last year trying to find a way of extending their trip. I am one of the fortunate who have found an occupation at day time, and I enjoy as much of my free hours discovering and celebrating the local life style.

A typical Cape Townian is open, generous, active, fit, easy going and most of all, want to make the best of every moment. Coming from a country from the Northern hemisphere, where people frequently prefer to enjoy the company of their stable group of friends, the hospitality and interest in “strangers” is a pleasant surprise. Being willing to openly share your reason for visiting Cape Town is often enough to start a conversation and get an invitation for the next party. Besides their love for spending time in nature, on water and practicing all kind of sports, Cape Townians share the heat for a good party. And will always find an occasion for one. Unlike our North European parties, partying here is not exclusively for the young, wild and free. It is also not solely taking place in evening hours in pubs or clubs. Every place you go, with every group of people can easily turn into a party. To keep a bit of balance in your life, health and wallet you will have learn how to choose your parties and other activities wisely. 

My first tip to get the most out of your trip, whether it is short or long, is to talk to everyone you will meet. It will reward you with the most unexpected and fun evenings. Be spontaneous and flexible at all times and let go of the idea of planning the whole evening ahead. When invited by a local, join them to the next party and just learn to go with the flow!

Secondly, especially for the long stays, choose an activity you like to do. There are many options, so there is something for everyone. Not only will it keep you in good shape, it will also balance out the partying, drinking and eating you will be doing otherwise. It is also one of the best ways to meet many cool and exciting people. I am in love with Martial Arts, but I bet surfing, hiking, mountain biking or kite surfing are just as rewarding. Even better make a combination of a few and you will not have to feel guilty for treating yourself at one of the nice restaurants, bars or food markets.

For most of us working people, the work combined with the sport activity make a pretty full week already. To get the most out of it I like to spend the rest of my activities in the week as follows:

I start the week on Tuesday, after taking enough rest on Monday, I am ready for a party! I like to go to Asoka on Kloofstreet if I want to dress-up or Dizzy’s on Camps Bay to experience a more laid back vibe. But make sure you are on time or with the right people, because it can get really busy. Use Wednesday to relax and work out so you will be ready and fit for the next day. Go to Jade in Greenpoint to dance or beach club Shimmies close to the Waterfront to eat, drink and lounge. With enough energy you will enter the weekend. Drop by at the Grand beach café on Fridays after work for some drinks and bites. Then get ready for the night. Go to club 31; a place I take all my visitors from abroad to show them ‘the view’, or impress them at the beautiful club St. Yves in Camps Bay.

Saturday it is time for one of the full-day activities. After having done all the tourist stuff the first few weeks, you are ready for other alternatives. Like Wake-boarding at Blue Rock in Somerset West. Or indulge yourself at one of the local Food Markets, like the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, the Bay Harbour in Houtbay,  the V&A market on the Wharf or the smaller City Bowl Market on Hope street. Try the food and township experience called Amazink in Khayamandi in the Stellenbosch area for great food and performances in an authentic setting. You can combine this with a visit to one of the great wine lands in the Stellenbosch area. If you like to stay closer to town, go to Constantia to drink wine, eat and enjoy the nature. Or go to boulders beach to swim with penguins and eat seafood. In the evening you can choose between the diverse clubs on Long Street , Camps Bay or Claremont.

The Sunday is difficult, because there is too much to do! It offers the best night outs, like Goldfish at St. Yves or Caprice in Camps Bay. Ideally combined with a dinner at one of the restaurants and a relax day at the beach. Another thing you don’t want to miss and one of the best township experiences is Mzoli’s in Gugulethu. Besides offering the best meat in Cape Town, it is a one of a kind, low-key experience with the most vibrant, happy and diverse group of people you will find. If you feel like a day to chill, you should try a concert at the Kirstenbosch gardens, complete with pick nick, wine and good company. Combine it with a visit to the botanic gardens or a hike in the area. 

I could go on and on, but this is extensively done by the many tour operators  in Cape Town. Just try to balance your activities, try lots of new things and be open and spontaneous at all times. 

Being at the right place at the right time

5 tips on how an entrepreneurial mindset can reshape your life

Entrepreneurship is more of a mindset than a profession and entrepreneurship and leadership development is therefore not only interesting for those who want to start their own business, but for everyone else alike. Whether you are looking for employment, wanting to start something for yourself or have a satisfying job already, having an entrepreneurial mindset can help you making moves on the metaphoric career ladder and in all other aspects of your life.

An Entrepreneurial mindset basically means responding to opportunities in innovative ways. In the traditionally sense entrepreneurship is seen as starting a new business. But I want to argue to adapt entrepreneurial skills in every aspect of our lives. As stated above entrepreneurial thinking is nothing more than responding to opportunities and create the right circumstances for yourself.  Do you know those people that always seem to be at the right place at the right time? Well that is because they are at the right spot at the right time, but it is not a coincidence, neither was it handed to them on a silver platter or are the particularly smarter, more social or talented than others. The only thing that distinguishes them from you is their ability to recognize and pursue opportunities, and they were actively part of the creation of that right time and that right place.

The good news is: everyone can achieve more success in their life by following some basic principles.
     

            1. Be true to yourself.

There is no point in working towards a goal you not really want to achieve. For the time being, use your time wisely and learn as much as you can, but don’t try to find opportunities in the wrong corner. Self-knowledge is very important before you throw yourself into a job or any other project. What helped me to identify my path was to make a SWOT analysis used by businesses to develop a strategy. The same way you can do this for your own life strategy. In a SWOT analysis you focus on your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. See an example below:

Strengths Ability to absorb new information in a short time Good in motivating and supporting people	Weaknesses Loose interest if things go to slow and stay the same Want to be excited and challenged all the time
Opportunities Project base work Working in close contact with people Working with challenges	Threats Losing interest Getting bored and giving up

Basically, like a business benefits from defining their product line, so do you from defining your own skills and talents.

2. Be around.

Nobody gets anywhere by standing still. So stop wondering why you don’t find your great job, your prince charming or anything else you are hoping for. As long as you keep surrounding yourself with the same people and go to the same places, things are not likely to change. So move around! Take those dance classes you always wanted to take, become active on a forum, go to another city or accept the invitation for that party where you don’t know anyone. Only by moving around you will find the new opportunities you’re looking for. For me it felt right to move from Amsterdam to Cape Town and only there I found where I was looking for. 

3. Be open and market yourself

While you are meeting all this amazing new people and visit new places, be open and talk about yourself. Let people know who you are and where you stand for rather than just talk about the weather and what you did last weekend. You never know what can come out of it and it will make them remember you. And don’t be afraid for promote yourself. I am not telling you to start bragging, but there is no harm in being specific about who you are and what you are capable of. So don’t just say: “I work for a fitness gym.” Instead, you can say, “I work as a manager and I am responsible for A and B, I am also very interested and involved in this aspect of the company, etc.” Get your skills out there and next time they will be working on something related, they will think about you!

4. Invest wisely

An important element in a successful business and part of becoming a successful business man or woman is making the right investments at the right time. In this case, what I mean with the right investment is the investment in your own personal development. If you are already working, try to do an extra course that can help you in your work or subscribe to a subject-related (online) magazine. Invest your time and money in becoming an expert in your industry and write, tweet or blog about it on social media networks. If you want to start for yourself, invest in some professional equipment. If you want to start your own catering, it would be wise to invest in kitchen equipment, your own website and business cards. You never know if it is going to work, but if you never try it will surely not.

5. Be patient

Success doesn't happen overnight. The people who manage to succeed with their plans are the people with the longest breath. To stay motivated and to believe in the feasibility of your own plans, you need to be confident, dedicated and patient. Those people I spoke about earlier, the ones that are always at the right place at the right time, most of them, if not all of them, experienced many, many obstacles before they arrived where they are now. But somehow, that did no retain them from pushing their plans. So next time when things are not going according plan, adapt and try to find creative solutions. Because a true entrepreneur doesn't see obstacles, but new opportunities. And believe that if one door is closing, another will always open.

A pre Cape Town writing

After finishing a period of my life, relationship, house, job, city and with plans to leave the country, I found myself alone in bed reflecting on my choices. I was trying to stand, or actually lay still and try to feel emotions instead of just over run it. I have been searching, climbing, falling, falling hard, running, climbing again for too long and kind of found my spirit getting cooler. After being called a robot and with the reputation of being “strong”, also called emotionless, I realized I had to do something. Not into the direction of becoming an instable wreck and pity myself for everything, but just allow some feelings, fears and doubts to take space. There I was, alone in bed waiting for a sea of emotions to take over my mind. My mind that was ruling this ship for too long, rationalizing everything I experienced. Feeling was what I wanted. Slowly some feelings dared to take some steps. Feelings that are hard to describe, because to be described they have to go pass the gate way called your thoughts. And thoughts have the habits of adding their own perspective to these feelings. Lacking a better way to express feelings, the experience will be explained with words. There was something probably associated with fear, immediately followed by a feeling of acceptance. Something I would call loneliness or even emptiness. Slightly circling around my heart, not taking over, but like a little breeze. And it was fine, it was fine to feel and not to know what would be the best next step. So, I decided to leave...

Love the life you're living

If you take the metaphor of building and organizing your life like building your home, where does love comes in?

You create space for your friends and family and probably a couple of rooms for your passions and interests. Your living room can be for visitors, and friendly place decorated like how you feel that day. Sometimes spontaneous and fun, the other day relaxed or even sad and confused. Your common visitors can experience your mood immediately and might bring you some flowers if necessary to cheer you up. Or a bottle of wine to enjoy your mood with you. Some attributes in your house might have a fixed place, other things are only going to stay for a while, or might not even enter the front door. Like some people stay forever and others come and go. Other leave a memory, like a painting on the wall. Not taking a lot of space, but always present, like experiences that stay right under your skin. Some people might leave a scarf, like a crack on your wall. Bad or good, they create your house together and both have an equal part in the creation of the character of your house. Sometimes the crack in the wall or a crazy couch gives the house its unique spirit.

If you are building your house, designing what space you want to use for what function and even where you want to build your house, decisions have to be made. You can’t take all the colors and you have limited amount of rooms. Maybe your mother represents your heating and your father represents the walls. Your friends can bring your candles and light and your work can be a room you can open and close. Maybe your work room is overloaded and work stuff is taking over your living room, or maybe even your bedroom.  And maybe you have a house on wheels, and not decided yet where it is going stay. In the end it is your house, and you should decide how, where and with whom you want to built it.

Most of us humans, for a longer or a shorter time, decide to share their lives with others. The question is:  how we fit that in our houses that we started building since born and were we have worked so hard for. Some of them survived tycoons or unwanted visitors or had to redecorate everything after a robbery. Others are built in a nice environment with a strong foundation.  Some even just start (re)building there house and still have to decide what is going to be part of it. Whether you created your own perfect house or just started with designing the foundations, making space for love is a scary thing.

For some love might be leaving your own house, taking some furniture and start your life in the house some ones else has been building. Maybe because you didn’t like your own house and you run away from some rooms in your house you don’t want to open anymore. For other love might be the foundation of the house, where they build the rest of their lives on. Hopefully it is a strong foundation. Others might have built a nice house and if they meet someone with a similar house, they are willing to make some sacrifices and mix until they find a comfortable situation for both. Some will just accept visitors for a short period, only welcome if they act according the house rules. Most of us probably have no clue where to open and close the door on time before love has the chance to make a mess in some of our precious rooms.

As for my own house: Although still under construction and maybe still flying around, I am starting to feel more and more comfortable in it. Starting to get rid of the things that don’t fit me and starting to make a home out of it. Can’t change the basis of it and therefore my front door will always be open. But so glad to have learned a few things last years.  You decide who is welcome, when and until where you let them in. Worship your own house, respect and recognize every part of it, fix the problem areas and let that be all you allow others to do with it. For me, my house is beautiful from the inside and the outside.

From teachers to motivators

The next coming 5 weeks I’m attending a series of meetings at my work focused on creating educational materials. The target is to adapt to existing programmes in a way it fits the level and background of teenage aboriginal girls of a Girls Academy in Australia. During this whole process of going through the materials and methodology I started thinking about the general educational system. The predominant methodology I experienced during my school career is basically based on traditional learning methods. Teacher in front of the class explaining the theories, learners seated two by two trying to concentrate and listen for a full hour. Next hour, exact same routine.

During my University time I took a course called Education & Development. Expecting to hear nothing but praise about what education can do for development. I mean education is the key to development; every child deserves proper education. Who dares to doubt these statements? The first class started with the origin of education in the way we recognize it today, with a classroom, teacher and black board (probably now exchanged for a projection screen or even newer technology). This form of education started to create solidarity, a feeling of belonging to a group or nationality. In short, create some order and structure and make people believe in a common goal and good: building a great nation together. This form of education became today one of the best export products of the world. Go to a random country, choose a remote area and walk into no particular classroom and you will see the exact same picture. It made me question: is this the only way? and a better question: is this the best way to teach?

Going back to my own high school years I remember having problems focusing and concentrating on the class, probably just like any other. Yet, I was one of the lucky ones not experiencing a lot of trouble making it through my high school years. I was able to make up the part I missed, while dreaming during class and not making my homework, by being able to concentrate while studying for my exams. I experienced another side to the story by looking at my older sister, diagnosed as dyslexic. In her case a form in which you can’t think in words, only in visuals. I saw her struggling through her high school getting less and less motivated by the day. Fortunate enough, we had very stimulation parents, both teachers as well, who tried to help her with home work and trying out different methodologies where they could. Very hard discipline, a very strong character and the help of my parents got her a high school diploma. Choosing for a more practical follow-up study in social work showed her how intelligent she actually was, resulting in a CUM LAUDE graduation. Would she have recognized her skills in a different environment, or would she have continued feeling like a dummy. Is this might be happening to a lot of kids for which the current educational method is not matching.

Back to the aboriginal kids I mentioned earlier. Aboriginal people happen to be, like my sister, very visual people. Creating material for them adapted to their exceptional visual skills will make a great contribution to their opportunities and self esteem. So I can only say: way to go SAIE!

Increasing energy levels

A common question of my wise mother: “Why do you have to travel all over the world to find happiness?”. Followed by a good advice: “It’s not a geographical journey, it’s a journey inside you”. Although my mother and I have the kind of relationship in which we can argue about life issues, I have to admit that it makes sense. But for some reason I keep on feeling restless and less inspired back home.

I feel like I am working towards a goal I’m not aiming for. It feels like in Holland we’re working hard to get a good job, to buy a good house, to drive a good car and built a stable home with a nice little garden and a Golden retriever. None of them have, at the moment, any influence on my feeling of happiness. I mean if you have all of that, what is the next stage? Live happily ever after? It kind of reminds me of a story of me and my older sister when we were young. We went to the sandpit with a lot of toys, but afraid of losing them by sharing with other children, we decided to dig a hole, bury our toys and sit on it for the whole afternoon. So, not inspired by that picture of the future, I have to find another source of motivation.

Every now and then, after a good conversation, after meeting interesting people, seeing a fascinating documentary or visiting a special place I find some of the energy back. My head starts filling itself with numerous plans like I refilled my energy levels and pressed the gas pedal all the way down. But after a while I feel like I’m running out of gas and there are not enough gas stations to fill me back up. While during my last visit here in Cape Town I felt my energy levels rising to the top. Can be caused by the fact that it was a new experience or that I met a bunch of great people through the research I was performing. But one thing I can’t ignore is the positive energy I felt and the big smile I had on my face after this trip.

Back here, I experience the same feeling again. This time with six months ahead of me to figure out if it is temporary, or if I really feel more productive, energized, motivated, balanced, open and maybe, more happy. And while my loving family is posting comments on my facebook reminding me to keep some love left for Holland, I’m looking out my office window viewing the table mountain during another sunny day. But who knows, maybe everything becomes ordinary eventually.

If not……… I’m sorry mommy…….