Toughen Up – Michael Hill

Subtitled “What I’ve learned about surviving tough times”, this autobiography by  Michael Hill (Jeweller) is well worth reading!

On a hot sunny Saturday afternoon I escaped for a while and finished the book I had started on another flight somewhere. I do intend to sit down and read it all again. I never read books twice but want to ensure that I haven’t missed some gems from this admirable Kiwi entrepreneur. A very personal tale, the book is pleasantly splattered with photos and personal anecdotes written by his family and friends.

Michael Hill, the man, is all about family. He is delightfully still besotted with his clever, artistic and lovely wife Christine and so proud of his children who have independently succeeded in their own lives. Michael Hill, the businessman, is the best rare sort – one who values integrity and hard work in himself and others.

The extraordinary part of his life started later than most – that’s encouraging!  As he says “its never too late for the fun to start”.

I think he sells himself short by giving the book the subtitle “what I’ve learned about surviving tough times”. This book is for everyone – successful, struggling or sedentary and needing and kick in the butt.  He finishes the book “If you have what it takes to be a winner. I want to hear from you.”

I lead a winning NZ company that is only 3 years old and going from strength to strength. There’s lots in this book that is encouraging and will be helpful for the years to come.

I’ve also added something to my bucket list. I would like to go to a Michael Hill International Violin Competition

Deep and meaningful thoughts (not)

View north from Millers Flat Bridge, Central Otago

It already feels like the new year has started as I sit in my office and clear out the detritus of 2008 and make lists for 2009.

I get easily distracted as I ponder whether I need to keep a piece of paper or whether it should be binned or shredded or if a particular snippet of information is safely enough buried in my cerebral hard drive to be recalled if needed.

I form piles and then prune the piles, carefully saving the paper that is only used on one side for future scribblings. I don’t scribble enough to use it all <note to self> scribble more in 2009 to utilise the box of scrap paper hiding behind my desk </note to self>.

Of less damage to the environment is the digital pruning. Documents that have been superceded or updated or are just plain obsolete are deleted. Next on the list – email! I’m a filer and archiver rather than a deleter and am way up there with my digital footprint on the company mail server. Maybe I have too much ruth (isn’t that the opposite of ruthless?) and should shed some of it in 2009.

And then there’s that book in my book shelf “Getting a grip on Time – Productivity and life balance made easy” by Robyn Pearce. I must read that. However it shares shelf space with another (much larger) book “A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder” by Eric Abrahamson and David H Freedman.

I like this para from the book

“As both John Steinbeck and the University of Texas researchers pointed out, our personalities tend to be more clearly expressed in our disorder than in our neatness. When we are being ruthless about ridding ourselves of what naturally accumulates around us and about meticulously straightening out what remains, we are in a sense tidying our identities. The truth is, we are all at least a bit of a mess – and all the more interesting for it.” p. 145

And what about resolutions for 2009? I’m still thinking about it but I figure that it may be best to make ones that can be fulfilled in the first week or the new year rather than broken in that week. Then you have the rest of the year to feel virtuous!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

  By Barbara Kingsolver

I have a number of books on the go at any one time. This was my book for plane trips which is ironic when the author addresses “food miles” and the needless consumption of fossil fuels.  I’ll ameliorate my guilt by planting some trees and veges!

This is a book that makes you think, question and change. Barbara Kingsolver, the author of the Poisonwood Bible, tells the story of her family who made the decision to “eat locally” for a year. This book is a diary of their decision to eat locally, eat seasonally and eat well for a year – and more. It makes you question where your food comes from geographically and biologically and examines the topical issue of food miles. Interestingly it also makes the most compelling arguments I have read against being a vegetarian!

Barbara’s husband Steven Hopp provides some interesting asides including this amazing statistic that has haunted me for weeks “If every US citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of local and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption  by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences.”

Camille Kingsolver supplies some great teen opinions and wonderful recipes and I think that everyone that reads this book would love to meet Lily the social entrepreneur with the eye for a deal and the health of the planet.

The American diet (and sadly that of an increasing number of Kiwis) is generally pretty terrible and consists of derivatives of (GE) soy and corn where taste and food value has been sacrificed on the altar of convenience and looks. This book however opened my eyes to an America beyond the food halls, fast food outlets and mega marts where farmers’ markets abound and taste and freshness are king.

So I’ve bought packets of seeds (from Koanga Seeds, not your common old garden hybridised varieties) and am looking forward to growing some very local food – if the free ranging chooks can be contained and the cows kept to the confines of their paddocks!

I was about to put a hyperlink to the book on Amazon – and then thought about the fuel expended to wing one copy over from the US. So here’s a link to one available on Trade Me!

Books!

Reading has been a life long passion.

My next to perfect job (I’ve already got the perfect one!) would be to work in a bookshop with the best selection of CDs, comfy sofas, coffee on tap and biscotti to nibble on. The cats would have a special place. Something like a country Parsons.

Parsons is a wonderful, family-owned bibliophile’s playground in Lambton Quay, Wellington. They have been there for generations and stock the most inticingly eclectic selection of books, CD and DVDs I have ever seen. The staff are wonderful, kind and warm – and there’s coffee .

So what am I reading?