Pacific Octane Pty Ltd

Archive for the ‘General Stuff’ Category

It’s humpday during the first week of the new year of 2010. I have been so flat out with our project portals that I haven’t had time to write a reflective blog and look back at 2009 or write any goals out for this new year of 2010. I will do so in the next 2 weeks and it will of course give me joy to do so.

What inspired me to sit down this morning first thing in the new office we’re setting up amongst the chaos of boxes, new equipment and organised clutter was an experience that gave me great joy this morning. Last week I was at the shops and was buying the standard stuff such as coffee, teas, sweeteners, utensils, tea pot, candles, office supplies and the normal stuff really. I was leaving and was loading the stuff into my Outlander and noticed a man sitting with his legs sprawled out on the sidewalk with a huge camping bag next to him. He was smoking a cigarette and looking up at every passerby with nobody making eye contact with him.

After loading my stuff I walked over to the man and asked him what his name was and he replied “David”. I said “David, why are you here sitting on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes and looking dirty?” His reply was “Well, I don’t have any place to go and I just sit here and smoke cigarettes all day.” I replied to him “If I were to loan you some money, would you make a purchase for me to help yourself?” He replied “What kind of purchase?” I told him that I would gladly give him $10 if he was content with sitting on the sidewalk all day smoking cigarettes or I would go back inside and give him some tools by spending $20. He said that he would like the $20 offer.

I went into the shops, purchased some generic baby wipes, a toothbrush, some toothpaste, some deodorant, some window cleaner and a box of dish cleaning wipes. I went back outside and handed him the bags and said “Make the most of this and figure it out- changing your life starts right now and it starts with changing your mindset of what your life is and how you live out your day each day. I will pay you $2 if you would like to come over and clean my windscreen on the car.”

He did it and I gave him $5 and went to work. This morning I had to stop at the BP for the usual gum and overpriced Pump water and I saw him. He was smiling and cleaning someone’s windows of their car. I walked over to him and he said “Hey it’s you! Good morning God bless you and thank you thank you thank you!” whilst shaking my hand. His hands were clean. He smelled like baby wipes and had a huge smile on his face. He said this spot is really busy in the morning and I’m making heaps!

Now… I can begin my day. I encourage you to do the same.

Website updates as well as new blog posts coming soon.

Over these last 30 days since my last post, my daughter has started walking, she’s had her first birthday, an African American by the name of Obama has become President of the United States, Netfleet has held their first public domain name auction in which we purchased martinis.com.au, I’ve not gotten enough sleep and I am watching what I said back in October would happen regarding the global credit situation and credit crunch actually happen.

Once we get our 3 new business models launched and operational along with our 12 new websites, I will have more time to come and blog about industry related stuff such as domain strategies etc.

Happy new year everybody- it’s going to be one hell of a year!

james

The new year of 2009 is upon us and as it is New Year’s Eve here at 8am in the morning, I was thinking of different words that describe myself. I could always come up with the rather obvious ones that are blocked in my bad word filter, but I’d rather share some words that have been used to describe me by others.

“Passionate”

“Intelligent”

“Funny”

“Determined”

“Fearless”

“Outgoing”

“Optimistic”

“Crazy”

“Insane”

The list could go on and on. The last one I’ll share is a two word combination that was given to me by a very famous person that has authored books and is currently on an International personal development speaking tour- “Excitably passionate”. After spending the day with this man, he said that he had never met someone so “excitably passionate” in his life and at the time, I didn’t know him from a bar of soap.

I’ll share a photo in my last post of 2008 that is a picture of a very accurate adjective of myself through my own eyes. You’re either going to succeed or fail, but whatever happens, you’ve got to begin. If you have read this- my words to you are “why not today?”

Have a safe, happy and prosperous new year-

james wester

My wife and I have been married for 2 and a half years.  Our daughter just celebrated her first Christmas 2 days ago and she’ll celebrate her first birthday on January 2nd.  As I sit and reflect on what it’s been like for me to be a first time husband, a first time Dad and a first time CEO - the failures in my life have prepared me for what I’m undertaking in my responsibilities in all 3 of those roles.

When someone knocks you down, you get back up.  When something destroys what you’ve built, you rebuild it.  When someone tells you that it’s impossible or it can’t be done by you, then do it passionately.

Sometimes I’m right.  Sometimes I’m wrong.  Either way, I’ll always give my opinion and give it my best go no matter what the stakes.  For that- I am righteous.  For that- I am grateful.

I like this video on YouTube because it’s the definition of what I believe life should be.  I believe that it’s almost a visual collage of what I visualise my life to be and our company to become.  I wanted to share it with those people that visit my blog and read what I have to say.  I’ll add one more thought to this post before I get back to work and load the video for you to watch and enjoy.

Whoever came up with the saying “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” was a loser.  They were justifying failure and avoiding admittance of defeat by allowing theirself to feel some sort of victory in knowing that they tried.  I say live your life.  I say have a go.  If you fail- so what!  If you fail twice- who cares.  I say if you know how to accept failure, regather your creative thoughts and add a dash of optimism and a spec of hope- then and only then can you mold failure into success and breed more successes to follow.  Claim your life.  Claim your destiny.  Demand more of yourself, expect less of others and watch what happens.  2009 is my year- I already know it… but what I don’t know is just how big it’s going to be… thanks for reading.

james