The Butterfly Effect

Small things happen to us every day.

Some we see, but some we don’t even notice.

They can surprise us or irritate us.

Turn our day around, or upside down!

This is often called the butterfly effect and it has been well documented over the years.

Quick summary: The butterfly effect rests on the notion that the world is deeply interconnected. One small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system. The effect is founded in chaos theory and evokes the idea that a small butterfly flapping its wings could, hypothetically, cause a hurricane. Or it could not?

The mind-blowing part of the butterfly effect is that it’s virtually impossible to predict whether a small system will lead to new or chaotic behaviour.

What we do know is that if you think about the minute details of your life, you may be able to see how a small event was the catalyst for a huge change in your life.

For example, you bumped into someone at a coffee shop that happens to work at your favourite company. You started talking, one thing led to another, you got an interview and now you work there and you’re loving it!

What if you had chosen a different coffee shop, or been there five minutes later? You may not have met the person that got you into your dream job.

And when people ask you about this you tell them your amazing story and they respond, “Oh my!”

The idea that something small, like getting coffee, can have much larger effects, is not something we can plan for.

You know life happens when we’re busy making plans.

But we can raise our awareness of the small things happening around us and attract small things that work in our favour.

How can you tap into the frequency of the butterflies? Two words.

BE KIND.

Yes, we haven’t got a long list here, it’s just be kind.

Here’s a simple example:

You’re late for an important meeting. On the way in the hallway, you meet someone struggling to carry boxes. You look at your watch, but you still offer to help carry. You get to the lift, the first one is full. You’re sweating now. The second lift arrives and has one person in it. You climb in, the lift closes.

This person asks the employee what they’re carrying “The board meeting packs.” “Oh great.” she says, “The venue has been changed to the 7th floor, I’ll take you two there.” Your arms are struggling to hold on. The lift stops, you follow the others into the boardroom and place the boxes at the reception table.

You turn around and bump into someone who says “Hi, I’m Ashley, VP Sales, who are you?”

Thinking > You’re the exact person I wanted to meet with today, but I got stuck in a meeting with a junior team member!

You respond, “I’m Kris, its lovely to meet you, Ashley.”

And that’s how kindness works, not just for you, but also for those you help.

So, if you can’t plan things like this, how can we ensure that they happen more often to us?

BE KIND.

You never know who is watching.

You never know who you’re talking too.

You never know who people are connected to.

You just never know.

But if your default setting is kindness and being helpful, you will create the right ripples.

The right ripples create the right effect.

The right effects create the right garden.

And as ??Daniel S. always says “Why chase butterflies with a net if you can build a beautiful garden and attract them to you.”

THE RIGHT PLACE PODCAST

The ripples of The First Minute Tour are still being felt around the country and we are very happy with the positive connections we made and attracted.

We share more on this in Episode 9 of the pod where Chris Fenning , Rudolf Rautenbach and John Watson reflected on the 17 events in 9 days and shared some parting thoughts on the tour and what the future holds.

You can download and listen to the podcast on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts right?here:

Please subscribe and leave a 5-star review if the content meant something to you.?And do share with your friends too > they also need help finding their right place.

PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW

This week we want to introduce you to Adriaan Myburgh .

John met Adriaan through the Clara Business Network and he has become the go to guy for all CBN invitations and media.

Adriaan specialises in turning your landing page into a sales engine – he knows his lead magnets from his CTAs and offers a free website review too. He breathed new life into John’s website too! Plus he is a really cool guy.

You can connect with him here too.

COMING UP…

Rudolf is getting ready for next week’s The Right Place Pretoria with Reinhardt Jobse .

John is getting ready for next week’s Clara Business Network meeting with Tina B Alive - Speaker / Trainer .

FINAL THOUGHT:

The world is full of givers and takers – the takers eat better but the givers sleep better. Which will you be today?

Cheers,

John Watson & Rudolf Rautenbach