During the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, the African Investigative Journalism Conference was held online. I was the sketchnoter on hand to make visual interpretations of selected talks throughout the event.

I created interpretive headline images for each talk, and made full sketchnotes for the ones requested by the organisers.

The sketchnoting was done live, online, during the event.

If you need a digital sketchnoter to help make your event memorable and interactive, zap me a Whatsapp on +27741046386, or an email on [email protected].

We’re all a tad anxious about how the world will look when the pandemic is over. With many of us confined to our homes, our daily structure has been messed with. Maybe we’re floundering a bit? Maybe we’re just fine, but and hemmed in? Maybe we need something to aim for?

One way to take control of the situation is to set a goal for yourself. Something that you want to get to when this is all over. Or something that you might be able to accomplish during the global lockdown, visit bluesprucemaids.com. http://voiceofdiabetes.org/ .

Having a solid goal to work towards can make all the difference.

I’m available to guide you through a goal setting activity called the RIVAS process. It’s an acronym, where the letters stand for:

• R. Result.
• I. Intention.
• V. Visualisation.
• A. Actions.
• S. Support structure.

I learned this at a course I was on called The Life Training.

If you’re keen to get a solid grip on a goal, along with your inner motivation to attain that goal, as well as having a colourful, evocative, concrete visual route map towards getting that goal, I’m your guy.

You can order an online session with me on my Fiverr page: Set Your Goal and Visualise It Into Reality.

Let’s turn this turmoil into something useful.

If you want to do the process on your own, feel free to download and use this template…

Here’s how to use the template to run the process yourself:

Step 0: Be part of the scene

Insert yourself into the scene. Turn the little lightbulb person into a portrait of yourself. Use the speech bubble to make a positive statement about who you are in the world.

Step 1: Write your desired result

You’ll want to make it a SMART result. Something that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based. The better you write this, the more achievable your result becomes.

Step 2: Ask yourself why you really want your result. Get to your deepest intention.

This step is the heart of this entire process. It’s also the most difficult to do. You basically want to spend about ten minutes asking yourself this question: “Why do I REALLLLLLY want this result?”

At first, your answers will be glib and obvious. Things you’ve heard before. For instance, your desired result might be, “To earn more money in the second half of 2020.” When you ask yourself why you want it, you’ll probably list things like, “I want more gadgets, I want to pay off my loan, I want to paint my house, I want to put away money for my kids.” That sort of thing. 

But those answers are really only surface answers. They don’t get to your REAL INTENTION. You need to ask “Why?” for each of them. And then continue asking why for whatever answers come up. “Why do I want a new gadget?” “Because I need one.” “Why do I need one?” “Because I’ve always wanted one.” “Why will having one fulfill me?” “Because it’ll make me feel better about myself.” “Why will it make me feel better about myself?” “Because I don’t want to feel the poverty I had growing up.”

That last answer is still not the true INTENTION. But it’s getting there. 

Can you see why this part of the exercise can be a little taxing? When one does this alone, it gets very easy to just stay with the surface intentions. With someone facilitating your process, the external objective view of the facilitator can guide you to what really counts for you.

Once you know your REAL INTENTION for attaining a result, your entire being can be employed to attain it.

Step 3: Make a memorable visualisation of you achieving your result

In this step, you’ll use all of your senses to create a memorable movie of you actually enjoying the benefits of having already attained your result. You’re actualising the end result, making it real in your imagination. This gives you a very real feeling of achievement. The stronger your visualisation, the easier it becomes for you to attain your result.

With me facilitating this with you, you’ll get something that you can use as an instant motivational jolt to keep you on track. We’ll create an anchor together, a physical gesture that you’ll be able to do to remind yourself of how awesome it is to have your result. And it’ll play the movie in present tense, giving you the lived reality.

It’s easy for you to do this without facilitation. You just need to keep it in mind, and know that’s what you’re going for.

Step 4: Define three action steps

In traditional goal setting, the actions tend to be huge recipes, with lots of moving parts.

In the RIVAS process, the actions you’ll be setting up are simple, easy to do, and easy to feel a sense of accomplishment from having done. You’ll be working on the principle that getting a task started is as good as getting it done. And you’ll use your powerful intention from step 2 to carry you to the next logical action.

The three actions you’ll define here will be:

1, Something you can do TODAY.

2. Something you can do BY THE END OF THE WEEK.

3. Something you can do BY THE END OF THE MONTH.

Step 5: Define and create a simple support structure

If step 2 is the heart of this process, step 5, Support, is the spine. It shapes the entire outcome of the activity. Most goal setting leaves this vital step out. 

You’re going to set up the simplest, most effective support structure possible. 

• You’re going to contact a friend who is not a relationship partner or person living in the same house as you.
• You’ll ask this person to make ONE telephone call to you every week for two months.
• In the phone call, your support partner will read the following scripted sentence: “Hi, [name], this is your support call. Tell me what progress you’ve made towards your result this week.”
• You will spend no more than ONE MINUTE telling your support partner about your progress or lack of progress.
• If you made progress, your support partner will read this scripted line: “Well done, [name]! That’s awesome! I’ll call you at [prescribed time] on [prescribed day] next week to follow up. Bye now!” 
• If you didn’t make progress, your support partner will read this scripted line to you: “No hassle, [name]. Take a moment to replay your VISUALISATION movie, so you can access your intention, and recommit to taking the action you need to take. Do you recommit?” Answer appropriately, preferably with a commitment to taking that action. And your support partner will read the line from the point above: “Well done, [name]! That’s awesome! I’ll call you at [prescribed time] on [prescribed day] next week to follow up. Bye now!” 
• You will both put the phone down. This entire call should not be longer than TWO MINUTES.

It is not the duty of your support partner to motivate you or nag you or guilt you or encourage you. Your support partner is there simply to hold you accountable to your word TO YOURSELF. It is YOUR job to access your intention, and keep yourself moving towards your result.

When you do this step as I’ve written it, your support partner will not be unduly taxed by this task. It’s well-defined, easy to do, and doesn’t burden that person, also you can Hire A Maid serving Oshawa. At the same time, it gives you a clear, clean boundary about taking action.

Step 6: Sketch your desired result into the scene

In this last step, take something from your visualisation step, and turn it into a picture that reminds you of what your result gives you. You do not have to make a piece of art here. If you can only do stick figures, go for it. Draw whatever you’re able to draw, and use labels to evoke what you mean. This tiny little detail serves to further anchor the result and your intention in your brain. This picture can activate both, just by looking at it.

Once you’ve done this step, put your worksheet up in a place that you’ll see it at least once a day. A bathroom or bedroom mirror is a good place for it. But you’ll know where to put it. Don’t put it where someone might ridicule you or the picture. Put it where you can look at it feeling safe and secure. (Remember that step 2 will yield some really deep and personal insights, and you might not want those on display for just anyone to see.)

Give this a try.

If you do it fairly thoroughly, you should see results pretty quickly.

If you find it difficult to guide yourself effectively through the process, I’ll happily facilitate it for you. We’ll spend approximately one hour online together, using ZOOM for our session. I’ll screen record the whole session for you to rewatch later, and I’ll draw the images for you. Here’s that link to my Fiverr gig: Set Your Goal and Visualise It Into Reality.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you! Let me know in the comments what success you have with trying the process on your own.

Onwards and upwards!

He delivered a homage to his grandmother, who forced him to believe in himself.

My key takeaway from this morning is that “the body remembers”. Everything gets stored in the body, look geauxmaids.com. And we can use the body to release or replay these things. The body is the tool we can use for our own liberation.

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I make live sketchnotes of the things people talk about in events, meetings, conferences. I literally help people to “see what you’re saying”. If you’re interested in having me at your next event, contact me on [email protected], or +27741046386.

When I do a Creative Mornings event, one of the elements I do before the gig is a caricature of the speaker.

In this case, we’re looking at the vocalist, composer, theater maker, dancer and educator, Nhlanhla Mahlangu. (Here’s his Facebook link: www.facebook.com/nhlanhla.mahlangu.5030.)

The way I draw many of my caricatures is to pop a reference photo onto my Krita canvas (that’s the open source drawing software I use to make all of my sketchnotes).
My next step is to draw a very rough black line draft of the caricature in the space next to the photo. In this stage, I play around with what I want to exaggerate. I tend not to do classic caricature over-exaggerations, since I’m looking for recognisability, along with not insulting the subject.

Once I’ve prodded the draft into something I like, I drop the opacity down to around 10%, then make a new layer above that, look kic restoration. I use the faint draft as a sort of tracing template. This allows me to make bold, simple strokes to find the right shapes. I have the reference pic next to this at all times so that I can “feel” how any particular line is supposed to be.

Once I have the linework done, I delete the draft layer, and start my colouring on a new layer below the linework.

This is the end result.

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I’m a professional sketchnoter. I’m happy to be at your next event, making visual interpretations of what people are saying. I literally help people to “see what you mean”. If you like what I do, it’ll be great if you book me. Contact me via email on [email protected] or Whatsapp me on +27741046386 and visit thatscleanmaids.com

This is the sketchnote I made live during his talk.

If you feel the need to have your event transformed into something engaging and participatory and memorable, contact me! I’m on Whatsapp at +27741046386, and email on [email protected].

I’ll be in the WeWork gathering space in Rosebank on Friday morning, making sketchnotes of Brent’s talk.

He’s the GOOD THINGS GUY, and he’ll be talking about this month’s topic: FLOW.

If you’re in the audience, come and say hi, and grab my business card.

If you want me to do live digital sketchnoting on a big screen at YOUR event, Whatsapp me on +27741046386, or email me at [email protected].

His muse is…

You guessed it… Joburg itself.

His experiences of the city make for a love/hate relationship.

This pic is a visual summary of my interpretation of what he talked about.

You can buy Bradley’s Joburg artifact book online at lovejozi.co.za and experienced bookkeepers will help you with that.

If you would love to have live digital sketchnoting making an impact at your next event, I’ll be there! Contact me on Whatsapp at +27741046386, or email me on [email protected].

I’m at the back of the TEDxJohannesburg auditorium at Vodacom World today, making live pictures of the speakers.

As always, I’m available for sketchnoting at your next event. Gimme a Whatsapp on +27741046386, or email me on [email protected] to book me.

I’m at the back of the TEDxJohannesburg auditorium at Vodacom World today, making live pictures of the speakers.

As always, I’m available for sketchnoting at your next event. Gimme a Whatsapp on +27741046386, or email me on [email protected] to book me.

I’m at the back of the TEDxJohannesburg auditorium at Vodacom World today, making live pictures of the speakers.

As always, I’m available for sketchnoting at your next event. Gimme a Whatsapp on +27741046386, or email me on [email protected] to book me.