12 June 2006 I started with a single matchstick and now, eleven trades later, I have a Mobile Lifestyle Makeover to trade on... What a journey the last 9 years have been.

Some things I have learnt (and am still learning) about are the attributes of persistence, the line between working hard and burnout, and how to bounce back.

And I confess: the last few months have so exercised my resilience muscle.

Towards the end of 2014, and the beginning of this year, I could see the path from my current item to an office space in Braamfontein. There were a number of pieces in the puzzle all in place – and just one piece missing, being how to link the offer made by Alan Hilburg to the offer of office space from the possible future Landlord that I had...

And then that path fell apart. So the feeling of being so close to my goal became overcome with such disappointment... and with that disappointment, exhaustion set in.

The last time I “burnout” was after the 2 years of trading the T-shirts. And if there is anything I know about applying resilience that I learnt from that time, it was to take some time out, and then go back to my vision, and take it one step forward from there.

And so this is where I find myself now: Re-connecting to the vision of onematchstick and seeing what the opportunities are from this point forward to get to my office space, and help some start-up entrepreneurs.

My view from my temporary  "office" in Switzerland

• A working sabbatical in Switzerland (lucky me!) for this month of July, where I will be coaching from and also working more on defining the plan for onematchstick.
• Another possible future landlord, in the team from Publicis Machine with their search for someone to share their offices with (thanks to Ray and Jade for alerting me to this opportunity!) 
• An idea I’ve had for a while to trade on the Mobile Lifestyle Makeover for something even more adventurous – I need to work on that proposal and negotiation.