The phrase "MAKE THAT HAPPEN" is a call to action that embodies determination and initiative. It’s a reminder that success doesn't just arrive; it’s created through focus, effort, and resilience. This mindset encourages us to take responsibility for our goals, turning ideas into action and challenges into opportunities.
By embracing "MAKE THAT HAPPEN," we shift from passive dreaming to proactive doing. It fuels ambition, pushing us beyond comfort zones to achieve our fullest potential. So, whether it's a career goal, personal growth, or a new project, remember, success is a choice, and the power to make it happen lies within you.
ABOUT US
The “MAKE THAT HAPPEN” initiative is the brainchild of our founder, Alex Pilz, born in South Africa and raised by Austrian and English parents, has lived in the UK for 22 years, shaping his unique approach to supporting individuals, leaders, and teams.
His international background enriches his interpretations, allowing him to reframe problems creatively and collaboratively. Educated in the U.S. and South Africa with dual master’s degrees in organizational communication and psychology, Alex focuses on co-creating solutions rather than simply providing answers. His commitment to sustainable change is evident in his emphasis on teamwork over one-sided problem-solving.
An expert in performance improvement, team building, and organizational development, Alex brings a deep understanding of the mind-brain-body relationship, supporting clients across various challenges, from work-life balance to conflict resolution. His experience spans collaborating with diverse professionals, including rugby coaches and MMA athletes, which enriches his empathetic and pragmatic approach.
Currently writing a book on the mind as a performance tool for rugby, Alex’s motto, “You can’t win with a losing mind,” encapsulates his belief in mental resilience. A family man and devoted father, he brings his passion for rugby and personal development into every client relationship, driven by genuine curiosity and a lifelong commitment to learning.
OUR FOCUS
MAKE THAT HAPPEN (MTH) focuses on empowering individuals, teams, and organizations by recognizing the interconnected roles each plays in shaping performance. MTH views each of these as separate key performance areas (KPAs) that, though distinct, influence each other significantly - success in one area directly affects the performance of the others. This approach sees the individual as the foundation of teams, which then forms the backbone of an organization, ultimately supporting communities. At MTH, a holistic bio-psycho-social model guides personal development and organizational support, understanding individuals as complex beings with body, mind, and spirit.
MTH emphasizes the concept of personal mastery, where the individual’s growth is ongoing and central to achieving a fulfilling lifestyle. Recognizing the individual's soul as encompassing thinking, feeling, and will, MTH encourages aligning the will with clear direction for optimal performance. This alignment, termed "personal mastery," requires consistent self-refinement and an understanding that pursuing a chosen lifestyle is challenging but rewarding. In MTH's view, individuals cannot thrive in isolation; their personal growth impacts teams, which, in turn, influences organizational and community dynamics.
MTH also addresses the role of anxiety as a natural and beneficial response to uncertainty and future planning, acknowledging that balance is key. Too little or too much anxiety can limit potential and cause individuals to feel overwhelmed or stagnant. The organization encourages individuals to "negotiate their future," proactively shaping their paths to avoid feelings of meaninglessness or stagnation. This proactive negotiation is vital for sustaining harmony—a balance between order and flexibility that fosters adaptability and creativity.
In a nutshell, MTH promotes a balanced, purposeful approach to life and work. By cultivating personal mastery and encouraging proactive decision-making, MTH helps individuals, teams, and organizations create order, overcome chaos, and achieve meaningful growth, thereby impacting the larger community in positive, lasting ways.
OUR INITIATIVES
UNBOXED
"Unboxed" aims to help teenage learners (grade 8-12) and their caregivers understand the significant changes happening in the teenage brain, fostering better relationships through awareness. As teens move towards independence, they undergo a period of self-discovery, often clashing with caregivers' expectations. During this phase, the teenage brain experiences critical transformations, including myelination (enhancing connections) and pruning (eliminating old neural pathways), which alters how they process information and respond to persuasion. Unboxed breaks down these complex processes into simple terms for teens and caregivers, helping them understand why previous approaches to communication may no longer work. For example, methods of persuasion effective for younger children may fail with teenagers as their brains restructure and form new pathways. By explaining these changes communication can be improved.
Unboxed supports teens in understanding themselves and equips caregivers—parents, teachers, and youth workers—to adapt their communication strategies. The overarching goal of Unboxed is to promote healthier, more supportive relationships between teens and their caregivers by fostering empathy and a deeper understanding of the teenage brain.
IRON SHARPENS IRON
Human survival depends on how individuals co-operate and compete with each other. Where co-operation and competition between individuals and groups is lopsided, bullying can take place. To survive is a worthy goal and achievement. To thrive is even better.
Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI) initiative addresses the way we interact and relate with each other and things. ISI recognizes that everyone has a journey to navigate. Throughout this journey obstacles will be encountered. Some people are effective at overcoming obstacles and others not.
Where leaders, managers and coaches work with people who are not good at overcoming obstacles, ISI is for you. ISI values competence and the associated mindset. Competent people are needed. ISI is more than just learning to say please and thank you. ISI is about motivation and confidence. ISI is about overcoming your resistance to ask for support and with support (acting in and out of relationship) you can thrive. If you think you can thrive by “going it alone” then ISI is for you.
The objective of ISI series is to learn that competence gets compensated; where competence is more valuable than hand-outs based on a sense of entitlement. ISI is about appreciating values that underpin the process of becoming needed because you are competent.
YOUR TRUTH AND THE TRUTH
In the legal field, "The Truth" is seen as objective and unchangeable, while "your truth" is subjective, shaped by personal interpretations and perceptions. Legal professionals may need to use subjective truths strategically, but they must avoid manipulating The Truth itself. bending The Truth to align with your truth will cause cognitive dissonance. Furthermore, this can, for example, disrupt your sleeping patterns and cause emotional detachment.
To address this, the "iceberg effect" highlights how unconscious and unseen factors, like your values, beliefs and attitudes can shape personal interpretations.
The initiative encourages recognizing the importance of aligning subjective views with objective truth, rather than bending The Truth to fit personal narratives. This distinction helps individuals approach legal matters wisely, fostering a clearer understanding of the complexities involved in balancing objective truth with personal perspectives.
FORWARD THINKING
In any contract, agreeing on terms sets the foundation for success—until differing interpretations arise, which can lead to conflict. Traditional dispute resolution methods are often taxing, affecting both reputation and profits. Inspired by a story of a king who built barns in times of abundance to prepare for scarcity, Forward Thinking for Legally Minded Professionals encourages proactive planning as a safeguard for uncertain times.
The program highlights two professional archetypes: overworked individuals who, avoiding support, often face personal repercussions, and those with lighter workloads who rely on impression management to mask, for example, poor marketing, incompetence, laziness, or entitlement. Both can lead to problems if unaddressed.
Forward Thinking recognizes, for example, the need for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) platform as a strategic imperative to resolve conflict and disputes more effectively. Referring to the narrative where a king-built barns in times of plenty to store grain for bad times in years to come, ADR is seen as a “barn,” where processes can be applied to handle future conflicts effectively. This approach aims to equip professionals with foresight and practical tools to handle disputes without exhausting traditional legal avenues. By fostering ADR as a preventive measure, professionals can prepare for and mitigate the risks of a volatile future, promoting resilience and balance in both their personal and professional lives.
YOUTH AT RISK AND YOUNG OFFENDING SERVICES
Some young people engage in thinking and behaviour that risks their expulsion from the educational system, leading to negative consequences for themselves, their families, and the wider community.
This initiative aims to support at-risk learners by providing both them and volunteer coaches with the same training program, establishing a mentor-mentee relationship that encourages positive outcomes. The primary goal is to help these learners remain in school and increase their chances of completing their education successfully.
Central to this approach is the understanding that all behaviour and thought patterns produce outcomes. This initiative helps learners to produce desired outcomes. By educating both learners and coaches on five fundamental life principles, the initiative empowers participants to create positive changes in their lives. With guidance from informed coaches, at-risk learners can navigate challenges more effectively, make constructive choices, and work toward achieving meaningful academic and personal goals.
Ultimately, this initiative seeks to inspire extraordinary results by fostering resilience and goal-oriented behavior, keeping young people engaged in their educational journey.
WHAT IS THE MIND THAT IT SHOULD BE RENEWED
(and integrating the mind with Rugby Union)
This program draws on the principle of “renewal of the mind” from a famous book and incorporates associated principles into Rugby to foster success. Rugby, like the mind, consists of numerous asymmetrical aspects that need to work together, mirroring the brain's structure. Within a rugby team cooperation and competition across its two main sub-units - the front row and the back line is an imperative. Furthermore, between two front rows cooperation is required before the scrum contest can take place. Where the mind integrates various aspects of the body and one’s soul, so too, for example, does the team need to seamlessly transition between offense and defense. There are numerous differences associated with Rugby that requires integration, for example, how to avoid losing a game when the opposition does not score a single try.
The program’s objective is to help coaching staff build seamless linkages among the players and game components, respecting each player’s unique strengths while creating unity. Just as the mind integrates different parts of the body to enable life, this approach encourages coaches to unite team components, enabling both large and small athletes to thrive. Coaches learn to integrate offensive and defensive systems of play, creating a cohesive team strategy without erasing individual differences.
By applying principles of the mind’s integrative capabilities, this program helps coaches create a balanced, cooperative environment in which every athlete’s role is essential, leading to holistic team success.
ORGANISATIONS ALIVE
This initiative is built on the concept that organizations, like living organisms, are organic. Just as humans use oxygen and release carbon dioxide to sustain the ecosystem, organizations need to import resources, transform them into products and/or services, and give them back to the community for further consumption. Optimizing this reciprocal and balanced process promotes the success of both the organization and its community.
Aimed at owners, leaders, and managers seeking exceptional results, this program encourages organizations to be efficient, innovative, and forward-thinking. The objective is to help them remain productive and profitable in an ever changing and competitive environment.
TEAMS
At its core, Teams emphasizes the importance of unseen forces at work within a team. Teams acknowledges that dynamics plays a bigger role in the efficacy of a team than its mechanics. A team is more than individuals working towards a shared goal.
All individuals are subject to various duality traps, for example, wanting individuality whilst desiring to belong, or being thinking orientated versus feeling orientated. Other dualities worth considering is introvert and extrovert interactions, seeing the bigger picture or being detail and operationally minded.
The tensions within and between dualities can lead to on-task, off-task, or anti-task behaviours. Off -task and anti-task behaviour is equated to spending primary energy on secondary issues.
For a team to produce on-task behavior, the team must focus its primary energy on primary issues, manage distractions and avoid playing the name, blame and shame game in response to, for example, mistakes or during tough times.
Effective teams pave the way to successful organizations.
This initiative supports leaders, managers and coaches in building teams that can maturely deal with conflict, prioritize the crafting and implementation of solutions, take initiative, and are resourceful resulting in organizational success and team satisfaction.
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