A very brief summary of Jon's life is:

He has led a life that can roughly be split into four parts, so far. The first: up to the age of 7 - born and lived in England, the son of a Royal Navy man, and close Irish, English family, with soccer, music, and train spotting jogging the memory. The second: immigrated to South Africa; has lived in Cape Town ever since. Scholar, student, career and family man until the age of 45 throughout which the overriding occupation was playing team sports and physical fitness. In this period also managed to obtain the Higher National Diploma in Electrical Engineering (light current), Diploma in Project Management, and MBA short course qualifications. The third: nearly 6 years of being broken, lost, gaining understanding, awareness and insight; travelling the world; working in Algeria, London and Johannesburg; becoming a qualified gym instructor and personal Trainer, and a Life Coach; writing a book (Can Anyone Here Sing? ) - and most of all forging an extremely close relationship with daughters Kim and Debbie.

And the fourth period is where he is right now, which you will find dotted around his website.

A far more detailed version of Jon's life and what makes him tick is:

HISTORY

Life

•  Born on the 29th August 1957 in Portsmouth, England
•  Came to South Africa at the age of 7
•  Went to Fish Hoek Primary School for Std 1 (Grade 3)
•  Went to St.Jospeh's College, Marist Brothers, Rondebosch from 1966 (Std 2) to 1974 (Matric)
•  Joined the South African Navy permanent force in 1975 as an officer
•  Whilst in the Navy:
•  Studied at Stellenbosch University for 2 years
•  Studied at Cape Technikon - obtained the Higher National Diploma in Electrical Engineering (light current)
•  Studied at University of South Africa (correspondence) and obtained 6 out of 12 credits towards a BComm
•  Resigned from the Navy in 1989 as Lieutenant Commander - his position at the time was as the Programme Manager for all SA Navy IT projects
•  Worked at Woolworths for 1 year (IT Manager)
•  Worked at Old Mutual for 7 years (Manager Computer Human Resources - recruitment & selection & training centre) and (IT Project Manager)
•  From 1997 until 2010 ran his own project management business plus worked as an independent contractor mainly in IT and regulatory compliance
•  Is now MD of a company providing a call centre service in the BEE compliance field in SA; is also a Life Coach; a non-practicing Personal Trainer; an author (Can Anyone Here Sing? ) and is writing two more books; a motivational speaker; and an environmentalist

Sport

What wasn't mentioned above is that also whilst in the SA Navy he played huge amounts of sport.

Sport and physical fitness have always been a major part of his life, and still are today.

Since 2006 he continued to play sport (hockey, tennis, golf, cricket) but less competitively, and participated in a number of half marathons, marathons, trail runs, triathlons and multi-day events, most notably:

•  The Cape Odyssey in October 2008 - a 202 km 5-day event running across the mountains from Hermanus to Kleinmond to Paul Cluver wine estate to Grabouw to Franschhoek to Boschendal Wine Estate, approximately a marathon in distance every day.
•  The 3-day Africa X run of a similar nature in May 2010.
•  The Namib Desert Challenge - 27th to 31st March 2011. This was a 5-day event running 220km at on average slightly more than a marathon each day, carrying our own provisions in a backpack.

Business

Started out his working career as an Engineering Officer in the SA Navy. Within this career he progressed through a number of engineering related positions, including some work in the computer/IT field.

From there he moved naturally into the IT field culminating in the position of IT Programme Manager for all SA Navy IT projects.

For the next few years he acquired a number of qualifications doing various project management courses, plus courses in different project management methodologies, and collecting a Diploma in Project Management along the way.

Adding to, and rounding off, this knowledge by completing the mini MBA course (called the Programme for Management Development) at the UCT Graduate School of Business.

Shortly thereafter he went out on his own and started and ran a highly successful project management business for a few years; successful from the point of view of making lots of money. Then through some changes in his personal life, which resulted in significant spiritual growth and an awareness of "what Life is all about", he stopped the business and continued on his own as an independent contractor.

He has the following qualifications:

•  Higher National Diploma in Electrical Engineering (Light Current) - 1980.
•  Developing applications using Unix Information Systems Informix SQL - 1990.
•  Developing applications using Unix Information Systems Informix 4GL - 1990.
•  Tetrarch 2 Advanced Systems - Comcon Training Analysis and Design - 1990.
•  Quality Improvement Management System - Quality Management Associates Train the Trainer - The Philip Crosby Quality course - 1991.
•  Getting the most out of Hay Management Consultants Salary Surveys - 1991.
•  Programme for Management Development (PMD) - University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business - also referred to as the MBA short course - 1994.
•  Project Management Symposium - Dynamic Project Management by Management Resources, Inc - A three day course, workshop and simulation given by Deborah S.Kezsbom, Ph.D - 1994.
•  Microsoft Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.2 for Support Professionals - 1995.
•  CSSA Conference - he was a speaker at this conference and the topic was "Affirmative action, quality and productivity in IT" - 1995.
•  Microsoft Project 4.0 - 1995.
•  Microsoft Solutions Development Discipline - Microsoft's Project Management Methodology - 1995.
•  Supporting Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11 - 1996.
•  Diploma in Project Management - Faculty Training Institute - 1996.
•  Business Solutions for Information Technology - he was a speaker at this conference and the topic was "Managing The HR Side of your IT Department - 1997.
•  ProVision Enterprise Pro Workbench Professional - Winsoft - London - 2003.

Origins & Family

His ancestors were the rulers of the southern part of Ulster some 1,000 years ago; the name was Ua'h-Anluain then. The oldest on record is Flaithbheartach Ua'h-Anluain, Lord of Ui-Niallain, whose murder in the year 983 AD is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters.

The name Anluain comes from the Gaelic words 'an' = great and 'luain' = champion. In the more modern English version of the surname it is said that the O apostrophe stands for "son of" and that Hanlon means "a hero".

The name has a coat of arms (or blazon):

The boar was an ancient Celtic motif used well before medieval heraldry came into being to symbolise courage, aggression and savagery. This choice for the O'Hanlon's of Armagh would have been a none-too-subtle message implying Gaelic defiance and hinting at the O'Hanlon's military strength and courage. There are 3 motto's:

•  Sine Macula - translates to "Without Stain" or "Untainted"
•  Le dsais - translates to "By all Means"
•  Re Et Merito - translates to "By Reality and Merit"

But somehow and sometime this lot found itself in Kinsale in County Cork, southern Ireland, and the family members still living all say that the O'Hanlon's hail from Kinsale.

And then to England where his Mum (Patricia Worth) and Dad (Daniel O'Hanlon) met and Jonathan Paul arrived on the scene, a bit later, after an older brother, Peter (by 3 years) and an older twin, Tim (by 10 minutes).

Jon married on the 26th February 1983 and in 2003 was divorced, and is still single.

Jon's pride and joy is his two amazing, beautiful, caring and wise daughters: Kim Angelique (25) and Debbie Lee (23). They are very close; he has learned a lot from them, and many a time has leaned heavily upon them when they've supported him through his troubled times.

INTERESTS & HOBBIES

Apart from Jon's dedication, fascination and, some might say, fanaticism with sport and physical fitness he also have the following interests and hobbies:

•  Personal Trainer (see qualification below)
•  Life Coaching and Mentoring - apart from having studied a few subjects at the South African College for Applied Psychology (SACAP), plus being a hairs breadth away from completing his Life Coaching certificate studies, he has a degree, honours, masters and doctorate from the University of Life
•  Quantum Physics
•  Sports coaching and mentoring
•  Motivational speaking
•  Writing 2 more books
•  Music: Listen & play guitar
•  Reads extensively: motivational books on life and spiritualism

Additional qualifications attained are:

•  REP - Member of the Register of Exercise Professionals of the United Kingdom - Level 2 Gym Instructor & Personal Trainer - London - 2006 (I have completed the Level 3 course as well but not submitted my business case yet).
•  Kinesiology Touch For Health Modules I and II - Cape Town 2009
•  New Insights Life Coaching certificate (almost complete).

OUTLOOK ON LIFE

Jon's philosophy on life, his purpose, and the reason for his existence? In his own words:

"What is quite surprising about the answers that I shall provide to this question is the extent to which it has changed over the past ten years or so. I used to be driven and ambitious aiming towards having a successful business, making lots of money, and acquiring vast material possessions.

Reading the following two approaches that I take to Personal Training and Life Coaching gives a good lead in to what I now describe as being my Life's Purpose; which is vastly different to where my thinking lay before.

Personal Training

People will often approach me and say that they "want to be fit" or "wish they were fit." What specifically, do they mean by those statements?

Well, "fitness" means different things to different people and is used for many different things - emotional, social, spiritual, mental, nutritional and physical fitness.

Fitness from this perspective is the capacity to combine all these aspects to facilitate positive health and maintain optimal quality of life.

A fit person has the ability to cope with the stress and strain of everyday modern living, a high level of cardiovascular and muscular fitness, the ability to maintain positive and meaningful social relationships, and an active lifestyle that includes good habits, such as a well-balanced diet, avoidance of substance abuse and regular sleep.

In assisting clients as a Personal Trainer I don't focus solely on their physical fitness, ignoring the other aspects of their total wellbeing mentioned above. Combining this with my skills as a Life Coach enables me to help clients to achieve the highest quality of life possible.