The bottom line here is that in Saturday’s South Devon Coastal Trail Marathon, after 4 hours and 45 minutes, I was pulled out by the race Marshalls as I failed to meet the cut-off time at 28 km by a good 25 minutes, by which time the course ahead of me was closed. It was
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Do you love your work? I’ve been coached by experts over the years and they have taught me to aim at spending 80% of my professional time doing the work I love to do and 20% leading and managing the support team who do everything else. I love 80% of my Bunker Days (like yesterday,
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There are two distinct versions of overwhelm. Overwhelm from above Taking too many things on. Being attracted by Bright Shiny Objects (BSOs). New applications and software, new technology, new courses, new equipment, new techniques, new philosophies, new gurus (!). You need to ask two serious questions before embracing the “new”: is this going to distract
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I appreciate that most people reading this may have already successfully cranked up the engine again after the Christmas and New Year break. In my case, Annie and I made our Heathrow connection to Manchester last night by the skin of our teeth and with the help of a lot of very nice people from
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One of my prouder possessions is an email from Portman Dental acknowledging that they love buying practices that I’ve been involved with because they know that a “Barrowed-up” business is going to be a good target. It’s paradoxically flattering to know that my work is appreciated that way and that I can never take my
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Watches that beep The fact that I don’t want to own an Apple Watch was verified this weekend by the countless beeps, boings and pings from my adult kids’ Watches as they received various notifications from the outside world and from each other (?). “You’ve got mail.” “You’ve had a message.” “You’ve got an incoming
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Funny how buses come in three’s isn’t it? It’s not an old wives’ tale either – the scientific evidence is that a phenomenon known as “platooning” is present in many forms of mass transport – even elevators – and clever mathematicians design systems that are supposed to alleviate the clumping that takes place. Being the
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With retail sales for the last 3 months dropping well below previous years and in the aftermath of a hard economic outlook in Tuesday’s Budget speech, today’s Black Friday sales will be critically important for British business. UK consumer confidence appears to be low. The high street (and, it appears, everyone else) has gone online
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Sunday was largely a Bunker Day – back in the world of the freelancer, reading and answering 180 emails and my preparation for the week ahead. After a week of high carbs and plenty of red wine, today it’s back on the Paleo nutrition and abstinence for me – one cheat day a week from
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Planning 10-12 weeks vacation every year. It’s still the best business decision I ever made. Listening to Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach, talking about Free, Focus and Buffer Days in July 1993 (Toronto) and, after 2 years of procrastination, taking the plunge in 1996. Sometimes doing crazy stuff (like the trip to Oman in
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