Routine? What’s THAT??
Is there such a thing as a routine day?
Not for me…though I admit I have things that I do on a daily basis that never change (never have and never will) ;-). Just the location is different.
Sometimes when I wake up I have to think where I am because I travel a lot. I like travelling. I have done a lot of it. In one year alone I managed over 150 flights. Travelling gives me time to think, talk, write notes and listen.
I never know who I am going to meet on a plane, train or boat. I find people fascinating and never judge a book by it\’s cover, or by a first impression. It doesn\’t take me long to form an opinion, but everyone gets a shot. I can get great ideas from all different kinds of conversations.
One of the main lessons I learnt in life was to shut up and let people speak. I embrace the silence, I am comfortable with it, and if you leave the silence alone, someone always fills it. I don\’t listen to hear what people are saying: I listen to UNDERSTAND what they are saying.
Some days I wake up to an English garden covered in low cloud because my
home is at 900ft above sea level but sometimes the day ends with an alternate view of a magnificent sky, like this: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I get out of bed around 5am. I love the early mornings wherever I am and always remember times on holiday, especially in Greece, where I have a home in Zante, walking a hundred yards from the house to the beach at Kalamaki and sitting there watching the world go by as the sun came up. The fishing
boats bringing in the fresh fish for the day, the people walking along the beach either going to work or for breakfast (or just on the way home after a long night) and it is such a peaceful time of day.
My business is global so the first thing I do, after a largecup of Tea (or two) and a good look at the multitude of News Channels to see what has happened while I was asleep is check my emails and messages. I like to deal with things immediately, so it isn\’t unheard of for me to make phone calls at that time in the morning.
I have never understood the email preference many people have. It may stem from starting my business and working life prior to computers and knowing that the best communication, after face to face, is by telephone. It\’s immediate, it never contains any \’what does that mean?\’ expressions when trying to figure out the syntax in a text, and it is the nearest thing to a complete connection. I have seen people in offices email each other when they are only three feet away. Unbelievable!
Once I have done that I get to the tennis court and play a couple of games. This is a great exercise for me as it contains aerobic, stamina and also stretching exercise which is imperative now that I have been given the go ahead to diet and exercise after my epic car crash outside Paris a couple of years ago.
If I am overseas I will go out in the ocean and lounge around for a while. I am not a great swimmer but I can float and save myself if in danger, which I have been having fallen off a lot of speedboats and JetSkis in my time. I like to parasail when I can.
I get back about 9am and have a shower and breakfast and make phone calls to my people and anyone I need to speak to. The days are usually taken up with meetings and planning sessions. Lunch happens but I normally miss it unless I am reminded.
I check my SoMe all the time. Even though I am someone who prefers to call and speak to someone if I cannot see them face to face, I am very aware that we are a 24/7/365 world, so SoMe is very important.
I have recently given up clinging to my BlackBerry and have invested in the new iPhone and now wonder how i did without one for so long. I check on the computer for any emails and Google Hangouts I may want to attend and usually have 8 or 10 skype chats or hangouts with people around the world. It\’s a great way of making connections and I have found so many people I want to do business with, in some form, in the future.
Something on the radar at present is the Global Transformation Project (details here GLOBAL PROJECT) and I have a few people helping us raise the money to make this a reality. At the moment we are at the £40k mark but we have a long way to go.
Unless I am attending some sort of function like a cinema or theatre performance or a drinks party I am usually at home with friends. Dinner is something light. I am on a health drive now and heavy meals really do not mix well with exercise and are not conducive to getting fit. I have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner but the actual amount varies depending upon who and how many are here.
My homes are 24/7 places as I work from them. Either from the HotTub or the Hammock. I believe there should be a good balance between work and fun. People spend the majority of their waking day at work so anything that can be done to make that an enjoyable experience is fine by me. I am a believer in flexible working, fun at work and also I have never been bound by a desk in my entire time in business. I was in the CableTV corporate culture for quite a few years and I was never in my office or at my desk. I was always walking around, talking to people and just turning up and sitting down at some desk, somewhere, and getting on with what i had to do. I was a sales and marketing Director, national sales Trainer and now my own boss. I didn\’t fall into that culture and I still haven\’t, nor will I. It is very easy for anyone in business, and I mean anyone, to sit in their office behind a desk and lose the connection and understanding of what your customer wants. Layers of Management are fine but you need to have the ability to cut through them and see and speak to people. You have to hear feedback from people and customers yourself.
The Hammock is dependant upon the weather but the HotTub isn\’t. Many nights I have sat in the HotTub looking at the stars or, as on one occasion, riding out a hurricane!! It was a fantastic storm with fork lightning and 90mph winds. Those are moments you never forget, so if you get the chance to do them you should do them!
It seems that having a hot tub increases the amount of visitors you have. I don\’t know why that is 😉
I go to bed with a book or the iPad and send emails, search news sites and SoMe to see what people are up to. I look at my notebook, which I have been scribbling in all day, as I do every day, and look at the ideas and notes I have made. I never go anywhere without a notebook. It is impossible to remember everything so I write down everything I hear that makes me think, names of books to read, peoples names, something someone said or even something I said or an idea.
Anything on the to do list I have not completed goes to the top of the next days list and at around 1:30am I am asleep. It IS a routine I suppose, but I know that life has a tendancy to get in the way of routines and plans…and I embrace those moments