Life is what You make it.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery but today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present

Here I am sitting in the kitchen on Friday 31st January, realizing that the first month of the year has already passed. The month has seen: The New Year celebrations and back to the grind of work with a bang Flooding across the UK and the worst rain for a long time I had to complete a tax return – again – and pay back some tax to the government Ella’s 17th birthday, her first driving lesson, and…

Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting. Haruki Murakami January 12, 1949:

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. Tom Bodett

Sin ought to be something exquisite, my dear boy. Émile Zola French writer Emile Zola (born April 2, 1840) was friends with artists like Cezanne and Manet, who both made him the subject of paintings, but when he wrote a novel about the artists and their bohemian lifestyle, The Masterpiece, Cezanne broke off their friendship.

Fathers Day….. why does that make me feel as if, having spent all year looking out for my family; caring for them; supporting them in their activities; on this one “special day” of the year, they get to say thank you? I’d rather they carried on doing what they do today:- asking for my advice, support, and guidance as they navigate the adult world they are rushing headlong into. Sometimes [rare…

The Customer Experience is alive and well

“Take good care of your customers and they will take care of your business.” ― Biju Paulose

Recent discussions with a Managing Partner of a legal company and a Senior Director of a telecom’s provider were prompted by the question “Is Customer Experience dead?”

No, it is not. It is the most critical aspect of the world we live in today. Let me explain.

Firstly, let’s set something…

Do you plan Process Improvements or do they evolve?

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” ― Albert Einstein

Is process improvement an art or a science?

Is it something that evolves over time or do you actively plan your process improvement activities?

It would seem that a number of organisations evolve their process improvement activities by simply reacting to…

3 Seconds to make an impact? Yes it’s that quick!

“I believe you don’t have years, or months, or weeks to impact a person’s life. You have seconds. Seconds to win them over, And seconds to lose them.” ― K.A. Tucker, Four Seconds to Lose

Three things happened all on the same day that all pointed to the same outcome – how quickly we make a decision or come to a conclusion that sticks for a very long time. Maybe, forever.

Sometimes you…

Regeneration and a Walking Meditation

“Every single cell in the human body replaces itself over a period of seven years. That means there’s not even the smallest part of you now that was part of you seven years ago.” ― Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts

This weekend is when the clocks have changed and we have leapt forward in time by one hour, to British Summer Time. Our body clocks have not changed as quickly and it will be a…

Endurance, Resilience, and Success

Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.  – William Barclay

Back to work on a Monday and I never thought I would feel as good as I feel. After the experience I put myself and seven others through on Saturday, I thought I would be feeling a lot worse than I currently am.

So what sort of experience was it?   

Outside of work, I am involved in…

My temporary wold of silence

“I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own.” ― Chaim Potok, The Chosen

January seems such a long time ago, but this year, it was very different. It was a month where I lived in a partial world of silence.

Why do you ask?

Well, after the holiday’s, I returned to the world of work and managed to catch a cold.…

HNYTYAY – 3 words for 2019

“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

If you haven’t worked out what the acronym is, it is “Happy New Year to You and Yours”. At this time of year, with the holiday period over and many people returning to work, it is a…

Using socks to meditate

“Sadly, my socks are like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike.” ― Graham Parke

I bet the title of this blog post made you stop and do a double take for a moment.

“Using socks to meditate? How”, you ask.

There is a large discussion that goes on as to whether you wear certain items of clothing when you meditate. Loose clothes; whether you sit on the floor, or on a cushion; whether you lie down…

Meditating when you paint

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

No, I am not an artist, nor even a painter. My craft is the more mundane, that of an experienced DIY’er. The house I currently live in is an old house and needs to be regularly painted on the outside, both the walls, as well as the windows, which are made of wood.

The…

A walk in the woods, time for peace

“Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. ” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Outside of work and the family, one of my hobbies is helping out in the scouting movement. I remember when I was a youngster, being a cub scout and going to camps. There was fun, games, adventures and all along you were being taught life skills that many of my generations did…

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” ― Bernard M. Baruch

Our lives are ordered by the things that we do. The activities that we undertake and the results or outcomes that are achieved.

We have developed our learning and development programs for children to reflect this. Kindergarten is a place of play and happiness, being…