Life style lessons

Category: Editorial

Richard Winfield - editor and principal consultant This year marks the 25th anniversary of me starting as an independent consultant. I have been able to create a very pleasant life style that combines business with my personal and professional fulfilment. I enjoy new ideas, new people and new places. I am an 'explorer'. Last year I went to New Orleans twice, Riyadh twice and Toronto. Already this year I have been to Dubai twice, Melbourne and Abu Dhabi. Whenever I travel, I endeavour to arrange some personal exploration. Last week, for instance, on Saturday I went on a long walk along the Corniche in Dubai and on Sunday I went on a trip into the Hatta Mountains in Oman and then by bus to the Jebel Ali freeport. I was pleased with myself. Then it occurred to me that I had used a normal two day weekend for relaxation when everyone in the UK would have had a four day Easter weekend.

I realised that I have been confusing travel with holiday and, much as I enjoy the travel, have been missing out on the relaxation that a holiday implies. The Americans call it R&R - Rest and Relaxation. Their military take it seriously.

On my trip to the Hatta Mountains I was joined by a young Russian girl. She asked me where was my favourite place. I replied Boulder, Colorado, where the buses have cycle racks on the front and the pedestrian precinct has lots of new age shops and community activities. It is one of the few places in the USA with active town planning controls.

Abra in Dubai Creek In fact she meant my favourite place in Dubai. I realised afterwards that this is a restaurant that cantilevers out from Bur Dubai between the two abra stations. I could sit for hours watching the abras and the dhows, and enjoying the warmth of the sun. The food is good, too. But did I realise this before I was asked? Sometimes we need someone to help us register our pleasures.

We have a series of public holidays coming up. Australia has ANZAC Day tomorrow and the UK has a bank holiday next Monday and another on the 29th of May. Other countries have saints days and national days. Bank holidays were introduced in the UK to guarantee some breaks for the workers. How will you use yours?

For me, I must start to plan work around holidays rather than 'holidays' around work!

I have a backlog of enquiries about my Masterclass in practice building. This is a two day event based upon how Brefi Group built its high profile web site, how to review your product and market to build an effective marketing strategy and how to 'enjoy' networking. More details will follow, but, in the meantime, the date of the first event is shown below. The class integrates my own experience with strategies I have learned from CoachVille in the USA and general reading and research. It will be a small interactive group involving personal coaching as well as presentations.

I am pleased to reproduce an article by Jim Edwards, whose newsletter I regularly read. He describes three excellent software tools that you can use for free. We use Audacity and FeedReader and are reviewing FreeMind for inclusion in our MindMapping course.

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