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Hi Judith,
Thank you for your efforts with me a while ago…… I thought it would be good to let you know progress so far!
Since I did the work with you I have been very busy with projects. I've brought out four training DVD's on Reflexology that are rising up the charts on Amazon, started writing distance learning courses, written another book “Reflexology for Babies and Children” and started to be invited to lecture abroad - so huge thanks for your comment of “view yourself as an expert”! I still find that hard but it has been important at times when I panic before audiences! My last teaching engagement was to the pediatric intensive care nurses and licensed massage therapists in the Cincinnati Children's Hospital (world's no 3 children's hospital). I was in the US for two weeks and never through that would happen - paid to have fun and make new friends!
Thank you for your input a while ago - still living by it!
Best Wishes
Sue Ricks
Cert Ed., MAR, MBRCP, CP AMT. MICHT
Sue Ricks School of Complementary Therapies
Sue's Blog
Tags: Blog
Frank De Luca says that “living a rich life means living a heart-felt life marked by joy, ease and satisfaction”. He da man, that Frank, no idea who he is actually (sorry, Frank) but I found him on the web - where else? Have you measured your quotients for joy, ease and satisfaction recently? Go on, do it now, take five minutes while I share a bit more of Frank's top wisdom with you.
He says there are four sorts of wealth - financial (see more later), intellectual, physical/emotional and spiritual.
My work in the Money Gym mainly concerns financial and Frank's definition is as follows:
The Merchant: Financial Wealth
It is unlikely that we will live peacefully in this culture unless we seriously address questions of money – how we make it, how much we make, how we manage it, how we keep ahead of inflation, etc. The Merchant part of our lives includes money, our work or career, financial management and planning, as well as our competency in the world. We often identify with this aspect of our lives believing that is all there is. The central question we need to answer regarding financial wealth is, “How much?” The quality we need to cultivate in this area is integrity.
What do you think? Is Frank onto something there? I think he is actually but I am happy to have a debate about it here. Do leave a comment, or take it up with Frank!
At the risk of sounding like the old bloke on Reggie Perrin, I didnt get where I am today without asking good questions. Asking questions does not make you look stupid, it makes you look clever, keen to learn, enthusiastic, involved, a player, an achiever and more. It gets you noticed by the people you need to be noticed by, your teachers, peers and bosses. Its one of the best and cheapaest ways of learning and advancement.
I am often in workshops where I intuit there's a palpably HUGE unasked question in the room. So I ask it. I often know the answer to it already, I'm just asking it for you lot who won't.
Of course, as a coach, I am trained to ask questions and jolly good fun it is too. You have to be a good listener though, because your next question needs to come out of your client's answer not off your list of “Officially Good Questions”. It has to help your client move forward. There's an art to a good question as my colleague Judy Barber would say and she wrote THE definitive book on this topic and I am reliably informed by another of my colleagues who has been coached by Judy that she knows how to ask a damn fine question.
I went looking for a lovely quotation about questions on the web and found this apparently anonymous stonker: “Any man who knows all the answers most likely misunderstood the questions” which seems to me to give us carte blanche to go on asking questions for as long as we remain curious. I hope I am 110 by the time I lose my curiosity.
What's the best and/or boldest question you have ever asked? Do tell…
Natch. It's my favourite colour, its my brand. One of my colleagues likes to say my life and career really took off when I embraced my inner pinkness and just went all out pink and do you know what? I think he's right. Good noticing, Stu.
Why fight what you are? And I am pink.
What are you and how could that be your essential brand? This has something to do with authenticity, doesn't it. And being known for who and what you are, being recognisable and memorable. I am pink! Did I mention that?
Who are you and how is that reflected in your brand, your business, your life? What peace and success could come from having them all aligned?
Who are you? (I'm pink).
You can never have too much pink in the world as the world has, in fact, come to notice over the last decade or so.
One of THE greatest joys of working for yourself is being able to do whatever you like, whenever you like. And to do it at off peak prices and in smaller crowds.
First off, when you begin self-employment, its like being a kid in a candy shop - you are all over the place, no routine, no discipline, no boss = no productivity. Days go by when you prioritise getting the washing-up done, buying stamps, allowing a friend to drop in, being at the beck and call of people wanting favours who dont really believe you are working because you don't have a “proper” job. How very dare they?
But once you have cracked it, and you are making the money you want in the business you love, your time is your own and you can slack off during the day and take advantage of empty supermarkets, swimming pools, shopping malls and so on. I hug myself with joy when I do any one of those, its a daily reminder of why I go against the tide.
I understand that tide may be turning and shortly more of us will work for ourselves than not. Bring it on. Although what will that do to my Off Peak? Even it out, I suppose. Oh well, you can't have it all ways up. Would I rather have more successful entrepreneurs even if it eats into my off peak benefits? Yes, do you know, I think I would.
I went on a fascinating workshop on Saturday put on by The Money Gym. It was based around some rather challenging NLP exercises about success and my goal, built upon some early feedback from loving colleagues, turned out - again - to be about doing less in order to be more (successful/productive), possibly even just to BE more. Counter-intuitive for me. I have thought about it in most of my waking moments since and, to be honest, for one reason or another, most of my moments since have been waking.
The best and most efficient way to do less, though not necessarily the easiest straight off, is for me to learn to say No. This has been a challenge for me for untold decades, and I have written before that the main person to whom I learn to say No is myself. For I think I want to do all the things, or most of the things, I commit to and its only the sheer amount of them which makes some of them come to feel burdensome.
I have no-one to blame here but myself and actually, I am not looking to blame anyone, just to learn. This is not about the things I dont want to do, saying no to those is easy. I want to do so much, the world is full of fascinating opportunities and people and places, far too abundant for me in fact. Ooh, she says, noticing what she's saying there. Hmm. Can there BE such a place, such a thing, as TOO abundant?
Yet more feedback (I'm going off feedback) this morning also revealed to me that apparently I also complain and this reveals my burdens to those who are generous enough to listen to me. Wot me? So henceforth* I shall also be saying No to complaining. Ditto moaning. I shall put myself (again!) on The 7 Day Mental Diet. I am not sure of the use of the word mental in that sentence, always makes me laugh but there you go. Laughter is good, we say Yes to laughter. Yes, Yes, Yes!
Come to think of it, there was a lady on Saturday's workshop who described herself as being rather too good at saying No and she decided to say Yes more. We have something to teach one another. I shall go there now and offer a swap.
***
*henceforth = love an old-fashioned word occasionally.
Money, yum! My stock in trade. It's taken an AGE to get to my favourite topic in my Entrepreneur's Alphabet. Although I've worked in money all my life, most of my career has been dedicated to looking after other people's money at the expense of my own. Now, blissfully, the two are intertwined. In my work at The Money Gym, I have to go first and make myself rich and then spend the rest of my time helping others achieve the same.
I'm enjoying a bit of a purple patch right now with The Money Gym, and my creativity is bursting forth with lots of brilliant ideas to move our business on, keep us fresh for our clients, invent enough new stuff to keep me and Nicola in the Creator zone and help our clients make more money more easily. So many people struggle with money and that was my early journey too.
“Money's nothing; its just a way of keeping score” is a favourite quote of mine attributed to all and sundry, including Trump. It doesnt matter who said it, and you can imagine it tripping lightly off the tongue of someone who has plenty of it, can't you? Yes, you could say money is a game, if you like games. Learning about it and creating it in business, and saving and investing it, and debtbusting and busting the beliefs we were brought up with are all part of it. Part of the fun of money.
What do you feel about money? Is that even relevant? There are so many things I have learned in the last handful of years which I wasn't born knowing, principles it would have served me to known when I left school. But I have no regrets, its the learning and the journey that's the fun bit. Accumulating piles of cash is nice too! This can be learned by anyone - pick up a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki at your local library and you are away.
Make money important but not the be all and end all; it is a way of keeping score and having fun, but it also buys a comfy lifestyle, pays the bills and helps others. I was reminded last week of Mary Hunt's Five Things To Do With Money (note the order): Give it, Save It, Invest It, Lend It, Spend it.
Money's an energy - keep it flowing.
I am creating a series of businesses to love, having fallen out of love quite considerably with various business models I have operated in the past. I have written extensively on the web in the last five years about what constitutes a Business to Love and why we might want one. At the risk of repeating myself to loyal readers, but for the benefit of those who have just chanced by this blog today, the two seminal works which have taught me pretty much all I need to know about how to do this are:
1. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber and
2. The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
1 is better for a real world business where perhaps you have one branch of a business and want to expand, or at least liberate yourself from the need to work in your business every day and 2 is for those who dont want to wait until their are “old” to retire, but who want to set things up so they may enjoy mini-retirements now. When I had a firm of accountants, The E-Myth would have been the one; now that I work virtually The Four Hour Workweek is more appropriate. I suggest read both, pay your money and take your choice. Remember business books are often available on audio CD too.
What would be a business for you which you could love? Quite a tricky question perhaps if you have never thought of your business in that light? I would start with a list of things which aren't working - what do you hate? Invoicing? Collecting money? Recruiting and managing staff? Doing the accounts? Managing facilities? What sort of a business could you create which would liberate you from the need to do most or all of the bits you hate? Automating processes might be the answer. For me, the antidote to years of chasing money was, for instance, to move into the sort of work where its normal to pay in advance.
I also know I dont want to manage premises or stock or staff, but I would happily (and do) outsource to virtual helpers. And I love working with self-reliant business partners.
You see? There is a way out of your darkness!
What do you already love about your business and how could you do more of that? And if you don't love yours at all, how can you get rid of it and start again?
What goes around, comes around. Of that you can be sure. I see evidence daily, you see it as often as you care to look. In the olden days they used to say “do as you would be done by”. Same thing, no spooky Eastern feel.
In this century, when business is increasingly about collaboration, consciousness, planet-saving and so on and all the top companies of the world are piling into that becuase they realise there's money in it (or no money in it if they dont come onside and pronto), karma isn't as whacky as it used to be in the Sixties, say.
Businesses need to demonstrate ethics, values and a responsibility to their customers, workforce and the bigger picture.
So, what I recommend is that you sit down and work out what you are sending out into the business ether and whether or not you are not only coming from a place which is instrinsically good, but that you can demonstrate that also. Big companies call it CSR (corporate social responsibility) and for a long time it was just lip service. But now, business leaders of the future have this front and centre on their agenda.
What can you do to send out The Love, Karma Chameleon? And what stories can you share of karma at work in your business? Leave a comment.
Judith. One of my very favourite words, my own name. No, not ego gone mad, fact. Marketers know that if they use your name when addressing you online or off, the response they get is better. We all like our own name.
Don't go mad and over-use it with your prospects; I expect you can easily recall when some salesman has been all over you like a cheap suit, with a Judith here, a Judith there, a Judith everywhere. That's not what I mean, that's an affront. Subtle wins the day here, drop it in elegantly now and again.
But do you know your clients' names and - more importantly - do you know how to spell them? Do you know whether or not you can get away with calling them Judy (definitely not) or Jude (depends)?
If you are not instinctively good at this sort of detail, and many of us are not, then you need just a couple of simple strategies.
If you are replying to an email from Niki, do not address her as Nicky especially if your response is immediate. Check your spelling or you risk alienating a client like this faster than you can say knife, even if her own spelling is not great. Similarly, please dont call Nicola Nichola or Marion Marian or Louisa Louise. Take the time to check, remembering how important these details are to the person whose name you are using or mis-using.
Face to face is a bit harder, especially if you meet a lot of people. But we are still going to need a strategy here. Have you ever been to one of those early morning short seminars about improving your memory? I have, forget when, ha ha. But I remember the sorts of techniques they teach.
The Americans have a good one for this - immediately you are introduced to someone you repeat their name back instantly. “Hello Mary, this is Judith.” And Mary says “good to meet you, Judith” thus doubling her chances instantly of remembering my name later.
The memory experts teach you to use a trick to remember things by, visualise something which will help you remember that person's name. So when a client tells you her name is Bianca, what do you immediately think of? Bianca Jagger, say. How do you remember Bianca Jagger per se, as opposed to any woman who has been connected with Mick which, frankly, won't help you at all? Bianca Jagger was a model, tall and dark. Your client is tall and blonde and you discover she is an ENORMOUS fan of Mick Jagger. Presumably Bianca is somewhat bored by conversations about her name and the Jaggers, but not half as bored as she's going to be by you if you can't remember her name next time you meet. And all you have to remember is she may turn out to be the biggest prospect of your career, maybe not in her own right but who she can connect you to, for Bianca is an Ace Networker.
Got any tips for using and remembering the names and spellings of people who are important to your business? Professional Networkers and Supporters, this is your chance to share your best tips with the rest of us struggling with senior moments and hasty fingers.
If you are anything like me, people flood your inbox regularly with stuff they find inspiring. Today I received two such pieces which I will share with you below, with thanks to Dr Alison Grimston who was responsible for both of these coming my way.
I Am Working on Building My Bank Account
This is AWESOME….something we should all remember. A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he manoeuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. 'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.' 'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. ‘It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank. I am still depositing. 'Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.
And Alison's second piece is a peaceful little film, any one of the inspirational quotations which appeals to you is enough to feed your soul for today.
Enjoy the film by clicking here.
Success. You comfy with that word? Me neither, at least I wasn't for about fifty years!
I realise as I write this piece that I am now, I am reconciled - happy, even - about becoming and being successful.
I have been driving for it throughout my career and I was happy with the quest for it, although I don't suppose I expressed it exactly like that. I just knew I was driven to achieve, to prove something. And now I realise it was a drive to become successful.
Although not uber-successful by other's standards, I realise that by my own I am content. And who can say more than that? How fortunate am I?
Now, how can I help you achieve the success you deserve? What is it that you want? What would constitute success for you? My main area of expertise is around business success and wealth creation and although I don't do much 1-2-1 coaching any more, I do do lots of advice about how to be wealthier and if you are not afraid to put your stick in the sand and stand up and say “I want to be better off” then I am the woman (or one of them) to point you in the right direction?
- A pension within 10 years, however late you start
- Living within your means, saving and investing
- Understanding investment opportunities, loving to learn about new ones, and making investment choices which are right for the entrepreneur you are.
- Investing in property, often without a mortgage
- Getting out of debt
If financial success is your desire, or your measure, then let me know how I can help - please ask your questions here or email me if they are too private.
Time is our most precious, finite commodity. Do you use yours every day like that? Or are you taking it for granted?
Do you “manage” your time (don't make me laugh) or are you always short of it? Have you ever analysed what you spend your time on? I was an accountant for more than twenty years and we had to fill out timesheets to account, by client, for what we had worked on hour by hour during every working day. As I write that sentence, the scales fall from my eyes, as I realise what a brilliant discipline that is. I am not used to analysing my own processes, but it explains how I can pack so much in, that's years of training not to be inefficient with your employer or client's time and money.
Do you think you could face up to that harsh reality? If so, there are a couple of little web applications you may enjoy and a book recommendation or two.
First, the web - Rescuetime.com which I have used and liked and a recommendation from a trusted colleague is Toggl.com
Second, the books - one of my favourite new ways of looking at time is documented by Timothy Ferris in his Four Hour Workweek and an older favourite is Mark Forster's Do It Tomorrow.
One of those resources will definitely work for you.
And you know that biggest thief of your time and mine - as proved definitely at my house by Rescuetime? No surprises here: email. Shut it down except 1-3 times a day/week, and get some bloody work done!
U is for USP, your Unique Selling Proposition. Do you have one? Do people know what your business does for them? Wikipedia offers up these classics:
“Some good current examples of products with a clear USP are:
- Head & Shoulders: “You get rid of dandruff”
- Olay: “You get younger-looking skin”
Some unique propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:
- Domino's Pizza: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it's free.”
- FedEx: “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”
- M&M's: “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand”
- Wonder Bread: “Wonder Bread Helps Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways”
They are clear and memorable. It's probably quite difficult to work our what your own USP is, so something I often recommend to clients is that they ask clients and colleagues to reflect back to you what you are appreciated for. Likely as not there's a common thread which you can weave into what you want to be known for, which can then become a brand standard to which you can nail your colours and by which measure your performance.
What's your USP?
I love my Visionboard and I credit it with keeping me in touch with the things I want, the reasons why I do what I do. It's not the main way I do that, I feel that's quite firmly rooted inside me, but externally my office wall looks pretty as I tick off the things I have achieved and update it with the new things I want.
A visionboard can only be a representation the things you want, but hidden in there is the way you want to feel. My own visionboard is covered in turqoise, the colour of the water on holiday either in the pool or the sea. The feelings I get when I look at this are warmth (sunshine), cool and refreshing (water), peaceful (I'm on holiday) and free (from the demands of my “normal” life) for a short while. This is my definition of peace, the pursuit of which is my main goal all the time. I achieve that in lots of little ways every day as well as in big ways, like a month off in the Caribbean already booked for December 2009, and in the meditating on the ultimate goal of months of that at a time in my sunshiny tax-free haven which, right now, is closer than ever.
And when I look at the turqoise pictures I am straight there, without having to go through that thinking, explaining and re-connecting. So it's a shortcut to my desires and its often subliminal and ever-present.
I also remember that it was THE most enormous fun to make and that sort of nonsense isnt usually my thing - you know Blue Peter, collage, sticky backed plastic etc. So, go on… let yourself go and have fun, create your vision, design your future. These days you can even do it on the desktop of your computer.
What inspires you on your own journey?
One of my most esteemed colleagues, who also happens to be a good friend, the sort who tells you the truth when you ask in a nice, kind, but truthful sort of way, shared something with me this week which allowed me to know myself better. And yes, I had asked.
She said that I always, or often, I appear to go the extra mile for others. Although I knew this about myself, it was way down in the depths of my consciousness and now I am grateful to have it higher up in my awareness. Because now I can choose. Do I want to go the extra mile for that person, for that opportunity, for that business, for that deal? Or am I doing it as a habit, because I always do it? Because I've always done it?
She also said that I appear to complain about it sometimes, and although I wasn't aware that I did this in that way, it was interesting to explore what that means to me. It means there is some thoughtless behaviour going on, either in going the distance, or in doing it when I dont necessarily want to.
I am going to write something along the top of my computer screen, because that's where I do most of my work, which reminds me to make sure I want to go the extra mile before I commit to something, because I know I am not a woman who does things half-heartedly. I also know I dont want to resent others because I couldnt say no to them. Don't be surprised if I say no a lot for a while, that's the other experiment I am conducting.
I love all these experiments - X can be for Xperiment too!
Do I want to be known for going the extra mile? Yes, I think I do. It may even be the title of my auto-biography…once I have worked out how to do it for the worthy and deserving cause, not just because someone asked. Good learning this week. And any week with good learning in it is also a good week.
Woo Woo is my shorthand for all the things we believe in but can't prove, although with quantum physics they are beginning to now. I like to call myself The Woo Woo Accountant because it expresses the two sides of me; the pragmatic, logical down to earth 2 + 2= 4 kinda girl, AND the side which is becoming increasingly important to me, the side which recognises how much free help I get from The Universe, call it what you will.
Some of this I actively engage in and study, e.g. EFT (emotional freedom techniques) and some comes unbidden to me.
But the nub of it is what you believe in works. I believe in EFT so it works, you believe in something else so that works for you. Or not if you are a non-believer. But you've got to believe in something, right?
The overwhelming body of evidence which just makes me dig deeper and deeper into the metaphysical sides of life comes from being able to observe my own thoughts and feelings and how they connect to what happens in my life, especially with manifestation. But an even easier spot is what happens when I work with clients and all the “miracles” they phone up and tell me about. If I had a fiver for every call which begins with “you'll never guess what happened!”, I'd be a multi-millionaire a lot sooner than I'm going to be anyway.
My best and favouritest of all time is teaching people to throw the dice when we play Cashflow. The response to this is quite extreme, usually disbelieving because we all know that throwing a dice is random, a game of chance. Or is it? At our Money Gym Cashflow evenings, I always suggest that folks might like to focus on where they are going on the board and throw what they need to get there. Some (most) look at me like I am a mad woman, others are prepared to experiment, still others become expert at this. They have their own systems - going into a trance, visualising the result they want, zoning out everything else. No matter their route, so long as they believe it works. And it does work, the demonstrate that.
Women are known for being into this stuff, from reading tea-leaves onwards. But when I teach businessmen to do it, I know I've cracked it. Other sceptics look on, knowing they will never be able to make a dice work like that. Those who can know they can and so they do. Its a wonder to behold and I, for one, will never get tired of watching it. And it always makes us squeal with delight too!
Do you believe in Magic? I do. It happens all day long every day in my life and the lives of my clients, we are happy and grateful for it, we ask for it, we expect it, we are delighted by it, we intend it, we manifest it and we are all as mad as a box of frogs. Or are we?
Yup, this is the problem with any alphabet series, finding a good word which begins with Z. And I should know, I've done it twice now. There are any number of good words - zing, zoom, zig-zag, zany, zero, zenith. But this time I'm going for ZEST.
Because I realise that without zest - for my life, for my topic, for my work - I couldn't have got past about C in any alphabet. You simply can't force yourself to put the work in, can you? Yes, we often have to struggle past a little creative resistance to a project, a little rebellion to working on a sunny Saturday afternoon when a deadline zooms, but speaking as the most disciplined person I have ever met, I don't think its possible to achieve anything very much without an innate zest for the project.
Are you feeling the zest for your business? Yes? Hooray! Do more!
No? Stop it forthwith, do something else. End of. C'est simple!
Zest: keen, hearty pleasure or appreciation, interest, flavour, charm, gusto and relish. I will accept nothing less for your business and the life it facilitates.
You are the finest asset of your business. You are also frequently the worst liability. What you are good at gets done, with relish. What you are bad at gets ignored, at your peril.
Normally I go into what we can do about this; for today I am content to say that we might just sit with it for a while and explore what it means. Let's not rush to fix “the problem” before we have sat and savoured the asset.
Well done for being you! Pat yourself on the back, celebrate your unique wonderfulness, enjoy your greatness and individuality. Hug yourself with your specialness.
I know. It's not nice is it, being quite so full of ourselves? But I feel we often take for granted or don't even believe in how great we are, we gloss over it, rush past it or simply just don't know. One of the great joys of my coaching work has been to almost instantly fall in love with most of my clients, noticing their strengths and capacities and brilliance long before they do. I believe in them WAY beyond what they can, and then some. I see the diamond, while they see the sh*t in which its covered.
I seek to breathe into them just some of my appreciation, in a way which enables them to put their shoulders back and stand tall. I like to have them believe themselves capable of what I know they can do, and then go off and do it - often to their huge surprise and delight. What a great job! What fabulous work! How lucky am I?
Thank you, Darling clients, for just being You. You are unique and special and perfect just exactly as you are. EFT and Louise Hay would have us love and accept ourselves just exactly as we are and its a given that in so doing, I feel that about you too. Honest, I do.
What do you most love, accept, appreciate and take for granted about you, the finest asset of your business? And how can being more of that make up for any teeny tiny thing you feel you might just lack?
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One of my most esteemed colleagues, who also happens to be a good friend, the sort who tells you the truth when you ask in a nice, kind, but truthful sort of way, shared something with me this week which allowed me to know myself better. And yes, I had asked.
She said that I always, or often, I appear to go the extra mile for others. Although I knew this about myself, it was way down in the depths of my consciousness and now I am grateful to have it higher up in my awareness. Because now I can choose. Do I want to go the extra mile for that person, for that opportunity, for that business, for that deal? Or am I doing it as a habit, because I always do it? Because I've always done it?
She also said that I appear to complain about it sometimes, and although I wasn't aware that I did this in that way, it was interesting to explore what that means to me. It means there is some thoughtless behaviour going on, either in going the distance, or in doing it when I dont necessarily want to.
I am going to write something along the top of my computer screen, because that's where I do most of my work, which reminds me to make sure I want to go the extra mile before I commit to something, because I know I am not a woman who does things half-heartedly. I also know I dont want to resent others because I couldnt say no to them. Don't be surprised if I say no a lot for a while, that's the other experiment I am conducting.
I love all these experiments - X can be for Xperiment too!
Do I want to be known for going the extra mile? Yes, I think I do. It may even be the title of my auto-biography…once I have worked out how to do it for the worthy and deserving cause, not just because someone asked. Good learning this week. And any week with good learning in it is also a good week.
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Woo Woo is my shorthand for all the things we believe in but can't prove, although with quantum physics they are beginning to now. I like to call myself The Woo Woo Accountant because it expresses the two sides of me; the pragmatic, logical down to earth 2 + 2= 4 kinda girl, AND the side which is becoming increasingly important to me, the side which recognises how much free help I get from The Universe, call it what you will.
Some of this I actively engage in and study, e.g. EFT (emotional freedom techniques) and some comes unbidden to me.
But the nub of it is what you believe in works. I believe in EFT so it works, you believe in something else so that works for you. Or not if you are a non-believer. But you've got to believe in something, right?
The overwhelming body of evidence which just makes me dig deeper and deeper into the metaphysical sides of life comes from being able to observe my own thoughts and feelings and how they connect to what happens in my life, especially with manifestation. But an even easier spot is what happens when I work with clients and all the “miracles” they phone up and tell me about. If I had a fiver for every call which begins with “you'll never guess what happened!”, I'd be a multi-millionaire a lot sooner than I'm going to be anyway.
My best and favouritest of all time is teaching people to throw the dice when we play Cashflow. The response to this is quite extreme, usually disbelieving because we all know that throwing a dice is random, a game of chance. Or is it? At our Money Gym Cashflow evenings, I always suggest that folks might like to focus on where they are going on the board and throw what they need to get there. Some (most) look at me like I am a mad woman, others are prepared to experiment, still others become expert at this. They have their own systems - going into a trance, visualising the result they want, zoning out everything else. No matter their route, so long as they believe it works. And it does work, the demonstrate that.
Women are known for being into this stuff, from reading tea-leaves onwards. But when I teach businessmen to do it, I know I've cracked it. Other sceptics look on, knowing they will never be able to make a dice work like that. Those who can know they can and so they do. Its a wonder to behold and I, for one, will never get tired of watching it. And it always makes us squeal with delight too!
Do you believe in Magic? I do. It happens all day long every day in my life and the lives of my clients, we are happy and grateful for it, we ask for it, we expect it, we are delighted by it, we intend it, we manifest it and we are all as mad as a box of frogs. Or are we?
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I love my Visionboard and I credit it with keeping me in touch with the things I want, the reasons why I do what I do. It's not the main way I do that, I feel that's quite firmly rooted inside me, but externally my office wall looks pretty as I tick off the things I have achieved and update it with the new things I want.
A visionboard can only be a representation the things you want, but hidden in there is the way you want to feel. My own visionboard is covered in turqoise, the colour of the water on holiday either in the pool or the sea. The feelings I get when I look at this are warmth (sunshine), cool and refreshing (water), peaceful (I'm on holiday) and free (from the demands of my “normal” life) for a short while. This is my definition of peace, the pursuit of which is my main goal all the time. I achieve that in lots of little ways every day as well as in big ways, like a month off in the Caribbean already booked for December 2009, and in the meditating on the ultimate goal of months of that at a time in my sunshiny tax-free haven which, right now, is closer than ever.
And when I look at the turqoise pictures I am straight there, without having to go through that thinking, explaining and re-connecting. So it's a shortcut to my desires and its often subliminal and ever-present.
I also remember that it was THE most enormous fun to make and that sort of nonsense isnt usually my thing - you know Blue Peter, collage, sticky backed plastic etc. So, go on… let yourself go and have fun, create your vision, design your future. These days you can even do it on the desktop of your computer.
What inspires you on your own journey?
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U is for USP, your Unique Selling Proposition. Do you have one? Do people know what your business does for them? Wikipedia offers up these classics:
“Some good current examples of products with a clear USP are:
- Head & Shoulders: “You get rid of dandruff”
- Olay: “You get younger-looking skin”
Some unique propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:
- Domino's Pizza: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it's free.”
- FedEx: “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”
- M&M's: “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand”
- Wonder Bread: “Wonder Bread Helps Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways”
They are clear and memorable. It's probably quite difficult to work our what your own USP is, so something I often recommend to clients is that they ask clients and colleagues to reflect back to you what you are appreciated for. Likely as not there's a common thread which you can weave into what you want to be known for, which can then become a brand standard to which you can nail your colours and by which measure your performance.
What's your USP?
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Time is our most precious, finite commodity. Do you use yours every day like that? Or are you taking it for granted?
Do you “manage” your time (don't make me laugh) or are you always short of it? Have you ever analysed what you spend your time on? I was an accountant for more than twenty years and we had to fill out timesheets to account, by client, for what we had worked on hour by hour during every working day. As I write that sentence, the scales fall from my eyes, as I realise what a brilliant discipline that is. I am not used to analysing my own processes, but it explains how I can pack so much in, that's years of training not to be inefficient with your employer or client's time and money.
Do you think you could face up to that harsh reality? If so, there are a couple of little web applications you may enjoy and a book recommendation or two.
First, the web - Rescuetime.com which I have used and liked and a recommendation from a trusted colleague is Toggl.com
Second, the books - one of my favourite new ways of looking at time is documented by Timothy Ferris in his Four Hour Workweek and an older favourite is Mark Forster's Do It Tomorrow.
One of those resources will definitely work for you.
And you know that biggest thief of your time and mine - as proved definitely at my house by Rescuetime? No surprises here: email. Shut it down except 1-3 times a day/week, and get some bloody work done!
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Success. You comfy with that word? Me neither, at least I wasn't for about fifty years!
I realise as I write this piece that I am now, I am reconciled - happy, even - about becoming and being successful.
I have been driving for it throughout my career and I was happy with the quest for it, although I don't suppose I expressed it exactly like that. I just knew I was driven to achieve, to prove something. And now I realise it was a drive to become successful.
Although not uber-successful by other's standards, I realise that by my own I am content. And who can say more than that? How fortunate am I?
Now, how can I help you achieve the success you deserve? What is it that you want? What would constitute success for you? My main area of expertise is around business success and wealth creation and although I don't do much 1-2-1 coaching any more, I do do lots of advice about how to be wealthier and if you are not afraid to put your stick in the sand and stand up and say “I want to be better off” then I am the woman (or one of them) to point you in the right direction?
- A pension within 10 years, however late you start
- Living within your means, saving and investing
- Understanding investment opportunities, loving to learn about new ones, and making investment choices which are right for the entrepreneur you are.
- Investing in property, often without a mortgage
- Getting out of debt
If financial success is your desire, or your measure, then let me know how I can help - please ask your questions here or email me if they are too private.
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Frank De Luca says that “living a rich life means living a heart-felt life marked by joy, ease and satisfaction”. He da man, that Frank, no idea who he is actually (sorry, Frank) but I found him on the web - where else? Have you measured your quotients for joy, ease and satisfaction recently? Go on, do it now, take five minutes while I share a bit more of Frank's top wisdom with you.
He says there are four sorts of wealth - financial (see more later), intellectual, physical/emotional and spiritual.
My work in the Money Gym mainly concerns financial and Frank's definition is as follows:
The Merchant: Financial Wealth
It is unlikely that we will live peacefully in this culture unless we seriously address questions of money – how we make it, how much we make, how we manage it, how we keep ahead of inflation, etc. The Merchant part of our lives includes money, our work or career, financial management and planning, as well as our competency in the world. We often identify with this aspect of our lives believing that is all there is. The central question we need to answer regarding financial wealth is, “How much?” The quality we need to cultivate in this area is integrity.
What do you think? Is Frank onto something there? I think he is actually but I am happy to have a debate about it here. Do leave a comment, or take it up with Frank!
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It's T minus 15 and counting until my August holiday. I pretty much always have August off every year without straying very far, since I love the Great British Summer.
My proper “abroad” holiday is already booked for a month in the Caribbean in December as ever, but I am really looking forward to taking life easy in August, not going anywhere, not doing much, at least no client work - I mean, I love you… but a girl's gotta have a breather.
Regular readers will know that I also love to work. And the unreconstructed me feels SOOO good when I get to tick things off my list, however much I may wish that I was the sort of person who is zen enough to be defined by her existence rather than her achievements.
But I'm not.
So there.
For now.
However, even by my own standards, there's something not quite right going on here as I already have a To Do List for my holidays which is very long, and that would appear to be a contradiction in terms?
I already know this list isn't exhaustive because I have other things in the back of my mind which haven't even made it to the list yet, but the list currently stands at 21 items and counting. And if I add another 10 I've got one “job” for every day in August!
The list includes:
- arrange some more poker lessons with my lawyer
- do tax return
- go to the dentist
- take Mitsy to the vet for her injections so she can go on holiday at the vet's in December (please don't mention that to Mitsy, she doesn't know about the V.E.T. yet)
- chase up on an important property issue
- put some more resources on my website
- progress a couple of tiny business opportunities, honestly, I promise you, they are really TINY
- talk to a builder about doing some structural work while I am away at Christmas so the works can be done without my life being interrupted
- clutter clearing (too many books, shoes, clothes)
- overdue spring cleaning (pull out the bed etc)
- close duplicate bank accounts and move all standing orders and direct debits to the most appropriate of remaining bank accounts
- put BT and other essential items on direct debit so I don't get cut off during Xmas holidays
- clear out filing cabinet - a cull I believe this is called, then I might be able to shut those drawers
- find a way to shade part of the garden and light ditto for outdoor poker game on 20th
- catering for two summer al fresco parties - by which I mean find a caterer to do THAT work, kitchen far too tiny as yet for actually cooking in (see structural work above)
- meet up with Nigel (long lost friend, who I havent seen since May 2005). N says he's looking forward to seeing me “free as air”, my own description of my August! He knows me too well despite not having seen me for 4 years…leopards don't change their spots then.
- do my own business accounts, year-end 31st August 2009 (!). That'll be a job for the 31st then.
- send the Money Gym accounts for audit, accounts are actually done, this is just a parcelling up, queueing in the Post Office and sending off type of job
- jolly up a couple of new websites and create a Google Adwords campaign for one of them
- do some low level marketing including blogging and Twittering
- write an ebook for the Money Gym called “How I Did It”. Probably got the only legitimate one last on the list there…
Yup, I know. I'm tragic.
I also know that once I get off the treadmill very little gets done at all except eating, reading and snoozing and its highly likely that this list will remain just that, a list of good intentions.
One of the things I love best about holidays is wondering how on earth one manages to work normally as the getting up/showering/eating/snoozing/reading routine fills the whole day so easily and can be intensely satisfying, especially in a foreign country where you have to forage for the best spots for most of the above.
Equally, there is also the very remote possibility that if I work like a dog in the next two weeks and cross as many of these off the list as possible in July, I will be able to step off Planet Work for 31 days. In Blighty. During what's shaping up to be one of the best BBQ summers we've had for a while now. Tempting.
I'm liking that vision the more I dwell in it.
But…it's just that a whole month off work is such an opportunity to get lots of (personal) work done, zapping tolerations which will make September-November so much easier while I am actually working.
Go figure.
Sadly, I havent got the time for that sort of navel-gazing; there's work to be done around here!
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I was just meditating this morning on what a lucky girl I am. I took August off as ever and although I intended to do lots of things online including blogging and Twittering and sending out a newsletter, I haven't done much of that in the end but I have done lots of other lovely things, extreme self-care, fun and all sorts. Forgive me if I share my abundance with you today on this our first day back “at school”!
You will notice a theme of workish type things towards the beginning of the month which then fall away as I got more and more relaxed into the time off.
I began by offering free Wealth Consultations and planned to do one per business day; did four and stopped publicising them but enjoyed the ones I did and it gave me a plan for the way I intend to work in future.
Enjoyed working with Marion and Sandra and Claire on lots of webby type work like getting Live Help on all my websites, and optimising them all for maximum blogging and Twittering impact. As yet, we have only concluded two sites and are working solidly through all the rest as I have decided I want to become one of those rare few who get paid, albeit indirectly, to write on the web. Finding lots of different ways to monetise sites prior to focussing on the writing, Twittering, etc. and really looking forward to that new chapter.
The other work-ish type activities included doing my own accounts and filing, clutter-clearing with Bianca in which I found £10,500 I had forgotten to invoice (!), and my tax return. Only yesterday, I finally got my new telephone headset to work before the beginning of term today; there's nothing like a deadline for getting things done. The old one had been stuck up with sellotape and the new one has been awaiting installation for - oh, about three months perhaps?
Maybe one of the nicest things during August has been the time to catch up with real people - no fewer than two dinners with Marie Taylor, a trip to the Mayfly pub with Frank, two lunches with Bianca & Phil (and the blissful Perfect Blend passion cake), gotta love a man who rocks up with three portions of that under his arm. I made new friends - Mark Shaw Twitter expert who gave me a free hour of his time and Carey Mann with whom I exchanged an EFT session for some wealth creation advice.
I have continued to recruit to my sales teams - John and I met with Kim & Mike, Deryk came round for a cuppa in the garden to discuss, we put the Creative Entrepreneurs Club into mothballs pro tem in order to better focus on our more important projects, and Ben and I had a wonderful Rent2Own day out in Worthing making very valuable connections for our community. Eileen, Bianca and I went to supper at Ozer which was intended to be about booking the space for next year's Money Gym Wealth Conference social, but it turned out to be the manager's night off (their fault, not ours). Still, nevertheless, les girls had a cracking night out.
I am never so happy as when I am making work for other people and August was no exception. Since my family were coming over for their annual visit, there was lots of gardening, tidying inside and out, making good and painting which involved Lee, Nick, Jack and, of course, Mary Ann who did the catering for the party itself. I borrowed two gazebos for the party to ward off rain and sun and they were so successful I determined to buy one, whereupon the abundant friend who had lent them to me told me he had one spare and it would make him very happy if I would keep one. Ah, how kind.
I found Uncle Dominic via Gumtree and he turned out to be as Woo Woo as me; his new job is to help me with Mitsy as I travel on business a lot - and his first job was to help me get her to the vet's last week for her jabs. Together we are looking for a luxury cattery for her for when I am away in December and the builders are in.
My friend Susie came to stay for the weekend from Manchester, Ben and I shared lunch in the Mediterranean corner of my garden near my olive tree on the day of the Twitter meltdown, I caught up with my friend Nigel at his new restaurant Terroir and Ben and Peter and I shared a whopping boozy lunch there on Friday just gone. Oh, and I had lunch with my friend Daphne, who writes crime novels.
Speaking of crime novels, I had a bumper reading month, the highlight of which was three Jackson Brodie whodunnits by Kate Atkinson alongside lots of films and DVDs and I think I might even have done another series of 24 at the beginning of the month, which is now rather a haze.
Extreme self-care included the dentist, a facial, aromatherapy and my usual monthly visit to the beauticians. Lots of very funny things happened during the month, laughter is an abiding memory alongside all the lunches and al fresco meals at home. The family visit turned out to be a particularly lovely day with the aforementioned Mary Ann providing a Feast from Africa, we needed Stuart's gazebo because of the sun and it was a seven-hour idyll broken only by the need of my youngest nephew to catch the 7.10 train from Clapham Junction in time to be home for Tiger Woods' teeing off in the US open. The Pimms, the laughter, the weather, the love, the nostalgia, the appreciate and the good friends sharing the day. Bliss and the highlight which set the tone for the second half of the month which has just been pure slacking off.
A fabulous consultation with Claire Raikes enabled me to get clear on my future direction, USP and personal branding about which more follows. And then helping Nicola with her Stoupa webinar which is a very exciting development in The Money Gym where you can Rent2Own your own dream holiday place in the Greek sun.
Increasingly as the last weekend wore on, despite a little bit of SADness during Sunday, I found happiness with the Bank Holiday Monday sunshine and a last al fresco supper in my new garden. All those suppers and lunches have to stop, of course, but they were fun while they lasted.
As I do the final bits of tidying up and preparation for three stonking months starting today, the thing I remember the most and still take lingering pleasure from is that gorgeous summer breeze which is still blowing through my window and my mind.
I end the month having decided to become even more Woo Woo and as I end this post I began with gratitude. For all the joys and simple pleasures of a month off. At my place. With good food, good friends, family and strange to say even largely good weather. Thanks for the memories which will serve to see me through until December in the sun.
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I'm working with marketing genius Claire Raikes right now and we are reinventing my presence on the web. Why? Because I am taking stock after six years working with clients on their businesses and frankly, they aren't taking any notice of me! I feel that my web profile no longer reflects what I currently offer the world and us Creators need to keep transmogrifying.
Does this mean my mentoring and coaching is wrong, or hasn't been appreciated? Far from it as you will see from my testimonials. My clients know what to do but they arent doing it and I have a handful of theories why that is.
1. Its far too difficult to E-Myth a business from within; you are probably better off to scrap the one you have and start again.
2. Your ego is inextricably linked with the delivery of your service so, on some level, you may be self-sabotaging by not taking the action required; there is a payoff to staying where you are. Coaches always say this, by the way, but that doesn't make it any less true.
3. You are simply not yet in sufficient pain to do the work that effects the change. Its difficult to find a moment in the day to start doing things differently until you reach the point where you MUST change. Most people move away from pain with more alacrity than they do towards pleasure. Not me but “most people”.
So here's my brilliant idea. I think I have found an even better way to help my small business clients. Yay! Once a helper, always a helper…
How about if I show you how to put no cost and low cost investments around you so that one day you will wake up and I will have made you rich anyway, despite yourself?
This means that you can carry on diddling about all day doing what you love and you don't need to worry about money. By the time you find that pain or reason to change, you will be financially sorted anyway due to the easy, affordable, simple investment opportunities to which I introduced you in 2009/2010?
You could wake up in ten years' time and discover that you are lot better off that you thought you were. I am pleasantly surprised to find that about my clients all the time, actually. Sometimes there is comfort in just hearing that from me, that you have done better than you had expected and if you continue to husband it well, all will be well.
So I am sorting out my websites so that there is Live Help on all of them and soon most of them will link through to the opportunity to have a FREE wealth consultation with me so that I can advise you what you can do right now which will make all the difference to your financial future and it might not even cost you a penny! I don't think anyone can say fairer than that, do you? This time, you are not even required to follow my advice, but I think if I can make it easy enough you will definitely want to.
Of course, I won't be able to help everyone who wants a free wealth consultation so I am having to put up some barriers to entry; you will be asked to fill out a statement of income, expenditure, assets, liabilities and financial goals so that I can prescribe my financial fix. And assuming you are up for that bit, I will give you 30 minutes on the phone and we can take it from there. Yip-de-do!
So now, I need your help. I need a new strapline for my website to reflect my new role of financial wiz. Actually I have been a bit of a financial wiz for over thirty years, I'm just going to make it front and centre now.
At the moment it says “Judith Morgan: All About Money” which is pretty fair. But Claire wants me to find a new title for myself. I like “Judith Morgan, The Woo Woo Accountant” because I know its the Woo Woo* which has made all the difference to me. But yesterday we came up with Judith Morgan, The Money Maven. Do you like that? Or can you even better it?
Do please leave me a comment telling me what you think about The Money Maven. Yes, its been done before, but there's nothing new under the sun, is there? If you can come up with something better which we use, you will be invited to claim your prize of a free LunchWithJudith worth £500 and I'm buying! If you are not in the UK and cannot get to London easily, we can do this over the phone together.
- The Money Maven?
- The Woo Woo Accountant?
- The Financial Wiz?
- Or something else?
*Woo Woo – people won't agree but this is a term which I actually invented myself. It means personal development with a somewhat alternative, yoghurt-weaving slant towards energy work: mindset, EFT (tapping), quantum physics, The Secret, The Law of Attraction, Positiving Thinking, Jerry & Esther Hicks, Think & Grow Rich, NLP and so on. They say it cannot be proved, but I prove it around here every day so “they” can go on believing what they like. If you believe you can, you can – and I can!
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It all started in August with Bianca, my friend and neighbour, who I invited round to help with some clutter clearing. I knew that Bianca had PA skills, amongst many others, and so she was just the Top Bird to assist me with a chore I couldn't quite bring myself to do alone, with no accountability. We got an appointment in the diary to get it done and dusted. Afterwards, as a reward, we had lunch in the garden and Bianca said words to the effect “Judith, I believe a Big Cheque will come into your life now that we have created this space”. I sort of agreed with her and I sort of disagreed with her.
To cut a long story short, before we had finished our chores for the day, I had found a piece of paper (filed, I might add) which was a list of invoices I was due to send out and I could instantly see that there was one I had forgotten to invoice. For £10,500 (ten thousand five hundred pounds). Yes, I know. What sort of accountant forgets to invoice £10,500? Anyway, that cheque arrived today and so Bianca was right… a big cheque did come into my life as a direct result of our August clutter-clearing.
That started the flow and its still coming. Since then I have manifested:
- £500
- £5,000
- £50,000
- a flat I have wanted for 22 months (and said that out loud and in my head – a lot!)
- the money for the deposit for the flat the night before I knew I needed it
- a free holiday in the sunshine with a chauffeur to take me to the airport and back
- an opportunity to share a virtual stage with one of my own personal gurus, Sandy Forster.
As you have probably heard me say before, I credit Sandy Forster's affirmations with a great deal of my abundance, possibly this entire list – together with Bianca of course, who attracts in her wake an energy which draws magnificence to her.
I am grateful for the abundance which shows up in my life every day and I am thoroughly enjoying every suprise. The other day Bianca came with me to the bank to pay in another big cheque and she said we had to shout Woo Woo or Woo Hoo in the bank and wave our arms in celebration in a sort of gratitude dance. I did it. Today, when banking alone I wasnt sure whether I actually had to do this in the bank or if I could do it on the pavement or in the privacy of my own home. Gentle Reader, I did do it, for B's sake. She can be very certain of the importance of such rituals and she's right. Raise your vibration at every available opportunity.
And then, of course, I had to say it again when the Sandy Forster excitement happened.
What's showing up in your life? You do know you create your own reality, don't you? Equally I feel it's important to know that everything is cyclical. There have been times in my life where I have manifested debt, floods and all sorts of drama and unrequited love, near bankruptcy and repossessions. I know everything is an energy. I sometimes feel that manifesting is like walking a tightrope. What happens if I look down and catch myself in the act? If I become hyper-aware, I might fall off. How can I hop back on and take it lightly?
So Bianca and I are creating a group experiment where we can explore how we do these things. Will exploration help or hinder? Will we discover that this is better done in a group or solo? Our vision is global, we are drawing some ace manifesters to us, it isnt all about money, no, that's just my focus as you know so naturally that's what I will manifest as it's where I put my intention. Our global experiment is broader than that, it will involve tithing of energy and money, and bringing into existence things that weren't there before.
Creating. As if by magic. Woo Woo.
Our global experiment kicks off with a meeting on 23rd October in SW London (because of the ley lines) and once I have the manifesto from the invitation-only Founder Members, I will be able to share with you how you can get involved and add your energy to our manifesting magnificence.
If you would like to be magnificent at manifesting and would like to be one of our global creators, would you leave a comment so I can be sure to let you know?
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There’s a man in my garden called Michael. And he’s building my garden office. Coming free with my garden office, and he doesn’t know this yet but he will, is a refresher course for me on how to run a Great Little Business.
At every step of the way, Michael has been the consummate professional, taking care of every detail. He came to scope out the project when he said he would, on time, phoning first to check I was in and had remembered and that it was still convenient. We decided what I wanted and it turned out I would need planning permission because I live in a flat.
Michael drew up the plans and charged me no extra for that service, and in order to do that he had to make another couple of site inspections, all on time, all when he said he would. He is businesslike, delightful, polite and respectful to do business with. I put in the planning application, the council asked for more information. Michael returned to site and did what was necessary, no extra charge, all part of the service, all smiles, all quick and on time and exactly to his word.
We got planning permission in early September, during the post strike. Michael’s wife, Lucy, had been on the council’s website and let me know the good news as soon as it was posted there. We scheduled the work to start on Wednesday this week, 14th October. In that intervening month, contracts were exchanged, deposits paid and terms for the third and final payment were agreed to suit my personal financial circumstances. All very neat and tidy. He told me when the build would start and end, when and how I was required to pay the three instalments totalling £12,800.
I got up early on Wednesday knowing that workmen like to start work earlier than I do. I anticipated them at about 08.30, they contacted me 48 hours earlier to remind me they were coming and to enquire about parking and access for their deliveries.
Michael arrived on site early at 08.20, his assistant not far behind. I showed them the facilities, the bathroom, the kitchen and invited them to help themselves to tea and coffee whenever they wanted. Michael already told me that he was self-sufficient with his own supplies and would only stop twice during the working day for breaks. His assistant said the immortal words “that’s OK, I don’t drink tea or coffee!” Neither do I, so that’s just grand. I was able to instantly banish the thought of becoming their tea lady for three weeks.
They set about their work with relish, the first day was mainly about bringing in the tools, staking out the area on which they were going to build. Yesterday was about concreting the base and I could begin to see the standard of Michael’s workmanship which was exemplary. I could see he was one of those entrepreneurs I always talk about in my trainings, a perfectionist control freak, i.e. on top of every detail and here before his team, leading from the front. Fabulous! I instantly knew on Day One that my garden shed is going to be gorgeous as you can see anyway from the photo. I could see from the way he was perfecting the concreting just exactly the measure of the man.
So I said to the lad when he came to fetch two glasses of tap water “I see Michael is a perfectionist, what’s he like as a boss?” The lad was effusive. He knows he’s getting a great apprenticeship. I heard Michael giving him free life advice too, as they worked.
Today the frame is up and I can see precisely how it’s going to fit into my garden and they are waterproofing it for the weekend. A visitor to my house yesterday, a bloke, observed (completely unsolicited from me) how neatly they have their supplies stacked, organised and protected from any rain, a detail which would not have occurred to me. I have been asked to choose Farrow & Ball paint colours; I let Michael guide me. He asked me did I want decking and would I like it to match the shape of the garden step which leads down to the office? “Fill yer creative boots” I told him, such is my trust now.
At 2.30 I can see they are beginning to pack up to go home at 3 o’clock, as they have each day’s workload planned out to that degree, to bring the project in both on time and on budget. Fab-u-lous, Darling. The lad’s just been in to say goodbye and wish me a lovely weekend! I get icing on my cake too, it seems.
Sadly for us Londoners, this is the last London garden office Michael will ever build as he has already moved his wife and children to Dorset and they are going to be running their business in the Southern and South West Counties from now on.
Michael’s Garden Offices is a Great Little Business. He’s only doing one thing wrong. Can you see what it is yet, as Rolf would say? And gosh, I wish I was getting only one thing wrong in my businesses!
If you would like your own Great Little Business-In-The- Making to run like Michael’s Well Oiled Machine, grab yourself a seat in the Money Gym Boardroom.
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My new garden office is finished. Doesn't it look lovely? I've been too busy to move in yet. First job is to move a card table and garden chair down there and take a laptop and see if the WiFi signal stretches. If not, I need some BT help to get me fully teched up, then removal men to get me and my office physically in situ.
I am going to be doing some Shed Sessions for my one-to-one clients down the garden in 2010. Let me know if you want to spend a day a month with me in the Garden Shed! You can watch Nick the Rock & Roll Gardener work his magic by landscaping around the new garden office. The four seasons will enable us to measure your progress towards the business of your dreams, towards your financial goals and freedom.
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Helen Loveless wrote in the Mail on Sunday:
“As the recession bites, growing numbers of older workers who have seen their jobs disappear are starting their own businesses, often using their redundancy payouts as funding.
Figures show that entrepreneurs aged 50 and over were behind more than a quarter of all new start-ups launched in the first six months of 2009, with an estimated 200,000 firms set up by the over-50s since the onset of the credit crunch in August 2007.
Research by telecoms company O2 suggests that older entrepreneurs are finding it easier to access funding than others, with nearly 40 percent saying they had obtained bank finance. Two thirds believe their age helped them in this.
Nearly 70 percent of businesses run by over-50s operate from home. A quarter of bosses use smartphones to run their business, while one in five uses social networking sites such as Facebook to make contacts and find new business opportunities.
Tony Fraser, 50, is the managing director and founder of the Cornish Sea Salt Company, which sells hand-harvested sea salt. Tony set up the firm last year, after his interest in Celtic history led him to look into how the Cornish produced sea salt from their shores in times gone by.
‘As an entrepreneur in my fifties, I am enjoying more success now, towards the end of my career, than in any previous employment,' he says.
The Prince's Initiative for Mature Enterprise offers free information, events and training for over-50s looking to set up their own business. Go go primebusinessclub.co.uk“
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Breakfast at Top Carrot, the Ginger Breeze with an almond croissant.
Tomatoes – sourced, tick.
The Mozzies are still on top, we dont have them licked yet but the battle continues.
Chillin'.
Suntans: Taking on a smidge of colour now, after a couple of hours in the pool in my Swimfloat chair.
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Our second day dawns early. Lag. And starts off badly. Again. I go outside at about 6 a.m. to watch the moon on the water, still confidently covered in last night's DEET, and am immediately set upon and bitten quite badly by some killer mosquitoes. Yum. White meat, fresh and innocent, d'Angleterre.
St Martin is half Dutch and half French. The border is passed without ceremony most days, just a few flags on the side of the road. But the Dutch side is pretty American, as is the French side too it must be said, and you can use any currency from euros to dollars and back again, in any and all shops. Although some things are priced in francs (!) and even Dutch currency. What is the Dutch currency? Guilders!
We decided to pop out to our favourite breakfast spot, Ti Sucriere. It doesn't look much from outside which is good as we want it kept a secret. We were standing in the queue contemplating the mouthwatering display of French pastries – brioche, croissants and pastry twists with chocolate dots in and remembering their good cappuccino and Mango & Carrot juice. And we had one of our favourite laughs.
The first time we came here, N sniffed it out. She has an uncanny nose for a good eaterie. But because it didnt look much from the outside, I was very unenthusiastic about coming in at all. Shoulda known better.
I turn to her now and say “I didn't want to come in here, did I?” and she replies “No, and its only THE BEST SHOP IN THE WORLD”. And she's right, and henceforth it shall be known, TBSITW. And although we would like to come here every day, calorifically that simply cannot be allowed to happen.
It backs onto the lagoon and lots of our neighbours take their boats to fetch the breakfast croissants. We are just working out how we can lie abed and shout our order at the speedboats passing by to bring us back a couple. Each! We have the requisite Bonne Maman confiture in stock – abrigots.
We quickly worked out last time precisly how far and wide the people come from to get the best breakfast viennoiserie in the islands. They come on all manner of craft, kayaks, dinghies, jetskis. Round here people will go to some considerable lengths to get their hands on these pastries. The parking is tense as people step on one another to join the queue, as far as that sort of behaviour actually happens in this laid-back part of the world.
Satiated to stupefaction with sugar and fat, we move on. We drive past the cinema to check out what's on. We notice what's new and what's gone or moved. We go past the Harley Davidson shop, the Lido rib shack, Johnny B's Under The Tree and the DNA Paternity Testing depot (we don't anticipate a need). The first French supermarket we had in mind appears to have become a cash and carry and we cannot remember whether it was always so. We think not, on balance.
We circumnavigate the back roads of Marigot, the French capital, headed for the big French supermarket which frankly is a bit of a disappointment this time. Its hot, the carpark is full and they have no tomatoes, something we go on to lament through the day at both lunch and supper but can be rectified tomorrow.
But we do secure an inexpensive broom for N who likes to sweep and, to be frank, housekeeping is not all it might be at Anchorage, yet. The cleaner is expected once a week and cleanliness leaves a tad to be desired by N's own exacting standards. Although we do not propose to spend the entire holiday cleaning, the first wash is on as I write and sweeping would no doubt commence shortly were it not for the fact we forgot to bring to bring the broom in from the car. And it's parked a long way away. And it's hot.
We return home to a lunch of bread and cheese at 11.30 (lag) and hit the pool with our Swim Float chairs which we have brought out from London. We first encountered these in Mexico in 2005 and I expensively imported a couple from the States, but we haven't used them yet. They pack flat, I got mine in my suitcase and N carried hers as hand luggage. They come in a handy little net bag but we haven't dared to open them in England as we are not convinced we will be able – ever – to get them back into those same little net bags.
You take them out of the bags and whoosh! They turn into pool furniture. But you have to blow them up, manually. By which I mean not that you use your hands, but that you are not allowed to use any sort of pump except the one God gave you. We blew and we blew and we blew, not without the odd tantrum, but eventually both were fit for purpose.
And I launched myself into the pool and into my SwimFloat chair, with its little space for a gin and tonic. And waited. For the sun to come round. Its only on our pool from 1.30 onwards so we will have to explore beaches during the mornings. Its a tough life.
We didnt do anything but such is the nature of a holiday. At about 6.30 I made a salad and N started a barbecue on the terrace and we had a peppery pork chop. Was that before or after I gave someone a Skype consult which sounded clear as a bell? Can't remember and it matters not.
We attempted a Nick Nolte DVD but our eyes closed so we had an early bedtime.
Suntan report: Blotchy.
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There's no nice way to say this. It's a bitch of a journey. I went into training on 1st September, three months to get well enough to survive LHR-CDG-SXM. And still it takes its toll, in so many different ways.
Last time: three hours at LHR T2 with no shopping, no breakfast, no coffee even and Salman Rushdie on our plane, remember? I do. All too painfully. It took me three years to be able to face it again.
On Thursday morning I got up at two a.m., collected my travelling companion at three and arrived at Heathrow at four for our flight to St Martin via Paris with Air France. This time I mastered online check-in and also found a Meet & Greet Parking which opened at 4 a.m. AND booked business class tickets, all of which contributed to our being first to check into the ghost town which was T4, altogether a much nicer experience.
It was all going to plan. We were locked and loaded and ready to go. But then we sat on the tarmac until 50 minutes past scheduled take-off. The businessman next to me lost it. I dont blame him. He was going to Paris for an 8.30 business meeting and he got up early enough to catch the 6.40 flight, as did we. Only it didnt take off until nearly an hour later, by which time he had missed his meeting. He asked for a feedback form and started to attack it with some vigour.
I stressed about making our connection. We were scheduled to arrive in Paris at 9 a.m. local time for our 10.30 flight. We knew we had to change terminals because we did this precise journey three years ago, almost to the day. As we went to land in Paris, there was a light aircraft running out of fuel and so up we went into the sky again at a dramatic angle and then burned another 30 minutes waiting for a slot to land. Tap, tap, tap.
By now we were very late for our connection, the only onward daily flight to St Martin, and I was envisaging being checked into a hotel as guests of Air France for 24 hours. No what I had in mind. Since we were in row C I was first off the plane and the chief flight attendant showed me a printout of all those affected and there were no fewer than 14 of us on our flight going to SXM and many others besides trying to go to India et al.
He told me that ground crew would be waiting to fast-track us across Charles de Gaulle airport. I enjoyed a small flicker of suspicion that all could be OK after all, although keeping the other 13 stress-free about whether or not their luggage would make the connection was a tall order still, despite a sort of Dunkirk-spirit camaraderie and laughter which developed within our posse.
But Air France came up trumps and we began to relax – us, the older couple and the Geordie. All my tapping had come in handy. But its not over yet, as go hurtling round the Charles de Gaulle in a rackety bus collecting stragglers for Terminal C. Terminal, its not a good word to be associated with international jet travel, is it?
Our first plane had been kept waiting for 5 late passengers and we sighed with frustration. Now we had a whole Airbus waiting for the Lost Fourteen but they seemed relatively chilled when we rushed in and took our seats. Our flight had been re-scheduled for 11 a.m. takeoff and I dont remember much of the rest of it.
It passed in a blur of complimentary champagne and white wine, a four course lunch or foie gras, shrimp, cheese and chocolate pud, served on real plates with glasses, cutlery, napkins and tablecloths (!), two films (Up and The Soloist), horizontal sleeps, jokes and jollity and me announcing I was “drunk” after only three small glasses.
Before we knew it, we were commencing our landing at Princess Juliana Airport at St Martin, on the Dutch side. We saw our island from above, I know her shape inside out, and we could even see where we would be staying. You land right on the sand (do Google landing at SXM for a bit of fun, terrifying fun) and voila! Here we are! It so warm, its like outisde has the central heating on.
Bob, the eponymous hero of Bob's villas, met us and took us to the car hire place and soon I was driving a left-hand drive Tuscon back to my new home for the rest of the month, Anchorage at Pointe Venezia. Bob had to rush off, apparently he is also an entertainer doing Elton John, Willy Nelson etc in local bars on demand, glittery shirts, that sort of thing.
As we unloaded and showered and turned our act around and went out immediately again in the hire car to scavenge for essentials, I realised why people go back to the same place they like over and over again. It isnt something I have done much in my life if at all, but its SO relaxing to know where everything is, know where each road goes to, to be able to drive the island without a map.
Sure, there are still some undiscovered corners. We are, for example, going to need to find out how to actually get onto Simpson Beach, the best and longest and one of the quietest on the island, and ideally how to get onto it at a spot where there are some beach chairs available.
And we havent yet found Ivan of Where's Ivan, our favourite ice-cream shop, which appears to have changed hands. But we are on it.
We drove straight to Top Carrot, our favourite juice bar, for a Big C (me) and an Awakening (N) and a cappuccino muffin. If was one of those “oh, I don't want muffin at 4 p.m.” moments, until N let me have a bit of hers and then we had to share it. As you will see, over the coming days, I often don't know my own mind!
Next to the Pizza Galley for an early supper at 6 p.m. (don't forget we were, by now, 20 hours into our day) and we knew the menu off by heart – Caesar Salad to start and a thin and crispy home-made pizza to share, a quick stop for some more drinks before I unpacked my entire month's worth of stuff and worked out how the WiFi worked before knocking off 46 emails from Thursday and passing out.
I was content to be back in my Caribbean home. I was content the WiFi worked easily (last time I had to throw myself on the mercy of some lads down the road who have a computer shop). I was content with our view of Simpson Lagoon. I was content we had made the right choice for December 2009.
But where's Ivan?
Suntan report Day 1: Non existent.
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Mosquito solution found (of sorts): Two electric tennis rackets which you wave at the passing blighter and it eloctrocutes him. A particularly sadistic sort of revenge. We looked at these two killer bats in the apartment for several days before we worked out what they are for. Imagine the demonic she-devil laughter as another parasite is despatched and you have some idea of the celebrations here at the death of the beastie.
We are also grateful for your tips from Marmite to garlic, both reminders, which we have put into play immediately. We are also going to try something like Mosquito Milk which is getting rave reviews here although a brief Google search reveals that the only thing which works is DEET, as we suspected. Apparently you would be OK if you could stop emitting CO2 but I think if that day comes, I will probably be, er, dead. Not a good look, with or without a tan.
Yesterday we went on a beach crawl and have sussed out a couple of local opportunities – the nearest beach is the one where I nearly drowned last time in humiliating huge waves, the memory of which can still wake me up at nights at home in a sweat, even three years later. Although I am a good, strong and lifelong swimmer, one should never underestimate power of the sea and the waves which kept grabbing me and throwing me down on the sand. All looked quiet as can be yesterday.
I think it may vanquish another sort of demon if we return there one day soon.
I am trying to find access to Simpson Bay beach at a place which is relatively quiet but provides all the comforts of home, shade, chairs, cool drinks etc. We are going to try out a bar called Karakter which has a rather worrying cool quotient but we will see how we get on.
I received an exciting message via Twitter that a pal is cruising from Barbados and will stop off in St Martin on 29th, so that's fun and something to look forward to as that happens in the week when I am home alone here. I have had that dream before, that I would be here while people would come to visit by cruise ship, and how it's come to pass. How funny is that? Well, not at all actually, if you think like I do, that what you visualise comes to pass.
And finally yesterday's news was that we discovered there is such a thing as tinned butter! We met a British lady in the French supermarket who was provisioning a boat and she had a trolley full to the brim. She asked if we had ever made bread and what sort of flour should one use; I pointed out the one marked Bread Flour and she seemed pleased enough with that.
We enjoyed a really interesting chat with her. Her eventual trip is sailing the Pacific for eight months starting next March and her task now was to work out whether SXM would be a good place from which to stock the boat. I thought her trolley was filled with tinned tuna until she corrected me “no, that's butter!”. Butter? In tins? We had no idea butter came in tins and neither did she. I love learning something new every day.
Imagine living on board a boat for eight months and baking your own bread! No, I couldnt either. We wished her good luck and asked if she would be blogging her journey. Yes, was the answer but I forget how to find it. You go to some sailing website which it sounded like everyone should know about (we are not yachties – yet) and then click on the name of the boat. Will see if I can bump into her again as my mind has gone blank on that detail.
I have decided that if/when I live here, I will need to be able to sail a boat – one of those large-ish one with an outboard motor or two and now I want lessons. So if you know anyone who gives outboard motor lessons, could you send them my way please? Preferably in the sun, the lessons that is. And no, I don't mean sailing, I just mean buzzing across the lagoon on a little speed-boat thing but at a ladylike pace – to start with at least!
Then I lay in the pool and went through ideas in my head of how I could earn a living which allowed me to stay here and I came up with trading Forex which I had already rejected but now needs to come back on the table as that is something which would be perfect from here. What reminded me was I saw an ad in the local paper for a trading group who were getting together to share the costs of a visiting teacher/mentor. Brilliant idea and if I lived here already I would be in.
And the other idea was for an SXM website as all the ones I have seen have been adequate but quite poor, and as I lay in my Swimfloat chair, I had the whole site mapped out including how I would monetise it. Then I HAD to get out of the pool to do some keyword research only to discover that the local paper have just launched the precise website I had visualised. Check this out though.
What makes this idea different for me is that I think I could be interested enough in this island and its goings on to create a resource site for it, maybe about the stories of people like me who come here, settled here however temporarily, and/set up businesses like the Bryan who I met on Sunday night. More thought will go into this when I am back floating in the pool later – ideal conditions for thinking, dreaming, creating, visioning. Almost too good!
People are mainly searching on St Martin as a holiday destination but I was wondering what else they are looking for? If I were settling here, I'd be looking for loads of information about how to rent a property for 6-12 months, how to buy and maintain a cheapish local car, how to make the best of things inexpensively so that your savings go further etc. There do seem to be a lot of people who want to live in the sun cheaply. Of course, that book's already been written more than once which is why my thinking cap is still on for my own angle.
What services could I provide to the local business/yacht/property community? Because I would need to DO something!
Tan update: Brown faces and arms, legs still fairly milk-bottle, need a beach for the all-over tan as our pool only gets sun for two fantastically peaceful hours in the afternoon. Wherever we go we have to be back for 1.30 for that session!
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Having a snoop around the SXM restaurant review websites, we come across one we haven't tried before and rock up on a rainy Sunday night, in the middle of the New York Giants -v- Dallas Cowboys game, unbeknownst to us. The Giants won, which seemed to please everyone who cared in the bar.
The restaurant of our choice was Bonita's Cantina, on the site of the old Ric's Place. Ric is still around apparently but he is the previous owner but one. The current owners who only opened a scant two months ago are Bonnie & Bryan. We went for the ribs which N duly had. I went off piste and didnt regret it with a fabulous burger. What was apparent with both choices is that Bonita's have sourced a supplier of really top notch quality meat.
We will return again not just for the food but for the welcome. Bryan tried (and failed) to tempt us with his home-made apple pie, we were too full. But he took us out to the terrace to point out the superyachts in the marina, and talk about living in Gypsy Hill just down the road from N, his London neighbour of 6.5 years. Who knew?
Bonita's website goes live soon. They are doing several things right – the good food, the welcome, the cleanliness, the spaciousness, good barman, the marketing (already highly visible on the web) with a nice plan for social networking online by getting you to take a photo of yourselves at their place and putting it on their site, linking it to yours etc. We shall return to do that.
Bryan pointed out the yachts of Microsoft's co-founder, Paul Allen, of Judge Judy, Oprah and the man who owns Victoria's Secret amongst other businesses. One of those businesses was called Limited and his boat is called Limitless. Nice. I love the idea of being limitless.
Bryan also offered us a full English but we havent flown all those miles to a French paradise to eat bacon and eggs, not in that format anyway. But how kind!
I seem to have a way with the restaurateurs here; they can't afford me but they want to talk to me. They can't possibly know how much I know about what it takes to be successful in the restaurant business but I love hearing their brave tales all the same.
Still no sign of Ivan.
My mozzie bites are subsiding, N's getting worse. We have taken on a bit of colour, enough not to be too shamed when we go out and about but not what you could call an all-over tan yet. We have scoped out a good, local beach. We vacated the pad this morning for the cleaner who was a no show and we are off to the cinema and out for supper. We are going to watch a movie we wouldn't be seen dead watching in London but hey, isnt that what holidays are all about?
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Me: “I've finished my John Grisham.”
Her: “I know.”
Me: “How do you know?”
Her: “You're talking to me!”
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A quiet day at home by – and in – our own pool. It's small but perfectly formed and although it doesnt get the sun all day, it gets more than enough in these somewhat fierce sun conditions and it overlooks the lagoon. The lapping of the water just over our terrace is the most wonderfully relaxing sound I can think of.
I promise I will eventually get around to getting my camera out of the safe and taking some photos to share with readers – soon.
I was able to finish my second novel, a Jodi Piccoult, and start the uber holiday page-turner, a John Grisham. I'm saving my improving literature for later in the holiday!
We are going out for coconut shrimp tonight and our first frozen cocktail, neither of us are big drinkers, and hoping to re-visit Lee's Roadside Grill which we enjoyed more than once on our previous trip.
Following goings on this evening remotely as SCD and XF grind to their inevitable conclusions. I follow the former and N the latter and we are keen to make sure you get it right in our absence. Somewhat shocked to realise that XF have managed to spread the proceedings across two evenings?
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We took a day out of the sun today, having been slightly frightened yesterday about what we were doing to our skin. So instead we went out to breakfast, followed by a little bit of shopping, a cappuccino in French capital of Marigot, overlooking the Marina.
We drove around a bit and had a late lunch back with Bryan & Bonnie, did some baking and BBQ-ing back at home later in the day.
We had a laugh at our favourite juice bar, chock full of ippy-dippy gifts which I love a good mooch through. N said of the joss sticks “let's get out of here, this smell is clashing with my Tom Ford”!
We were recognised by two local restaurateurs today so we are famous after only a week. That was nice and felt comfortable and easy. And bodes well – for their businesses, for our holiday and for my living here dream.
WE FOUND IVAN! The lady from the Pizza Galley knows where he has gone. She was able to tell us what the French lady who bought Ivan's gelateria was not. Where he is… and we are going to scope that out over the weekend.
And we heard by email from the creator of the lovely i-sxm website, he is a 33 year old Italian who has worked for Google. How exciting is that? Following up with him to find out more about his new business venture.
Excitement of the week: Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, docked in Philipsburg SXM for the first time, during her maiden voyage. She has a capacity of over 6,000 passengers and they have to shut Front Street to cope with the sheer number of passengers disembarking for the day.
This has been a great coup for the island of Sint Maarten and achieved loads of press coverage. She's back next week on Wednesday, the day after local bank holiday called Kingdom Day, and we thought we might pop into town for a quick look at that one. A photo in the local paper shows her as bigger than three more normal-sized ships! And IMHO they are already somewhat obscene. However, the cruise industry is vital to the local community and so that deserves a looksee from us.
I am chuffed to see options to buy property advertised in the local paper with vendor finance and share that with our Money Gym Rent2Own group.
I discover that I am unable to see all my bank accounts and credit card details which I so carefully set up on Egg.com before I left home, specifically for that purpose, because I have moved to a new laptop. Doh. I will now have to guess how much I owe who and when before I get home if it is not to adversely affect my credit rating.
Paperback count – a rather dismal less than 2 – one wonders what on earth we are doing all day except killing mozzies?
And finally today's tan update: over-baked.
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Well, we have been here a week now. Time flies in paradise. Today I considered we were acclimatised sufficiently to make it to the beach and we rocked up, as planned, at the Karakter Beach Bar & Lounge where we were welcomed kindly.
We discovered the first ever beach bar I have liked. Karakter is laid back. It plays nice music which enhances the beach experience, a delicate call that one. They serve great food and drinks. They have lovely, smiley, can-do staff and lots of beautiful dogs who lie sleeping in the shade of the beach umbrellas.
The wind was up and consequently the sea was too rough for us to swim. The sea even came up the beach and threatened to take away our shoes, a kind lady had to life-save one of N's Crocs before it was washed away.
We met a foursome from Cincinatti and one of the two guys bought a bucket of 6 beers at $12 which I thought was an absolute bargain, which he later confirmed. He and his colleague and their two wives have been coming to St Martin for over a decade and are all here now celebrating their 50th birthdays, all of them looking great on it. They taught me how to save $1,000 on such a trip.
We compared notes on my favourite island and were often in consensus. We were able to tip them off to Bonita's Cantina and they were at pains to let us know about All You Can Eat Ribs at the Lady C. The two guys are in law enforcement which I thought was really cool! It felt like being in a TV cop show. I asked them had they ever witnessed any crime on the island and the answer was very reassuring.
We only did the morning at the beach because it was very hot and our pool is so gorgeous at 1.30. But we will definitely return to Karakter which has showers, toilets, WiFi and is positioned adjacent to the runway at the airport (PJIA). Being near the airport doesnt sound much fun does it? But that's anything but true. Not only is the landing the most spectactular I've ever seen, over the sea, but very few big planes come in and all the tiny puddle-jumpers are fascinating. I like to watch the Jet Set come and go from Anguilla and St Barths. I would go to both of those islands were it not for a 2nd change of plane here in St Martin. A journey too far. As yet.
Karakter serves drinks and food from a fabulous old bus with lots of windows and you can sit up to the bus and eat and drink or sit in a shady garden or on the hot beach. They have jazz evenings on Fridays, the jury's out on whether we will do that tomorrow. And they have super T-shirts which say “dont miss the bus”.
We caught the bus and loved it. And from the bus, on Simpson Bay, I can see the next holiday home I want to rent and next door to that, the first home on SXM I want to own.
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As we drive along here in our holiday rental car, there is constantly a chorus of horns beeping. But they don't so much as honk or beep as we are used to in the UK; they are a rather more light touch, a bip if you will.
It would seem that people bip for any and all reasons. To say hello, or goodbye. To ask if they can come across or to let you out. To tell a friend they are passing by. To proposition you. And more.
At first this was somewhat frightening. “Who's honking at me now and why?” We assumed we were doing something wrong in our driving. But no. It was just the drivers having a friendly chat with one another. On the move!
I have yet to hear a bip used in anger or warning, though I dont rule it out. Just lucky I guess.
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Our little holiday pad is deliciously secluded, without being remote. We are called Anchorage and that's situated in Point Venezia and, just like Venice, our properties are built into the water.
Which means we have to walk along planks to get home. Walking on a raised wooden platform, like a somewhat rotting boardwalk!
And these planks are above water and get rained on tropically almost every day, some days that's big rain.
And so the planks can be a bit soft which is a tad scary especially if you are carrying something heavy too like 6 x 1.5 litres of Evian or a suitcase!
Someone (not us) has put their foot through one of the planks. Ouch! We don't think it's our neighbour who is walking on crutches but I tell you, I wouldn't want to be walking on crutches in this heat. And I wouldnt be wanting to put my foot through one of those planks either.
So we tip toe home. These are the joys of life, arent they? In order to live on water in privacy, you have to walk the plank.
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What took us so long to go back to Paradise?
- I wanted time to acclimatise as being exposed in the sun all day on a beach can be a red hot experience.
- The drive is a hot and long one from here and the traffic is often quite bad
- It seemed easier to do other things closer to home.
And then we gave up with the excuses and just went to Pinel Island, scene of our favourite experience last time we were here in St Martin. We left home at 8.30 and were on the first boat to the island at 9.30. They have built a third bar/restaurant there since our last visit and the little beach island is “crowded”, the busiest place we have seen in two weeks with oh, one hundred or so people on the beach, I guess.
We spent the day with an Austrian girl who we met on the boat on the way over, she's off to New York tomorrow. And sat next to a French family with two tiny daughters in water wings, called Violette and Lucie, the daughters that is, not the water wings. I find I can speak childish French.
We had lunch – crayfish lobster – at Karibuni and I asked the waiter “is this the best restaurant table in the world?” of our waters' edge seat, tall chairs, umbrella. He said, “yes, it is” before bringing us delicious hot food and frozen drinks with a devilishly handsome smile, before hopping onto his boat to bring in people from the yachts for their lunch too.
I went shopping and bought at least one replacement pareo for the best beloved one which is (not) going home. Two are pink (natch) and the third is black with enormous pink flowers and Pinel Island written on it, tastefully. It could be worn, or framed.
And then we caught the 3 p.m. boat home, island time. Alongside a group from Philadelphia, a city we have visited – and loved – twice. All the streets in Philly are named after trees and we tried to remember which one our friends' house was on and had a good laugh about that. They had also been to Cornwall, scene of other happy holidays for us also. Small world.
Then we returned home via the ice-cream shop which used to belong to Ivan, we have yet to visit him at his new restaurant and felt somewhat disloyal to him although we will be able to report that the French lady who bought his shop is still doing justice to his legacy, especially vanilla and chocolate.
And now that we have remembered the way and why we love it so much, we shall return to our Pinel Island Paradise again tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Because its perfect in every way.
I have had the photo of Pinel I took on my phone set as the background on it since we were last here in 2006, so I can revisit Pinel whenever I want. I often have it as my desktop background too so its no surprise we have manifested it again.
I must find out if I can go on Xmas Day! I realised as soon as I set foot on the white sand and spent the day floating in the clear, clear sea that I am very deeply happy and relaxed on Pinel, my best beach in the world. And there's almost nothing I can think of which I would prefer to give myself for Christmas.
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Overnight there was a powercut; we woke up boiling alive without any air con and unable to shower which was a bit of a bummer since today we had planned a trip to Philipsburg, the Dutch Capital of Sint Maarten, to scope out the Oasis of The Seas.
The Oasis is the largest cruise ship ever and today was her second visit to SXM. This has caused a great deal of excitement locally and never ones to miss out, we popped along to see it with our own eyes.
The first thing was that as soon as we left our lagoon-side apartment, we could see a cruise ship docked where we had never seen one before. On consulting the map, we think this was probably at Marigot, the French Capital.
Although extensions to the Philipsburg cruise port have been made to accommodate the big new ship, presumably there was overflow today.
We could see the Oasis long before we arrived at our chosen viewing point as she is ENORMOUS. There's no nice way to say this. That's a Mother!
She holds 6,000+ passengers and 1,000+ crew. My instincts are that this is obscene in so many ways. But my business head tells me its great. We read that the island is chuffed to bits to host the cruise liner and the Royal Caribbean Line is thrilled that St Martin provides such excellent facilities for the passengers. Win win, always lovely.
We drove along Front Street which is tense at the best of times, there is no parking at all in that neighbourhood and so we just had to keep moving. We tried to get into the port but were not allowed. We took the coast road and found some great viewing spots but nowhere to stop and take photos. We did take the odd photo nevertheless and none do justice to her so here's one I have borrowed from the web.
This doesnt do it justice either as you need to see it alongside a normal cruise ship for the perspective so you are just going to have to trust me on this one. Our eyes popped out on stalks. Our jaws dropped as the the word O-MI-GOD fell from our gaping mouths.
Have you ever thought about going on a cruise? No, me either. However, I do have a friend visiting here on 29th who is cruising and I am really looking forward to hearing her experience.
My brother has taken his family cruising the last two Christmasses and their experience was that there was always something for everyone, to do, to eat, etc.
To me that's rather anathema; holidays are about doing nothing except reading, sleeping, eating, drinking, and a bit more of all of the above with a smattering of laughter, love, and sight-seeing thrown in. Do I want to do that with 5,999 other poeple? No sirree!
But I'm interested, so if you have been on a cruise, want to go on a cruise, or better still have been on the Oasis of the Seas, do share your story here.
Tallyho!
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Happy Kingdom Day! It's a bank holiday today in Paradise, but how can we tell? It's been a holiday for us every day since we arrived on 3rd December.
We went on an early-ish croissant run to TBSITW, only to hit the Simpson Bay bridge opening at 9.30. This is a wonderful way to while away a few moments in the traffic if you are close enough to see the yachts sail through and today we were.
All manner of craft take the opportunity to come through into the enclosed and safe harbour and nestle up alongside the super yachts. One Trident today was an absolute monster, literally breath-taking, jaw-dropping.
We took our books to breakfast today because TBSITW also has a fabulous rear terrace where you can watch the little tender boats, the outboard motors, come to fetch the French sticks and stop for a cappuccino while they are there. So today we stayed a little longer, in the fabulous breeze, alongisde Simpson Bay Yacht Club which has some pretty nice homes and rental properties in it.
Watching the water is hypnotic and endlessly fascinating. Even as we are sitting still and resting, holidaying, the real world is buzzing about us, doing the jobs which need doing. But I notice that the heat forces them to take life just a tad easier than I do at home, taking the time to stop for that cappuccino for instance, and sitting down to enjoy it rather than taking it on the run.
The former is living in the moment, the latter is feeding a caffeine habit. I know which I prefer. Let's hope I can bring that wisdom home with me and live it. Of such moments is a life made, a life worth living.
Today we brought home from the patisserie a beautiful individual lemon tart to share. It was decorated with a little fringe of meringue, a slice of lime, a chocolate stick and a grape and that sounds a lot, but it wasn't. It was perfect. We shared it this afternoon at the pool. We are in Patisserie Heaven.
We are grateful to have this new laptop with us on holiday as we can look up EVERYTHING; we havent, however, been able to find out much about Kingdom Day, except that the Dutch side of the island is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and today we appear to be celebrating that. Bring it on!
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I don't know what came over me this time with the packing. Despite admonishing N not to pack too much and hers weighed in at about 11 kilos, I went completely – and uncharacteristically- over the top and my luggage weighted in at about 28 kilos.
In my defence, I looked at my suitcase after I had packed it and thought “if I can live out of that for a month, what the hell else is all this stuff for around the flat?”
And also, in my defence again, I am here for a MONTH and I did bring about a dozen books, and one of them was a hardback!
AND I had packed my Swimfloat, whereas Nicola carried hers as hand baggage.
But, Gentle Reader, there's no way around this admission, I have packed FAR TOO MUCH. I don't know what I was thinking. We have the full American efficient combo of washing machine and fabulous dryer and I could have got away with less than half of what I brought.
But the tragedy is that my favourite holiday things are stuggling to cope. I have this beautiful pareo which is full of my favourite holiday colours – pink, orange, and turqoise and I flatter myself that I look elegant in it despite the fact that it is alternately known round here as “that rag” or “blank”. Today we discovered it had a hole in it. I almost cried. There are so many beautiful holiday memories tied up in that rag, I couldnt bear for her to die. Not now. Not ever.
My holiday nightie is also in the same state of holeyness, and bears some gorgeous little stitches of mine (school needlework prize 1972) when I mended it on holiday in France in 1992, yes, you heard that right! 1992.
And my pink swimming costume is sagging a bit and could use a stitch also.
If I were in England, and I had a sewing machine, I would do that thing which old ladies used to do with sheets, cut them in half and sew them back together again so that the edges are now the new middle and that would sort out blank and she would live on for another decade of sunshine fun to come.
Happily, thanks to @AnnHarrison and Lands' End, I have a couple of new holiday favourites – my gorgeous sleeveless pink T-shirt which is soft (softness being an essential quality of all favourite, fading clothing items) and my new holiday shoes which I admire like a little girl every day I wear them: “I love my new trekkers!”
I have always wanted a pair of those quite sad shoes which everyone wears on holiday – they are all straps and look very sensible and indeed they are but boy, are they ugly! And girly? No, they are not girly. But my new Lands' End trekkers manage to be all those things and pink & girly too and I just love them.
Things come and go and we must ease our attachment to those precious items which fade away and sometimes get “donated” (for which read left behind) to where we are staying, and yet, all the while, we are forming new attachments.
Life's ebb and flow, ebb and flow.
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The View From Our Terrace
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Lobster Crayfish Lunch at Karibuni
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Where did it go, that last week? I honestly meant to blog every day but a whole week just got away from me! I have no excuses now except to say I am getting seriously chilled after more than three weeks off work and without the usual Xmas hurdles to negotiate, thanks to being in the sun. The less you do, it seems, the less you can do.
Life has settled into a daily routine here. Is that an accident or do I choose routine? Up early-ish with the dawn, sit quietly for a bit and catch up with overnight emails. Thankfully their number has been dropping during the last week.
Then we pop into town for breakfast plus coffee or juice and a nice peaceful sit, watching the water, before we crack on with our day, either a little supermarket shopping and go back home to our own pool, or off to the beach at Pinel which involves catching a little boat across the water. Its a distance which looks close enough to swim, but isnt. And there's a fabulous service provided every day of the year the tourists want to go, including Christmas Day.
I did think about going to the beach on Christmas Day, something I have done before many times, but this year it wasn't possible as we had the mother and father of all thunderstorms which also took out our TV signal. Since my travelling companion has now returned to her family in the UK, this would have been somewhat challenging were it not for my trusty laptop on which I can watch DVDs.
I was given two DVDs for Christmas, Rob Brydon and Michael McIntyre, and in the event I had to watch both of them on the actual day. Since then, the sun has returned and so I am out of the house again whilst solidly working my way through my hosts' DVD collection in the evenings, which is rather like being in a book club in that you watch stuff you wouldn't normally choose. Yesterday Firewall with Harrison Ford which was rather long and a bit scary and Flicka which was about horses but did have the rather splendid Maria Bello in it so worth seeing through to the end.
We caught Georgy Clooney at the movies in Up In The Air just before N left. She can't bear GC, doesn't think he can act and doesn't appear susceptible to his charms. It thought the film rather good and suspect the book is probably even better, judging from the quirkily philosophical voice-over. Anyone read it?
My best read of the holiday so far has been Chris Evans' autobiography from which I learned a lot about how I propose to run my 2010; highly recommended and I have told him so on Twitter. My best fiction read has been over 600 pages of American Wife by Curtis Suttenfeld who, despite her name, is a woman. I dont know that I would ever have time for a 600 page novel were I not on a long holiday. A very rewarding read, one of those I didnt want to end.
In all the Christmas messages I received from home it seems everyone had a heroic journey in the snow to get to their final destination. My brother and his family going to South Africa had their first flight to Paris cancelled by Air France by email (!) and took up the challenge to try and make their connection by Eurostar; apparently they were on the last train out before the failures so they were really, really lucky though had to battle their way through plenty of chaos, including Air France summarily cancelling their onward flight because they had chosen not to put on their first one.
And plenty of other friends landing in strange places. I hope you all got to your intended destinations in time?
My thoughts are now almost turning to coming home on Thursday/Friday, to Mitsy the cat who has been in kennels for nearly a month, to the mountain of post and stored up pieces of work which I have filed in two files on my computer called Jobs for January and Printing in January! Thank Heavens for my trusty laptop which has saved the day on more than one occasion. Perhaps the best facility of all is being able to look up the answer to any mystery which occurs – we simply have that power at our fingertips.
And, of course, once I lost my TV signal, I can keep myself amused with my laptop too. Indispensable, even with a host of novels at hand.
Life here is a lesson in living in the moment in that I get up every day without much of an agenda except getting clean, feeding and watering myself, resting, relaxing, reading, swimming, sunning and writing this blog. I wonder how I fit in so much else when at home though most of those tasks simply go out the window. I hope I can bring home that sense of living in the moment, though I know I am not very good at that once re- immersed in my work. I wonder about making a resolution around that.
I see a whole year ahead of us and am somewhat surprised that it is 2010 already. I remember the Millennium Eve and the Y2K bug threat as if it were yesterday. I remember my Mum and three friends came to stay in my flat in the Docklands and we watched all the wonderful fireworks as well as the Queen going by on a boat to the ill-fated Dome. 2010 will be five years since my Mother died, it will be my youngest nephew's 18th birthday and my 55th.
Tempus Fugit. Time waits for no man. Better make some good plans over the next week to make the best of 2010 and beyond so that I can spend more time being seriously chilled and living in the moment in parts of the world such as this with weather and a lifestyle I enjoy.
In the unlikely event its another week before I write, fingers crossed, Happy New Year!
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I'm coming home today and that's a phrase full of mixed emotions.
Once the day of my flight dawns, I'm keen to get the travelling over with especially considering how fraught with difficulties that can be in this day and age. Now that I am up early and enjoying the dawn, I wish I could just rock up at the airport and get on with it. But my flight doesn't take off until 1700. So what to do with my last few hours?
I'm excited to be coming home, being reunited with Mitsy and all that is familiar to me, all that I call “home”.
But I am sad to be leaving my second home, my island paradise.
So, after a month here experimenting with the idea of living here, at least part-time, what's the verdict? I definitely think I could live here for say 3-6 months at a time, out of hurricane season. The weather is a worry; yesterday's paper was full of seawater flooding low-lying parts of the island and talk of tidal surges and holidaymakers getting stranded in boats and having to jettison their luggage and swim for it!
I must say I would have to have my back against the wall to jettison my luggage but I suppose when it comes to it, its the least of one's concerns when you fear for your life.
I don't know that I would ever get over feeling strange and foreign but people do, of course. I wonder how long that takes before they stop treating you like a holidaymaker? I've enjoyed a month here which is much longer than most holidaymakers do and people are recognising me, smiling and talking to me like an old hand now but I'm still not a local, never would be.
I think if I were to send 3-6 months here – or anywhere – I would need to have a project to sustain me, like trading FX or writing a book. I would need to be able to set up a real office not perching on the side of a coffee table! I would definitely need faster broadband and first off I would need to find out how fast that needs to be to be able to watch videos like YouTube online and I would need to subscribe to something which allows me to watch BBC iPlayer online, assuming that broadband speed can be achieved.
How fast does it need to be, anyone know? Or is it about bandwidth, or what?
What have I missed from home? Not much, to be honest with you except that sense of home. A holiday is quite unreal and that's precisely as it should be and my home away from home never feels like home exactly, does that make sense?
I tell you what I won't miss from here – again, not much. But cockroaches (seen two really big ones), bugs in my kitchen (yuk!) and being plagued by mozzies. Generally that wasn't me but my travel companion, but yesterday one really determined one pursued me and spoiled my last afternoon in the sun. Bar steward.
The main thing I will miss, of course, is the weather. If I could transport the weather from here home with me, I would be in heaven, heaven, heaven.
I am looking forward to my return trip because I shelled out for business class in Air France and that enables me to lie flat, my first ever experience of that. Last time I paid for business class, the seats were comfy but they didnt recline all the way. To travel in comfort is at least one of the compensations for the long journey.
Robert Louis Stevenson said “to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive” and RLS, I know where you are coming from, but I travel hopefully and I anticipate arrival being fabulous too. What you believe, you achieve.
Now all I need to do is find a way to fill the 10 hours between now and departure, three of them in the departures lounge. Still, here comes the sun and breakfast beckons. I think I will go out for it.
See you on the other side.
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Getting up every morning to sunshine, the sheer reliability of it.
My swimfloat in our private pool, reading and sunning while keeping cool.
Fantastic lobster, croissants, crayfish, barbecued and grilled meat from Argentina and Venezuela the like of which we never see in UK supermarkets.
Cheap petrol.
An automatic car again – hooray.
Lots of sleep, opportunities to snooze and do nothing.
My new laptop.
Films and books and lots of time to enjoy them and lots more time besides to just look at the views of waving palm trees and water.
Friendship and laughter, home-baked brownies and cookies.
French food and all that brings with it, care and attention to your extreme dining pleasure and earthly delights.
Being able to wear my summer clothes every day and them being pink, pink, pink.
My new trekkers (pink) and my new pareos (pink).
A fabulous combo of US washing machine and drier which means you can turn around your favourite clothes and wear them again within seconds with no effort. Which means I didnt need to bring nearly as much stuff as I did!
Pinel Island and the little boat trip across there and the posse of boatmen who make that possible and fun and safe.
The Daily Herald, Oprah & Dr Phil.
The pool guy, Jenny the cleaner the Bob the miracle worker.
Cloudless blue skies.
The lagoon, peaceful outside our windows, meditative.
The yachts and superyachts moored in Simpson Bay.
The turquoise water of the Caribbean.
Karibuni on Pinel, Karakter beach bar and the lovely people who own and run it.
Fabulous vanilla ice-cream.
Watching the planes land over the sea.
The SOC burger at Bonita's Cantina – shall I have one for lunch today?
Air conditioning when needed.
Cats and dogs sleeping in the shade under parked cars.
The shady terrace for breakfast out the back of the Sucriere, the Best Shop In The World.
Caribbean Cinemas.
Top Carrot juices and warm muffins.
The lobster and croissant diet for which I will pay when I get back home.
The fact that the two things the car hire company will have to clear out of my car when I return it are sand and pastry flakes from breakfast on the move on the way up to a day at Pinel.
The new US market.
i-sxm.
Tropical rain, big rain, all over quickly, refreshing us and watering the plants, cleaning the car.
The fact that I forgot to pack my hairbrush and havent used one or a hairdryer for a month and no-one notices or cares.
The winds which cool the island and make the 27 degrees just lovely.
Uncle Harry's – a new find. Was he here before and we just didn't notice?
Frozen drinks, haven't had nearly enough of those!
Not being new, knowing my way around and re-discovering and enjoying old favourites while adding one or two new ones to the list for next time.
Finding Ivan and enjoying his new gaff, Mooi, despite the fact that Bono, Beyonce and Jack Nicholson were not in when we visited!
Having stayed on the ocean last time and the lagoon this time and now being totally undecided about which is best. Is it possible to live here and overlook the ocean at the front and the lagoon to the rear? If so, where?
The fact that in this heat you can't do as much and that's entirely as it should be, forcing you (well me, really) to SLOW DOWN.
Time to think, have fun and enjoy life.
Being able to get some of my thoughts down in this blog and not really doing a good job and knowing that and having to content myself with it, thus learning to live with my own humanity.
Re-creating a blogging habit which I cant wait to continue back home.
Reading, writing, and swimming – my three favourite things of all time. Any day in which I get to do one is nice, any day in which I get to do all three is fabulous, and a month in which I get to do most of them most days is a blessing.
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One of the things I wanted to leave myself open to during my month off was clues about how to live my 2010. I have an almost open book which is both a luxury and a terror. I realise I can choose precisely how I want to spend my time in the coming year.
Actually we all always have this power, we just dont realise it because we are caught up in the things we think we must and should do, usually to do with earning a living and commitments to others, not necessarily in that order.
My best laid plans for 2010 fell apart just before I left the UK which leaves a gaping whole in my schedule and my opportunity is what to fill that with.
And spookily – hooray! – I have received a message three times over since I have been here, just in case I missed it the first time.
The first time was while reading a book by Gavin Esler called A Scandalous Man. I hope Gavin won't mind if I tell you it was a perfect holiday read? Is that a compliment? I hope so. He talked about Mrs Thatcher seeing the Falklands Crisis as an opportunity. In her case, it was the opportunity was to get re-elected on the back of it. But Esler wrote about something which sounded familiar to me, namely that the Chinese characters in the word Crisis contain both our words for Danger and Opportunity.
I got it. I thought “hmm” as I was reading it and made a rather large mental note to think more about that, I may even have laid down my book, put my head back in the sun and had a bit of a lazy think or feel.
And then next I read Chris Evans' autobiography It's Not What You Think. I really, really enjoyed this book. I had no idea that Evans is such an entrepreneur although in hindsight it all makes sense. As well as an excellent broadcaster whose first love is radio, he is rather an excellent businessman too. And he has a fabulous self-deprecating humour. His career has been nothing short of the proverbial rollercoaster, perhaps that defines an entrepreneur in fact… having the energy to pick yourself up again when the best laid plans have gone awry, however exhausting and/or humiliating, especially in Chris's case to have to learn your lessons so publicly but then he has come back fabulously and then some. He is my favourite on Radio 2 and is now stepping back into the breakfast show again, good for him.
Anyway, Evans makes the same point about the Chinese characters for danger and opportunity being in their word for crisis.
By this time I was curious enough to Google this concept only to discover a fabulous and well-written article which says either this is true or an urban myth in a piece on a blog called The Straight Dope. I especially love his conclusion: “Still, if I were Chinese and a bunch of foreigners wanted to impute timeless insight to my ancestors, I don't know that I could find it in my heart to object”. Hear, hear!
And then, blow me down, if I dont get the same message a third time, Chinese fortune-cookie stylee, in a little homily on the paper wrapped around a Xmas chocolate where this time the version reads “in chaos there lies opportunity”. I know, I know already! Gavin Esler and Chris Evans DID mention it. But I'm on holiday, there's nothing I can DO about opportunities from here except think.
I must confess this has given rise to a tad of frustration. I know 2010 is my year of opportunity, got a fabulous message from TUT this morning too to precisely that effect. And there is always that lovely sense of anticipation with a new year/new slate. My frustration is not being able to DO anything about this while on holiday. I cant help but feel, at times, I would rather have been at home cracking on with it.
But I know this R & R has been good and restorative for me and precisely what I needed at this time, right now.
And we mustn't forget I dont exactly know – yet – what these spooky messages mean! How the crisis translates into opportunity for me and mine?
It reminds me of two Christmasses ago when I was obliged to move, against my will, from Canary Wharf to Streatham and beloved Janet Swift sent me a fridge magnet for Xmas which said, approximately, Only believe, the Universe has it all in her grand plan for you” or sommat like that. Were I at home I could look it up for I have kept it on my fridge and refer to it often, usually in times of terror like these.
The key part of the message was about trust. I am not sure I am very good at trust. Yet.
What's the opportunity and when will it be revealed to me? Today that's a good question which I feel calmer about. Last time it took a good 3-6 months for the grand plan to be revealed which has ultimately led me, bizarrely, to this new place of danger/crisis/opportunity but it has been a great two years of learning and I am sure the new direction will be just as special. As long as I can keep the faith.
But for now, Big U, yes I got your messages, thanks. I got the first one, but thankyou for sending three anyway, underlining and double-underlining your point. I plan to spend the first week of January catching up and planning, perhaps there's something waiting for me on my desk at home which will lead me off in a surprising new direction? I am open to receive, all signposts welcome now.
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I am not sure about the word pastimes because its rather Victorian and also it implies one needs something to pass the time with. Generally I don't. My bleat is usually that I dont have enough time. But a month off does have its rewards, namely plenty of time for pursuing a couple of my favourite hobbies, watching films and reading.
Its not the first holiday we've been on where the landlords have left a random selection of DVDs in their property for our delectation and delight. As soon as we arrived, I mooched through over 25 or 30 and selected five I thought we might make our way through during our month off. An early winner was Off The Black starring Nick Notel and Trevor Morgan. I must confess I had never heard of it (or Trevor) despite fancying myself as a bit of a film buff. Surprising and delightful but maybe one's critical defences are down while relaxing?
We followed this up with Fracture with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling before getting down to the bottom of the barrel, to be quite honest with you, in Flicka (I cant stand horses!), Harrison Ford in an unnecessarily frightening Firewall which I had hoped would be a tech thriller but turned out to be very violent with that excellently nasty Paul Bettany in it as the bad guy and what a bad guy he makes! We finished up with Jarhead during which I had to have adrenaline breaks, to allow my threshold to recover somewhat to go on with the film.
Last night I found a beauty which I had accidentally passed over in my first sweep of the pile, the third and final in the Bourne trilogy. Blissfully I had seen 1 and 2 but not caught up with 3 so this was something to relish. I do love an action adventure and the whole Bourne thing of one man against the system really appeals to me, especially when he is always one step ahead of the CIA despite being only one man and without their tech advantages, served only by his somewhat wobbly moral advantage. Fab. And he always wins, leaving the door open for yet another sequel…?
At the movies here, one of the reasons I love SXM, we first saw some drivel called Couples Retreat (don't bother) and followed it up with the infinitely superior Up In The Air with George Clooney, highly recommended.
But I think its the unexpected gems hiding in someone else's DVD collection which I really like. Its like a book club obliging you to read books you wouldn't otherwise; sometimes that's a waste of time but often its improving and its always surprising and I really like that element of surprise. Whe knew that was a good book? Who knew that was a good film?
It reminds me not to pay too much attention to the critics but to read or view with an open mind and enjoy the diamonds in the rough.
Surprise best read of the holiday? An American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. But who has time for over 600 pages, or even these strange unheard of films, when not on holiday?
I am reminded how much I love reading and films and to make more time for them in 2010 but then I am fairly sure thats on my list every new year. Still, they say that its important to keep on keeping on with resolutions, once you give up you are stuffed. Unless, of course, you are pursuing a “should”, in which case you have my permission to drop that off your list this year.
I know I am coming back to a veritable feast of new movies in the run up to the Oscars but I am a bit sad that I see so many trailers for films starring fabulous actors which I won't be able to see because they are simply too ghastly a worldview for my somewhat delicate disposition. Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli, the aforementioned Paul Bettany in Legion and Leonardo di Caprio in Shutter Island to name but three. Is this stuff really the best work these fabulous actors are being offered? And I havent even mentioned Daybreakers and The Wolfman, far, far too scary.
After just one of these, if I have to, it will be a long line of restorative Rom-Coms for me with a 12A certificate!
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I couldnt be off work for a month without my trusty laptop. Dan, my pal from The Engine Room, set me up with a new MacBook Pro (my first) before I left the UK although I do operate Windows on it I must confess. And it has been indispensable throughout the holiday allowing business as normal, or relatively so. And perhaps even more importantly, give that this is a holiday, it has exhanced the holiday experience.
The only restrictions here on operating normally, apart from the fact that I am supposed to be on holiday, are the absence of anywhere comfortable to sit and work or write and lack of bandwidth which has meant I have been unable to watch any online videos. So what, you say? But actually that has formed a large part of our workload in the Money Gym this month so I have been completely unable to participate in that apart from some crucial decision-making at times.
What have I been able to do then? Send over 300 emails, an average of about ten a day. Read and mainly delete but keep on top of over 1100 (and counting) emails, an average of about 40 a day, note the ratio. This number doesnt take account of the three days I have remaining, those collected by Spam Arrest or the many Google Groups I unsubscribed from for the duration of my holiday in order to get some sort of break.
I know that's the main reason I wanted to bring a laptop with me, as I couldn't bear the though of the thousands of emails building up in my absence, a handful of which have been vital. Email has enabled me to keep up with important matters and to maintain contacts with important friends and family.
I have been able to Tweet, a little. And keep an eye on the news and weather.
I have been able to Skype for business and personal reasons which was nothing short of fantastic. I am impressed to see on Oprah that she now conducts interviews live on her TV show via Skype thus saving time and travel for guests either not important enough to travel (the public) or expert guests too expensive and time poor to travel, like doctors.
I have been able to do online banking. I was once even able to access my desktop computer at home thanks to Bianca who was looking after my flat and GoToMyPC which I think is THE single most useful piece of techy stuff I have ever used. Imagine being able to drive your own computer from thousands of miles away across the broadband? Awesome, as we say here, rather too often actually.
I had spent some time before I left setting up all my bank accounts and credit cards on Egg Money so that I could control the lot from here via one website. However, I did it on my old computer and when I tried to access it via my new computer it required me to instal something new which meant I was unable to use it from here without re-entering all the codes I didnt bring with me becuase I didnt need to! Lesson learned there but soon sorted via the Bianca/GoToMyPC liaison which enabled me to simply go through this laptop to my home computer and see the information anyway.
When I lost TV signal during a thunderstorm on Christmas Day, I was able to amuse myself by watching DVDs on my laptop instead. I almost prefer that actually as I am used to watching BBC iPlayer that way at home. You will know that if you live outside the UK you cannot watch iPlayer as it somehow works out you are not a licence payer! There are ways round that as you probably know and if I were here for longer I would probably sign up for one of those.
I have been able to take digital photos and upload them and insert them into blog posts and Tweets.
Perhaps most useful of all is to be able to Google while on holiday. Since Google is now the first port of call for all information, I am unable to do anything without looking it up first, be it planning a route, sourcing local information, checking out restaurants, beaches, timetables, checking in online. The list is endless. When we are musing about anything and wondering about something we know we can simply look up the answer. Very satisfying and increasingly important.
I was also able to make local connections via my blogging about my holiday experiences.
Since its not yet five years since my Mother died and she never owned or operated a computer, it is nothing short of amazing how swiftly this technology moves on and dominates my life for good or evil, mainly good. Here we are four hours behind the UK, which is a workable time difference. By the time I am up at 8 a.m. and checking my emails, they have put in a good three hours work in the UK so every morning there is “work” waiting for replies. Then I can check back in twice later in the day, altogether a much better way to work than checking emails constantly. Hope I can take that lesson home with me!
Hooray for Dan and my new laptop and my holiday tech successes. Why do you love your laptop?
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I sprang out of bed at 0815 this morning because I was expecting a tradesman, long appointed, at 0830. I think its fair to assume, don't you, that at 0830 on the first working day of 2010 I was, in fact, his first business appointment, his first customer of 2010?
And he didnt show up. So just before lunchtime I rang him and he said I had “slipped his mind”.
Since all he has to do in his business is show up and service clients, this is no way to start a new business year, no way to have happy clients with gorgeous free referrals. His loss. He has re-appointed for tomorrow morning at 0830. Wonder what time he will actually show up?
Feeling a bit grumpy about this. I have long felt that it is no way to begin a new anything by not turning up and that's in effect what we all do every year since 1st January is always a Bank Holiday in the UK. What kind' of message does that send?
Its either the very worst, we don't care about our businesses and our clients or our jobs, or the very best – being is more important than doing and we put ourselves first by resting, and polishing off the rest of the Quality Street!
Hmm. I'm in two minds. Either way, you have to be there on the 2nd – or 4th in this example. Surely you do?
What's “slipped your mind” today and how what's that telling you?
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Yes, I know horoscopes are unmitigated balderdash to be read and forgotten instantly but I took pleasure in mine (Taurus) in yesterday's paper courtesy of Sally Brompton:
If you can think it you can do it this week. And if that means a change of scenery or direction, cosmic activity in the most freewheeling area of your chart makes this the ideal time to embrace it. If nothing else, your mind will change about at least one of your most ingrained beliefs and spur you on to greater – and very different – heights.
Bring it on. I'm definitely up for changing ingrained beliefs and being spurred on to greater and different heights. How cool. And I CAN think it. Planning to do precisely thata bit later, just as soon as I have conquered this paperwork mountain accumulated over December off.
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This is my second recession; the first one hit me hard when I had to choose between letting my two properties be repossessed –v- cashflowing my accountancy business in 1992. The ongoing repercussions of that were, to a greater extent, still with me more than a decade later. And to a lesser extent they still are since I still carry some old bad debt.
So I am somewhat seasoned in the bottom of cycles, as well as the rise and fall and the top. Does this make me more resilient than some? Perhaps. Or maybe it just makes me older! I’ve been round this particular block at least once before and I expect to go round it at least once or twice more too.
Last time I failed because interest rates were so high. One of the things which is saving us all this time is because interest rates are so low.
What have I learned from that? That you cannot predict what shape a recession will take until it arrives, which means you cannot prepare for it necessarily. Although bucket loads of cash is useful. And I still don’t have bucketloads of cash. Hot damn! Sixteen years to prepare and still found wanting…
What else have I learned and observed this time around? That people, economic experts and those who are supposed to know, those much cleverer than I, those who are connected to the top echelons of the financial services industry, they have also been caught out as the good ones are first to admit.
And secondly I have learned it’s relatively easy to make money when the going is good. But when the going gets tough, that’s what I want to master next time around. That’s the opportunity here. To learn how to play in the rough, a golfing analogy my youngest nephew Jeremy, 18 tomorrow, might appreciate.
As the Credit Crunch grinds on, many of us found ourselves at the end of 2009 licking our wounds. How will we earn a living in 2010? Will we ever get a mortgage or re-mortgage ever again? How will we make up for the losses in our investment portfolios and pensions? Will we survive? When, how and how soon will we recover?
In my life I have been fortunate to be able to afford a couple of bouts of personal therapy and my second therapist, the better of the two, taught me this about myself: that I am too quick to move from negative to positive without dwelling sufficiently in the “bad place”.
And having a month off in the Caribbean has allowed me to do just that. Unfortunately! I was forced to enjoy the luxury of far too much time to think without being able to DO. And I found myself with plenty of time on my hands to sit in the “bad place” when I would rather be doing something – anything – about my financial situation. And about yours too, or to help you do something about it, as is my wont.
I would rather be moving from negative to positive but as I sat there in the middle, thinking and feeling everything through, I was sent a strong message (twice) in two holiday books I read, back to back.
I took the point in the first book, I don’t know whether it was something I knew or something I was learning for the first time but it sounded familiar.
In a novel called A Scandalous Man by Gavin Esler he talks about Margaret Thatcher, calling her The Lady, and some political crisis she was undergoing at the time, the Falklands War I think it was. The narrator mentions that Mrs T knew that the two Chinese characters in their translation of the word “crisis” included both danger and opportunity*.
Which set me thinking, of course, as it would any entrepreneur.
But then it came again in my very next read, Chris Evans’ autobiography “It’s Not What You Think” which is a rattling good read by the way, but then I would say that, I am an Evans fan. He’s bright, intelligent, an entrepreneur, savvy and yet woo woo, funny, self-deprecating and an enviably good writer. And he has had more highs and lows than most.
And he mentions it too, the concept that there is opportunity as well as danger in a crisis*.
And we are definitely in a crisis which is dragging on, interminably it feels sometimes, especially if one doesn’t like to sit in that middle “bad place” as my former therapist pointed out. And to me, right now, uncharacteristically, it feels like its deepening. What do you think? Maybe its the snow which has delayed an already very long break all the way up to 11th January at least.
But I, for one, have had enough now. I’ve licked my wounds, I’ve considered what I’ve done wrong this time around, what I will do differently next time and what I want to do about it and its this:
I want to look for my opportunities which this recession presents, opportunities for me and for you. And I want to DO something about identifying and following up on those opportunities. I want to experiment and learn about making money during the bad times, long before the good times return.
I can’t wait. I won’t wait. I'm going to start tomorrow morning, Monday.
So here’s my question. What’s the opportunity in this Credit Crunch for you? And what are you going to do about it in January 2010 to hit the ground running and take advantage of it? And how will we get into action to change our “luck”.
I am taking a leaf out of Evans’ book. A low place just clears the way for something better to come along as my woo woo chums would be first to remind me. He’s made a real bog of his life at many times as he would be the first to admit. But something better always came along whether it was a new broadcasting opportunity, a new girlfriend or wife, a new car or a new business venture.
Of course, he was only able to see these in hindsight, to take that perspective I mean.
And his life’s been one almighty rollercoaster so far, as was Mrs Thatcher’s, so I reckon they are as good as any to take as role models right now, at least for the purposes of this discussion although obviously I am not recommending that you go out and invade the Falklands like Maggie or burn multi-millions of pounds as Chris did.
To me, Evans seems to have learned so much more in his down times. He’s become philosophical and happier and more successful than ever as a result of those learning opportunities. And something always came along, into the void, like magic.
So, is it time to look for the silver lining in the cloud? The gift in the snow?
I know it is for me personally and I would love to take as many readers with me as are ready to take on the New Year with that more positive energy.
I often think about the message contained in Lynne Twist’s little video, namely that we are enough, we have always had enough, there will always be enough. I find this strangely calming in times of crisis. And if you are feeling financially low this New Year, here’s a link to that video. Lynne takes about 11.5 minutes to make her point but stick with it to the end, the closing minute is very powerful.
And guess what? As I unwrapped a Dove chocolate in my Christmas stocking, guess what little fortune cookie-esque homily was printed on the foil? In chaos there lies opportunity. Yes, I know – that’s the third time of telling. Enough already!
What's your opportunity in this crisis? Let me know if you would like some help identifying that.
*Here's an article which explains the Chinese characters thesis – true/false/urban myth? Love his closing point “if I were Chinese and a bunch of foreigners wanted to impute timeless insight to my ancestors, I don't know that I could find it in my heart to object”. Hear, hear!