From the Desk of Caspar
Withering or Flourishing?
At the start of 2018, my son was in his vegetable allotment several days a week.
Planting seeds, weeding, nurturing, pouring his heart and soul into his seedlings.
That continued through the spring and early summer.
In summer, he got frustrated as he couldn't find time, juggling exams and the allotment became overgrown with weeds
His head dropped. He got frustrated and by late summer he'd barely visit.
Yesterday. We went together to the allotment.
What we discovered took him by surprise.
He saw the tomatoes first.
They had flourished but because of the lack of time and attention they had withered on the vine.
A completely lost crop.
He then saw the rest of the allotment.
Much had flourished.
Rhubarb, beetroot, runner beans & carrots.
He was lucky.
Another month of neglect & that crop would likely have been wasted too.
Isn't this just life your business and your life
Everything in fact.
We start off with brilliant intentions & provide the sunshine, the water & the nurturing to let things flourish.
We then get distracted with life & other things come up.
We take our eye off the ball.
Things get neglected.
The hard work goes to waste & it withers on the vine.
In YOUR business & life.
What are you neglecting?
Tip: Make sure you are covering all the areas in your life. So often we over focus on one area to the detriment of others.
In the Spotlight
Following in the footsteps of Tim Ferris, Gary Vaynerchuk and Seth Godin I was interviewed by Tom Bilyeu on his US show Impact Theory.
We discuss:
Intentional living
Building a business that can run without you
Breakthrough thinking
Dealing with failure
Relentless action
And so much more.
Tom is so brilliantly prepared and had read the book in so much detail that we could really drill down to some powerful messages.
That and his summing up at 40 minutes and 42 seconds left me speechless (which is rare).
One Simple Idea
Unfollow all the people and pages on Facebook/ Twitter {insert social network of choice} who make you feel negative, or where you end up spending loads of time and it doesn't move you forwards.
Promise it will make you feel better.
(Roughly a year ago I did a mass unfollow of sites and people who for me overly post negative views and political posts: made my world a lot happier AND productive.)
Trailblazers
We closed the doors last week on the Beta launch of our program Autonomy and over the next 3 months will be working with a brilliant group of entrepreneurs to help them make transformations in their businesses and lives so they can remove the roadblocks to doing what is truly important to them in their lives.
We’ll be sharing stories over the coming months and details of the 3 day event we’ll be running on February 11, 12 and 13 in London where as well as doing a deep dive into Autonomy, we’ll also be having some brilliant guest speakers sharing their expertise.
You can now pre-register your interest for when we launch Autonomy next year:
Do you Trust Yourself?
As in really truly back yourself?
A short story.
Before we left the UK on our sailing adventure, we only had 10 weeks to get our boat ready.
Was everything perfect?
Hell, no.
There were a million things going on. It was messy. Crazy.
Handing over the running of 3 biz. Renting our house. Packing the boat. Safety checks. Managing 3 kids.
If we had waited for perfect, we would NEVER have left.
We trusted ourselves.
We backed ourselves to figure out the answer to whatever came up.
If you are waiting for things to be perfect before you start, you will always be waiting.
"I'll do this WHEN this happens".
The Truth.
There is NEVER a good time.
Only NOW.
Regret is heavy. We only get one shot at this thing called life.
Work out what is truly important to you and your team.
Be Brave.
Grab hold of it.
Trust yourself. Back yourself and your team.
Tip: Trust yourself. Work out whats really important to you and your team. And go for it.
Be a Better Leader
How do you deal with criticism?
“So when people told us all the reasons that we couldn't do it, sometimes those reasons come across so powerfully they sound like facts.
But they're just opinions.
And it's really important to remember that distinction. That they are only opinions.”
Thought for the day
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
Don't overthink.
Do your best and then get moving.
Upcoming Adventures
November 1 - Keynote, London
November 2 - Keynote, Oxford.
November 6 - Leadership Workshop, London
November 7 - Keynote, London
November 14 - Keynote, Athens
November 15 - Keynote, Athens
November 16 - Keynote, Istanbul
November 22 - Keynote, Wales
November 27 - Keynote, Guildford
“Where the magic happens…for your business!
Our business is like a family and we were keen to make sure that we were building a business that not was not only great for our customers and was operationally healthy but that also supported our employees and associates to live their lives they wanted. We asked Caspar to help us with this challenge – taking the essence of where the magic happens and applying to our business. The result was one of the most amazing, productive and I have to confess emotional development sessions in my 22 year career. The result of carefully listening to each other’s personal (and extended family) needs, we were able to pick out the things that out business needed to do to support us all – there were the words you would expect such as flexibility, profitability, learning but there were unexpected moments of magic such as creativity, nurturing, mental and physical health. From this built we have built a three year vision statement which we all believe in and that embraces both our professional and personal ambitions. A unique experience and massive thanks to Caspar for his insight, guidance and patience.”