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.

I'm a great believer that the best way to grow and move ahead is to surround yourself with the smartest people that you can playing at the highest level.

Last night, was one such time. I felt very privileged to be part of a "Meet the Speaker" event run by Maria Franzoni and her brilliant team to meet both her clients and other top speakers like Mark Stevenson, Penny Mallory Jamil Qureshi , Kevin Gaskell, Amy Brann and Beau Lotto.

I feel a collective sigh of relief across many of my friends. They’ve had an amazing summer with the family. And now kids are heading back to school.

New school uniforms. Shoes cleaned. Fresh notebooks. Pencils sharpened.

An overheard conversation last week.
It struck a chord.
One guy was on the phone.

I don’t think I was long enough in any one place to feel jet lagged.

The route was Mexico to LA to London to Washington to San Diego to Mexico. All in the space of 5 days.

The final stretch was flying back to San Diego, then catching the trolley to Tijuana and walking back across the border into Mexico (took about 2 minutes compared to 2 hours in the other direction). Then an uber back to Baja Naval in Ensenada where Aretha was waiting for me along with two crew from Team Aretha.

What do you do?

I’m was in Mexico. Clearing customs. Waiting for 3 hours in stifling heat. Sent away twice for not having the right papers.

Specifically for not including middle names on the crew list.

It’s the midnight to 3am watch. The moon is full and the stars are sparkling in the sky.

You can feel the boat lift as the next big wave barrels down from behind you and you square up as the white topped crest rolls forward.

£134,525

That’s the average cost of a divorce.

I’ve lost track of the number of friends who’ve lost marriages and relationships because they’ve been so focused on building a business or building a career.

Schools are about to break up for the summer.

Classic double edged sword for an entrepreneur.

Kids are going to be around. That equals short tempers and distractions when you are trying to get on with work.

I looked down at my notes.

My slide clicker was in my hand.

My friend and former colleague was speaking and was sharing how we knew each other and why I was there.

It was almost time for me to take the stage.

It was 15 years ago that I left KPMG. Things felt like they had come full circle.