Well there has been MUCH excitement at Bubble Towers this weekend. Not for me so much as for Steve. The thing is, his new, and much anticipated, bike arrived. So when I say he’s excited, think; small boy at Christmas, massive lottery win, England winning the World Cup (!), all your Christmas’s have come at once type excited.
I’ve pretty much lost Steve
To be honest I haven’t seen much of him since the ever wondrous and beautiful new playmate from Italy arrived. However, I can tell you everything you need to know because he won’t stop wanging on about her (not that I’m jealous you understand). She is though a particularly fabulous piece of engineering.
Built by Bianchi (the first word in road racing bikes), in full carbon and coloured in Bianchi’s own Celeste Green. Apart from being ‘an incredible ride fnar fnar’ (Steve’s words) she boasts EPS (Electronic Power Shift), meaning the gears are electrified for truer shifting, which is really useful under power (Have I lost you yet? – don’t worry – I think this is the point that even I stopped listening!!)
The whole weekend has been like being trapped in a ‘Carry On’ film with stellar phrases such as ‘If I have my way, I’ll be climbing on top of her daily’ and ‘ooh Mrs but she’s a goer’ followed my much hilarity on Steve’s part – It’s like living with Sid James!
All Tom Foolery aside though Steve is such a happy chappy – cycling the hills and dales of Yorkshire is his passion (and mine) and one that he has missed of late because of his ankle injury, when the dogs tried to lob him off Flamborough Head.
All this has led me to reflect on one of the most important parts of a business strategy and one I know does not feature on any business plan. . . . .
Take a Break
It’s summer time. LE TOUR IS NEXT WEEKEND! There’s Wimbledon and Glastonbury and holidays to be had. Taking a break from your business is one of the biggest favours you can do for it. SO many people in business say they’re off on their hols for a week but are reachable on their mobiles (!) which serves no purpose other than to leave the poor business owner in a thankless hinterland between not quite being at work and not quite being on holiday.
STOP!
Taking a break allows you to fully re-charge the batteries which means you arrive back at work with more energy and clarity.
Taking a break allows your brain to think about other things for a while and to break the patterns of the normal working week – these in themselves do wonders for your energy levels.
Steve and I quite often use our time on the bikes in contemplation and reflection about work related matters but being out and about and enjoying ourselves means we don’t fret about stuff in the same way and 9 times out of 10 the answers come more easily.
One Life – Live It!
We should be in business so that we can live the lives we love and our businesses should support us in doing just that. It is easy to forget this as business is also a passion and one which can absorb all our time and energy. Sometimes it does us (and our business) more good to close the laptop, switch off the phone…..and just live a little!
And just so you know . . . . . . . All that fine Italian cycle engineering, all that professional cycling gear . . . . . . he still shouted ‘weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’ the first hill he went down!
