Tag: commute

Sunday Column (293)

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The week began with watching Noah on Sunday evening. I wanted to watch this movie for a while, and whilst my bible reading days are long gone, I wasn’t too sure of the interpretation of the story. Yet it was entertaining and Russell Crowe is one of my favourite actors.

Monday saw an early start into the day and a busy start into the week. A trip to Milan, a moderation at a conference and a good catch up with industry friends – a week how it should be, making lots of progress at the end. Flying in and out of Milan is still one of my favourite sceneries, the Alps, the right light and the feeling of coming home. Just nice.

When sitting on the 652 train in the morning you realise why you prefer to get up and exercise. I bet everyone on this train will not have the energy to go home tonight after work, commute an hour, and then exercise. I am still convinced that the early morning starts for exercising are the way forward. My main bug bear I had to overcome was to be able to go to bed at 10 pm. For years we wanted to stay up longer, were forced to bed early. Now that we can we don’t – it goes a bit against our instinct.

The highlight of the week of course was the arrival of Rosie. Adding a dog to the family is a big step, a huge responsibility. Well thought through and lots of effort put in. We picked her up on Saturday lunch time and brought her home. It is like adding a baby to the family. I remember, just a week before we found out that my wife was pregnant with our oldest, we got two kittens. It changed our life then as the dog will change our life once again now.

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But what is it what we hope to be able to achieve by having a dog. An exercise partner, a loyal friend, a playmate for the kids, a companion, a friend, someone to look after. We hope to add joy and fun to the family, particularly for the boys, ridding them of fear from animals.

I had one morning this week where I was thinking ‘I am on top of the world’. That was on Tuesday. I went to bed rather late for my liking but slept extremely well. Very deep sleep, got up to do some weights and running, to then play Lego with my oldest. A chirpy chat with the station person, a joke with a mate whilst boarding the train, big smiles all around. Those are the days your confidence creeps up on you and all day long I pushed boundaries, made things happen.

Those are the days you are on top of the roller coaster ride. The days you don’t want to let go to waste, the days you are on top of the world. Then a part of our company got sold this week, good news all around, some organisational changes and more focus on the advertising space. Again, all good news.

It has really been a busy and exhausting week. But a good and satisfying one at the same time.

Let’s hope next week is going to be fine, as I am off the week after for half term.

Have a great week,
Volker

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A week that starts off with a headache, a 5K run with lots of muscle pain and a temperature drop of 5-10 degrees is not a good week, or at least not a good start of the week. Whether it was the weekend where I overdid my exercise or the amount of chocolate and sweets I ate at the kids party, I do not know. Yet something triggered a typical Monday which turned out to get worse as the day went on. Of course the week changed to the better and I got used to the rather nice autumn weather and went on another trip. But this weekend, I felt it again – so maybe I just need a break 🙁

This week I went to Paris for a night and a day to visit a few clients. As this gets published I finish packing my things for a trip to Istanbul. I have never been to Istanbul in my life, so I am very excited to go. A few years back I went to Egypt realising that I will see the pyramids. Being on work travel schedules doesn’t mean you are doing some sight seeing. Having said that, I went to Iceland before and my wife was annoyed that I saw Iceland and Egypt/Kairo before she did. Now I also see Istanbul. I am not into travelling as much as my wife, I just do my job, but that’s where we differ I suppose. Maybe that is why I am quite happy staying at home with a dog at the weekend, putting my feet up and enjoying “being home”. Istanbul of course is different. I will report back next week of course.

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What else happened this week? I think there are a few things transport wise worth mentioning. I was on the train towards Gatwick when the train stopped. Then we heard someone got hit by a train. Lucky for us it was behind us and with some delay we managed to get to Gatwick. I did get a bit stressed and was glad I didn’t travel the other direction that night. Bad enough for the person that got hit, it is a bit of pot luck tbh to sometimes make your journey home. At Gatwick I got served an undercooked chicken at Jamie’s Italian. Fancied some superfood salad and ended up with an awful meal. Not great to travel sometimes. The view of course, as of my earlier post, was amazing.

Anyway, things are good overall. One never has enough time for the family it seems and weekends are too short. I caught up with a uni friend and another good friend this week. I have another few people I need to call. I spoke to my granny for her 94th Birthday. I am lucky, all my grandparents reached the age of 90+. Maybe a good omen. None woke up at 5 am to run 10 K, then worked all day and commuted for 3 hours per day. Life seems as if it is in the fast lane at the moment. I like that though.

I know the next few weeks will be busy. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. I couldn’t to be honest. But I am learning a lot too. Prioritising, time management, letting go. All those passionate topics I am writing about over at tidWOWs. It is as if I am fine tuning a bit.

It is good to know that in a few weeks time, probably around mid December, things will slow down. When the dog and I will be having a cuddle with the boys under the Christmas tree and watch the fire, when we think that we are so grateful for what we have. And, that next year we take more time for each other. And this will repeat for another few years. Why I think that? Because I believe that is how it is. Life is living in extremes, on both ends. And I am truly blessed with it.

Love living!
Volker

Sunday Column (282)

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Nothing like Monday morning. After a nice and sunny weekend, a late Sunday reading my papers and catching up with everyday life, I ended up sitting with C on Monday morning discussing thunderstorms, lightning whilst thunder filled the fresh, rainy air. C sat, wrapped up in a blanket, on our new window seat in the kitchen, just watching the outside. He likes thunderstorms and keeps asking me about whether I liked them as a boy and if he could watch TV, as mummy told him TVs would break thanks to lightning.

Anyway, my national rail app alerted me that trains are delayed due to lightning and I keep wondering if there is any excuse not good enough for train companies to delay or cancel trains? However, coming to the station, meeting a few friends, there were no trains for a while. I eventually got on one and my journey and day/week could begin.

There is some positives here. The garden needed the water, it was long overdue. Then the dust that has been collected everywhere around the house from the repointing got washed away. The car which I hosed down on Sundays got “hosed” down again.

And it isn’t a busy period at work, the summer slump. So whether I sit on the train working through some emails or in the office doesn’t matter too much at the moment. Holiday seasons is upon us. Having said that, the rest of the week got really busy.

Whilst sitting on trains, I noticed an interesting behaviour. Often, and that includes myself, one puts his bag next to oneself when travelling. If someone wants to sit next to you, and I normally sit on the aisle as I am a bit taller and like to stretch my legs, they ask and I happily get up and move my bag. Of course I do! You get the odd people not wanting to ask or if really busy I move my bag, signalling my willingness to make space.

Yet others don’t. They are holding on to their bags, almost paranoid not to take up space, eager to jump up if someone just looks at the empty seat besides them. I think people can ask. And then again others just plank their bag on the seat next to them, ignoring people standing and use the spare seat as a luggage rack. Those are the ones even I get tempted to sit next to, just to ask them to move their luggage.

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Train life, commuter life. You then get the people playing or typing on their phones and tablets with the sound on, talking loud on the phone or drink and shout on the train. The nervous ones afraid of missing their plane from Gatwick. The studious ones sitting reading their papers. The working ones doing emails, spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations. A train is a micro ecosystem of what’s happening in our society. But more often than not I cannot even enjoy it, as I am busy myself 😉

Hassocks station got a new train station. A 2 million investment leaving the tunnel connecting the two platforms flooded. These are the things I don’t understand. Or the people trying to dodge their fares. Without wanting to have a general moan, if one spends money to fix things you would expect them to be fixed. Our house wasn’t quite finished despite them saying it would be within one week. It now has been two already.

The joys of life. We just have to look forward, think positive and believe it all works out in the end. And it does. It just ends up costing more money, time and unnecessary hassle. But we are all getting there.

The strong belief, as I was discussing a lot last year, that wherever you are in life, you must believe that this is the right place to be. If you doubt it, change it, but go with your gut. Trust the universe and your gut feeling that life will take you to your (final) destination. Not saying this is easy. It requires a lot of patience and trust in the intangible universe. Are you ready for that?

Have a great week everyone, whilst I didn’t want to complain about the weather, a cooler breeze might be nice for a while.

Stay cool!
Volker

Sunday Column (272)

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I thought I write about something called commute. I spend about 3 hours each day in commute to and from work. An hour on the train and between 20 and 30 minutes on the tube. Most days the train is a few minutes late resulting in me hitting tube rush hour, delaying things.

Those days I think about using a Boris bike or a foldable bike. Yet I cannot be bothered with that hassle to be honest. Then I would probably get used to it as you do with anything in life.

If I say I enjoy the commute, what I mean is that I like the ”me’ time, 50 minutes of time I can read, listen to music, write this blog etc. each way! And using the Gatwick Express you meet some characters, people coming into London from holidays or business trips. Relaxed, stressed, devastated, joyful. I see them all.

It might sound a bit sentimental, yet I took a step back the other day and watched people on the train, escalator to the tube, behaviour in the tube etc. Asian, black, white, red, black….London is so amazingly diverse. Different accents, attitudes, lots of tourists yet lots of people working and living here. You sometimes forget the attraction of this city. Muslim, Christian, Buddhist – all that doesn’t seem to matter. There is a buzz in London, and looking into the different faces you realise, they all have their own parcel/problems to carry/deal with. The greater unconscious makes us share most burden, Mr. Jung, doesn’t it?

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One thing I couldn’t do the commute without are my Bose noise cancellation headphones. Them on and I don’t hear a word. If someone wants to sit next to me, they have to tap on my shoulder. That happens a lot, I am in my own world, chilling, listening to music, watching movies. The other thing is my iPad. Without it, despite having a laptop, I wouldn’t write my blog, read my books on the Kindle app etc. and have all productivity tools needed in reach.

On Friday my journey home took 3 hours alone. Someone jumped in front of the train. This is very sad, and Twitter was full of people making sure there are no rude comments. No one wants to be rude. Of course it is a tragedy every time someone dies, voluntarily or not. Of course it is a question of society whether there was enough help for this person, if it could have been prevented or not. Yet, it is a horrible thing to do: to jump in front of a train on purpose (I am not talking accidents here which happen too frequently also). The effects are not only on the person deciding to kill themselves but it has an impact on the train driver, the emergency workers, and of course on the commuters.

No question it was a pain to endure bus replacement services, wait, lack of information (which is really badly handled by Southern Trains) and the long commute home. And of course we got home, the person that jumped in front of the train didn’t. It is considered rude to even think that the person messed up a few lives, as mentioned above, and caused a lot of hassle to the commuters.

I do feel compassion for the person. I am sad that someone couldn’t get enough help and didn’t see enough value in living, to actually kill themselves. This is horrible. This is awful. Yet, I also believe that this way of going is one of the worst and selfish ways to go. And I can’t help but speaking out loud, knowing for well I am not the only one thinking the same.

The following TED talk is interesting, talking about suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. And it shows: it is preventable.

It made me think what I can do to help. What can I do to prevent this from happening. It made me – and surely a lot of others – think how we can make a difference in our society, how we can help others, and prevent these things from happening. We should be grateful for what we have. Our prayers going out to the people affected. All of them.

This past week I also went to Munich. A different commute. Still loaded with feelings for my fatherland, I walked the streets of Munich at night. It was nice. Seeing that Munich is doing well, Germany is doing well, becoming more international. Yet, I let go of comparing between my life and a possible life in Germany. I made my choice. I enjoyed my trip despite the red eye flight out of Gatwick.

This closed a great week. I look forward to a few days off. Well deserved I’d say 😉 Time to let go and relax.

Have a great week,
Volker

Sunday Column (247)

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I am starting this week by explaining the day I had today, Tuesday. For the past few weeks I have had a cold, thought I had overcome it, when I came back from a client meeting feeling rubbish. It hit me. Paracetamol and Ibuprofen later I feel like sleeping and cancel my evening meeting with a good friend. I then manage to leave the office early to find myself on a tube. Overcrowding. London Bridge station shut. Overcrowded train to Victoria. Sweating, tired, exhausted. London Victoria station shut due to overcrowding. Open again. I press myself on a train with plenty of space inside yet no one moves down. Clapham Junction. A seat. By that time I was very exhausted (whinge) and as a result worked half ill from home the next day, was ill the following day and only felt better on Friday. Of course I worked normal again on Friday, felt worse again on Saturday, ok-ish on Sunday. What’s happening?

I believe I have discussed that before. We don’t really take time off anymore when we are ill. I have been pushing myself for a while and should have taken time off a few weeks ago but instead taking it a bit easier, working from home, yet ending up doing the same amount of work just not physically in the office. Silly. Luckily my boss understood, or not actually, and told me to get better, stay at home and be fit again next week. He is right. Good to have good bosses. Yet I find it difficult to let go, too much work, want to pull my weight and lots of things I need to get done. Nevermind, I seem better now. Fingers crossed this will last this time. And enough whinging!

Sometimes I think I am in a film. Not only with those colds and stuff but also with the above tube and train journeys. I don’t think anyone has thought of a movie called the “commuters nightmare” yet. That day it took me an hour from the office to a train. Then another hour home. I had some comfort food and an early night. Did I mention it was only Tuesday? The commute in London is getting worse as more people are moving to London and then, as they have family, move further out. Whilst I am unlucky tonight, if you followed my tweets, I am waiting for a few delay repay claims to arrive. Trains are catastrophic lately: signalling problems, overrunning engineering works etc. When we moved further out it never crossed my mind. We are on the main line to Brighton and Gatwick airport. Surely this is a priority line. Maybe not, or are other lines even worse?

I am not sure why those problems exist in the first place. Poor management with only one peak hour train to London Bridge? Poor management of train capacities, putting smaller capacity trains on at the wrong time? Old equipment? And all that for just under £450 per month. That is a lot of money! Particularly if think of the service you are getting. Appalling to be honest. Some people on twitter suggested to get the Germans in. I don’t actually remember it being so much better, yet more people drive and hence the trains are less crowded. But that might just be my perception and maybe it is so much better? Not much they can do here I believe.

Btw, the picture was taken when I was chairing the Admonsters European Publisher Forum in Berlin this year.

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Anyway, let’s focus on positive points this week. I published my first article on MediaPost Publications. The aim is to have a monthly column there. Thanks to Admonsters I have been looking into 2nd screens and their modelling lately, a fascinating topic allowing for some early adopters to really put their name out there with their technology. That and topics like viewability and view through attribution are still not solved, even years on. Brand Safety is on the agenda too.

Another positive thing was me being at home, if ill. I got to see the boys a bit more and realise how much they miss me and want to be with me. How much they enjoy me reading the good night story. And I learn to prioritise them over my work and work in the evenings after they went to bed instead. Servicing Central Europe, I started with an 8 am demo on Friday, took the boys to school, and finished in time for the Hassocks Light Up. The kids loved the lights and afterwards the dads met for some pints in the local. I tried to cut it short, still overcoming my man flu.

The weekend was the usual but again I kept myself wrapped up, concentrating on getting better. Next week is big. I have three busy weeks ahead of me. Lots happening at work.

Now this week’s blog had a theme I suppose. Work, work life balance and commute. A bit sad maybe…..yet that is life sometimes.

Have a great one,
Volker

Sunday Column (239)

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This week started pretty good. Not only did I get a seat on the train and managed to catch up with a good friend if mine – I also managed to be home for bed time. It is great if work allows you the freedom and flexibility to do that. My meetings this week were postponed left right and centre. So lots of flexibility was required on my part too. And as I got ahead of schedule due to more “office time” I took Friday afternoon off, and finally managed to pick up Colin from school. As a surprise.

That felt good. Being able to be there for the family, taking a breather. Life is full on again. I enjoy being out “in the field” again, in the trenches, selling. The tube journeys across the city and a product you can sell and believe in. Things could not be better really. Not complaining, enjoying life as it is.

Then I was thinking how my life has changed over the past 7 days. It has! I got digitalised 🙂 Already, I had most of my documents and backups in the clouds, yet I uploaded my music too. That means I store my approximately 10,000 songs digitally in the Apple iCloud and download them as I like. Of course that is nothing new but for me that means selling old CDs, getting rid of record player and records. Moving forward my music will be streamed, downloaded or whatever via the internet. No need for a big computer, storage or worries about data loss. It is all in the clouds.

It is funny. I remember cassettes, buying my first CD. I remember buying a record player as short as a few years ago. Now all I got are mp3s. File formats. A line of code. Life is changing. With my new 4G phone I can do things super fast online on the go too. Things, life in general, speeds ups: no slow down in sight.

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Yet, something rather strange happened this week. My mate cancelled drinks. I looked at my schedule and realised there was nothing (!) to do. What if I actually had some spare time. A curious thought of what would happen if you came home and you had nothing to do but watch TV? Of course that did to happen and I quickly found enough stuff to keep me occupied. I finished a presentation for Rotary next week, and cleared my twitter stream of unwanted people to follow 🙂

Later in the week my parents came over and it was great top see them. Mum and me managed to cook a German chicken recipe I used to die for as a child. So I can now make it for my boys. We had a great weekend again. Family is important, yet I never realised it growing up. Now that we don’t have family close by, we actually missing the support. Who would have guessed.

Some things that still baffle me (a bit out of context here) is when, like this week, Tescos delivers bread on the same day as it expires with a replacement pork pate for a vegetable one that was out of stock. Come on, think a bit. A veggie pate can’t be replaced with a meaty one, and I haven’t seen many people eating a whole loaf of bread in a night.

People’s common sense just doesn’t seem to work, a questionnaire where the reply to email address wasn’t working. The little things that just do not make sense. Test things, make sure you deliver the quality standard you would expect. Never mind.

I hope you have a great week. I don’t believe it is October already!

Happy autumn.

Volker

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A lucky commuter week is behind me. I got a seat two days in a row and yet was away for two days this week. I sometimes think I am crazy to commute an hour into London, then another 30 minutes within London, to reach my place of work. I suppose it doesn’t bother me because I use the time on the train to read, catch up on videos and TV shows or write this blog. If I didn’t, I couldn’t do that daily commute. And this week I finished reading a book, caught up on TV and wrote the blog. Productivity!

What still beats me is that train companies charge a horrendous amount for my travel without giving me value for money. Using the only peak hour service from Hassocks to London Bridge this train is “standing only” unless you are lucky like I was this week. Crazy. I keep telling them and hope it changes eventually, yet the way it looks my company might have an office over in the West End of London, meaning I can use many of the Victoria line trains, before anything changes on the London Bridge services. Or maybe Farringdon….

So I continue to complain to both Southern Rail Services and First Capital Connect Trains, latter putting awfully old trains on for my journey home. The main challenge is that they won’t change and we, the commuters, don’t have any power to get them to change. We rely on the trains and don’t have a choice. We complain, won’t be heard, get frustrated, yet are helpless in the end.

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Germany also sprang to mind when I sat down to write this column. Firstly because trains are more modern, more on time (yet not in my experience) and somewhat empty when I use them. Yet, I have been standing on commuter trains before between Darmstadt and Frankfurt, and I have been thinking whether Germany’s infrastructure is really that much better? It probably is. I just don’t want to compare it any longer.

This week I went to the biggest European Online Marketing show, dmexco, in Cologne. A trip down memory lane as I visit this show, and it’s predecessor, for seven years now. A good trip to show my boss how different Europe is to the UK and what the European digital landscape looks like out there. He was impressed, we had amazing meetings and it was good to catch up with the industry that forms my home. A small industry. I love being part of it.

I feel ok about Germany too. My second trip within 10 days. I actually enjoy being in the fatherland. A trip to see friends, working on conferences, visiting exhibitions. Networking, meeting people and looking at how the country and it’s landscape has changed. I enjoy going back. I enjoy seeing my friends overcoming obstacles and doing well. I experience a different Germany compared to years ago.

I often get asked whether I could imagine returning home. The answer surprisingly would be ‘yes, if I have to’. The bureaucracy and ‘black and white’ thinking is a safety net I would enjoy in Germany, despite it would do my head in at the same time. The solid foundation of each business decision, the mulling over of decisions, the fear of lack of quality but no fear of failure, the aim to do really well….Germany is build on solid principles and measures. A productive society, a strong work force, a profound education system. However, I would be scared to come to political and social boundaries, limits to expand beyond my own means.

Re-reading the paragraph above I am not sure if it makes sense to everyone. You never know where life takes you. I spoke with an old friend of mine earlier this week suggesting one needs to ‘just go for it’. Unconventional. Taking the risk and trust that the universe, the karma, the greater unconscious, will be good to you. One needs to believe that things work out in the end.

I do.
I believe.

On that note, Colin managed to cycle without the stabilisers on his bike this week. Needless to say I am proud. Very proud. Seeing my boy grow up. Seeing him being proud of his achievements. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

Free falling. Jump off the cliff and trust in a soft landing.
Maybe with a parachute. Maybe not.

Have a lovely week.

Volker

Sunday Column (173)

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Now, the first week back after a two week holiday was two-fold. On the one hand one I was busy catching up on things I had missed, on the other hand I was busy with things that needing done. If then one of the top company guys visits, one take on a new/old job, and changes ones routine…it can be a bit hectic. But I managed well I think.

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But it was far from stressful I have to say. I still managed to keep my holiday spirit whilst getting up at 5:30 am to go running. I managed that twice his week. On top of that I managed one night ripping out the pond. It is a shame to do that but makes the garden a lot child friendlier. One needs to decide one way or another. My wife has been busy sorting the weeds too. And blinds went up in the kids room.

We ordered the council to collect rubbish next week. We got a lot of stuff we need to get rid of. Then we received a few quotes so that we can carry out the necessary repairs. We ordered some furniture, made plans for the rooms and hardly stood still sorting bits and pieces in order to settle in further.

The commute works out 90 minutes door to door. Means I am in the office for 9, leaving the house at 20 past seven. On the morning commute I manage a good chunk of reading, my emails and a 10 minute snooze between East Croydon and London Victoria. The tube isn’t too bad in the mornings either. However, in the evenings things are busier on the tube, trains are busier but so far I always managed to get a seat. I write this for instance sitting on a table on the train on Friday. I love having the iPad for my home journeys. I check and finish my emails for work on the Galaxy tab, then use the iPad for reading and everything else. Fantastic. The view from the window are horses, villages and GREEN.

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20120622-181857.jpg You can hear that in the short period of time I started enjoying my life already. I get pictures send from the wife and boys at Brighton beach during the week, we get double yog eggs from local produce and have very friendly neighbours. We arrived. We are settling in. Thing are good. We are happy.

To be honest this sums the week up. Next week I surely will get annoyed at my first standing journey, some neighbours burning trash and people being stupid. For now I don’t care.

We went back to Beckenham on Sunday for a birthday party. It wasn’t odd and we met lots of old friends of which some we will see soon coming our way. I am actually confident they might move down towards us. Like we did when friends moved down here.

Of course it is not all about the place. Coming home at 8 or 9 and not seeing the kids is not great. For now I think the trade off is fine. You can’t have it all but it seems as if I got a lot one can wish for.

If now the weather was more like summer …

Have a good week,
Volker

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It’s my wife’s birthday weekend. I am off until Wednesday, so a very long family weekend. I am loving it. Starting at the back of the week, we had friends over for curry and beers….way of celebrating the birthday 🙂

This week I got more positive feedback re my blog, Buddhist thoughts and coaching skills. Wow, I am getting a bit scared how many people read this blog, know me, and I might never find out. Just really nice to get acknowledgement. So thank you guys!

However, there were some sad moments this week too. A commuter died on the train I was on. We got delayed and I later found out that the ambulance that arrived couldn’t save the woman. I found that weird. Weird to think that you are just on your way home from work and for whatever reasons, it just hits you. Just like that. And your partner waits at home and you never get off the train. Isn’t that sad? Is that the life we are living?

Whilst not knowing the circumstances it makes me think what is important in life. I do that anyway. Having had the chance to spend more time with the family and kids lately, I can clearly see where my priority is sitting. Every minute I engage with the kids I gain more from it, and enjoy it more. And gaining is not so much about “personal gain” but that I enjoy the engagement and see how much they are me, and how much I can help them learn and grow up. I really want to be the best dad ever! I want to be good in anything I do, so becoming a great dad is on the list!

Whilst I sometimes regret that I didn’t enjoy the first few years of Colin, I just had to get used to things. Typical man I suppose. And I still enjoy travelling and being away as long as I make my time I spend with the boys worthwhile. And I will. And my boss is understanding to combine family with work. I don’t think I could be happier at the moment.

Just to chip in some more miserable thoughts, the Guardian published an article about the top 5 regrets of people dying. I would summarise it as “I should have spend more time with my family and friends instead of working my ass off and not focusing on happiness” – of course this only applies to people with a bad work life balance, and for people that don’t constantly reflect their life.

On Twitter we discussed whether you should act on it. If you feel like any of those things are true in your life, of course you should. If you don’t enjoy working hard, and get the reward, or if you think it interferes with your private life, then get on with it and change your life! Change your work for that matter. But anyone of us, and us refers to people like myself that want a career, know the trade off. And, as aforementioned, put priorities down. And I am still learning. And learning. And mastering. Slowly but surely. At this point in time I wouldn’t even consider any of those reasons as a regret. It is more about “not enough exercise”, “too much food”, and “being too excessive”.

Latter I suppose was true again this week. Not in regards to booze but more in regards to food. We took a few clients out for “media lunches”. Steak, more steak, lovely peanut butter shortcake, ox heart, sprats and dover sole. Wine, beers, and good company. Nice lunches, and good chats over lunch.

To stay with the theme, maybe I should quickly refer to Alastair Campbell’s Panorama episode this week. A fantastic 30 minutes about “the middle class” alcoholics. The ones that drink on a regular basis at home without giving it too much thought. Definitely worthwhile watching it on iplayer. It makes me think once again.

I suppose I came full circle tonight in my blog. Having more time this weekend made me reflect more. Two more days off. More time with the family. I will enjoy them.

Looking also at all of those topics above I realise that using NLP and coaching on myself I constantly benchmark what I want, how I want it and where I want to go. And whether life fits in with the greater goals in life. I am hoping to help a few more people with that in the next few weeks. You can make it all happen if you wish!

I wish you a great week. A safe week, a safe commute, not too much booze and some joy with your family and friends. Make it worth it.

Love and Happiness,
Volker