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Autumn Walks in Winchester
I had an opportunity before the lockdown started to wander amongst the Veeva Orange-tipped trees and view the autumn mist from rolling hills where John Keats was inspired to write Ode to Autumn. My daughter Natalie is studying at Winchester University, and we used to go see her before Covid we were able to explore… Read more
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Our Bookish Family Christmas Tradition
Many years ago I started a Family tradition, which I learned about from an Icelandic friend. You see Icelandic people celebrate Christmas each year with a book exchange. This tradition is known as Jolabokaflod, which translates roughly to Christmas book flood. Jolabokaflod started during World War II, when paper was one of the few things not rationed in… Read more
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Lead Like a Conductor
There is a quote: “if you want to lead the orchestra you must turn your back on the crowd”. It is often used by people as a justification for ignoring the criticisms of the many to focus on a task or mission. The quote is about leadership and the lone figure of a conductor standing… Read more
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My Favourite Teacher Story
As my son is a school teacher now and I am a very proud father I have started to collect or notice teacher stories. This one below is one of my favourites, enjoy: A school teacher ran a test that had several sections, each of which contained three questions. He told the students to choose… Read more
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aphorism, Beach, beach huts, beaches, blog, Blue mind, books, carpe diem, experiences, hard work, heat, just do it, just keep swimming, knowledge, lancing, lessons, life, mentoring, narrative, philosophy, quotes, Reading, Sea, seas, seaside, ships, Shoerham-by-sea, Shoreham-by-sea, storytelling, sussex, swimming, tenacity, water, waves, wisdom, Writing -
Mentoring Can Be Magic
Mentorship works, Socrates mentored young Plato, who in turn mentored Aristotle. Aristotle mentored a youth called Alexander, who ‘over achieved’ that young man went on to conquer the known world as Alexander the Great. I heard about this great example: Great Ormand Street Hospital (GOSH) Doctors and nurses needed to model moves of master handoverers,… Read more
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Forget the Scoreboard
As the coach of football teams I would always tell my players to always play like it’s 0-0. I wanted the players to not let the current state of play impact the game plan and their actions. I would then apply that philosophy to the entire season. If you want to extend your winning streak,… Read more
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A Story I Paid a Homeless Guy $5 for, Enjoy
I was sitting on a bench outside a hotel in Indiana 12 years ago and a homeless guy sat by me and posed me a bet.” If I can tell you a story that makes you think, will you spare me a couple of bucks?” Of course I took his challenge and this is my… Read more
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10 Things That Need 0 Talent
I have been talking with those I mentor about their careers recently and how talented the people are where I work. However I find that the word talent over used and far too simplistic and if anything an excuse to simplify how we differentiate people. I have for over a decade now had a list… Read more
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10 Years at Veeva Today
In the company I work for we have a tradition. Every five years of service you get a cube, a heavy orange cube which depicts the service milestone. The cube also has etched on it some kind words from a manager or colleague. The 5 or 10 year cube represents a significant milestone in our… Read more
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True Love Is Giving
I read an interview this week which was incredibly powerful. I captured my notes for today’s post. It started with a question: Young man, why are you eating that fish?” The young man says “Because I love fish.” The man says “Oh, you love the fish. That’s why you took it out of the water… Read more
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Worrying Is Exhausting
Do you recall the worry that took your time and attention? The one you were consumed with, the worry which distracted you from quality family time. And now? My guess is you are no longer worried, was it worth the concern? Was it as bad as you feared? Have you now replaced that with another… Read more
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Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable
If you are thinking about doing something different, don’t let the fear of failure keep you where you are. In order to grow we must be uncomfortable feeling comfortable, discontent being content, if you have been successful in one discipline, role or project its human nature to look to replicate those victories. However ask yourself… Read more
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The Glide: Monday Morning
The first part of a swim is the glide. One of the most important things to do in swimming is to learn ‘the glide’. This is the commitment on the wall of the pool as you start your swim training. One moment, you’re standing still, at the side able to breathe freely, and the next… Read more
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Marshmallow Anyone?
Every so often there is a study, article or report which feels so correct when we read it we trust it without challening the data. It states a truth we believe in and now we have validation. Case in point: The marshmallow test at Stanford University. Small kids sit in a room and offered a… Read more
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Walking to Think
I have been walking a lot recently, walking to think, walking to get healthier, just walking anywhere with whoever will walk with me. I observed something that happened when I was walking with different people and I thought it had only been me who noticed this. What I noticed was that, I walked with tall… Read more
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Beautiful Prose
My Saturday posts are traditionally where I share a more personal story, something that reveals a bit more than I would on a week day. I have two loves beyond my family. 1. The written Language in all its forms but good old fashioned books are my fave. 2. The ocean, I love being near,… Read more
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Seen It All Before
I think we can all agree age is a very high price to pay for maturity, but what maturity teaches you is the feeling so often that you have seen that before, heard that debate before, experienced that moment before. Being married to a historian just cements this assertion. My wife reminds me that we… Read more
action, advice, aphorism, Beach, beaches, blog, Blue mind, books, carpe diem, choices, endeavour, failure, fate, first lines, hard work, hardwork, heat, ideas, just do it, just keep swimming, knowledge, lancing, learning, lessons, life, loss, narrative, newspapers, people, philosophy, quotes, Reading, Sea, seas, seaside, sharing, ships, Shoerham-by-sea, Story, storytelling, sussex, swimming, water, waves, wisdom, Writing -
Surprising Sunday
Sunday surprised me with some lovely blue skies, light winds and no rain. I suppose as it is a bank holiday that explains so many people walking up and down the beach paths. I hope you do forgive me for taking yet another photo of my Hut and path outside, I could take a photo… Read more
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My Memoji and Me
I think you would agree that I have a remarkably Memoji type face. A Memoji for those that do not know is the Avatar of Apple iPhones. You can design one to look like you as much as possible and when I made mine up I was surprised how much it looks like me. Read more
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