Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Go With Your Gut

It was painful to watch.  Not the obvious failure of the presentation, but the look on the face of the chief of staff.  It was clear from his reaction that he had anticipated it might not go well and now the worst case scenario was happening in front of a select audience of their best customers, and that it could have been avoided.  The presentation was tanking and the boss was the one holding the bag.

Afterwards the chief of staff confessed he'd had little confidence in this particular segment of the presentation and had second guessed pulling the plug several times.  He was absolutely devastated that he hadn't.

It didn't make him feel any better when the boss accepted his confession and apology.

"Next time, go with your gut," said the boss.  "That's what I pay you for."

Enough said.

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

To Sleep, Perchance to Get Rich (or just plain live longer)

It may have started as far back as Dale Carnegie, but the self-improvement trend started for me in the mid-eighties, when I committed to merely thinking about growing rich.  No need to work for it.  Just imagine it, and it will happen.  (That didn't happen.)

Fast forward through a career of working, really working for "it", the elusive goal of success, ever changing.  Success defined and redefined.  Trends and fads.  4-Hour work weeks (as if work was bad).  Minutes and habits, one and seven.

The latest fad is to limit one's sleep to as few hours a night as possible.  Recently I listened to entrepreneur Robert Herjavec and radio host John Tory one-up each other on how late they work, how early they rise, and how little sleep they get.  Extreme time management.

Not for me this time, I'm not falling for it.  Eight hours sleep as many nights as I can swing it.  An afternoon nap if I can get away with it.  Some shut eye on a long haul flight.  A few moments of peace wherever I can find it.

"Good quality sleep keeps your appetite hormones in check, cools those inflammatory chemicals that promote heart disease and cancer, keeps your waist line trim..."  Joy McCarthy, Holistic Nutritionist

Lack of sleep is tied to diabetes, depression, lapses of attention and in a 2010 study, researchers from the University of Warwick in Coventry, England found a connection between early death, and too little (or too much) sleep.

So go ahead Herjavec, count your money.  I'll count my sheep, thank you very much.