Part One: 12 lessons I've learned in the past 12 months.

It was my birthday recently, and I did take some time to reflect but not to the extent of writing down the lessons I had learned in the past 12 months. Until, that is, I listened to the amazing *Jay Shetty birthday issue podcast, where he not only explores his 12 lessons in the past 12 months but urges his listeners to do the same! *https://jayshetty.me/podcast/12-lessons-learned-in-the-last-12-months-and-getting-better-at-setting-your-mindset/

So here I am Jay and blog readers, here are my first 6....in no particular order....here goes...

Lesson 1: ADHD is a superpower!!

Our 9 year old Archie has been recently diagnosed with ADHD. And, instead of seeing it as detrimental, we've embraced the wonder and delights of Archie and he has too!! In hunter / gatherer times - Archie would have been the hunter, right out in front, spotting danger and leading the pack! 20% of people in the world have ADHD - so it's very much part of our society. And, even more exciting, a lot of super successful people have ADHD, Richard Branson, Michael Phelps, Justin Timberlake to name a few.....! But, he can be whatever he chooses to be, hopefully just Archie and no-one else! He could even follow in his Dad's footsteps and be a fourth generation hairdresser, just as long as he is happy!

Lesson 2: Simplicity is golden. I don't like to bleat on about Covid, but Covid has slowed me down from a personal point of view. I no longer 'feel the need' to fill my weekends to the brim, instead exchanging it for, simple family time, walks, beach and kicking back. As one friend described it, I love 'JOMO' - the joy of missing out :) Myself & my husband and the kids, recently had a super simple one week's holiday in Cornwall in August, and it was the most relaxed I've been in at least 12 months! Note to self, 'stopping and resetting' regularly is the key to being 'on form' the rest of the time.

Lesson 3: Not drinking is the key to major happiness, health and productivity! I'm on my bandwagon 'on the wagon' at present, but in all seriousness, I'm so much more fulfilled, energised and happy when I'm NOT drinking!! It's a challenge sometimes to turn up to things where everyone is drinking, but to be honest, it's always worth a few hours of self-discipline versus, losing a day, a few days, or sometimes a week of feeling out of sorts, heady and downright 'self-deprecating'.

Lesson 4: Give problems space to breathe, and 9 times out of 10 they resolve themselves. We can all give too much airtime to issues, sometimes making them much larger than they need to be. Whether it's personal or work problems, I've learned that wading in with my big boots trying to solve the problem straight away, isn't usually needed. I did this with a long-term friend recently, I sat back, put some space and time in the middle. It really worked. We didn't need to say anything, we just got back to where we'd been before.

Lesson 5: Leadership is about certainty. One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a leader in the past 12 months, is to be very clear with communication, very certain and to stick to that certainty and see it through. Whether that's a decision you're making for yourself or for the team!! I decided early on in the pandemic, that I would commit to ensuring my team, no matter what would keep their jobs and that they would be looked after. As a knock on this gave me great confidence in myself and an unrelenting drive to survive and thrive.

Lesson 6: My husband is the most positive person in the world! I could be biased of course, but many people who know my husband, would agree with me wholeheartedly. I have never witnessed the level of positivity of anyone, who had to shut their business 3 times during the pandemic, take on the main responsibility of home-schooling, keep his team motivated and positive, keep me positive at times - and still remain incredibly uber positive himself. Nathan Plumridge, I salute you.

Check out Part 2 later this week.......