One of the things I find fascinating about running my own business is observing how in tune (or not) I might be with this 'thing' I am creating. Where is it going, what is it doing, who do we need to help us along our way...With my natural controlling tendancies I often want to manage the process and put nice structures in and whilst that is a very useful thing to do (especially when trying to create a scalable model), too much of that limits the scope of my thinking, putting a cap on opportunity and growth. I notice that when I do take a step back interesting people and opportunities appear (often people - including potential clients - who I might have given up hope on). So, whilst I often think of breaks as 'luxuries' I am increasingly realising that taking a regular 'mental' step away (in this case - a weekend on the south coast with my grandmother who doesn't give two hoots about my business - she just wants to make sure I am fed good 'n' proper) is as necessary as doing my VAT return.

The challenge of juggling detailed operational thinking with big picture strategic stuff is part of what I love about my life, but sometimes I get the wrong thinking style going at the wrong moment with very frustrating consequences. I think I am going to start breaking my week and days into operational detail work and the big picture stuff - perhaps by using these two categories when drafting my to-do list, I might be able to use my brain in a more effective way.

I have also hugely enjoyed a book recently that has really challenged some ideas that I have held. 'Talent is Overrated' by Geoff Colvin is a treatise of hope about what it takes to be a high performance individual. He brings to life the idea of 'deliberate practice' and debunks the myth of innate extraordinary performance - its all down to specific practice...which if I can bring that to my working life should help me achieve some of my long-term goals (although I hope I have made some headway as he states that it usually takes 'ten years' of four hours of deliberate practice a day as the benchmark for any extraordinary achievement). Its already had an impact in a couple of areas where I realise I had told (sold!) myself that 'I'm just not good at that...' - I realise now that I had given myself a great get-out clause that justified avoiding just doing the work. Ouch!