One of the things my mum (who I love) used to say about me as a child was that I was always looking at what others were doing, what they were achieving and what I was doing next. Some of her familiar and wise advice was ” Kym – enjoy what you have now…. Enjoy the people you are with now Kym…… Don’t worry about what others are doing or achieving ….. The grass is not always greener on the other side…”

At the time, I did not fully appreciate or take on board this sage advice. On reflection, I was always in a rush to be somewhere, do something, be better or rush to the next thing. It must have frustrating for my parents to watch! A son they loved but who did not appear to be content with who he was, what he had or who he was with at the time!

When I also reflect on the journey of BRS over the last years, I suspect there was a quite a bit of Groundhog Day in its evolution that mirrors my childhood. We started small and successful. There was a perceived need to be everything to everyone and be bigger and better! We invested money in resources and people that did not work out partly due to this unrealistic drive towards this unattainable goal which is perfection or something that was perceived as being better in the future. The other part was not recognising that the people we recruited were not the right fit for a small business high performance culture which is another important lesson I have discussed previously when recruiting staff.

We are now smaller, more focussed, leveraging virtual assistants and our associates better. We are leveraging our knowledge and expertise in to other passive business ventures such as easyconsult which is exciting! The model is back to where we were successful in the first couple of years and is far more enjoyable. We have gone full circle but are now in a much better space with a more focussed business and a fantastic team that is the right fit for where we want to go in the future.

There is something in this to reflect which is the reason for this blog. When we are young, we are in a rush to be older or wiser or be in a better perceived space. This can be driven by the need to be perfect, the need to compete, the need for external validation or other factors such as worrying what others think. It not only is unattainable but takes precious time and energy from enjoying the present. This is not only hard to stomach personally but is noticeable to others. It also causes unwanted stress through putting pressure on yourself.

My family have commented recently how in the last twelve months I have come across much more settled and don’t seem as distracted. I firmly believe that this is due to enjoying more of what I have now than what I see in the future. This combined with genuinely enjoying the journey, enjoying the company I choose to spend time with as well as being extremely grateful for the wonderful children, partner and extended family I have. Simple things like going back to my parents farm more regularly to enjoy their company and where I grew up with my children is a small example of changes I am making more of.

Life is good if you choose to appreciate it for what you have now. Remove the future to be focus and direct your energy to where you are and who you a with. By doing this, you place yourself and others in the best position to be successful. The future will then look after itself!