The Little Things in Life

It’s that time of year again.  An opportunity to reflect on what has been another dramatic year. A chance to look backwards with a view to making the future feel better.

Now that is a challenge!

I am an optimist by nature but 2011 has challenged my beliefs to the core. As an entrepreneur facing his second recession in three years I am feeling a little sorry for myself. I am also feeling a degree of anger at the fact that I am blessed to live in a generation populated by some of the worst political leaders I have witnessed in my lifetime. The euro crisis was born out of banking greed. It is prolonged however by political incompetence of the highest nature.

In my world, frauds provide spectacular fodder. Not even UBS’s rogue trader loss could diminish the glorious failure to move the global economy forward.

All of this said I have managed to find some grounds for optimism in my activities during 2011. My inspiration for next year and beyond has come from my mentoring assignments and the privileged opportunity to work with a range of talented human beings working in the much criticized financial services sector.

The key lesson I would share with my readers is the absolute importance of focusing on what we can control – the little things in life. The little things are normally that next action, that next meeting, that next difficult conversation, that next piece of analytical thinking.

Working through this principle has allowed me to witness little ideas born out of two people sharing a creative process to solve problems.

My mentoring has brought me into contact with people suffering from deep hostility from the audit client, from staff at threat of losing their jobs or from the deep pessimism created by the current environment.

It has been empowering to witness how working on the next action with a positive attitude can overcome the most difficult of circumstances.

So in the finest tradition of my end of year message I am duty bound to look forward and share some lessons from my own experience with a view to making 2012 an opportunity.

Here goes:-

• Ignore bad news (the media believes that it needs to peddle such stories to sell itself);
• Read Stop Press (my daily newsletter) – I promise that will carry at least one good news story a day;
• Take one risk a day (obviously after having identified the downside and constructed a mitigating strategy);
• Talk to new people – set yourself a target of one day;
• And finally, believe in the human spirit – it makes the world go around – has done from day one and will do into the far future.