Look After What Matters

Lessons from Bath Slime

We've just moved house for the first time in 10 years, and this weekend has been a frantic effort to go through the dregs of our belongings, working out what to throw away, what to donate/sell and which keepsakes are still worth keeping.

This takes a huge amount of emotional investment for me, to go through all the little reminders of our children's lives. I was braced as I went through the loft of the old house to have 'a moment', sifting through cherished toys and favourite clothes of yesteryear.

But surprisingly, I was fine. There were some interesting items, provoking some cherished memories, but all was good. Life goes on.

You wouldn't believe what got me in the end, though.

Not even in the loft, I came across some Spiderman-themed 'bath slime', unopened, that had escaped from a bigger, also unopened gift set we'd got for our son for Christmas in 2022.

I totally welled up. And then the 'moment' turned into a full half an hour.

So why did that move me so much? Why did a small piece of tat, which I'd only seen once, and barely knew existed, hit me so hard, when I'd happily sifted through all the really prized items?

Then I realised…

Our son used to be Marvel (MCU)-mad - we'd watch the films in order on Friday evenings, he had the PJs, the t-shirts, the socks, the toothbrushes, fancy dress costumes. And of course, the toiletries gift set.

But somewhere, in the past year, he'd started to grow out of it. I mean, he doesn't *dislike* Marvel, but he's kind of past Spiderman bath slime.

What had hit me was this was the first time I'd realised that in the short, short space of a year, he'd grown up. He had gradually, yet so quickly, stopped being the little boy he was.

And I'd missed it. I'd been so busy building Mountain Boardroom, that our kids had merrily gone about doing what kids do - growing - and although we'd spent lots of time with them, went on some incredible adventures, and did some amazing things in 2023, I hadn't taken any time to stop, think and cherish the present.

What does any of this have to do with business and setting goals for 2024?

Most people who I work with want to 'fix' a specific problem in their business, or their mindset. And whatever it is - issues with scaling, lack of motivation, productivity, lack of time, overworking, everything, EVERYTHING, comes back to their purpose, their 'why'.

BUT... it is SO easy to fall into the trap of thinking that our 'why' is our only driver, and forsake all else, but actually we are rarely so single-minded, all of the time.

Goal setting isn't just about your 'why', it is a balance - not work/life balance, but a balance of everything we find important to us in life.

Last year, for me, that balance was off.

Absolutely set your goals around your 'why', but look at the big picture, and don't forget to look after what matters.