The Perfect Gift .. Time

It’s possibly the only thing that I actually want and need in my life ... and as my partner Tony identified with an excellent gift that he gave me for an earlier birthday ... an old car bonnet ... masquerading as a piece of art with the words time scratched on the bonnet , yep there’s not much more that I want from this life except more time.

I reflected on this the other day as we looked at a riverside section in all its glory and wondered if we were to be lucky enough to ever purchase and build a house in a space like this and if we did would I have enough time and years left to enjoy it?

Interesting comment made by Tony the other day ... Honey you need to stop lighting all these wicks we have so many candles burning ... he's right on two counts, there are a lot of lit wicks, so to speak, at the moment, but at least I can see a finish line and at least the wicks are all in line with our core business.

Time ... so when did I become so time poor, am I time poor?

And how the hell do I choose what is best to fill up each of my days?

A hard one.  At the moment I am right in the middle of deliberating as to whether I should go to China with two wonderful girls that have elected to do their final MBA assignment on myself and the clothing company. As part of this they have identified some opportunities in China around the manufacturing of jewellery for our collections. Essentially it will be two weeks away on what will possibly be not a lot more than a study mission for me.

I can’t help but reflect that whenever I put myself into a new place opportunities present and these girls have certainly done their homework and have a full itinerary to which I can simply gatecrash, but there is so much going on at home with the two new stores in Aussie ready to be opened for the 1st of April, Adelaide and Launceston (Tasmania), and the start up of our First Bar / Cafe,  Flutter in Barton Street in Hamilton. Not that there is never not a lot on in my life but this month just seems so much busier.

Take yesterday, I was racing to a finish line of 5pm so I could get to a local cafe evening, where they were filming for a TV3 foodie program. I was very keen to be in the space and support as I have been working with the owner to create excellence across his team and his food offerings over the last couple of months. Exhausted by a day that seemed to never end I really just wanted to go home and nurse a big glass of pinot, after all a new selection of the very best had just arrived from the Fistonich Estate (Villa Maria), but knowing how important it was that I was at the cafe, I went ... and what a great night. I may have even met a girl that I can entice to open our Adelaide store ... maybe, maybe not, but to be part of another celebratory moment that is so well deserved and received is just as wonderful as experiencing my own!   

Lovely Ladies at the Workmans Cafe - TV3 Foodie Program Night

It is so easy to become exhausted by the content of my normal day and never surface for air, but so much of what I do is simply caught up in a 50 first date movie rerun, my growth and the growth of this company is about getting out there and experiencing things, putting myself in new situations no matter the work load that gets left behind or the questions that I have left unanswered.

I will never become too time poor to make great decisions re growth ...  and really managing time is just about a discipline as there is an ability to have it all, it is simply about the way that you prioritize!

So do I book those flights to China today... knowing I will leave behind a company that will slow their progress without me or do I simply bury myself in the breeding mountain of paperwork and wonder  what my virgin trip to this part of China might have been like...?