Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Corona Virus, Emotion, Family, Holiday, Home, Hope, Jill, London, Love, Loyalty, Luck, Martin Weigel, Mercedes, Nottingham, Nottingham Forest, Otis, Paul, Paula, Rosie, Shelly, Virgin Atlantic
So I was supposed to be back today, but the gods had other plans.
I got covid.
After avoiding it for 2 years.
After moving to the other side of the planet in the middle of the pandemic.
They decided now was the optimum time to give it to me.
And maybe they were right.
Because this trip has – so far – been filled with nothing but miracles and love.
I got to see the wonderful Martin and Mercedes get married in Portugal, surrounded by old friends who I’d not seen in an age.
Including the brilliant Clare Pickens who I love enormously.
Not to mention Nusara and her husband … who I discovered actually exists.
Now it’s fare to say all weddings are special, but this was magnificent.
There’s many reasons for that – from the people, the venue, the moment – but it was something more than that. As I said on the speech I was asked to give at the last minute, we needed this. All of us. Not just Martin and Mercedes … but every person who was – and continues to be – affected by the devastation of COVID. Which means every person in the World because whether it has been small or big challenges, we’ve all had to deal with them.
And from there, I then got to see my beloved Nottingham Forest pull off the miracle.
From bottom of the league with the worst start in 108 years to playing at Wembley after 30 years and getting promoted to the Premiership after 23 years away.
And to be able to do that with my beloved Paul – who I’d not seen for almost 2 years – by my side, was just even more special.
I don’t mind telling you I cried when I saw him.
When he got out his car and gave me one of his massive hugs hello, I clung on and cried. God I’ve missed him.
Don’t get me wrong, I love NZ, but it is the first place I’ve ever lived that genuinely feels ‘far from everything’ … so with that and all that has gone on in the past 2 years – not to mention the fact this is the longest I’ve not seen him in my entire life – I realised how much I’ve missed and needed him around in my life.
So to have that and then watch our beloved Forest get back into the promise land together was – well, just unbelievably special.
Now if you remember the post I wrote when I was setting off on this adventure, you will note I have not mentioned seeing Paula and her baby yet and that’s because of the COVID gods. But they’re still being nice to me …
Because not only has COVID not been too bad for me – especially compared to what some people have suffered – it meant I had to move my flights as NZ travel rules meant they wouldn’t let me catch my plane. And even this set back has a silver lining.
Because of the demand on airlines – and the time it takes for RAT tests to show a negative reading – the earliest flight I could get was next Tuesday. So not only will I have the time to see her before I go, but I also get to see Paul again when we go to the Queen concert we booked back in 2019 that they had to cancel because of COVID.
Seeing Queen with my best friend and his wonderful wife Shelly is like the ultimate gift to end this incredible visit to Europe.
But there’s more …
You see the Queen concert is on the day the UK celebrates the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
I mean the royal one, not the musical one.
The reason this is significant is way back in 1977, my Mum and Dad brought me to London to watch the crowds celebrate her Silver Jubilee. I remember it well, despite being so long ago. So to be back in London – albeit by pure coincidence – on a day where England yet again is celebrating a landmark moment in the Queen’s reign takes me back to that day with my parents and that is a feeling I will really treasure.
What this all means is not only has this trip been more wonderful than I ever imagined, it’s ended up giving me more miracles and love than I ever expected. Miracles and love that I needed more than I ever imagined.
So while I can’t wait to get back to my family – and my team – I can honestly say this has been a couple of weeks that are one of the most important and memorable weeks of my life and for that, I thank everyone who made it possible … from Martin and Mercedes, Paul, Nottingham Forest, Colenso, Q-Prime, NIKE, Paula, Queen, Lee Hill and Virgin Atlantic and my brilliant supportive wife and son right through to, bizarrely, covid.
I don’t know how you did it Mum and Dad, but thank you.
So till next week.
R
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Authenticity, Colenso, Comment, Culture, Cynic, Emotion, Empathy, Experience, Happiness, Luck, Marketing
So as last week was all about Otis – who had an amazing birthday – I thought I’d get back to normal by writing my usual shit this week.
The good news is it’s the last week of me writing posts for this year, so you only have 5 days to go before one of the horrors of 2020 disappears.
Only for it to start in the early weeks of 2021.
Cue: Evil Laugh.
Anyway, this post is about luck.
That thing where great outcomes seemingly appear from nowhere.
And while that is true for some … like lottery winners … the reality is there’s something very few people seem to talk about, and that is our own role in increasing the odds of it happening.
The golfer Gary Player once said, “The more I practice, the luckier I get”.
That’s a nice line, but he is also saying something important, and that is ‘what are you doing to make it happen?’
I think I have written about how I met Baz – who comments on here – but just in case, let me say it again.
We were interviewing for an entry level job at Cynic.
Andy comes out to find me, tells me I have to meet this kid and ask him about his references.
So in I go and ask him who his references are, to which he replies:
“Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs”
My favourite bit is his reaction when I asked if they were real.
The disgust on his face at being asked such a thing will live with me forever.
The reality is, they were his references. Over the years he had written to them – and others – to say he wanted to meet them to see if they had his generations best interests at heart.
And while that’s ballsy, he wasn’t doing it in some precocious, self-serving way.
He cared and had concern for his generation.
He wanted to know if these people who were very influential in culture at various moments in his early years, viewed his generation as friends or foe.
And maybe it’s this earnestness that led to those 4 agreeing to meet him at various periods of his life … but I bet they weren’t prepared for what he did next, which was ask them to then write him a reference. Hahaha.
Of course we hired him. Then he got hired by Steve Jobs. Then he went on to do a bunch of wonderfully entrepreneurial things while acting as a consultant for a bunch of companies from Apple to Zuji.
Literally the A to Z of creative tech.
Now, as much as it pains me, I have to admit Baz is incredibly sharp and smart … but the reality is there’s a lot of people like that who haven’t had the breaks Baz has enjoyed.
But was it all down to luck or was it down to him helping increase the odds of it?
I say this because I recently read an interview with the music producer Giorgio Moroder.
In the interview, he reveals how one person created their own piece of luck that changed their life forever.
Moroder had just been hired to write a love song for a movie coming out.
He knew exactly what sort of thing he wanted to create so he got on with it.
However the dirty little secret about Moroder is that while an amazing musician, he was a terrible lyricist.
Anyway, Moroder owned a Ferrari that he parked at the studio.
It was a beautiful car except it suffered from brake trouble.
One day a guy called Tom Whitlock came by and said he was a mechanic and could fix it.
So he did.
When it was all fixed, Tom told Moroder, “Oh and, by the way, I’m also a lyricist. If you ever need some words …”
Now it’s fair to say, Moroder probably had some of the best song writers at his fingertips, but he decided to give Tom a shot for no other reason than he asked.
He handed over the demos and Tom came back writing the lyrics for this.
Not a bad way to legitimise your ‘musical lyric’ career.
Interestingly, as much as it was ‘luck’ that got Tom the chance to write the lyrics for one of the most well known songs in music, it was also ‘luck’ that Berlin got to perform it.
You can read why, here … however while putting yourself out there is no guarantee of success, there’s a lot more chance of it happening than if you don’t.
Yes, it requires confidence, stupidity or delusion.
Yes, it’s as much about why and how you ask as what you want.
Yes, if things work out, you’ll be labelled ‘lucky’ rather than talented.
And all those together can act as pretty big barriers to wanting to put yourself out there.
But there’s a hell of a lot of people in our industry who have done more than they imagined or [maybe] deserve, simply because they spoke up or acted at the very moment most would quiet down.
I’m one of them.
Not to the extent of Baz or Tom or a whole host of others … but I’ve definitely gone after things that were important to me that I didn’t think I’d stand a chance of having if I didn’t speak up.
Sure, they all were things I felt I had something valuable to offer as opposed to just wanting to take … but I’ve gone for it.
And while a bunch of these acts never worked out for me – including the time I was about 10 and saw my first ever really fancy car in the flesh so I cycled up to the driver to ask they did for a living because I couldn’t believe anyone in Nottingham could ever have a job that would allow them to own such a wonderful thing – I look at my career and realise a bunch has.
Maybe they’re not big or shiny things, but they’ve all contributed to the luck I’ve enjoyed.
Hell, the reason I am going to get to work at wonderful Colenso is because they saw my ‘I’ve been made redundant’ post on the very day they were looking for a new CSO.
It happens.
It’s not always obvious.
It’s not always going to work out.
But it happens … especially if you find ways to encourage it, conscious or not.
Which is why I hope 2021 is the year people fight for their luck rather than just hope for it.
Because after the year we’ve had, we all deserve a bit more of it.