IN THE SADDLE: A week of reflection

It’s strange when a moment of reflection finds you or catches your train of thought.

I haven’t been writing much over the past couple of weeks and have noticed how this has impacted my opportunity for reflection. It’s all too easy to say that you don’t have time or you are too busy. In truth, though, you can make time – and you must. Not only is it important to take a look back on some of the things that you have done or achieved, it’s also vital that you take a step back and evaluate where you are and the value that you are bringing to the party.

Over the past week there have been a few opportunities that have led my mind down the reflection path. I won’t tell you the long story or bore you with all the details, but here’s the short version:

Monday: I really enjoy Mondays and the start of the week. I look forward to what opportunities lie in the upcoming days. However, last week I had a bit of a chest infection. I spent the day in bed and so I didn’t start my week with a great amount of energy or enthusiasm.

josh gamification workshop

Gamification is the big buzzword

Tuesday: Back at work and ready to klap it! I reflected on the previous week’s ideas, discussions and priorities. I was drawn to my priority list, what I’d aimed to do and what I’d actually done. Had I been working smart? A gamification business breakfast provided an interesting start to the day. Gamification is a big buzzword at the moment, but more on this in another article.

Wednesday: Off we go to strategise. It is very easy to underestimate how useful it is to have everyone in the team on the same page. This week the brand team that I work with at Purple Group took some time out of the office. Strategizing, planning, discussing and reflecting… just a few of the things that we got up to. A positive getaway and with a little bit of reflection we are better equipped to take on what the future has in store for us.

A point of reflection ... somehow this picture of me, Justin, Carly and Carel at the Purple strat session ended up being upside-down. I was about to change it when I realised that sometimes things turn out not the way we planned. I think in this instance, it's ok. No harm done. Quite fun, actually. My Paul Frank monkey smile works both ways.

A point of reflection … somehow this picture of me, Justin, Carly and Carel at the Purple strat session ended up being upside-down. I was about to change it when I realised that sometimes things turn out not the way we planned. I think in this instance, it’s ok. No harm done. Quite fun, actually. My Paul Frank monkey smile works both ways.

Thursday: Continuation of our brand strategy session. We may have been able to do this session in the office, but the value of having it away from the office space meant that we really had the time and the space to engage, question evaluate and discuss where we are going and who we are.

A quick personal note: Taking a step back and evaluating who you are and where you are going for any team (work, sport, etc.) is a key element in getting value from everyone’s inputs, so that the outputs are efficient. I thoroughly look forward to the future with my team and remind everyone to continue to reflect and improve on our learnings.

Friday: A bit of work until about mid-afternoon, and then off we went to part take in the Insurance Institute of Gauteng‘s 24-hour spinathon to raise funds for the charity of our choice. For the Purple Group’s slot we made a donation to PinkDrive. Again, my mind was drawn to a moment of reflection. Cancer has affected my family and many friends of mine. I admire the work the PinkDrive team does and strongly believe that we need to continue to grow awareness around cancer.

[*If you’d like to make a small donation to PinkDrive – any amount will do – please visit Carel’s Run4Charity page and drop a few bucks. Any contribution, no matter how small (or large), will be greatly appreciated.]

iig spinathon purple group

Fun and games at the IIG 24-hour spinathon, raising cash for cancer cause PinkDrive

Well that’s my week in words and pictures, focusing specifically on the times that I reflected on myself. Part of the reflection was realising how important it is to make time to reflect. It forces you evaluate and helps you to prioritise so that you can work smart. And working smart means adding more value and using your time more efficiently.

So take a step back, evaluate where you are, and then klap it!

 

At CN&CO everything boils down to relationships. When good people interact with other good people, magic happens. This blog is a great example of the nature of relationships – how everyone knows someone who knows someone who provides free surfing lessons every Saturday or wants to work in a lifestyle business

Joshua Nuttall is part of the marketing team at Purple Group and a champion cyclist. One of Josh’s sponsors is carelnolte.com, which is an affiliate company of CN&CO. Josh’s dad Tim, with whom he rides a lot, is the rector of St Stithians, where Carel is the chairman of the governing council. Josh also rides for PinkDrive, which is one of our favourite charities. Josh is also a keen runner and runs for Born2RunAC– which is also the home club of a couple of CN&CO team mates and sponsored by Purple Group – which is where we started in the first place!