October 31, 2016

IN THE SADDLE: Riding the ups and downs

If life ran along a straight line it would be pretty ordinary, don’t you think? Learning from your mistakes can make you a better, stronger, happier person – and someone who is much more pleasant to work with!

If the ocean didn’t have any swell, there wouldn’t be any waves to surf.

So far in my young life I have had a number of ups and certainly a lot of downs. As I discover more and become more experienced, I am learning to handle the downs a lot better rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water (just have to use that corny phrase).

josh-riding

I am often chirped about being a perfectionist – always wanting to get things as close to 100% as possible. But 9 times out of 10 I am so focused on getting that one thing absolutely right that I miss out on other opportunities. A good friend or mine (you know who you are) is helping me to change this through a bit of guidance and the odd chirp of constructive criticism. Accepting that I am not always right is something that I am learning very quickly.

Constructive criticism is one of the cornerstones that have helped me to learn and develop. I appreciate hearing the truth directly. Beat around that bush often makes things worse. I still have plenty of room for improvement, that is for sure! The saying you learn something new every day didn’t make itself up.

I have come to learn that you can’t do everything and that some people are far better suited or skilled at certain things than I am. This has helped me to take more control of the ups and the downs.

The ups and downs make life what it is! Learn from your mistakes and listen to feedback. It’s not negative all the time. Have fun and make the most of what you are doing. Immerse yourself in the moment. That’s my approach to life right now, and it’s helping a lot!

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. He 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!