Over The Counter

An Olympic Effort

January is a fresh start; a fresh page to turn and a sense of optimism.

Our last three Januarys however have started with a cloud. In 2020 we didn’t know what was to come. In 2021 we had the optimism of the vaccine and a belief that ‘it’ may be coming to an end, but in 2022 we simply don’t know, but I’m thinking that it could be time to put a new ‘Olympic’ training plan into action.

We are all rather tired of adapting, changing, moving, fighting and somehow it feels like we may be back to the beginning again. Our businesses and more importantly our minds have been resilient, but I don’t know anyone who isn’t worrying about what is to happen.

I am writing this on 19 December with BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year on in the background which somehow this gives me a little reassurance of normality as I remember watching it from a young age with my dad.

The first year I remember the winner was Daley Thompson, way back in 1982. Daley won because he was the Decathlon champion at consecutive Olympic Games and quite simply an amazing all rounder, who could run, throw and jump.

As retailers I think we forget just how amazing we are. We too are ‘decathletes’. We literally do it all and we should never forget that.

Harking back to reassuring childhood memories is something that you do as you get older, especially in these uncertain times. Thinking about comforting memories helps, whether it was watching the A-Team on a Saturday night or bashing the buttons on my ZX Spectrum pretending to be Daly playing the Track and Field game. All of these things stir feelings of family, normality and fun that we all need.

As indie retailers we live by the calendar, with so many key events dictating our buying and how our shops are. We should be gearing up for Top Drawer and Spring Fair, but right now there is that feeling of not knowing and not being able to plan for certain, of having so many jobs to do and not completing them. With the constant disruption to normal life and the constant distractions, I feel I am achieving less and less. It feels like I am trying to win the game, but keep falling short.

So, my New Year resolution is to figure out how to achieve more and tonight I have started on my journey to do just that.

Now everyone knows that to win an Olympic gold like Daley calls for more than a few training sessions, it needs a strict programme. Without doubt my daily list of things will need to evolve.

No more will I be able to simply write anything and everything on that ‘to do’ list hoping that at least some of it will be achieved. I am now going to split my list into different groups with a focused approach to each day and week ahead. I thought I’d share my thinking in case it helps you.

Quick wins - These are the things that you can do in minutes or hours and give you that feeling of satisfaction. For example, review that new card range, change your window display, answer that niggling email.

The consumption of

the task - Where you finish things that you have started to read or watch. It may be

Top: To triumph in 2022 David to putting in an Olympic effort. Above right: You can buy this Daley Thompson poster, hand signed in marker pen from A1 Sporting Memorabilia’s website for £17.99. Right: The 2021 SPOTY presenters on stage before Emma Raducanu was pronounced the winner.

listening to the end of the podcast about making decisions, it may be about finishing the chat with a colleague or it may even be watching Peaky Blinders, but whatever it is, it should make you feel good about doing it.

These things are often the unseen things that can make a difference. Working on your mental strength and health to make sure that when you tackle the bigger tasks you are fully focused. You can’t always be thinking or talking about work, so knowing when to relax is key.

The Gold medal - The major goal that will be worked on at various times and may not be finished in a day or a week.

To win the ultimate prize needs thought and defined time spent or set aside; a true commitment to the goal.

One example of this at the moment for me is our website and social media. Both look good and have positives, but both lack the long-term strategy and person to really deliver them. You simply can’t just line up at the start of the race and go. Not even the most naturally talented athlete can do that. Everyone needs to work on the long-term goal.

The Crossroads - With every medal there will come a decision to turn one way or another. Tasks and pressures you put yourself under have to be considered and sometimes quite simply deciding “no I am not doing that” or “I have spent too much time on that” or you simply are not enjoying it, is the brave decision to make.

Naturally all of us want to finish what we start, but sometimes that is not the right decision. Sometimes it is braver to simply walk away and try something else entirely.

Adapting and changing your

training - Each day you need to decide your strategy. I am going to try and do this each night before bed so I know what I have planned and can start fresh each morning.

Perhaps it is going to be focusing on one single project. Perhaps your day dictates that you don’t have a lot of time so you fit in what you can. Perhaps it is doing something different that will have an indirect effect on your work that day.

An absolute ‘must do’ in 2022 for me is to cut down on the pointless scrolling. Whether it is work social media, my phone is too easy a place to lose 20 minutes on Instagram, Facebook or on any other platforms.

Also, by selecting the focus the night before it will avoid dithering over where to start. With this it can help to have a ‘coach’ or a trusted colleague that can guide you a bit if you feel that you are losing focus.

Daley would have perhaps picked an event and then narrowed it down to maybe the start in the 100metres. Think of each task and day as the event in your gold medal performance and work on it until you can see the difference.

Finding the short cuts - At this point you know you have the training schedule worked out and know that there is a lot of hard work but there will undoubtedly things that can help you complete a number of tasks at the same time.

Perhaps you can send a group email. Perhaps you can arrange a meeting by Zoom rather than in person. Perhaps you can utilise a colleague to help you work on something. Delegation is without doubt a skill most self-employed people find difficult to master.

Avoid the temptation to start adding new tasks until you have finished the ones at hand. Jumping from throwing the javelin to the long jump is not a natural thing so don’t expect to be able to do that and be successful at both right away.

The training of course never really ends but we need to focus on all events, even the ones that we don’t like to make sure we are successful.

Getting on the podium - Now getting to the end and winning that medal is not something that happens easily, but with each day that you complete it can be a step in the right direction.

My current projects involve some truly daunting tasks. The redevelopment of my restaurant to make it a leading destination retail space is right at the top of my ‘need to get right’ list. To me, in some respects this will be not only winning the Gold medal but breaking the record time as well.

As the year draws to a close all the many things that I wanted to achieve/tried to achieve/started to achieve were in sharp focus and the fact that I have not got the planning consent or my restaurant project weighs heavy, but I can’t allow myself to let this get me down.

Covid or not, my goals for 2022 are clearer than ever and I simply must have the focus of an Olympic athlete to keep them all on track and moving forward.

I know what I want to do and I know that I did achieve a lot in 2021 and sometimes you can be so focused on the medal that you forget the massive steps you have taken towards it.

Finally, one piece of other news is that in June of 2022 I will be adding a new ‘training partner’ into the mix with the arrival of my first child. At the age of nearly 48 I am not sure if this is exciting, daunting or my biggest challenge to date. All I do know is that my complicated life is going to get even more complicated and probably 2022’s biggest achievement will have nothing to do with retail! I am also not sure that nappy changes and night feeds constitute quick wins, but they may find themselves on the training list.

Wishing everyone a successful and safe New Year.

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com

Left: David Robertson drawing up his training plan with his furry mate. Below: Put those glittering prizes in your sights. Below right: David is looking forward to meeting his new training partner this coming June.