Come up with a crazy business idea.
I have had a similar prompt before in this occasionally repetitive daily prompt asking what type of shop I would open. As a result I am going to look at our seemingly increasing determination either to just work for ourselves or to set up a money earning opportunity alongside our main jobs.
As with so many things, the Internet is to blame for the increasing obsession with opening up businesses. Ebay, Etsy, Amazon and the various reselling sites are full of ‘success stories’ of people who have made thousands of pounds for very little effort. That is of course untrue. It reminds me of the old pyramid schemes where the people setting them up got very rich while the clueless individuals who signed up either got very little or they actually lost money.
On the Internet the life cycle of these firms is far shorter than the old mail in promises of getting rich quick. That is not the only problem. We are constantly being encouraged to ‘monetise’ our skills, or those things we don’t need or want anymore, to make ‘easy money’! Of course, in reality hardly anyone makes more than pocket money from building a business of any sort, either on or offline, and the vast majority lose all the time and money which are invested. The people who can least afford the time and the investment plunge into a market that, with vanishingly few exceptions, they don’t understand and can’t devote the time to.
So, unless you want to develop a proper business plan, can afford to lose all the money invested and have the money behind you to concentrate only on the new business, don’t bother. It’s doomed to failure!
Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?
I have always worn my favourite clothes for many years. I have a suit I first got in 1987 and a very garish Hawaiian shirt I got in America during my summer there in 1986! The first piece of clothing that I took to was a jumper that I wore throughout my teens and into my twenties.
I am the taller of the two figures wearing the jumper I called Old Faithful. It was a black and white jumper which fitted like a glove whatever my height or shape. My tendency as a child, and as an adult to this day, has been to become very attached to inanimate objects and to give them an almost talismanic quality. I wonder if it’s connected to my Asperger’s. Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, whenever I wore it I always felt better because it was like a comfort blanket. As a teenager it was much needed given how difficult things were at school in particular.
It went missing in a move, one of many I had in my teens and twenties. I was sad at the time but I now look back with wry amusement at the way I was determined to associate it with things being better for me. It worked it’s magic then and I was very grateful, but I realise now that I had the control because my mindset changed when I wore it and that was down to me not the clothes.
What is your mission?
Ever since I got married, my mission has never changed. I have always wanted to do the best for my family. They are central to my life and my purpose. I am always thinking about them first and I know I am not alone. When I have a decision to make I instantly think about how it will affect them. If I feel like I am putting myself first I feel guilty about that. I should always think about what they need first.
When I was in Australia back in 2003 we had left Hong Kong ahead of schedule and whilst I knew that we were making the correct decision I also knew that financially it was going to be difficult. I was lucky enough to be able to get 3 or 4 days teaching a week alongside the University work and Janet was also able to find some part time work along the way. Despite this, we were very tight for cash so I gave up alcohol and pretty much all non essential spending in order to ensure that my children could get the most of the opportunities available in Australia for sport and dance. The self imposed ban lasted about 8 years and I still barely touch alcohol and I always consider every bit of spending to make sure I am not being selfish. It’s a really good thing because I know I am always doing my best for my family at whatever stages of their lives they are.
Mission Statement
Family First, Last and Always
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
So many of us want to live as long as possible because we can’t deal with the alternative. It’s a natural human instinct. However, there is little point in a long life if you do nothing with it. The most impactful life can be a short one. Let me tell you about my best friend whose short life had an impact that lasts to this day.
Gavin Jupp was a force of nature who lived on the principle of doing whatever he felt like whenever he felt like. He was outrageous in his behaviour on many occasions but he was never deliberately unpleasant. If his behaviour negatively affected someone he would shrug his shoulders on the outside but he would reflect on it on the inside. It was never deliberate and it was never something he took lightly, however much it may have seemed. He was a Scout Leader, a leading light in ASCAF the amateur dramatic society he encouraged me to join and he was the absolute centre of our group of friends. His charisma was off the scale and he used that charisma to entertain, encourage and perform. Some of the statements he made and some of the ways he behaved were jaw dropping but the twinkle in his eye when he did those things always made him practically immune from criticism and consequences. I remember when he and two of my other friends visited me at Staffordshire Polytechnic. We had a good night at the Place, the nightclub in Stoke on Trent. We were walking past a car sales business and one of my friends mentioned that the hub caps on one of the cars would look brilliant on his car which was the same make. Before we knew it, we were following Gavin and watching as he started to lever off the hub caps! I stood back as I tended to whenever something happened that I was concerned would be a problem for me! That said, when the hub caps were removed I was happy to carry one back to my room!
However, when you were in trouble he was in your corner more effectively than anyone else and he had an awful lot of insight into the way that people’s minds worked. He had a huge heart and huge reserves of compassion and where he led so many others followed without question.
Gavin Jupp was killed in a car crash 30 years ago this month at the age of 29. The bare facts of his lifespan were 14 December 1966 to 28 January 1996, but in between the two dates he was more adored and more influential than people who lived three times as long. That is what we should all try to emulate, however long we are given.
What could you do differently?
What couldn’t I do differently? There are very few elements of my life that I feel like I couldn’t improve, and I am sure that’s the case for so many of us. The decision to make once you have identified areas of your life that you could improve is to ask three questions. What are the most important areas to improve? What are those areas that would make the biggest difference to the quality of my life? What changes can I implement now?
So many of us love making New Year’s Resolutions. No, let me rephrase that. So many of us feel like we should be making New Year’s Resolutions! So many of these resolutions fail because we are making them for the wrong reasons. We are making them on a particular day because we feel under social pressure and we set our sights too high. We are not focusing on the process, we are focusing on the result. We do not have a plan for what to do if things go wrong, so when they do we can’t react effectively.
Now, I have made resolutions in seven areas. Do I expect to succeed in all of them? No. Do I have a plan for what to do when things don’t work? Yes. If you look at the first resolution below, you will see that it’s a weekly fitness regime. Now, as I write, it is the end of the first week of January and I have been ill throughout the week. Does that mean my resolution has already failed? No it doesn’t. I know that it’s about developing a new routine so I am focusing on the long term. I have written off Week 1 and will start when I feel much better, because trying to force myself to do this when I am ill is a guarantee that I will fail both short term and long term.
I have aimed very high this year deliberately because I know that with luck three or four of these resolutions will stick for the whole year and maybe one or two will start to succeed as the year progresses. I am happy that my approach is the one best designed to help me do things differently. Wish me luck especially when I get better!
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 