Thank god I’m not 21!

So this week has been an intensive one with a graduate assesment centre over in Sweden.

The average guy / girl we are meeting has done the following:

  • A first class degree at a well known University
  • Can speak 3+ languages (including normally Mandarin!)
  • Run numerous business projects plus other extra-curricular activities at the same time
  • Lived in a few locations around the world
  • Knows about (well they say they do….) the industry that we work for
  • Is a generally decent person that has to be someone you’ve got to like to work with and can still be a ‘future leader’
  • Has been around for between 21 and 25 years.

So as a group we’re absolutely blown away by what is takes to get a job at a Big Company nowadays as anybody who is mid-thirties and above is thinking they’d be in McDonalds right now with just the 1 star. 

When I reflect, a 2:1 and playing some sport was enough to secure a job in a decent company. So all of this is quite unnerving to think of the skills that anyone of us may need in the future and without those will we be discarded.

I suppose this is a reflection on the West as a whole and at times it does mean we will all need to move at such a pace and change our culture. For example China is forecast to exceed the US in 2016 now (it was 2020 a few months ago) in terms of trade; Mandarin now needs to be as ubtiqious as German was in the early 90′s.

So with say 30 years of my career stretching away into the distance, is there a slight element of panic? Yep I think that there might be as this revolution has only really happened in the last five years. 600% of the same is upcoming so as a middle class western white male, will I be the one who is struggling for recognition in a global company when it always felt so safe? Will we be seen as old fashioned and the west as the dying star it once was?

At times I think yes we can all keep pace but it’s not going to come naturally in the future, especially as one gains years and loses more hair! There is the risk of the equivalent of a career middle aged spread hitting me and then from nowhere will come the heart attack.

Not positive but it does focus the mind on what a lot of us need to be doing to keep pace and still be a viable contendor for the future especially as we are only really 25% through our careers…….

Just 1 new skill and some re-organisations…

As we come into February , a time for rejuvination (apparently), a bit of skintness after a long January but also reflection. There has been some radio silence lately which has been for a few reasons.

The original intent of this post was to discuss how the acquisition of just one new skill could give us all the ability to really change our lives. For positive, and some less than positive reasons, this has suddenly become much more real….

First off, the current team that I’m working within is going through, what looks like a major re-organisation. The reasons behind it all makes sense but it is de-stablising and I can imagine a lot of us in the bigger corporates will see this on a regular basis as the drive to work more efficiently. Personal opinion; the opportunity to keep changing is a great one but recognise it just might frighten the pants off you.

One thing it does do is make you look at life and reflect on what you do for 40 or so hours per week and if the phrase “do what you love; love what you do” really applies. In most cases, I can probably hear the shouts of “maybe“, “sometimes” and even ”never”.

These are great sentiments of doing what you love, and my inner hippy wants it to be true, but really we all understand in these touch economic times, and as a mid thirties man with a family, sometimes what we do is to to keep folks at home warm and well fed (I think I’d be running an outward bound centre in deepest Wales!) as that’s the most important thing. So this should be celebrated as anyone who does something they don’t enjoy or worse is a truly selfless human being.

Unfortunately whilst this re-organisation has been underway, there have been some much more significant announcement of changes to the organisation. These changes affect individuals, families and communities within which these people worked and live.

So, some changes and tough times ahead. So back to this term just one skill as it’s one that we can apply to day-to-day life to broaden our horizons, challenge ourselves, make us happier as we’ve learnt something or as these difficult times have shown improve our employability

I’ll give you my example which is from just over a month ago when this blog started. With a bit of help from Google, the local library and friends, I now know how to draft a blog, host it myself, purchase a domain name, edit HTML, promote on Google, set up adverts, etc, etc. The much bigger thing it has led to is an upcoming photo shoot for a 1.5million a week publication! Now believe me I’m just as shocked as you are.

All you need is a bit of time as the information is all there – just go grab it and really challenge yourself. As a close friend said, who has just started Foreign Exchange trading (!), “It’s better than watching those trashy American girlie dramas”.

One real thing that this one skill does kick off is IMAGINATION. Take a friend who started to learn how to write iPhone apps – this is dry stuff and in essence it’s computer coding. Zzzzz….This is all well and good but the ideas it brought to bear have been huge. This was just one new skill but the ability to make a material change to their life was significant and the creativity from understanding how to make some simple components come together really does know no bounds.

It doesn’t have to cost much at all and this is the key to one of the new economic pillars. http://www.patisseriecyclisme.co.uk/ is a website that in essence does reviews of cycling cafes around the UK.  You might think so what? Well Louise who runs its started this website with a domain that probably cost her around $15 and hosting nowadays can be anything from $4 a month – yep folks that’s a total of forty pound a year plus some time to run a fully fledged business!!

The best bit is….all of the content (read stock in normal retail terms) comes from other people….some hard work on marketing from Louise on Twitter and it’s ilk has created something massively successful that is now branching out into selling merchandise. And the best bit is she cycles and eat cakes for a living!!!

So yes there are some pretty crappy times out there currently and I truly feel for people directly affected BUT let’s keep hope and you can re-invent yourself and for one of the first times in human history, the ability and knowledge to better yourself is quite literally at your fingertips.

For those of us who are a bit more secure but might be thinking of learning something new then give it a go – it can be a language, write iPhone apps, draft poetry, etc, etc but you’ve got to just do it and use some of those little nuggets of spare time to do it.  I know we all like to relax and do something different but it doesn’t always have to be passive such as TV…..

New year. New shirt?

Hi all, as it’s Monday morning here’s something fun to kick off the week.

In the first guest post we have had, some of the team at T M Lewin have offered to give some top tips for us all to smarten ourselves up! First off its the shirt.

This is a pre-cursor to some exciting times including MidThirtiesMan.com appearing in the British media….more to come soon….

Collar

To find out your collar size, it’s best to get yourself professionally measured or use a shirt that already fits you perfectly.

  • Measure from the beginning of the button hole to the centre of the button to get your collar size.
  • When you first try on your shirt new, you should be able to fit two fingers inside the neck when it’s fully done up.
  • If your collar fits snugly when you first try on your shirt, then the collar size is too small.
  • After you wash your shirt, you should be able to fit one finger inside the neck comfortably

You get 60% of the natural shrinkage after the first wash and the rest in the next two washes. After that your shirt will not shrink any further.

Body Fit

The most important thing is to get the body length right first as you can have your sleeve length altered to fit.

  • It’s better to go with a sleeve that’s too long if the body length is right, as you can get the sleeve shortened.
  • The choice is yours to wear a Classic Fit or a Slim Fit shirt. How fitted your shirt is, is a matter of personal preference but your shirt should always button up comfortably without any gaping at the front.
  • Every brand “Slim Fit” is different and there are different degrees of slim fits. For example, our Windsor collar and Duke of York collar slim fit shirts are a more generous cut than our John Francomb shirts which are Fully Fitted.
  • Do not assume you can’t wear a Slim Fit shirt if you’re not slim
  • Slim Fit doesn’t mean Fully Fitted, Slim Fit shirts are less loose fitting than a classic fit shirt.

Sleeve

  • You cuff should fall just below your wrist bone, nearest to your hand.
  • You should always show some shirt sleeve under the edge of your suit.

And for the second part on the perfect white shirt

For a Gent who wore a white shirt, it showed others that he was not engaged in manual labour for a living, he probably employed servants to launder his shirts and that he had sufficient funds to have a plentiful supply of them.

Further reference of the divide between the educated, salaried professionals who work in an office to those who were engaged in manual labour was first illustrated in America in the 1930’s by the use of the terms ‘white collar workers’ and ‘blue collar workers’ reinforcing the status of the white shirt; these phrases were widely used again in the UK in the late 1970’s during the ‘winter of discontent’ to describe the actions of those groups of workers involved in the industrial disputes at that time – again elevating the white shirt wearing classes by suggesting they were not those responsible for the disruption.

Although today, the ability to have a clean white shirt is not a problem – and they don’t cost the earth either the white shirt remains the epitome of style and good taste. As well as being a sign of social standing due to its heritage, it has also become a sign of confidence – no colour, no stripes, no busy design to distract the attention, your personality will be the key focus of scrutiny instead of your clothes!  Just look at the evidence, you can find plenty of images over the last few decades of iconic, confident people wearing white shirts from movie stars to fashion designers and politicians.

Take stars of the 40’s like Gregory Peck or Fred Astaire who exude elegance and style; then there’s James Bond, sometimes shaken but never creased; and the ultra confident Simon Cowell – he definitely has the X factor!  It’s often the favoured option for top fashion designers too like Tom Ford and Karl Lagerfeld who, rather than being wallflowers and the object of their art, they prefer to remove themselves from it in order to let their work stand on its own merit.  But, take a closer look and you’ll discover these arbiters of style will not be wearing just any old white shirt, it will usually be made with a superfine, long-staple cotton and woven in a poplin weave with a high thread count to give a dense, lustrous finish and, of course, the shirt will be meticulously stitched.  And definitely no poly-cotton mixes with these guys.

It seems like the easy-option to have your wardrobe full of white shirts to slip on in the morning when you’re in a rush – after all, anything goes with it doesn’t it? Not necessarily!

To carry off the successful, confident look, it actually takes even more care when selecting your suit and accessories as these items will be the focus of attention.  So your suit needs to be beautifully cut to flatter your body and the lapels should reflect the collar style and your stature – narrow lapels equals small collar for instance, a low buttoning suit goes with a more pointed collar style etc.  Your tie can be understated or bright so long as you select the appropriate cufflinks and tie a knot to reflect the overall tone of your outfit.  As always, shoes and socks are a key feature of your overall presentation and should never be skimped upon.

If you’re meeting someone for the first time (an interview perhaps) the white shirt can be the perfect blank canvas to let your own personality shine because your audience will not be able to prejudge you or make assumptions about you based on the style of your clothes alone. There is always feel a boost of confidence when I’m wearing a plain white one especially with a sharp suit.

TM Lewin (UK)

Running a household….like running a business

This morning on the way in, I was thinking that running a household really is like a small  business. You’ve got income, costs, debt to service, demanding customers who frequently change their mind, a number of unforecasted events and maintain a balance sheet of capital assets that sometimes (i.e my bikes don’t…) directly generate revenues. It should therefore be applauded!

Marketing can work to increase revenues but invariably involves significant capital investment in suppliers such as “Callaway” or “Sancerre” but let’s be honest, there is no real ability to increase revenues (bar the 1.5% annual review) and the threat is always there of your marketplace disappearing given current macro-economic conditions.

You even need to try to generate an element of retained earnings on a regular basis should there be a day when the weather is inclement or your production facility needs a rest; not a problem for other businesses!

On a further positive note, Corporate Social Responsibility is strong in The Household. There are regular handouts for food and clothing for non revenue earners, be those employees of said Household or visitors to the country (hello Grand-folks, the NCT gang,  or members of other Households coming for refreshments – all  non-chargeable customers)

Outsourcing has also shown continued growth patterns to care for the younger members, keep the elders fed (hi Pret, Starbucks, etc!) and production materials cleaned and pressed.

To top it all, even the suppliers are increasing their prices with no ability to flow-down these extra costs.

Those folks who the media refer to as “single mums” (I personally prefer the term family) are in their own league, being able to manage the costs and generate the revenues – name me any other business person who can do that.

So congratulations to all those who run households. On a serious note, we should all pat ourselves on the back as when you look, we all run a £[x - insert salary],000 business that is able to support non revenue earners [y-insert kids, dependents, etc], purchase capital assets and still keep all happy at least some of the time. Have a fun Wednesday.

Thanks from mid thirties man

You’d do anything for your kids

Well it’s 4:45 and good morning to those other parents who may be up with their kids at this time.

My little daughter has been up a couple of times tonight and especially now for a full change and cuddle given she’s had a bit of a sickly time.

It’s not a problem to have her wrapped up in a blanket (house is a bit chilly) whilst I give her a cuddle and walk her round downstairs to sooth this little thing who is only three weeks old. It doesn’t stress me out that she’s crying, more I want to help and care for her when she’s clearly having a bad time of it.

Thing is though, apart from the recent past have I ever realised that true sense of love that makes you do anything to try and help something that is so helpless. It would have been something pretty significant in the past for me to be up at this time to help someone out!

Looking back I saw friends with kids, heard about all this, and was relatively cynical to it all but I think I’m starting to get it….

It also gives a much stronger bond with my wife as I also want to give her better as much rest as possible between each of what can be quite monumental feeds.

When you look back to your childhood it also makes you understand how, even when you may be being a bit of a sod, your folks would still do anything for you and we should all be grateful for that. Its really the only true denominator that we all have; that is having parents, carers or another figure who brought us up in this world. I’m not preaching but we all should be thankful, especially those of us when we look back did have a great childhood, and say thanks to the folks for doing what those of us with kids are doing now.

Even if a little bit of that unconditional compassion broke into day to day life it could make such a difference; it doesn’t mean you’re a soft touch, just that you give a monkeys.

Have a good Monday.

Not having this Green thing

Care of http://gaasedal.wordpress.com/

Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days“.

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations“.

She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day, here’s what I remembered we did have….

Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a water fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Ever see people on the street…

Who you don’t think you’d get on with. Just by looking at them?

Yep me too.

Is Alcohol the Government control mechanism?

I’m not sure if any of you watch these police shows, but I’m becoming a little obsessed with the ones where they are in City Centre’s on a Friday / Saturday night.

You know the ones where the local nutters are beating hell out of each other and then threaten the 6 foot coppers when they come to be arrested. Brings a smile to my face every time when a little fella in a very white (well it was) shirt tries to take on the very sober, grumpy police officers. Brilliant!

Anyway, this got me thinking and yes its a little conspiratorial but you never know.

In essence is alcohol, and the excesses it brings, a control mechanism for us all? What I mean is that we all work in our jobs, do the usual things mid-week and then we can become one of those folks that I’ve been watching on the TV. Naturally some of us will do it in much classier establishments that cost more and we have to be significantly more tarted up to get into but in essence it’s all the same.

The reason I wonder if this is a control mechanism is that, could all this fun that we have at the weekend (bar you lucky folks in London who it seemed to be at it every night) makes us feel happy as the pressures of the week have lifted from our shoulders. Could it therefore be being encouraged by central government to provide a content populace who are less likely to revolt…. the cycle of work, get smashed at the weekend, recover and relax Sunday then go through it all over again gives structure to our lives and and clear demarcation when ‘relaxation’ time starts and what it should look like. Shopping can be in the same (unfortunate) bucket but more of that another day.

Think about it, the tax on alcohol is very rarely raised, as are the controls on supermarkets for cheap booze. Compare this to tobacco and you are felt to be an absolute leper should you smoke.  Obviously the market value of £38bn (UK only) does help incentivise as the tax receipts will be pretty high but it could be more socio rather than purely economic?

You might be thinking, so what I quite enjoy it. I totally agree but just a thought for the day – stretches the mind and all that. Imagine if it was true!

Do I really want a sleeping baby…

As some of you will know, my wife gave birth to our lovely first daughter between Christmas and New Year. She’s a decent size, really healthy and all of that good stuff. So that’s fab.

One day as I was rocking her I realised that she was falling asleep again and I’d been told “that was a good thing“. You know, a sleeping baby is like gold dust and shows them to be well behaved and all of that guff so you are encouraged to make her sleep for as much time as possible (be that subliminal messages or not!)

Anyway this got me thinking whether me actually trying to get this baby to sleep rather than play and engage with her was such a good idea….Little Lauren actually loves looking at her colourful bee with its shapes, noises  and different textures. Once you find something that she enjoys then her development, even in this short period, from wriggling pink thing to little person has been marked.

My early steps into childcare aside, this has got me thinking about our lives in general. As we meander through life it can be easy to be, and be encouraged to be, the sleeping baby. We do the things that are comfortable to us and we take the model that makes us appear to be ‘well behaved’.

This isn’t about money or career, it’s about real life. Can we actually engage as much as possible with the things that are most important to us rather than just being passive and wanting an easy life. It can be a sport, our family, politics or work. It doesn’t really matter but for a day a month let’s break from the routine of we eat, we snooze, then go to the loo and eat again.

So what is this other option….it  is to be the wide awake, curious, exploratory baby. It’ll make your brain hurt and initially  knacker you and those around you out but the energy from learning and exploring will be unbelievable. Have you ever noticed that when you act less sedentary you actually feel it building over time? If you sit on the couch for 5 days all you want to do is keep sitting on the couch…..

What it doesn’t mean is you need to be a whirling dervish, but why not just do small things differently. Go to a different park with the kids, explore another local town that you’ve never been to, take on that project at work that everyone badges as a nightmare, move out of the bedroom to say the kitchen, etc.

Feel free to challenge what is expected of you and go for it . Explore the nooks and crannies of life, lift up the rocks and see what’s going on. If you say “I’ve not got enough time”, you’ll need to switch the TV off first…

Stop Frittering!

Well…New Year’s resolutions.

They are one of those things that seem a bright idea like going to the gym and for those who it really changes their life then good on you.

Well mine is a bit wider, it’s to stop frittering – time, money, experiences, etc. In essence if I do ANYTHING then it’s really important for us all to get the most value for it.

Frittering makes me comfortable, from the regular trips to the cafe at work to the chats next to people’s desks to the unnecesary purchases in the bike shop. It’s because I’m not comfortable or concentrating and just taking snippets of time, sometimes to while away the day.

Wouldn’t it be better to take 20minutes to have a really good chat with a colleague or go home earlier and spend time with the family?

It’s the same when we go to the Supermarket and use the phrase “Ah I deserve it” when purchasing the posher food stuffs or the little extras that really add up. Same with going to the bike shop or eBay and seeing that “great bargain.” Do I really need it or am I purchasing it as it’ll make me feel happier in myself or make me appear to be a better person. Probably yes.

Well here’s to no frittering and hopefully a more rewarding beginning to the year