​You know the ones, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely (or similar variations). So why do they suck when 'everyone' is telling us it is a great tool to get things done, to put them on the achieved pile?

Well it has been a while since I posted a blog and since it is that funny time of year between Christmas and New Year I thought now would be a good time to get some of my plans for 2017 underway. I hope you all had and are still to have a lovely festive season spending some quality time with not just your friends and family but with yourself.

And why you should not spend too much time in getting rid of them, in fact welcome them with a cup of tea...

We all have them, worries, doubts, concerns. We all have that little voice in our heads that says you’re not that good, you will fail, nobody will want to listen to you, why do you even bother? And here is the dirty little secret, your self limiting beliefs are not what is holding you back.

How do I know that? Because really successful and confident people have that voice too. The difference is the time and effort, the importance that they give to these.

I got the idea for this blog from 2 sources, the first was my friend Zoe Roberts, Life Coach, who after a life coaching session told me a Buddhist tale about inviting your Demon to Tea. I did some research and found that there were two very similar stories, Milarepa, a Yogi of Tibet and Buddhist Saint where the demons come to his house and he could not get rid of them until he openly accepted the demons, and the story of Buddha inviting Mara to Tea, where instead of trying to chase the demon Mara away he would simply say “I see you Mara” and then invite him to tea...

Sunny California… conjures up visions of sun, Rollerblades and beautiful people. Having just come back from there I definitely met lots of beautiful people, but not in the traditional way the location might suggest.

The people I met last week have to be one of the most genuine, authentic, caring, friendly group of business people I have ever had the pleasure to associate with. The beauty and warmth of character radiated throughout the room during our 4 day adventure.

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​If your goal is financial freedom giving up the day job might not be the best idea

I am living the dream… well at least getting there. I am currently sitting in the InHouse Chocolates coffee shop, and although probably more accurate to say chocolate shop they do have an amazing array of coffee beans as well as teas.

January is all about taxes, tax returns. HMRC's announcement that they will take returns over the phone but it has got them into trouble for some reason.

For those of you who know me I am not particularly biased one way or another politically, although running a business I suppose suggests I might be slightly more liberal than socialist. And let's face it everyone hates filling in their tax returns and has a certain amount of respect and / or fear for the tax man. (Who of us wouldn't like to avoid paying as much tax as we do if we thought we could a) get away with it and b) knew it wouldn't affect the public spending we actually rely quite a bit on?)

But what I do try to keep my eye on is what is going on fiscally or politically that may affect people, my business and of course me personally.

Being highly alert to tax topics at this time of year I came across this article "Experts deride government advice to submit tax returns via telephone"

.... I don't get the controversy? For once the HMRC is actually trying to be practical, but is being met with derision.