Resilience

April 14 2020

Covid-19 – Staying Ahead of the Curve

Learning the lessons

There will be both good and bad things that will come out of Covid-19. We should make sure we keep the good things that we have experienced.

Altering perceptions

Things that were once considered essential will have ceased during the crisis. As we come out of Covid-19, it is a great opportunity for each department and individual in an organization to review those things that they stopped doing to identify whether they need to be reinstated or whether the solutions developed during the crisis offer a better way going forward. Levels of motivation towards this activity will vary depending on the perception of threat to current roles. Covid-19 has been an exercise in innovation although many may simply see it as ‘survival’. Innovation loves a constraint, and the constraints we have experienced have forced people to think laterally in order to solve seemingly intractable problems. Some companies have seen significant increase in sales (online games, video conferencing platforms), asking what these companies have that has proved so popular will provide useful insights into consumer behaviour.

Virtual working

The circumstances have forced many people to work virtually, people who otherwise assumed their roles could only be done face-to-face. For many people working from home has opened their eyes as to what can be done, and also the limitations of existing technology. How do we learn the lessons of which aspects of people’s roles can be done virtually and which do need some form of face-to-face interaction? Some people have been stymied by having low capacity and slow broadband. How do we ensure people have the right infrastructure to make home working effective?

Virtual working is a skill and many have had to learn fast. What lessons can we learn and share more broadly to help upskill more people in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of virtual working? Quality of interactions between leaders and their teams may well have improved for many as a result of having more time for face to face video interactions and learning the discipline to schedule more of them. It would be a shame to stop doing these things..

Many people will have discovered a better balance of work and non-work, primarily through saving the commute, but also through establishing better working practices such as finding the best time of day to get things done and being able to work out when the best times are to pause and recharge or do something different. These lessons will apply just as much after the crisis as they did before. In just the same way, the time at home has many people starting exercise classes, learning how to cook, learning new languages, reading books, these activities have been positive, enjoyable and uplifting. They too have just the same value after the crisis as they did before. Helping people maintain these habits may well help with overall wellbeing and in particular mental health. The overarching lesson here is that if you manage yourself well, the traditional boundaries of “working day” and “my time” can be superseded by a more blended approach. However some people may be feeling the opposite and instead have the sense of being on call 24/7. This may be based on the feeling that because you are at home you should be working harder because of having been conditioned that this isn’t “proper work”. For these people returning to an office may be a relief. Helping them realise that the value they bring comes from the quality of their thinking, and not where that thinking is done, will be important.

What value has home working brought in terms of reduced CO2 emissions? Reduced pressure on office space, parking and other pressures on office facilities. Retaining as many of these advantages as possible will be beneficial to the bottom line, the individual and the world.

Business resilience

Whilst pandemics are thankfully rare (although increasing in frequency), economic crises are more common. Given this, and the fact that Covid-19 has become an economic crisis, a review of the extent to which a business can be better prepared for such eventualities in the future will be a useful exercise. The basic checks for businesses are sufficient working capital to both survive a crisis and to have the wherewithal to be able to start trading as conditions improve (there is no point in surviving if the lead lag between working and getting paid is too great for the business). The ability to reduce opex rapidly and the capability to mothball capex projects will also help ensure survival. As usual with all management, it requires judgement. The rush to spend less today may result in greater pain later when the basic requirements that drove the need to invest still remain but the costs are now greater as a result of mothballing. It will also be useful to determine the key metrics post Covid-19 and to review and set new targets as appropriate. Given people do what gets measured and what’s in their best interests, the choice of metrics should be considered carefully as it will drive the behaviour of employees.

Supply chains are a potential issue. On the one hand there may be opportunities to purchase at significant discounts as a result of organisations seeking to reduce inventory and generate cash flow, on the other hand with the world having been in lockdown for several months and little or no manufacturing taking place during this period there could well be shortages and a significant increase in price for some items. Having the wherewithal to trade and the demand for business is of no value if you cannot secure the materials needed to produce the goods. How do you mitigate against the risk of ensuring you are not dependent on one jurisdiction or geographic region for your supplies? If a region closes down are you in a position to be able to continue trading? What other supply options do you have? The level of candour (or lack of) demonstrated by some governments has driven suspicion about the true state of wellbeing of parts of their populations. This has eroded trust and confidence in the reliability of those countries in times of crisis like these and may well shape longer term opinions.

We’re heading into a recession

This downturn is going to affect many businesses for some time. Many businesses will have already taken extensive measures to manage costs. As we come out of Covid-19 into the recession, it is likely that many of the measures taken to control costs during Covid-19 will remain in place heading into the recession, with the added challenge of furloughed staff being made redundant. This means many organisations will have fewer people with significant organisational restructuring taking place. The people that are left will need help forming their new teams and working out how to operate in the new era of austerity that the recession will bring.

Many people have accepted salary cuts from employers on the grounds of protecting the business. It is unlikely that these reductions will be reversed as the financial pressures will remain. If this is not managed carefully it could drive down employee engagement. It may well be that the effect of the furlough scheme has simply been to delay the ‘slash and burn’ of redundancies you would expect in such an economic downturn. More fundamentally, the relationship between individual, employer and the state has changed. What the lasting impact will be of this change is a moot point. Communication is going to be critical Whilst the COVID-19 has seen a dramatic change in circumstance for many, much goodwill from society towards this common foe has engendered a willingness to be flexible and adapt to what’s happening. This in part is down to an increasingly clear message about the key things you need to do / not do. Extensive communication from the government and the media has helped. As we leave the crisis and the change continues, organisations would do well to maintain high levels of communication to keep people informed of what’s happening and why. The goodwill towards shareholders and or management teams is unlikely to be as great as it has been towards the government and each other during the crisis. The consequence of this is much greater workforce unrest about decisions being made.

Holiday

Many people may wish to catch up on opportunities for holiday, particularly those who have remained in employment during the crisis. Many of these people will be physically and mentally tired from the ordeal of the Covid-19 crisis. Even those who were furloughed may still wish to take leave as they will wish to escape places they have been trapped in for many weeks. With holiday allowances allocated per annum, many people may be trying to get in all their leave in the last half / quarter of the year. Some thought needs to be given as to how to manage holiday entitlements.

Emotional support

It is very likely that everyone will know someone who dies from Covid-19. There may be higher levels of support required for those in some way traumatised by the experience. If support relies solely on professionals then those services will be overwhelmed. Consideration should be given to support groups within the organisation as well as encouraging a sense of team. Support groups do not take the place of trained counsellors and they should not see themselves as much, but there is much value they can add to helping people cope.

Control the controllables

Going into this crisis there were a great many things that were outside of our control that we could do little about. Coming out of the crisis the same will apply. We need to maintain a focus on the things we can control rather than worrying about the things we cannot.

April 6 2020

Leading the way through this crisis

epiphanieswp Leadership, Management, Resilience

Having listened in on several conference calls over the last couple of weeks with leaders wrestling with the challenge of keeping their business alive and their employees engaged I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned of the pragmatic, practical things that really seem to be making a difference to employees.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to keep talking and listening to your colleagues. There are two dimensions to this. The first is the medium and the second the message. Use video wherever you can, whether that be video calls that the workforce can join to listen to you, or one-to-one sessions with members of your team. A face to face interaction is so much more powerful than a voice call. Other tools such as What’s app groups work well to maintain some form of interaction. Create different groups for different purposes otherwise a group can easily become overwhelmed by too many messages and any single thread becomes impossible to follow.

Secondly, broaden the content of the communications to go beyond the transactional elements of work. Now is the time to be communicating things that will help people survive these difficult times. It might be useful information on health, well being or guidance as to where to go for information from authorities. Start a call or virtual meeting with a ‘personal update“. Before you get into the business agenda, consider having a quick go-round for people to update on themselves and their world (how’s the family, how is homeschooling working, funny stuff that’s happened, things you’ve seen whilst out on a walk (if authorities allow you to do this). Have a cup of coffee – nipping out to grab a coffee with someone has become part of business life (whether it’s a colleague or a client). Okay you can’t sit with them, but you can still just chat. So grab a cup of coffee and spend fifteen minutes online with them…..have that same coffee shop conversation.

Training

It might not sound like a good time for training, but there’s a surprising amount you can do. With the extra time people will have working from home some of it can be dedicated to virtual development sessions. Ask people who are considered experts on their topics within the business to run 60-90 minute seminars on a particular topic. This might be on how to use a specific piece of software, or how specific processes work. Communication tools such as Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts allow for screen sharing and for the sessions to be recorded for people to re-watch at a later date to work through again at their leisure.

Get the setup right

We’ve already written on the topic of working from home, what’s becoming more and more clear to many is the importance of getting the setup right. The tips outlined in that article remain valid and useful. Looking up people’s nostrils because of poorly placed cameras, or echos and distracting background noise because of poor microphone management are but two examples of where a little bit of guidance can go a long way to making the calls better. People have the time – so use it. At no time in history will so many people have had so much time on their hands as a function of social distancing measures. This time can be spent worrying about the immediate situation, or you can help people lift their eyes up to consider the future. It’s a great time to get people working on more strategic business questions. With a bit more time to think and reflect, there is an opportunity to generate truly innovative solutions for post the COVID-19 crisis. Remember your suppliers and customers too will also have time on their hands, rope them into the discussions. In doing so you will get a richer range of ideas and also build stronger relationships with them that could prove really useful as we come out of this crisis.

Create some energy

Create some competition between groups – offer a prize for the best ideas / solutions to business challenges or ideas that could help people work more effectively. You can make the focus whatever you want, the value is in driving people to work together and in creating some form of community. You are a mood generator. As a leader in the business you will set the mood others follow. Start every virtual meeting with a friendly smile, they are infectious. You are not belittling the seriousness of the situation, and you may have no answers for people. In choosing to smile you are simply connecting at a very human level. It will help create a sense of calmness and warmth, things that can really make a difference.

Support each other

The sense of camaraderie from working together to get through this challenging time is really important in helping people cope. Informal support from peers can make a real difference. It doesn’t need to be a specific person with formal training in counselling / mental health, it’s people looking out for each other. It’s not enough to have put in place support systems, if they are going to help, people need to use them.

If a team has been through a particularly hard time either business or personal related, encourage them to de-brief each other. You don’t need to force them to talk about their feelings, it’s enough to allow people the space to chat things through.

Some people may appear too busy to engage in conversations about how they are coping. They may well be ok, but they may also be struggling but unable to open up. These people may benefit from a conversation with someone with training in mental health support who is able to provide them with an experience more conducive to opening up. You don’t need to force people to open up, just to give them the opportunity to prevent them heading into burnout or breakdown.

Resilience training

Generic training on “mental toughness” is unlikely to be effective. If you want to help people be more resilient, the intervention should focus on the challenges they are dealing with and should help people work together to support each other and share learning. If you want to go down the route of providing psychological support make sure it is being done by people with the right qualifications and experience. Amateurs can be more damaging than they are helpful. Rotate people around If someone is having to deal with a very challenging aspect of the business that is demanding both emotionally and intellectually, be prepared to give them a break from the work and rotate someone else in to give them some respite. Share the load.

March 23 2020

Tips for Working at Home

epiphanieswp Engagement, Performance, Resilience, Team

I may have 20 years of home working experience but I recognise for many this is the exception rather than the rule. Here are some very practical tips I have found help in making it a stress free, effective, experience. The first house I worked from home in was a two up two down terraced railway cottage with three children running around the place. I’ve also worked in an open plan house with very few internal walls, and these days I work from a 16th century farmhouse. Each has its challenges. These are my thoughts on home working in general and some tips and techniques to help make it work.

Routines help

Make starting work a habit.

Try and get into the same routine each day. Instead of getting into the car to drive to work, head to your home working space, boot up your computer and plan what you aim to achieve by the end of the day. It can help to allocate the day using your diary to the various pieces of work you have to do.

Treat home like work

Do what you would do at work.

You don’t sit for 4 hours in the office without a cup of coffee or without chatting to someone, so don’t try it at home either, it won’t work. Stop once in a while, get up, stretch your legs, have something to drink, give your eyes a rest from the screen, it all helps.

You’re not alone

Keep in touch.

Check in with colleagues, use Hangouts/Teams/Facetime/Skype…etc, you have conversations in the office so have conversations when you work from home. Accept that from time to time one of your colleagues will interrupt you, take the call even if you’re in the middle of something – if you were in the office you wouldn’t be able to call screen people. They’re calling for a reason that’s important to them – remember another time it will be you interrupting their flow but you would still want them to answer you. Remember, if you were in the office and needed help you would ask for it. Nothing has changed just because you’re at home.

Take advantage of the flexibility home working brings

Working from home is not the same as working in the office.

Embrace the flexibility that home working provides, sometimes it won’t matter when you do the work so if it’s more convenient to do it at 8pm and spend an hour with the family at 3pm – do it. You aren’t tied to 9am-5pm, develop a routine that allows you to work when you are most productive. Focus on the outcomes you need to deliver rather than sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day. It’s easy to be suspicious of whether people are really working when at home. You can’t easily check like you can in the office. Spending your time wondering whether others are working is a waste of time and energy. Judge people by their outputs. If they are not delivering that’s the time to start probing into why. If they are getting the work done but choosing to start at 5am and take a break in the middle of the day to walk the dog for a couple of hours it really doesn’t matter, what’s important is that work gets done and they are available when needed. On which point, you may need to let people know when you will and won’t be available to talk – usually they can see.

If you are struggling to focus, try some suitable calming background music, perhaps leave the radio off if you would normally have it on. It’s your home, you can play what you want if it helps get the work done.

Stay focused

It’s easier to get distracted at home and easier to be focused.

You wouldn’t normally spend hours browsing Facebook in the office, don’t do it at home. Without anyone looking over your shoulder, a 5 minute diversion into social media can quickly become half an hour. It requires self discipline to limit yourself to 5 minutes. It’s also easier to lose yourself into a piece of work devoid of the usual distractions of office life – it can feel really great to work through a demanding piece of work uninterrupted.

Train others in your house

Avoid unwanted disruptions.

It can be hard training children to leave you in peace whilst making a call, sometimes they need or want something and their concept of time means they feel like they have waited ages. Helping them understand to leave you in peace or if they do need your attention how best to get it can be very useful. Ideas include getting them to send you a text message – you can read this during the call and respond as appropriate. Be aware if you do you will be distracted from the call itself. Teach them where to stand to be outside of the camera viewing angle such that you can see them and can acknowledge them and then excuse yourself briefly from the call, muting your microphone and covering the camera whilst you deal with the interruption.

Older generations may simply have no idea how virtual working works and see you as fair game if you are home when they call in. Because you are home you must be free is how the logic seems to work. You may need to spend considerable effort helping them understand how home working functions and to help them understand how to gain your attention.

Learn how to use your mute function

Control what people hear.

There are times when the door bell will ring, children want attention or someone is talking loudly in the background who doesn’t really understand what home working means and that you are on an important call. Being able to hit the mute button means you can answer your child’s question, ask someone to keep the noise down or block the dog barking at the doorbell. It’s also helpful to block out sound when you want to sneeze or cough.

Position your microphone

Can people hear you clearly?

If it’s built into the computer there’s not a lot you can do. Face the screen when you speak. Sometimes the microphones are directionally specific and turning your head may mean your speech is not picked up. With a headset, if the microphone boom is too close to your mouth, people will hear you breathing, too far away and it might make it difficult to be heard. Sometimes a separate microphone can help with audio quality.

Lighting

Can you be seen?

On video calls, be aware of how you are lit. If there’s a window behind you the chances are all people will see is your silhouette. A light behind you shining onto your desk may help you but could be blinding for others. Lights from above and or the side help light you so you can be seen.

What’s in the background?

What can they see?

You might think the washing drying on the rack can’t be seen but sometimes what the camera shows others is a wider angle view than is being displayed on your computer. The background will tell others a lot about you – is what they see the image you wish to portray?

Camera angle

Are you looking down on them?

A camera mounted at the top of a desktop screen creates an ‘eye to eye’ perspective. Because you are looking down at a laptop camera that’s how the viewers will see you – looking down on them. A mobile phone placed flat on the desk may mean your audience is getting a weird ‘up your nostrils view’ and can feel like you are being a bit disdainful. Put your laptop on a pile of books or consider using a separate camera mounted a bit higher.

Struggling to see and watch?

Need more screens?

Consider joining by mobile phone (use a stand to get it to the right height) and also joining a video call via your computer. If you are doing this, disable the microphone and speakers on the laptop to avoid creating distortion and feedback. Use the computer to view others in the call or the documents being shared and use your phone for voice and video.

Get yourself ready for every call / video call

Once a call / video starts, you’re locked in.

Been to the loo? Got yourself a coffee? Need an extra layer? Now you are ready.

It’s difficult to stop a call mid way through for a comfort break / refreshment break

Go to the bathroom, make yourself a brew and get yourself ready for the call. That way if it looks like running on you will at least be comfortable. It’s a little more obvious when you have to step out of the call to go to the bathroom than it is in a real meeting where you can pop out for a moment. Depending on the environment, it can get quite cold being sat on a call for a long time. Do you have a jersey to wear? Better to have access to the right layers than simply to get colder and colder. The colder you get the more your concentration will go.

Be disciplined

Don’t try and do two things at once.

The temptation to look at your email or scan the news mid telephone or video call spells disaster. You can’t do both at once, you really can’t. All that happens is you simply do not hear what is being said and this makes it very difficult to rejoin the conversation. You could get really caught out if someone asks you a question and you were on your phone. Stay focused, don’t get distracted by ‘stuff’.

Get your computer to do your work

Use the computer as the tool

These days you can make calls as if from your phone using services provided by google and skype for example. People think you are calling from your mobile as this is the number that appears on their screen, but in reality you are using an app on your computer. This allows you to talk much more comfortably either using the built in microphone or speakers or a headset. This frees up your hands to be able to take notes.

Find a space in your house and set it up as your home office

Be comfortable.

Ideally it will be set up just as you want it. A comfortable desk, proper desk chair, computer, printer, good lighting, quiet environment, warm and everything you need to hand. Get it right and you can sit down and start working straight away with no time wasted setting it up.

Can’t get WiFi to your desk area?

No wifi no connection

Install a mesh or worst case a series of extenders to get the signal to your desk. Don’t tolerate a poor connection – it will make home working a misery. You need a fast, stable connection for home working to work properly.

Get it right and it’s great

Quality of life goes up.

My colleagues and I have been working virtually for many years and we love it. We accept it’s not for everyone and there are some roles that necessitate being in the office. But where you can make it work, it can be a really useful environment to get a lot done. Like most things, it’s a skill that takes a bit of practice.

March 23 2020

The business of surviving the coronavirus

epiphanieswp Performance, Resilience

For many, the coronavirus covid-19 is having a brutal impact. Many will lose their jobs and the self employed will see a substantial drop in business. For some, whose jobs require face to face interaction their income will have dropped to zero. There was very little time to plan for this. The Finns call it Sisu. It’s the ability to keep going even when there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It’s to take the approach that whilst it feels like you will not prevail, you still hunker down and keep grafting not knowing when it’s going to end.

What I have noticed when people do give up is that there is always a reason that generally has little to do with them. The computer crashed, or, the manager let me down, or I got an injury and couldn’t carry on. It’s very rarely “I wasn’t good enough” or “I realised I didn’t have what it takes”. Being able to blame something or someone else feels a lot better than coming to terms with one’s own limitations. You cannot, however, excuse your way to success. In blaming others, there is very little opportunity for growth. Very little opportunity to develop resilience. To be resilient is to respond to a potentially traumatic event in a way that, whilst it may be very challenging and possibly result in failure, you learn and grow from the experience and become more able to cope in the future. Surviving the coronavirus is not going to be easy and a great many people will simply find it overwhelming and succumb to the financial, social and psychological pressures created by this pandemic. We should not be critical of these people. We all have varying degrees of tolerance of pressure and different appetites for risk. I accept that in extremis, the experience may be so traumatic that it becomes permanently damaging and it is not a question of Sisu, but survival. For many of us, in very demanding or difficult situations, how we choose to respond is a choice. How do you choose to decide to persevere rather than to find the excuse and give up?

My sense is it begins with a strong connection with the goal you are trying to achieve. The more it matters to you, the more you may be willing to tolerate. Therefore ensuring you really understand why the goal is important to you and what you hope it will bring is the first step to preparing yourself to demonstrate Sisu when the time comes. Secondly, it’s useful if the goal is more than a binary “did it” or “did not do it”. By having a range, it allows you to maintain the effort for the next best outcome rather than no outcome at all. For example, when thinking about a race, a simple binary objective might be to win the race. But if halfway through it looks like you’re going to lose, do you then stop and give up? Or do you keep going? If the goal was broken down into sub goals, such as:

Winning the race
Being the first placed age grouper
Beating a personal best time
Completing the race

The equivalent for the self employed may be:

Creating a market leading business
Operating in multiple markets
Running a profitable business
Covering the costs

Now there are options such that when misfortune falls and affects what you can achieve, there are always the secondary goals to aim for. And who knows how things can pan out? Today, may require you to scale back your ambition and go into survival mode, but nothing lasts forever, it’s a question of getting through the next few months.

Another way that can help is to break things down into the smallest of steps. As the adage goes, a thousand mile journey begins with the first step. By working out the smallest steps you can take, at least you are continuing to make progress. Given the current crisis, all your work may have stopped, but it doesn’t stop you doing some networking. Another small step might be to examine your outgoings and identify costs you can cut and so keep the business going for longer. Mini goals are really useful especially when the goal can be so overwhelming and so huge as to seem impossible and as a result, we cannot get our head around the enormity of the challenge and so we give up. Instead, if we park the goal in the back of our mind and focus on the simple things we can do right now then we get to feel a sense of accomplishment that can fuel the drive to keep going.

So no matter how great the challenge, in the first instance make sure you have a goal that is something that really matters to you, give yourself gold, silver and bronze options such that there is always something to aim for. Secondly, no matter how hard it gets, think of the Finns and their national trait of Sisu and decide to keep going even though it seems impossible. Dream of that goal to help you get through the dark times. And in the deepest darkest moments, focus on the simple things you can do right now to keep things progressing. Enough small steps will add up to finding a way through this crisis, stronger, better able to cope with whatever the future brings..

October 14 2019

No light at the end of the tunnel

epiphanieswp Performance, Resilience

The Finns call it Sisu. It’s the ability to keep going even when there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It’s to take the approach that whilst it feels like you will not prevail, it’s better to keep trying than to give up. I’ve been lucky enough to break a cycling record. But it took five years and three attempts. During that time, there was absolutely no certainty that we would ever manage to do it. Picking oneself up after each failure, hunkering down to start the process of the next attempt required Sisu. Be under no illusions, getting your head around having to start an 860 mile non-stop bike ride takes some doing. Even more so when you’ve failed twice before. Sisu is a useful trait to have in many situations in life. Whether it was failing to save a document before the computer crashed and and having to start all over again, or having the wherewithal to keep going when an incident has shut operations and hundreds even thousands of customers are all baying for blood.

I accept that in extremis, the experience may be so traumatic that it becomes permanently damaging and it is not a question of Sisu, but survival. The example that springs to mind is the victims of child abuse. This horrific crime results in neurological and physiological changes in the victim that go way beyond anything that simply changing your mindset might affect. But for most very demanding, hard, difficult situations, how we choose to respond is a choice. How do you choose to persevere rather than to find the excuse and give up? My sense is it begins with a strong connection with the goal you are trying to achieve. The more it matters to you, the more you may be willing to tolerate. Therefore ensuring you really understand why the goal is important to you and what you hope it will bring is the first step to preparing yourself to demonstrate Sisu when the need arises. Secondly, it’s useful if the goal is more than a binary “did it” or “did not do it”. By having a range, it allows you to maintain the effort for the next best outcome rather than no outcome at all. For example, when thinking about a race, a simple binary objective might be to win the race. But if halfway through it looks like your going to lose, do you then stop and give up? Or do you keep going? If the goal was broken down into sub goals, such as:

Winning the race
Being the first placed age grouper
Beating a personal best time
Completing the race

Now there are options. Such that when misfortune falls and affects what you can achieve, there are always the secondary goals to aim for. And who knows how things can pan out?

Another way that can help is to break things down into the smallest of steps. As the adage goes, a thousand mile journey begins with the first step. By working out the smallest steps you can take, at least you are continuing to make progress. Sometimes goals can be so overwhelming and so huge as to seem impossible. As a result, we cannot get our head around the enormity of the challenge and so we give up. Instead, if we park the goal in the back of our mind and focus on the simple this we can do right now then we get to feel a sense of accomplishment that can fuel the drive to keep going. For example, writing a book begins with working on just one small section…and then the next….and then the next, and so on. A 60,000 word book written over 18 months is roughly 180 words a day allowing for 6 weeks holiday and not writing at the weekends. Most of us probably write more words than that in texts and emails each morning.

So no matter how great the challenge, in the first instance make sure it is something that really matters to you, give yourself gold, silver and bronze options such that there is always something to aim for. Secondly, no matter how hard it gets, think of the Finns and their national trait of Sisu and decide to keep going even though it seems impossible. Dream of that goal to help you get through the dark times. And in the deepest darkest moments, focus on the simple things you can do right now to keep things progressing. Enough small steps will add up to an amazing journey.