A blog by Luke Thomas, Performance Coach & Director of Spring
“Alright mate? My mum and girlfriend love your music!” is what James Morrison says he often hears when blokes come up to him and say hello. They might have made him millions – but he says it with a groan of dented pride.
I took my wife to his warm-up gig at Bath Pavilion last weekend – thinking to myself “well, I’ll go along, but I’m not holding my breath for a good gig”
I was wrong. It was brilliant. High energy, great fun, and awesome funky riffs that lifted the roof off. He rocked. It was top-drawer quality. We danced all night.
The passion, enthusiasm, honesty and sheer love of what he does was palpable. The rapport he built with the small 1500 crowd was strong. He walked and talked his brand. He had been ill that week, cancelling two shows, but if he was feeling rough, you’d never have known – the leadership he showed in setting the tone of the gig was excellent.
So, what’s that got to do with Jimmy Choo and coaching peak performance I hear you ask?
Well I’ve been somewhat jaded myself recently, as a result of launching a second business. It retails shoes and handbags including the sought after beauties by the name of Jimmy Choo! Click here if you’d like to see some
To be at the top of my game I’ve learnt the stuff needed to maintain some equilibrium – I just don’t always apply it! Everything from sleep, food, and exercise, to mental state, socialising, kicking leaves and reading… plus a whole lot in between, contribute to the resilience I need and want.
Over the past few months I have chosen to work some relentless hours with this business start-up. Fun on the whole, but intense. I’ve tripped up in terms of not exercising enough or letting my head breathe sufficiently.
So the morning after a night of dancing and fun, I felt the tangible benefits during a key coaching assignment. My thoughts flowed better, energy levels were up, whilst a sense of calm had returned.
Note to self – keep on walking the talk, because it works, gets better results and makes life more enjoyable!
Cool blog! All for the uplifting tunes of James Morrison and funnily enough have spent a lot of time recently talking to my team about the benefits of Sleep, music, exercise and doing nothing sometimes! We have worked hard to come up with musical hooks to pick us up and symbolise where we are with stuff. The theme to one of our recent meetings was “edge of glory” by Lady Gaga! It helped us make it to the edge of Glory to Glory! – as defined by a business objective!!
Exercise provides wonderful clarity of thought and a mental toughness that can be applied in business. When my team refer to me as the bionic woman what they really mean is I keep going and going! Without my commitment to planning in exercise has become really important. Even just a half an hour on my bike or a short run at lunch time means I come back with a whole pile of ideas – not sure where they come from!!
As for sleep the biggest thing that I have learnt is that it is best to give in when you are tired and that sleep is part of good preparation for a productive day!
I am with you all the way Luke – “The only way is up!”