Ash Taylor’s Post

😐 It’s never been easy being a QPR fan.    I’ve seen it all. Since 2000 I’ve experienced three promotions, three relegations, two play-off finals, an injury time winner at Wembley, 15 managers and 5 owners (I think!).   A rollercoaster of emotions and frustrations interspersed with moments of joy.   Ask any QPR fan and one of the top reasons for supporting the club is that we have always had a togetherness between players, managers, fans and style of football. We know what we like seeing and the club has consistently delivered on that.   Except in recent years, it hasn’t.    There’s been moments, the odd season here and there but overall, it’s been like forcing yourself to go to the cinema every week and occasionally seeing something you like.    The rest is rotten tomatoes.   In recent months (and I whisper this); there appears to be a change in the air. A hint of purpose, style and direction.   👍 A CEO who’s making decisions based on data, not desire.   👍 And a manager who understands what the customers want and is determined to deliver it.   There are two consistent themes I’m hearing from him - 'there’s always room for improvement' and 'performance trumps outcome'.   I love this.   Our manager, Marti Cifuentes (he eats paella and drinks Estrella don’t you know) is a keen advocate of focussing on micro improvements to deliver over time.   📈 Every single interview he does is focussed on whether the performance was good enough. Good performances, delivered consistently with 1% improvements will bring results.    He’s creating performance habits; he’s creating foundations for future success.    There’s a lot to be taken from this approach.    🎯 Setting performance goals with good business habits rather than idolising outcomes will ultimately deliver results.   Sometimes you’ll have micro failures, like QPR did last week, losing at home to the second worst team in the league.    But one loss doesn’t mean failure if you learn from the mistakes made and apply those learnings to the next performance.   You don’t win all the time. You can control those habits, the process and the performance and built a foundation for long-term success. Surrounding yourself with the right people is essential to helping you build good habits and holding yourself accountable. If you’d like to spend two hours with a select group of business leaders understanding how to be more productive and focussed, let me know. I’ll set you up with an invitation to our next foundations of success workshop. It’s free and guaranteed to make a difference to your personal and business performance #thebusinessclubhouse #businesscoach #businessowner #habits

🌷 On the dog walk this morning there were clumps of limp daffs, swathes of wild garlic carpeting the ground, bluebells testing the air to see if it was their turn and the greenest of buds all over the place. I even mowed the lawn on the weekend. There’s a damp and blustery hint of spring in the air. Easter is over and so is my chocolate hangover. If you’ve not got a spring in your step (sorry) as we launch into the second quarter of the year it might be, like the sun, that you’re spreading yourself a little thin. Nature is sprouting new and renewed life all over the place all at the same time. It’s had plenty of practice and has developed an ecosystem that’s self-reliant and runs so well you can measure the seasons by it… We’re not so practiced. Trying to do everything at once is a recipe for failure, fast. The temptation is to squeeze it all in, do as much as possible in a desire to make you and your family proud. To succeed. To do more, be more, have more. 👉🏾My advice is to do fewer things, better. Progress is accelerated when you focus on doing the right things that you’re great at. Be simpler, leaner, cleaner. 🔸 Get clear on what value you bring your business. Clear out the clutter, the apps you don’t use, the social media that distracts you. 🔸Unsubscribe from the emails you don’t want – yes, even this one; you’ll be doing me a favour. 🔸Remove your notifications and get comfortable with being isolated from all the noise around you. 🔸Simplify, eliminate or delegate the stuff that keeps you in the weeds so you can cultivate the things that make you profitable. If you need a hand with the weeding, I’ve put aside a few slots in my diary over the next week or so as half of my clients are on holiday. Just drop me a message or comment below and we’ll jump on a call to see what I can help with.

🎂 My sister would have celebrated her 50th birthday today.   I say celebrated ‘today’ but she would have found a way to make it last at least a week. Seema had an incredibly ability to enjoy life to the full and infecting others around her with that vitality and spark.   She made everyone smile.   She won’t be celebrating, however. She’s not had a birthday since 2001 when she died, with her best friend in a deliberate car accident in South Africa on her way home from another trip to the middle of nowhere.    She was 27.   She’ll always be 27.   My sister has missed the attacks on 9/11 and in London on 7/7. The introduction of the European currency, the war in Iraq and the Grenfell disaster – a tower she walked past most days when we were growing up.   She also missed the launch of the iPhone and Facebook, Instagram and twitter, in fact, all social media. She’ll never know how Harry Potter ends, what happened on 'Super Saturday' in 2012 and 'Super Sunday' in 2019.   She’d have raged at Brexit and suffered through the lockdowns whilst cheering everyone else up.   She’s missed my child grow into the brilliant person she is today, and she never got to meet Kay, my wife.   I’m incredibly aware since losing her, and more so since my own health scare 18 months ago, that life is precarious.   This weekend marks the end of winter and the start of BST. It’s the end of the first quarter of the year as well.   How are you getting on?   Those goals you set at Christmas, the plans you created in January, the dreams you have when you started your business – go chase them.   Go travel, ring your parents, arrange to have beer with your mates. Learn instead of lounging, put the work in and play just as hard as you work.   Get up every day, do what you love and love what you do. Do it with a smile and if you’re not smiling, change what you do.    Stop doing the stuff you hate, give it to someone else. Focus on your genius and be even better at that.   Stop worrying about what others think of you and be kinder to yourself.   Start today.   Not tomorrow.   For some, tomorrow never comes. #thebusinessclubhouse #businessowner #mindset #goals #lifeisshort #dowhatyoulove

🥺 I suffer with an ongoing back condition.  Years of abuse and misuse have caused various weaknesses and discs that are degenerating.   A back spasm is agonising.   It can leave me on the floor gasping in pain.  And after 30 years of hurt (not quite England football hurt) you’d think I’d be used to it by now.    No.   Before you suggest solutions to my challenge, the chances are I’ve tried it.   ✅ Physiotherapy. ✅ Hydrotherapy. ✅ Osteopathy. ✅ Chiropractor. ✅ Hot stones. ✅ Normal massage. ✅ Ice baths (like those) ✅ Acupuncture (even though I hate needles). ✅ Yoga (ouch). ✅ Pilates.   …and more.   I recently had a regular gym session covered by a person I’d not met before.    We got chatting.   Turns out Pip trained as a specialist back physio, is a Pilates and a yoga instructor fitness trainer.   She had a quick look, a prod around, a micro assessment and convinced me to try a session with her.   I’ve tried everything, I’ll try anything.   Pip is stretching my hips, glutes and obliques.  I’m strong but not flexible.   I was sceptical and a few weeks in, not sure it was worth continuing with.  Until I had a look at my golf performance...   👍 Less tired at the end of rounds.   👍 No dull ache in my back.   👍 12 yards longer on average.   Hang on – 12 yards?! That’s a whole club! Turns out the work she’s been doing – and I’ll take some credit as I’ve been all in, spending 30 minutes every night stretching – has been working.   I just couldn’t see it.   For the first time in what seems like forever, I can sit on my haunches, get up off the floor and rotate with freedom.   🏆 Success is often invisible.  It’s why measuring progress is so important.   🏆 Success often comes at the end.  It’s why you must persevere.   🏆 Success isn’t a one-off quick fix of information.  It’s why you must apply and practice knowledge.   🏆 Success can be painful (that stretching hurts!).  It’s why you need a sense of reward to motivate you to push through the pain.  It must be worthwhile.   🏆 Success comes in many forms, in my case here it’s feeling pain free.  Get the right diagnosis, create a plan, stick to it but measure progress, and get someone alongside you to push you when it’s tough and stretch you beyond what you would do yourself.    Pip didn’t make any promises.  There was no “double your hamstrings in 3 weeks” rubbish.    She assessed, we talked about what success looked like for me and she tried a few things until we found what worked.   If you’re a business owner, maybe in a bit of pain or sitting on frustrated opportunity, fed up with false promises and willing to practice – drop me a message and let’s see what we can come up with for you and the business. #thebusinessclubhouse #successinbusiness #success #businessowner #businesscoach #entrepreneur #goals

According to my FB memories it's a year to the day since I played 18 holes for the first time following my aortic valve replacement proceedure. It took just over three months to feel confident enough to walk the distance, carry my clubs and swing. I didn't go straight into playing. I started slowly, walking 3 holes with friends, then 6, the 9, then playing 3, 6, 9 and finally 18. It was incredible. It felt like I had my life back. Like anything you've been away from for a while, you need to work your way back patiently. There's no point assuming you'll be as competent or confident as before the break. It can take time, patience and a lot of swearing. Worth it though. Last week I returned to Fore Business after a break of about 2 years. Again, I'm taking it slow but leaning in. I'm not expecting instant results but I am commiting to turning up, building relationships and seeing where it takes me. I met some great people at the Marlow meeting last week and look forward to meeting more tomorrow at the Watford group, including catching up with a few familar faces from my previous time as a member. Looking forward to seeing you Charlie Radclyffe, Richard O'Hagan amongst others!

🍙 A couple of weeks ago today I was standing on a cliff edge looking over yet another incredible view that makes up the Icelandic landscape. It’s the sort of place that inspires you to quickly run out of superlatives when describing it. The experience was organised by The Bucket List Company who take people all over the world on adventures varying in difficulty. These are simply, trips of a lifetime. Kay and I had a superb time and along the way I picked up a few things we can all learn from that The Bucket List Company have got right, helping it stand out from their competitors in a crowded somewhat commoditised industry. 👍 They really understand their market. Whilst everyone wants to travel, they’re attracting people who want to experience travel. The focus is on immersing yourself in the place you’re in, not the hotel or vehicles. This also means there’s a sense of tribe for those on the trips. People behave a certain way because they all ‘get’ why the others are also there. 👂 They listen to the tribe they’ve built. Trips are now being built on the back of feedback and understanding where people want to go next. They’ve become experts at meeting people where they are rather than forcing a product on them they don’t need. This ongoing performance-feedback-revision loop makes it harder for people to say no to new trips on offer. 🏔 They know once someone has tried a trip, they will come back. It’s far easier and cheaper to sell to existing customers than new ones so that’s where their efforts focus. Some of our evenings as a group were spent discussing where we were going next, whilst we’re in the middle of a trip! There were people there who had done 6 trips, were on their 7th, had an eight coming up and a 9th in the pipeline. Travelling is expensive. Perhaps the smartest thing TBLC have done is to make the cost accessible. Not through discounting or cutting corners on quality but by allowing people to pay instalments over 12, 18, even 24 months. It’s a nice thing, knowing the money dripping out of your account each month is not for a bill but something to look forward to. We’re already looking at our next trip for 2025. Anything between Tanzanian safari, The best of Costa Rica or perhaps Cappadocia.  I KNOW it will be great, the tough part is picking which one! If you fancy experiencing travel with a difference check them out, I've tagged them above. And If you’ve been on a similarly amazing trip – let me know! #thebusinessclubhouse #tripofalifetime #bucketlist #understandyourmarket #listentocustomers #businessowner #smallbusiness #businesscoach

👥 Like you, one of the more important things in my business is generating new business.  Although clients stay with me a long time, typically 5 or 6 years, relationships come to an end for all sorts of reasons. People sell, people get jobs, people move to other countries and people retire. For this reason, I like to keep a pipeline of interesting, dynamic business owners lined up for when I have space to work with them. Something that’s always worked for me has been networking. A group I used to be a part of for several years is Fore Business. It manages to combine something which is productive with something I love – what’s not to like! The thing is, after about 3 years, I left Fore. I’m not sure why. 🤝 I found my daughter’s driving instructor through Fore. 🤝 My brilliant accountant. 🤝 My commercial lawyer. … and three clients For some daft reason, I told myself “This doesn’t work for me”. And that’s stupid because I was being assumptive. I know (now) what returns I got because I worked it out. Given that I track all my golf stats, you’d think I’d have been tracking my marketing efforts too. 💨…tumbleweed… So, today, I’m attending my first meeting in about 3 years. 🥓 ☕️Bacon rolls, coffee and some spring golf (and a spreadsheet). I don’t expect instant returns, but I do intend to lean into it fully and see where it takes me and the business. And I’ll know, because I’ll keep score this time. How else will I know if I’m winning or not? I’ll keep you posted with how I get on. #thebusinessclubhouse #networkingevents #networking #salespipeline #businesscoach #golfbusiness #golfnetworking

❄ Elsa was right... At this month’s client round table meeting the topic focussed on delivering great customer experiences. Not service but experiences. I’m biased, but it was a great session with plenty of energy, debate and interaction. I shouldn’t be surprised as I have collected a group of great people around the table, doing great things. We always have an open question session at the end of the day. An opportunity to put forward a challenge or opportunity that they want the groups insight into. The two questions that intrigued me were about managing stress in situations where you have no control and letting go. It occurred to me that the answers to the first were closely linked to the second. In my experience, managing stress is about a few things. Context, trusting yourself and others to deliver, and recognising when to let go of the outcome. Letting go, of tasks, functions, wanting to be in control is also about trust and context. ➡ If you can’t control it, there’s no point worrying about it. ➡ If you can control it, there’s no point worrying about it. Worrying about what you can’t control won’t change the outcome and worrying about the second is likely to interfere with the outcome. To perform at a higher level you need to… 🔹 Let go of the outcome. 🔹Let go of the belief you’re the only person who can do what you do. 🔹Let go of the desire to be in control of everything. 🔹Let go of your need to see everything that’s happening. 🔹Let go of wanting to understand everything. It isn’t easy (if it was everyone would just do it) but it is pivotal. ✅ Letting go frees you to do the important, non-urgent things. ✅ Letting go gives you back control. ✅ Letting go allows you and your business to grow. Without exception, every single client and business owner I know who’s showing higher levels of performance has done so by letting go. It’s rarely pretty and sometimes painful – doing the right things often is - but ultimately gets them and their business where they want to. I’d love to know what tips you have for letting go in the comments. #thebusinessclubhouse #lettinggo #mindset #businessowner

Not only is it National Love your pet day but we're also celebrating this week being a year since we first brought Bobby and Lily into our lives. They've brought us so much joy but I've also learned a lot about life and myself since having puppies for the first time. Here's a few things that spring to mind. Setting boundaries is vital. They need to know physically and emotional what they can do. That some things are risky like thresholds yet they need to be able to push those boundaries to grow. We're the same, know what you're good at, work on being better but also also know your limits. They play hard but sleep a LOT. 18 hours a day sometimes. Rest is vital to recharge. They seem to understand that you can't run on an empty battery - why don't we? Be where your feet are. Whilst focus can be a real issue for Bobby especially, it's because his focus is on the here and now. He's totally present with what he's engaged in - we're the distractions. They start everything and everyday with boundless enthusiasm and energy. They live every moment like they'll never get another one. Maybe because they have shorter lives than us, but everything is apporached with joy - there's so much to be taken from that. And, routine is vital. They know when it's dinner time, walk time, where stand to be let out, how to ask for treats. Repeating things regularly has installed a sense of control and contentment for them. It makes life simple for us and far less stressful. I'd love to know what your pets have taught you - let me know... #nationalloveyourpetday #workfromhomelife #businesscoach

🤚 I spent some time recently with a young person who’s been offered a second opportunity to apply for a medical apprenticeship. The standards are high and there are far fewer places than applicants. He really wants this place. You can tell it’s a burning desire – it’s all consuming. He did a great interview first time round but was thrown by a couple of questions which let him down. So, he’s practicing, and practicing. You can tell. And that’s part of the issue.  He knows his stuff.  He has great answers but away from the script, he stalls. He’s trying to remember his lines rather than be himself and let the interviewers see what a great fit he is. Yes, he’s got to get the technical elements correct.  Yes, he’s got to make sure he hits the correct phrases and key words they want to tick off. But he’s also got to express himself and perform. He’s approaching the situation from a place of fear - His attachment to the outcome is stifling him. The same night I watched QPR lose (again) this season.  7 wins from 30 odd this season and we probably need 7 from our last 14. It’s not looking good. The trouble is there’s a great team in there somewhere that’s capable of beating any team in the Championship. However, every time there’s a game which gives us the opportunity to get out of the relegation zone, we don’t perform.  Stoke away, Huddersfield, Millwall. You only need three or four players to be overly attached to the outcome for that to affect the whole team. Basics go out of the window. The standards are high in the Championship, promotion from it will elevate you to the biggest, wealthiest league in the world.  Relegation leads to obscurity. Three teams WILL be relegated out of what started as 23 and is now four, maybe five. The players need to let go of the outcome. They need to perform in a way which will bring them the results they can achieve. They need to express themselves. They need to get out of their own way, like our interviewee and trust themselves to perform.  That’s the bit they can control – the performance. Focussing on the performance will get you the outcome you want, most of the time.  If you don’t (this time), you know you did your best. And that’s all any of us can do. #thebusinessclubhouse #businessowner #performance #beyourself #outcomes