With the end of Lockdown 3.0 seemingly within grasp, it’s important to remain positive as we head towards the light at the end of the tunnel.
Since the start of 2021 we have enjoyed receiving and reading your thoughts on coping strategies, positive thinking and aspirations for the year, sharing your valuable insights with the business community across the region.
Barrie Smale is the Director of professional qualifications and training company Inspired2Learn based in Devizes. He gives us his thoughts on keeping a sense of perspective, exercising and that longed-for pint in the pub.
How are you keeping positive through Lockdown 3.0?
My main strategy is keeping a sense of perspective.
There are many people who have been affected far more seriously than I have: lonely people now even more alone; those who have lost jobs and businesses; home-schoolers; the bereaved and those unable to be with their loved ones at the end; new grandparents unable to meet the little one; my daughters working as front-line nurses in the NHS. The list goes on.
Are you doing anything new?
Work continues from home, which I was already doing before Covid. Options are now limited for socialising outside of work, but I’ve still been able to walk, cycle and enjoy my allotment.
Have you changed your New Year resolutions?
Boring I know, but I don’t do new year resolutions, personally or for business.
Have you introduced any new rituals?
I’ve always exercised regularly. I’ve been trying to stick with an early morning pre-breakfast walk every day during the week before starting work. I don’t miss many.
What are you most looking forward to when restrictions are lifted?
Being able to hug my daughters, host them at home and spoil them rotten. I’m also looking forward to popping into a lovely pub for a pint when I fancy it; typically, halfway around a countryside walk, at the end of a bike ride or at the rugby club.
I am also looking forward to being able to go away for a weekend in Europe again with mates to support Bath Rugby in a European Cup game. Oh, and of course go away on a lovely holiday with my wife and business partner, Clare!
What is your biggest goal this year?
To host the best family and friends barbecue we’ve ever had!
What has the past year taught you and how has it shaped your future for the better?
When tendering for work we are often asked by prospective clients doing due diligence on us what are business continuity plan is. I now have a far better sense of what this entails and its importance in future business planning!
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