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Travelling on Business
Everyone who knows me, is familiar with my love of travel. This extends to the large number of business trips that I embark on as part of my career.
Most of my trips surround the work in relation to superyachts and aircraft, although sometimes I need to travel for more generic conferences and meetings. The yacht and aircraft shows provide a joy of being present, even if the networking is gruelling and entails long days.
Events, fairs, conferencies, parties – this can spell waking up early, looking your best throughout the business day and then extending to parties or dinners that carry on well into the night. It sounds tiring and it is. However, it is across those dinner tables and at that bar, that many business deals are closed. Collaborations commence over a slight conversation, or becoming comfortable in each other’s company at a party.
Over the years, I have made many friends from the yacht and aircraft sectors. These professionals are industry counterparts and sometimes competitors. Very often, we don’t get to discuss business – because we are competing. Then, one day you get a call, an enquiry and suddenly you are in business together. It will start with one small task and eventually expand to bigger things.
In all, I will have had nine business trips by the end of 2024 and look forward to more. To me, it’s an opportunity to get off my desk and bring in some business. Another way of looking at it is the brand awareness: putting my company’s name out there. There is tough competition out there: sitting at one’s desk will not bring in new customers and the influx of new business is a healthy flow that needs to be continuous.
Here’s to more and more – networking, networking, networking.
Friendship – What is it?
I have often thought about what friends I have. I have not, for a very long time, thrown all friends into one basket. I also think that people can only handle things that are within their sphere – so for example, it is useless discussing the opera with someone like me, because I don’t get it.
I have friends for different things, but usually it revolves around sharing. I don’t do one-way relationships – that is not friendship, that is dependency. Neither do I do symbiosis (where we each completely feed off each other) – a real friend will share with you but let you swim alone; and as a real friend, you will share with them but then swim unaided – and that works both ways.
Sharing – perhaps we connect because we are going through something similar and we can share our ideas and learn from each other; perhaps we can share because we both love a good love, or a goof around an arts exhibition.
There are a few dear people – very dear – who I do not consider as ‘friends’, in the sense that when I meet them, I leave the get-together drained. These are the people who always have a bone of contention, always find something to complain about and go on and on about the same thing. That’s not the classical ‘friendship’ but I know they do care a lot for me and stood around me when I needed them. I love them anyway, probably more dearly than some, but I cannot be hanging around them all the time.
Friendship is not about hanging around someone all the time – you can be a friend without seeing someone weekly or even monthly. There’s a lot of love and respect, and not a lot of dependency in my friendship book (even as I am a bit of a butterfly). There are friends who I’ve not seen in a couple of years – and I know we would like to see more of each other. The bond is strong, but sometimes we need to make choices as to how to spread out our time. A good, strong friendship, for me, loves to meet – but doesn’t need to.
There are acquaintances – people I meet at an art or music class, people I greet daily or work with. We probably share much but they become a familiar face on my life-landscape. Are they friends? No, not in the huddly sense but I know that probably if they asked for my help, I’d give it.
Work colleagues – friends? Well, not in the ‘bonding deeply’ sense – I don’t have a word for that. But, ‘acquaintances’ is too cold a term. There are some with whom you can share a lot, even if you don’t ever meet up outside the office.
There are those people who want a friend to be a form of life-partner, someone whom they can depend on to meet every weekend and do everything together. For me that’s a bit of co-dependency – fill the void with a friend; even more so if you don’t have a partner. That’s a bit over-the-top for me.
I don’t have a single bestie. My ‘bestie’ is my partner and even then, there are areas where our lives don’t overlap. I have many female besties, and a few male besties. Most of them have been around for a long time – perhaps, because we don’t cling, the friendships last long. We do our own thing and then come back to share – the love, the adventures, the silliness and even the griefs, hell – why not! It’s all part of who we are. We don’t hang on to each other for dear life, even if we lean from time to time – that’s ok. Every ‘bestie’ has a different meaning in my life (as, I suppose, me to them).
Then there are friends-in-the-making. My heart is always open to making new friends – as in, transitioning from acquaintances to friendship as, with the passage of time, I feel that certain people do earn that forward step in each other’s lives.
I also believe that friends come and go (physically) as and when the energies align. So things would happen so that two friends (or more) start to meet up regularly when there is a common energy – when they diverge, they are still ‘friends’ – just meet less. I don’t think that true friendship (a form of love) goes away when they diverge – they just need to be doing something different.
Is there a type of friend I don’t have? Not really. Anything that doesn’t fall within my idea of friendship (clinging, dependent, flaky with time, keeps bunging up meeting dates or times) is not a ‘friend’. I’ve always attracted a variety of people to my life – because of my openness to receive others (and to give).
Do I choose? No, I don’t choose alone – they choose me too.
Monday Blues. Is there scientific evidence?
The term “Monday Blues” refers to the feeling of sadness, lethargy, or lack of motivation that some people experience at the beginning of the workweek, particularly on Mondays.
While it is a commonly used expression, it is not a formally recognized medical or psychological condition. Instead, it is more of a colloquial term to describe a mood or emotional state.
So, is it true?
There is some scientific evidence that supports the idea that people may experience negative emotions or stress at the start of the workweek.
What causes it?
The Monday-Blues phenomenon can be due to a combination of factors:
- Weekend effect: After a relaxing or enjoyable weekend, the transition back to work on Monday may feel abrupt and cause some resistance. It may be hard for someone to switch from the easy state of the weekend to the office environment. Try to have an easy Sunday evening and make sure you are well rested on a Monday morning!
- Sleep disruption: Changes in sleep patterns over the weekend, such as staying up late and sleeping in, can lead to a phenomenon called “social jet lag.” This can make it challenging to readjust to an earlier work schedule on Monday. Where possible, try to have fixed times to go to sleep and wake up again. Exceptions are fine, but try not to overdo it.
- Work-related stress: For many people, work-related stress and demands can accumulate over the course of the week, and Mondays are often when these pressures become more apparent. Perhaps changing how you handle stressful situations will help you with Monday Blues.
- Routine shift: The shift from a more flexible weekend routine to a structured work routine on Mondays can also play a role in affecting mood and motivation. Try to find ‘rest spots’ within your weektime schedule, that give you something to look forward to. A fun activity on a Monday evening may hlep.
- Negative mindset: If someone has a negative perception of Mondays, they may unconsciously experience a self-fulfilling prophecy, where their negative expectations influence their mood. This is entirely dependent on you. You can find things to look forward to on a Monday, or half way through the week.
While “Monday Blues” is not a diagnosable condition, these factors can contribute to why some people might experience feelings of low mood or stress on Mondays. However, it’s important to note that not everyone experiences this phenomenon, and individual differences play a significant role in how people perceive and respond to the start of the workweek. Your own mindset probably plays the largest role.
What can I do ?
If you find yourself consistently experiencing overwhelming negative emotions, stress, or low mood throughout the week, it may be beneficial to seek support from a mental health professional to address and manage these feelings effectively.
Do you find yourself experiencing Monday Blues on a regular basis, or do you have any good ideas to share?
Have you heard? About the bird?
I logged into my twitter account this morning, only to find the bird was gone!
Twitter has changed its iconic logo from a little birdie to an ‘X’. So I decided to scout the web, and found news about Elon Musk’s decision to rebrand.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, bought out Twitter late last year for a whopping $44 billion. This came after months of negotiation. Obviously, the large deals had a lot to do with the heavy use of this social media platform around the world. People use it – in all ranks and walks of life.
Within a short time from taking over, many people were made redundant – it is said that some 80% of technical staff were fired or sent away. Many assets were sold off – including furniture and other goods from the company’s premises .
Advertising at Twitter plummeted after Musk dramatically reduced content moderation.
Musk said he would remain in charge of design and technology at Twitter, with a new CEO he hired, Linda Yaccarino, focusing primarily on business operations. He also turned Twitter into an “everything app” called X.
Just yesterday, Musk ditched the blue bird logo and replaced it with an X as part of a rebranding process. Apparently, the company’s name has been changed to X earlier this year.
What do you make of this rebranding decision?
(heavily redacted from a Microsoft news page – click here to read the article)