News < Back To NEWS

Hi team, 
Well we are nearly at the end of 2021, and I must admit that I am glad so see the end of it!
But I am also glad to be finishing it off with a nice round number "Weekly Email #150"... 
For me writing this Weekly Email has been the constant positive weekly activity through all the up's and down's of the last two years, which proves that simple pleasures are often the best!

The struggles and challenges that we have all had to endure over the last two years have reinforced for me that how we prioritize our time and resources and the decisions we make along the way have never been more critical. 

"In business and life your schedule and your routine reflect your priorities and your values." Robert Glazer

Last week I wrote about the 4 key attributes of business, quality, speed, price and convenience and I outlined that a business can only realistically focus on and deliver two of these key attributes at once. However, customers have become accustomed to expecting a business to deliver all four of the attributes all the time. We also face a similar dilemma in our personal life. For most of us there are four key components in our personal life, family, work, health & recreation and just like in business we can only really prioritize two of these key components at one time. If you spread yourself too thin and try to focus on all four parts of your life you will compromise everything and eventually burn out. But as the customers of our own lives, we generally expect to be able to do it all and exceed in all four areas of life. Living through the global pandemic has clearly shown us that this is just not possible, and neither is it good for us to try to do so.

"Freedom is the ability to allow yourself to live outside of limits and other people’s expectations of you." William Constantine

The hardest part of running a boutique residential building company is getting the clients expectations to line up with their budget. Every client wants and expects the best possible new house or renovation and a highly personalised service and experience. They also believe that their budget is correct and sufficient to achieve their expectations. But this is hardly ever the reality, and this realization is very hard for them to digest and accept. So, quoting a new project and negotiating the building contract is often a painful, emotion charged, drawn out process for both the builder and the client, during which the client and the builder must be prepared to adjust their budget and their expectations. 

"We don't want people to have high expectations of us, but then we have high expectations of everyone else." Lauryn Hill

It's human nature to have high expectations. Everyone has high expectations of their children, their spouse, their work colleagues, their teammates, their friends. It is really tough trying to live up to all these expectations all the time and likewise it hurts when someone else lets you down or disappoints you. So, the double edged sword of expectations will always be a constant in our lives, it will always be a force to keep us grounded and will always keep us on our toes.

"People’s expectations cut dreamer's wings" Kanika Chugh

Thanks for reading the last 150 emails.
Stay safe, moderate your expectations, and have a wonderful Christmas.
David