Why?

This is a bit of a reflective rant, so please bear with me.

As you may have seen here, or on my FaceBook page, I was in London for 3 days at the start of this week for some more training.  When people hear me say I’m doing more training I often get the reply “really!” or “why?”. Well there are at least three reasons.

First, I love it, it’s fun!  I get to spend time with my Party Host colleagues Alan and Gary and other DJ’s who all have different opinions and experiences to share. Frequently these other attendees come from another part of the country or even another country.

Secondly, and most importantly, I’ve really come to understand that learning doesn’t stop after school or college – yes we all learn from the School of Hard-Knocks and the University of Life – but continuing to try and improve is really important too.

Surely there has never been a better time to learn with all the access to information the internet has put just a click away.

Surely there has never been a time when continuing to learn and grow has been more important to keep up with this fast-moving World we live in.

Towards the end of the last Century (how old does that make me sound!), when Ce and I were planning to open our new business, I was encouraged to start looking at books and videos that would help me run our company.  I’ve found out so much that has helped me from that moment onwards!  If YOU have never read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey – just do it – get the book or the audio book and give it a go.

Finally, I want to make the most of every moment of my time left on this planet – especially when I’m doing my job for my clients.  You’ve probably seen the adverts for Berocca ~ their tag line is ‘You, but on a really good day’, when I provide my services at a wedding, or play for a family, event I want to be the best I can.  I’ll make a confession here, I hate doing things I’m crap at. Anything that pushes me out of my comfort zone I avoid, so you won’t find me on a golf course or doing anything that I feel I’ll look stupid doing.

This latest workshop with two amazing guys from America ~ Bill Herman and Jason Jones ~ and it came under their banner of The Entertainment Experience. Eleven of us, including Alan and Gary,  spent two and a half days learning how theatre, acting and comedy skills could be adopted to help us improve our performances.

It’s never easy performing and being critiqued in front of your colleagues, especially first thing on a Monday and Tuesday morning in the first working week of a New Year, but I certainly got a lot out of it – stepping outside my comfort zone.

The certificate isn’t a pass it’s more a commitment of intent …

… and that, dear reader, is why.  Thanks for reading.