I have been up in Glasgow for the last week exhibiting at the Ideal Home Show, and today I’m off to Edinburgh to set up at Gardening Scotland. Sales at the show were fantastic, and we smashed our previous record. So, a big thank you to everyone who shopped with us.

I haven’t been blogging this week. Partly because I have been tired, I forget how much it takes out of me physically, working on the stand all day, and partly because I have been struggling with my thinking and writing.

This blog tends to reflect what is happening in my life and business. I’m quite an emotional guy and tend to wear my heart on my sleeve, and so my writing tends to mirror this. Over the last month or so, I have been asking myself why I haven’t fulfilled the goals that I have set myself. Its been a tough process, and I have struggled to articulate what has been on my mind.

I suppose my ego wants me to be able to present clear cut answers and solutions in this blog, but I realise that life is messier. I hope that by sharing my journey, I can inspire you to reach out for your goals and to know that you are not alone in your struggles.

I have always been a glass half full person and an eternal optimist. In many ways, this is a good thing, but in some areas, it can be a big problem. One such problem area is bookkeeping. For too long, I have not kept good records; this causes me to make decisions based on faulty or inaccurate financial information.

My optimism blinds me to reality. This can be an unhealthy and dangerous trait in business and life. Over the last month, I started bookkeeping and now have a complete set of records for 2019. The picture was not terrible, but equally not as good as I would have liked!

For the first time, I am now making decisions based on reality rather than through my rose tinted glasses. This awakening is forcing me to make some tough decisions, but I can see a pathway forward and have created a monthly budget to track our progress.

If you are in a similar situation where life isn’t working out as you planned, then I urge you to be honest with yourself. To look hard in the mirror and try to understand what is holding you back. It isn’t an easy process, maybe you’re kidding yourself, or living in a dream world, somehow hoping that reality would or should be different.

Either way, to reach your goals and dreams, you must face up to life as it really is, not as you wish it were. Only then can you hope to make the sound decisions that are required to live your dream life.

Remember, we climb the mountain, not in giant leaps but one small step at a time.