Think like an explorer!
In 2002, on the third anniversary of running my own business, I decided to take a month off and go on a journey. I took the Eurostar from London to Lille, and then a train down to Nice in the south of France. I visited art galleries, went to street markets and sat at tables outside cafes. After a few days soaking up the sunshine and sea breezes, I fancied a change in scenery. I took a train to the Alsace region where I visited a friend in Strasbourg. We drove across the border to Germany in an old VW campervan, stopping in vineyards for picnics of red wine and strong cheese. And then it was another train across more borders, through Luxembourg and Belgium to the Netherlands. In Amsterdam I walked around the city with my camera, exploring side streets and canals, stopping to look in second hand bookshops. I loved journeying across all those borders. I returned home professionally and personally recharged, a notepad full of ideas to pursue and goals to head towards.
I’ve always got a lot out of journeys, visiting new places, exploring the unfamiliar. Taking a plane or train journey to a new city tends to unlock my creativity, releasing a torrent of ideas.
In my professional life I like to think like an explorer does: rather than climb a linear single-track career path, I prefer to treat my working life as a journey of adventure.
When I went independent, I carved out a plural work life, crossing borders from one discipline to another. In the early days a media entrepreneur asked if I’d help him work out how to launch a digital television channel. A guy with contacts in Parliament asked if I could advise some members of the House Of Lords on getting websites set up. An old friend wanted to set up an artist management business for the music industry — would I get involved? And then a guy I knew at a global fashion brand asked if I would organise a marketing campaign. In just over 12 months I’d launched a marketing campaign for Benetton, taken a rock band to market and advised clients from parliamentarians to a start-up media business. Each adventure was like a new stamp in my metaphorical passport. I had well and truly crossed borders.
I’ve just passed my 24 year milestone of running my own business. I still like to think like an explorer, to stay curious, to be comfortable in unfamiliar territory, to venture into new worlds.
And when I get stuck, I’ll take a journey somewhere. Just like I did back in 2002. This is the pinboard in my attic workspace. Even if I’m at work I can look up and see a favourite photo, postcard or ticket stub and take a journey from my desk.
How about you? When did you last get a new stamp in your passport? When did you venture out of your territory into a new one?