Welcome back to this week’s Karen’s Corner! Join me here each week to catch up with what I’ve been up to both in and out of work and what I’ve been loving and connect with me on Instagram www.instagram.com/karen.anderson.fossoway
Karen xx
WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK
When I sit down to write these updates, the week past often feels like a blur and I have to refer to my diary to see what I’ve done! This week is no exception.
The early part of the week was taken up with lots of desk-based work including the usual emails and admin, playing around with ebook formats, liaising about media and press coverage planned over the next 12 months and arranging some maintenance work to be done in the Lodge. I felt like I got loads ticked off the to do list and that progress is being made and that makes for a happy Karen!
The second half of the week I was back on the yard and I’m getting faster which is good. As much as it’s been difficult getting up before 6, it means I can get all the yard done before lunch then have a few hours to get all my other jobs done too. I’ve also discovered a wee mindset shift around the yard work which is making me cope with it a little better…..
What’s been hard to justify, when taking on the hands-on running of the yard again, is the amount of hours it takes me away from doing the jobs that only I can do. However, me taking on these hours saves the business money, allows me to take back control of something that I spent 15 years building, re-connect with my lovely clients and also get a free workout for my body and mind (I’m listening to lots of incredible podcasts while I work). It really has helped to view these hours in my week as a gift rather than another (unpaid!) job that I somehow need to squeeze in.
My podcast compulsion is still strong and I’m focusing on business-related ones just now which is perfect given the period of growth we’re in here at Fossoway Stables. It’s been so useful and thought-provoking to listen to how other business owners have built their brands and navigated the challenges they’ve faced. What’s interesting, when you listen to as many as I do, is that there are an infinite number of ways to do things. Each story is completely different from the next and it seems that WHAT you do - your structure and the decisions you make - has far less impact on your outcome than HOW you do it. Kindness and compassion always win in the end which could not be more reassuring in a world seemingly full of competition and greed. The Martha Beck quip, “How you do anything is how you do everything” has been swimming around my head all week.
Outside of work, the kids, their dad and I took a trip into Edinburgh to see Hamilton which was amazing! During lockdown, Callan in particular became Hamilton-obsessed when it was released on Disney plus so it was lovely to be able to take them to see it live. I know the Edinburgh run is sold out but if you get a chance to go see it somewhere else, it’s well worth it!
Friday evening was a little unusual… I was asked during the week to have my picture taken for the front cover of local author, Faye Stevenson’s new novel! Posing in pjs in the bitter wind and rain was fun (!) but a G&T, and the warmest hospitality made it a really lovely few hours and a gorgeous way to start the weekend. Lots of mum-taxi duties commenced, Cora and John did my hair and now I’m sat in the cafe at Time Capsule (a cool leisure pool), while the kids have a ball. Not a bad week at all.
The week ahead looks much the same … all the plates to keep spinning, the kids’ last week last school before they break off for the Easter hols and the clocks leap forward into Spring.
Have a good one folks.
K xx
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