New shots, new clients and moving the needle: The month that was July
July has been about picking up new skills in two very different arenas. One with a racket in hand, the other with a clipboard.
Turns out the same lesson applies to both.
Hooked on Padel
I started playing Padel this month, and I’m properly hooked.
Every week there’s a new shot to learn, a new opponent to battle it out with, and I’m loving every minute of it. It’s great exercise, but honestly the social side is just as big a draw. There’s something about getting out on court with new people that you don’t get sitting behind a desk.
I’ve since joined the Padel 100 Club, which gives me premium access and priority booking. That matters more than it sounds. It means I can plan ahead properly instead of scrambling for a court, which, if you know me, is exactly the kind of thing I like to have sorted in advance.
Sometimes the best decisions in life are the simple ones: find something you enjoy, then make it easy to keep doing it.
Will it move the needle?
On the business side, I’ve started building out a quarterly planning programme for new and existing clients.
It’s addressing something I see time and again — a genuine lack of planning is one of the biggest roadblocks holding clients back. Without it, you end up busy but not productive, spending time and energy on things that don’t actually take you anywhere.
There’s a simple question I now put to every client: will it move the needle?
If the answer’s no, it doesn’t matter how urgent it feels or how good it looks on a to-do list. It’s not worth the time.
Planning properly, quarter by quarter, is how you make sure the answer is yes more often than not.
Looking ahead
Padel isn’t going anywhere — I suspect it’ll be a regular feature of these updates from here on.
On the business front, the quarterly planning programme continues to take shape, and I’m looking forward to seeing what it does for clients over the coming months.
Whether it’s a new shot on court or a new habit in the business, July was a reminder that growth usually just comes down to showing up and doing the work.
Remember, hospitality never stands still… and neither can we.
Dan
