Rest is not a reward

It’s something I read on Twitter that got me thinking. Far too often we talk about “deserving a rest” but we don’t earn rest.

Rest is fundamental to a good performance. When I coach athletes or do my own triathlon training we build in time for recover each week and after each large event. In the business world these are often called evenings and weekends.

If you are working most evenings or weekends you are probably not giving your mind time to recover so take a break. Not because you deserve it but because you need it! And because your clients need you to function at your best too.

Top athletes allow their bodies to recover and you should too.

Caffeine pill or freshly brewed coffee?

Plenty of people are dependent on caffeine so why don’t they take caffeine pills? They are legal after all. They don’t even drink instant coffee that can be made in … an instant. 

Instead they prefer to pay exorbitant amounts and wait ages for a barista to perform their dark art. And, even to me, a tea drinker, it is an art. Some of the best baristas even manage a performance up to the standards of Tom Cruise behind the bar in Cocktail (if you’re too young to remember then the trailer is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUwj3OE2LM4 *heads-up to turn the sound down if you have little ones around*).

So then it’s not just the caffeine what are they paying for? It’s the added value of the taste and even the experience of the performance.

If you want to earn higher prices then what can you add over and above the purely functional?