After taking... a few... months off from blogging, I'm back at it. Not daily, that will mess with your mind.

However, one thing I miss from regularly blogging is the internal processing I engaged while doing daily blogging. While going about my day, I would often jot down bullet point notes of ideas or remarks I had that could be a future blog post.

Most of them didn't go anywhere, but it did great things to increase my recollection of events and, perhaps more importantly, remember my lessons learned from small events. 

So this blog is back. For me. I like writing (and reading) these posts so will give it a go again. I also loved asking others to post and will definitely do that again - what a great way to learn something from a friend! 

-Until the next one. 

I'm the first guy to admit to watching too many Bond movies and fancying myself to be a British spy (I do have a British passport, isn't that the only requirement?). 

Today's Bond, Daniel Craig, was in an amazing film directed by Matthew Vaughn - Layer Cake - about the drug ring in the UK.

Craig's main Character had this to say to avoid getting caught, but I think it has value far beyond the white workers:

It is vital that we work to a few golden rules:

Always works in small teams.

Keep a low profile.

Never deal with anyone who doesn't come recommended.

I mean it's like selling anything: washing machines, hand made rugs, blow jobs, as long as you don't take the piss people will always come back for more. And that's not to say that we don't have that special kind of magic that turns two kilos into three. But never get too greedy.

Know and respect your enemy! It is only very very stupid people who think the law is stupid. 

And avoid like the plague, loud attention seeking wannabe gangsters who are in it for the glory, to be a face, to be a name. They don't mean to fuck up. They just do.

Oh, and forgive me for stating the obvious, but stay away from the end user. 

Here's a common mistake I see - you experience dining at its best, be it a hip new restaurant or a respected five star and need to visit the facilities. When you get there, you notice they cheaped out when it comes to the bathroom. Not just the toilet paper but the whole room. It's unpainted, or undecorated, or absolutely unappealing. 

What you're experiencing is a major disconnect from your otherwise great service.

Is the kitchen like this? Where else are they cutting corners?

Inconsistency breaks trust. This isn't limited to restaurants as all service businesses are open to gaps in consistency that can scare off customers. 

The opposite of this, is surprise and joy. In your hotel room you see the toilet paper is v-shaped. You walk into a hip restaurant bathroom to see a disco ball or cologne and hand towels in a private club bathroom.

What level of service you provide is determined by your gaps.  

Reflect with me this phrase of Seneca the philosopher:

He who craves riches, feels fear on their account. No man however enjoys a blessing that brings anxiety, he is always trying to add a little more. 

Simply taken, the more you 'need' money or other forms of wealth, the less joy you get from it. Also, having less of what most people crave places you outside of harm of those who are willing to take what you have. 

Think about opportunities you and I seek out, and pause for a moment to consider what anxieties, stresses, or fears - should we achieve that goal - might come upon us. Have we considered fully the true cost of that personal or professional goal?

No other social media grabs my trigger reflex like Facebook. 

Twitter, I think about every three weeks. Linkedin, once per month. But Facebook I find myself thinking about every 45 minutes. 

So I had the locks changed. Now I have the impulse to check facebook once a day or less (so roughly 10 x fewer impulses). 

Mind your impulses or they will shatter your happiness.