Hitting targets and reaping the rewards

Which Downton Abbey character are you? And other important conversations

When you start your own business, it’s important to step back from time to time and see how far you’ve come. It’s equally important to set targets in order to ensure that you actually put enough distance between yourself and the starting blocks – otherwise it’s not much of a view when you do take that step back.

When Liz and I first sat down together to write our business plan, we made sure to include targets we wanted to reach – and rewards we would claim when we got there.

We reached our first target ahead of schedule, and didn’t waste time in enjoying our reward: a 30 minute back, neck and shoulder massage. Ok, originally it was a foot massage, but, being on crutches (still – I know), my ankle wouldn’t have appreciated that very much. So, being accommodating and adaptable, we graciously opted for a back, neck and shoulder massage.

The problem was – we both badly needed haircuts too. I know. Dilemma. So we spent a blissful Wednesday afternoon attending to our tresses and stresses.

The nice thing about these kinds of days is that they give you the opportunity to have really important conversations. Case in point: If you were born in the Downton Abbey time period (early 20^th century), would you have been upstairs (upper class) or downstairs (a servant)?

We quickly decided that Liz would have been downstairs and I would have been upstairs. It became important to decide which character we would be in the series, and, interestingly, we came to the answer within seconds, and agreed completely. Liz would be Mrs Patmore, the mouthy, bossy cook, and I would be Mary, the aristocratic ice queen.

Am I right??

We then proceeded to cast everyone we knew in the series, which kept us entertained for quite some time.

That evening, we went to our monthly girls’ dinner, which was hosted by the lovely Vanessa. We were telling her about our day and showing her our new haircuts – to which she said: “Oh, did you cut each other’s?”

Yes, well. You can’t win them all.