Celebrating my 7^th year in business and being my 40^th birthday in November…

I set out to make 2016 a year to live new experiences, see extraordinary things, reflect on and appreciate all that I have…

It’s the ‘Screw It, Let’s Do It’ approach to life!

(Get used to seeing more Richard Branson quotes, I’m still as infatuated as ever with his attitude to life, love and living!).

So in that spirit, I thought I’d share my top Richard Branson takeaways from Necker Island (featuring a few of my favourite Branson quotes).

12 Richard Branson Takeaways from Necker

1. Be extraordinary (challenge the impossible)

R.B: “I have managed to accomplish a lot in my life by working hard everyday to achieve what others said was impossible.”  

• Personal Takeaway: Allow yourself the opportunity to dream about what’s possible, what you are passionate about it, and make your WHY part of your everyday life.

2. Take risks 

R.B: “Every risk is a risk worth taking as long it is for a good cause and contributes to a good life.”  

• Personal Takeaway: As someone who have been very low risk, this is one that I am working on the most! I’m doing it through making my WHY important enough. Clearly articulating what I am passionate about, what I feel is not right, and how I can make it better.

3. Collaborate  

R.B: “It’s amazing what doors can open if you reach out to people with a smile, friendly attitude and a desire to make a positive impact”. 

• Personal Takeaway: Loving this! Achieve more by working together on bigger projects. Challenge and learn from others. Grow from mistakes. Do better next time!

4. Build your best team

R.B: “Clients don’t come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients”. 

• Personal Takeaway: This has now contributed to my new business mantra. BespokeHR – More Human! Let’s get back to humanising the workplaces (stay tuned for a whole lot more on this). Focus back on the 98% of staff who do the right thing rather than the 2% or so who may do the wrong thing.

5. Love what you do

R.B: “I don’t think as work as work and play as play. It’s all living”. 

• Personal Takeaway: I’m going to expand my ‘40^th birthday year of Paulette’ that I’ve been celebrating… to the life of Paulette. Live, cherish, serve others and have a shit load of fun. #noturningback

6. Simplify things

R.B: “Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to make something simple”.

• Personal Takeaway: Break things down to their core principles. Ensure that you have others who aren’t always the ‘expert’ to review how you do things. Naivety can work in your favour when you are looking to do things differently and more simply.

7. Manage your time effectively

R.B: “If you don’t have time for the small things, you wont have time for big things”. 

• Personal Takeaway: Routine your positive, daily habits and make them just as important as other things that pop up. Fitness was just one example for me. If Richard Branson can play two games of tennis, fit in a quick kite surf and walk around the island between meetings and still fit in everything he needs to do… there are really no excuses.

8. Keep learning

R.B: “You don’t learn to walk by following the rules. You learn by doing and falling over”. 

• Personal Takeaway: Don’t get scared to try new things. Be scared not to.

9. Make a difference (you can only be a good leader if you are good human being)

R.B: “If you aren’t making a difference in peoples’ lives, you shouldn’t be in business; it’s that simple. I’ve never been interested in business or making money. I’ve just been interested in doing things I can be proud of.”

• Personal Takeaway: Help others. Make a difference. And be grateful that good things are there.

10. Be adventurous always 

R.B: “If happiness is the goal and it should be; then adventure should be the top priority.”

• Personal Takeaway: Don’t be dull. Don’t wish you may have done or said something. Do it!

11. Commit – take action – get it done

R.B: “Just do it. Believe it can be done. Have Goals. Visualise Well. Help Each Other. Have faith in yourself.”

• Personal Takeaway: What are the things that you don’t want to walk past or turn the page on?

12. Have a shit load of fun!

• Personal Takeaway: Make work play!

I can only share so much here. I’d love to give you more insights from the Necker experience, including how leading entrepreneurs are thinking about business in 2016 and ahead. So I’m excited to introduce a new opportunity for you and your team.

Any questions?

If you have questions on this topic or any others, feel free to reach me by email or set up a free one-on-one consultation session, or drop me a comment below.

Thanks for sharing!