The last few days have been nothing but a boiling pot of emotions, as I have been dealing with funerals and fractures. Fortunately, not directly related to my own immediate family, but all close enough to home to remind me what family and friends mean to me. Therefore today has started with a renewed sense of passion, focus, fun and fire, and so I got up early, enjoyed my coffee whilst watching a new fledgling Wren emerge into the world for one of its first adventures. Now my tunes are on, getting me in the mood for the focus and the fire, and planning for the days ahead. What dio you have on your schedule for today and the week ahead?

It's a beautifully sunny Sunday, I've got my coffee in hand, and I'm genuinely buzzing for where this is all heading. We're all building something real here — not just for me, but for anyone who's had a fire go quiet and knows there's another one in them somewhere. We've all been there, and we all know what it takes to relight, and so I've started thinking about where this project is going. I've started thinking about why I started I&I, and what I want it achieve. I've started considering YouTube channels, podcasts, guests, and it's begun, conversations have already started, so watch this space. In six months, this place will hopefully be roaring, and I just wanted to say thank you, and I appreciate everyone who's already in this with me. And I want to know what you're fired up about for the coming week ? Now, go enjoy the sun before the week ahead starts to warm up. 🔥

One of my favourite films ever is The Secret of My Success" with Michael J. Fox. It's about a guy whow wants to make it big, so moves from a small town to New York, takes a job in his uncles company, and through a mix of hustle, charm, and a bit of trickery, ends up secretly working two roles at once — mailroom clerk by day, phantom junior exe "Carlton Whitfield" by, well the same time really, sneaking between identities. I wont spoil it too much, but considering I was 12 when it came out, it inspired me, and ironically, I had my 1st business that year, which I'll tell you about another time, probably around Christmas 🎄 Anyways, I want to know something about you 🫵🏻 Tell me a secret about you and a success. They dont have to be connected, they just have to be something that you've kept to yourself here, and something else that you're proud of. It's as simple as that, and to start it off, I'll go first 👍 My Secret is that I taught myself to DJ by going to my local nightclub on a Sunday, when they were cashing up from the night before. I'd have my packed lunch, and I would spend hours in a club, with no one else around, practising for hours. My success was that 3 years later, I was in djing in one of the best known clubs in the country, with my own residency in another club, and regularly playing tunes next to some of the OG legendary DJs from the dance scene.

Not "how would you cope." Not "how would you recover." But, what would you actually do? Because here's the question nobody asks: What could you become if it did? It was my wifes birthday, we had a 1 year old crawling around, and we were planning to go out for dinner that evening, the first time in years, to celebrate. I was obviously eager to get home, and I must have been distracted, and as a result, I had an accident and subsequently lost my business, in a minute. My succesful landscaping and horticulture career which had taken years to grow, was literally gone that afternoon. At the time it felt like the floor giving way. I had no plan, no backup, nothing. A few weeks later I heard a piece of music coming from another room, and so I followed the sound. It was coming from the tv, and as I sat watching, listening, I thought to myself "How hard can that actually be?" Until that point in my life, I had virtually no computer experience beyond raising invoices. I had no contacts. No relevant experience Nobody who thought I had any business trying — and some of them told me so. Eighteen months later I was working on one of the biggest productions the BBC had to offer, and every day, I get reminded of how I succeeded. I can turn on, usually around 4pm, and there it is. My name on the screen, proving I was right and they were wrong. None of that happens if the business doesn't fail first. I didn't choose the ending. I chose what I did with the wreckage. So, genuinely, what would you do if it all fell apart tomorrow? Not the polite answer. The real one. What's the thing you'd finally let yourself try, if you no longer had a reason not to? Drop it below. I want to know what you're sitting on.

The room will be open today for an impromptu C&C session at 9.30am. Link is on the calendar 🗓️ Join if you can, be good to see you. ☕️