So this week I thought I’d write up a diary of last week to give a little insight as to what I get up to, where I do it and who I do it with!
Wednesday 13th
A brisk bicycle ride in the darkness takes me to the gym for a personal training session before work. What might seem like a complete luxury is now something I can’t recommend enough for anyone wanting to get or keep fit or lose a little weight. I plodded along at the gym (or across fields, along roads etc) for many an hour on my own in an attempt to shape up but can honestly say the results from working out with a personal trainer once or twice a week far outstrip the cost. I packed in my central London gym membership and spend the same money on personal training locally. And the results speak for themselves (I’m told - judge for yourself with the before & after shots here!). Many clients have commented on the all new trim Ian. If you are in Wandsworth or nearby do try out www.fredfitnesswithstyle.co.uk
Once back in the office I prepared for the day’s meetings.
First up, with the founder of the firm that will be answering the phones whilst my wife is on maternity leave from Green Financial.
They have fulfilled this role before on an occasional basis but from next week until the new year will be full time.
All goes well and I look forward to Pauline and Deborah picking up the calls and passing on the messages from next week.
Then a brand new client meeting with a couple that need the basics looking after so that they can concentrate on their lives rather than using their spare time to manage their finances. This is a very normal situation for me. Much of my work is with clients who could quite easily do much of what I do for them but choose to pay a professional to do it thus leaving their own time for themselves. As I so often find myself saying it is a question of capacity, not capability.
Life insurance is a priority (to replace policies lost when leaving employment), then a tidy of investments, along with a pension review possibly with a consolidation exercise if appropriate. All topped off with a plan for going forwards.
Leave work at half past two to collect my son from school. I find a further four of his school mates in tow and we all head off to the local sports ground to play football. Collecting time arrives at 5pm and slowly passes into the past as the other dads join in for a ‘dads v lads’ game. It fizzles out as the drizzle starts to rain about an hour later with the sounds of ten year old boys demanding to stay and the ring of mobile phones with mums demanding to know why dads and lads aren’t home yet and the threats of dogs being fed the dinner. It is hard to determine if the only other sound that can be heard is the creaking of the five-a-side court door shuttingor the creaking of my knees complaining about 3 hours of football just two days after the hour on the squash court. This never used to happen when I was 19…
