In Leo Tolstoy’s great novel ‘War and Peace’, a Russian general charged with defeating Napoleon and expelling the French from Russian soil argued against rushing into battle, saying the strongest of all warriors were “time and patience”. 

The truth is, ambitious goals can intimidate and demoralise as much as they can motivate and inspire. Big goals can seem overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s just simpler and less stressful not to make any promises!

In between thinking about what I was going to do on the weekend and just plain staring out the window, I did actually learn something in Year 11 Biology. There was survival of the species, the structure and function of living things and the evolution of these systems.

Successful businesses constantly take inventory. They look to see what is selling and what’s just sitting on the shelf. They find out where they get a good return on their investment in time, effort and shelf space. They look at the stuff that's just collecting dust. If they can’t move it, it gets marked down to whatever price it takes to get rid of it.

​In the words of that celebrated US Philosopher, Elvis Presley, “we need a little less conversation and a little more action please”.

“It can’t be that simple, surely”, is something I hear a lot. 

People just assume that money management is complex. That’s no surprise really, as the traditional financial industry is built on the premise that complexity equals value or to be more pointed, the more complex the solution, the more someone should pay for it. The industry is very willing to sell you this crap. The media don’t help either as eye-grabbing content sells.

Success for my parents, was having a fair day’s work to do, for a fair day’s pay.  Success was having money left in your pay packet at the end of the week after the bills were paid.  Success was being able to take care of your family and helping those around you – and mostly in ways not measured in pounds, shillings and pence. ​ Success was having pride in a job well done.