I broke my leg
Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on January 12th. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.
Happy new year gang!
Why does your body chatter its teeth when you are not cold?
What does it feel like to see a bone pop out of your skin?
What does taking drugs in epic proportions feel like when you have never taken drugs before?
What happens when you carry more responsibility than most people and are completely incapacitated for a week?
What is it like to be cut open and have surgeons say “we love your videos” as the last thing you remember?
That was my week, gang and I answered all those questions - for me exhaustion of standing caused the teeth chattering!
You did not get my letter last week. Frankly, no one heard from me.
I experienced pain, and honestly, torture on another level.
Your life can turn on a sixpence. A simple act of walking changed mine for 90 days.
Camper van loaded and Starlink ready, I was on my way to spend four days of ultra planning at our Devon park, The Big Sheep.
En route, I decided to pop into our North London park, Lee Valley.
After all, what does not get inspected does not get respected, and seeing us in action gives me streams of ideas and pointers on how to improve.
Teams need to know you are checking in and keeping an eye. That is why I am not a fan of working from home unless you want to be left out, you don't want to be promoted, move forward, or be around humans.
This year I want to make sure more of my time is spent with teams.
Effective work for me looks like this:
25% with customers. Seeing their experience of your business and how to improve it, even if it is already good. It is the reason I go undercover as a customer as often as I can.
25% with the team to make them better. If you are not training your team, you are not gaining from them. I include recruiting here. Getting great talent is hugely important and a great use of time.
25% on growth and cash optimisation.
25% on marketing and content.
Anything else should be done by others.
I want to coach my team more and build systems that turn them into the "SAS" of the sectors we operate in.
Most business owners touch on these four areas but spend 80% of their time firefighting and operating.
This week, however, I spent 100% of my time on drugs.
I slipped on ice and, in front of my own eyes, watched a bone in my knee pop out and say hello. He has been with me for 40 years and we had never met until 2.30 pm on Saturday afternoon.
The NHS scooped me up in an ambulance. What followed was outstanding care, alongside a complete lack of common sense when it comes to taxpayers’ money. Even on drugs, I witnessed what felt like pure stupidity. How do we solve that? ( I feel I could start a new letter just on that - fear not )
Surgery done and now bed bound, I am ready to think again in the gaps between opioids.
When pain hits, and I hope none of you ever experience it, what really matters becomes very clear.
I rang Nats, my love, and told her there was a bone protruding. She thought I was joking. FaceTime incoming. Definitely not a joke. White she turned!
Then I rang my bank manager and said, “Cover me for a week on whatever is needed. I am out and cannot sort anything.”
I wanted to make sure payments and payroll went through in case I could not move money around.
I sent a team email, handed over the baton of power, and signed a will to make sure everything was sorted in case it went wrong before I was put out. (responsibility never leaves us)
After that, it was gas and air, and I cannot remember much else.
For a few days, I did not think about anything. My responsibilities left me.
I can see now why drugs are addictive.
Then, a day after surgery, the thoughts marched back in with a proper salute, standing to attention and ready for orders.
I received many well wishes and letters. One in particular stood out, a note from a business owner who said:
“I had a heart attack last year. People say take it easy. The people who do not are HMRC, your staff who want paying, your bills, your mortgage.”
So I took a week off. Today my brain came back online.
For folk like us, rest is not an option. The world does not give you a break. You have to carry on.
Will HMRC let me take it easy for a few quarters? Will team members say, do not pay me for a couple of months?
You have a better chance of having dinner with the King.
Over the next 90 days I will be fighting the government on business rates. From April I have to find another £500k a year just to stand still.
Wish me luck.
Before all this commenced, I once asked a wise man:
“What is the greatest loss?”
He replied:
“To leave this world with potential still locked inside.”
Do not wait till later.
Later is a folly. Later the coffee gets cold. Later the kids grow up. Later you get old. Later you lose momentum. Later you regret not doing something when you had the chance.
Wish me luck on the business rates - Do not say “break a leg”. I already did.
It is the last thing I kneed.
To your continued success,
James
PS. PS. thanks for joining me in 2025 - now let’s make 2026 even better