Happy Holidays!
Hello!
Hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well and looking forward to having a fantastic Christmas together.
2021… What a year in so many ways…
As a company it’s been a really interesting one. I could probably think of a more inspiring word but I think that probably sums it up. It hasn’t been simple, it’s been busy and hugely rewarding in becoming a force for good. Our B-Corp journey has been embraced, we’ve kept our amazing customers and welcomed new ones. With such success that we never predicted a year ago, we’ve launched our great Lifestyle Voucher in consumer channels with our partners Incomm and had amazing support from our brand partners as well as welcoming so many new ones to the Lifestyle family. We really couldn’t do what we do without the support of all our amazing customers, partners and friends.
The pandemic had changed the world. We have to live with it and this year hasn’t been without it’s struggles. Where do I start… well the start of the year was miserable, cold and in lockdown but as a company we had hit record numbers. We navigated our best ever Christmas by keeping our teams safe and delivering for our clients whilst doing our best to support family, friends and whoever we really could through a tough period where we couldn’t celebrate Christmas together or with our families. We didn’t have a clear path out of the pandemic and well, that was only the start January! Personally, I was on massive high from the team’s amazing performance, the way they handled their personal and professional lives but my focus switched to the amount of work I had ahead, both to improve personally as well as what the rest of the year was going to throw at us…
And so to the rest of the year…that could certainly be a list long enough to scare the cr*p out of Santa (and the reindeers)! But here goes….Our B-Corp journey, being in the office with the team, community days out, vaccines, opening up of economies and borders, a life of covid testing, travel and holidays cancelled, cancelled sporting events, cancelled concerts, not seeing our customers and partners in person and sharing some long overdue beers and banter, more Covid changes…
Where is the world going though? Who knows! NFT’s, Web3, Metaverse, Space exploration and that’s just the buzz words… what about science, bio-chem, geo-politics, Crypto… The world has moved on from the old ways and is in the “transition” phase. I don’t know what it will be but it’s up to us as humans to embrace that change and have some fun learning new things. The world is changing and at a pace that even the most open to change will struggle to keep up with, but it’s our choice to be a part of a it or not. Both options are okay.
A few things this year has taught me as Boycey. As an older human we can do with some “unlearning”. I say this after having a great chat with a very good friend of mine whilst trying to understand more about myself and how I can be a better human. Take kids for example, they’re sponges to information and their brains are figuring out all that’s going on yet they say what’s on their mind. “Uncle Mark, you have no hair. That’s weird” says my five and a quarter year old nephew. Thanks pal, but what he said is true. Kids are innocent to all the conditioning life gives them over their later years but don’t see all the things society creates for whatever reason, profit, power or whatever. So I think we can do some unlearning. A few things I will be passing onto my nephew is educating him on a few words… Respect (for himself, others and the planet) and Gratitude (for what he has, who he has and what the planet gives him). Those two words I feel can be worked on a bit more by everyone in order to make us better.
One thing that’s stuck with me is everyone is different, going though different life journeys and, as a business, keeping that in mind is going to be key to driving engagement within your teams. As a whole, businesses will change, management will change, employees will change but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, learn and be a huge part in defining those changes together. Creating a purpose and doing good business with good people is what it’s about.
To the Motivates family and everyone we are lucky to have had support us, a massive thank you! We can’t do what we do without all of you.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
2022 is going to be a great year so all the very best.
Cheers
Boycey