The ‘Tailor of Gloucester’

Zachary Aldwin Milkshake in the Boardroom
Recently I was preparing to write this column and I found myself sitting in front of my laptop staring at the blank screen wishing the words to appear on the display but they did not come.
Writer’s block had set in and the article was not happening.
My mind was devoid of coherent ideas that would make people exclaim in wonder at my genius.

The electricity went off and the screen went even blank. Genius, it seemed, was just not destined to happen that day.
Unfortunately this was not some “Tailor of Gloucester” scenario where someone or something else would write my article.

For those who had a childhood deprived of brilliant reading and magical stories, allow me to explain the “Tailor of Gloucester”.
It is a children’s book by Beatrix Potter, although on reading it one could mistake the level of writing as intended for adults or some very smart children.

Written in 1901, it tells the story of a tailor who falls ill while making a new coat for the Mayor of Gloucester’s wedding.
He experiences a miracle walking into his shop after three days in bed and finding the coat almost complete.

This had been done by some mice that were grateful for the little snippets of cloth that the tailor left for them.
There is also a cat, some milk and a twist of silk but they are not essential to the story. I would love to have a bunch of mice that would write my articles every week.

Even if there were miracle mice, they would probably not be able to do the job because I happen to have three hungry cats so I would still have to do the work myself.
If the work would somehow go away, if miraculously it would just get done, if someone else would just do it. These are the wishes of many.

Searching for a miracle to avoid you doing some hard work is laziness.
You cannot buy a bottle of holy water and go on holiday to Majorca and just expect all the work that you should be doing to be completed while you are away.

People have this idea that prosperity is going to just fall into their lap without them having to lift a finger, they are deceived and deluded.
I am not against the idea of miracles; God may have provided manna in the wilderness for the children of Israel but they still had to go out and collect it every morning.

There is a part that we have to play whether there is a supernatural intervention or not. We have to work.
Not only do we need to work, but we need to persevere, even in the sight of obstacles and challenges.

How do you solve writer’s block? You put your fingers to the keyboard and start writing. That is the miracle of this article, many weeks I have no idea what I will write till I start, then the ideas flow.

The same thing should happen with a business, idea or project.
How do you become an overnight success? You start working at something. Develop your craft, develop your character.

Remember my friend with the book a couple of columns back. Initial sales have not been great, so what is he doing about it? Well he is going to write another one while he continues to push this one.

Push through, keep going, one step at a time if need be. If climbing a mountain you cannot afford to stop half way up, if you stop for too long you will die of exposure.
You have to persevere. Now is the time to work if we are going to build anything great. You actually have a better chance of success today that you did 20 years ago.

The “in-crowd” who dictated trends has split into multiple, smaller “in-crowds” that you can niche market to.

You just have to have something to show them, so get working.

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