Welcome to Paul's Ramblings

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing some musings about the world of a middle-aged auctioneer and life from his (my) perspective.

Firstly, hasn’t the weather been amazing over the past few weeks! I’ve been lucky enough over recent weeks to have been out and about enjoying the local countryside whilst training. Those who know me will be aware that I enjoy ultra-racing and multi-day challenges. I’m currently training (and dreading) the imminent Lakeland 100 which takes place at the end of July. The race starts at 6:00 pm Friday 27 July from Coniston in the Lake District covering a total distance of 105 miles. I have attempted the race on two previous occasions and am coming back for a third attempt.

I guess it’s the fact that it’s such a tough challenge that makes me so determined to take it on and conquer it. As is so often the case in everyday life, things don’t always come easily. Life is full of challenges and if we gave up at the first hurdle we would never hit our full potential. I have to admit that I am fortunate to have a great team behind me at Paul Fosh Auctions. While I’ve been spending time out of the office, the guys have been assembling another great catalogue which has just gone to print with 71 entries across Wales.

My journey since setting up Paul Fosh Auctions in 2001 continues to progress in ways I could never have imagined when I formed Paul Fosh Auctions. Sean and Gemma have been with me from the start and we’ve now grown to a workforce of 10. The job has also changed beyond imagination with increased technology, marketing with the use of social media, online bidding platforms and so on. It’s just another illustration of how we need to remain open-minded to innovation and change in order to stay at the top of the game; snooze you lose as a wise person once said to me.

This week I will be doing my longest training sessions of all, 14 hours in the Brecon Beacons followed by 12 hours the next day in Monmouth and the Forest of Dean. The pain that I’ll feel in the training will be nothing compared to the race but I know that it will mean that I will be going in as prepared as I possibly can. It’s also amazing how much work can be done from the end of a mobile phone (so long as the signal holds up).

I’ll give more detail about the training next week and touch on combining work and pleasure to provide that classic work/life balance and how competing in these events has made me a better company owner and manager of staff.

Until next time …