McKinsey's Newletter!  I have hundreds of them.  Yet as soon as the delete button hovers over the list, I sopt something that could  be interesting so I keep them all!  And not just McKinsey's, there are countless other newsletters and articles that have a great column or make a good point or introduce a new piece of software or contain a fact I should retain... and so it goes on.  I can shift them into folders but it still causes harddisk bloat.  So what do I do?  I have no idea,  and the problem gets worse every week.  And if I explode and delete a thousand of them, I know the next week I will be trying to find an elusive article or quote that was there...

In case some people have missed this very important announcement from West Ham United Football Club I will retransmit it here.  The Club has announced the new home strip for the 08/09 season.  It goes on sale next Wednesday 30th July, and you had better be quick if you want one, as there is bound to be a mad rush.  And at £40 it is something of a bargain! As a fashion accessory, I am sure that you will agree it works well for both male and female, although there are certain watering holes in north, west and south London it would be advisable to avoid if you are wearing it.

As I was being forced into an agonising position to do more repeats of an excercise than my body really wanted to do, I reflected on what made me crazy enough to have a personal trainer? For me, at this time, there are lots of good reasons:

• I get to do things I wouldn't normally do
• I get pushed, and therefore improve my fitness/flexibility
• I get set challenges and targets
• I see the world from a different perspective
• It forces a discipline on me that I couldn't sustain on my own 
• I get into a regular pattern of exercise
• I learn new skills that stop me getting bored
• I occasionally get some praise for improving 
• I am taught how to do things correctly
• I learn what I do wrong and what to focus upon for best results 

That is a list of 10, straight off the top of my head.  There are undoubtly more .

Then my reflection took another turn.  Would I pay to have someone train my brain rather than my body.  Someone to set me intellectual challenges, set me things to read, questions to reflect upon, research to do, maybe things to write.  The overwhelming answer was yes I would do that 1 : 1 and enjoy it for all the reasons I enjoy physical training.  And there might, actually, be even more good reason to have a personal mental trainer: to challenge, to help me improve, to force me into a disciplined approach and to help me get focus and help me stay mentally flexible and alert.

There has to be a market for this and there has to be a demand out there.  I can't be a lone figure pummelling my brain in the darkness and longing for a bit of light?  More than life coaching, or more specific than life coaching?  You tell me.

I was up at 4.14 am on the 25th.  And like about 50,000 others I went down to the Shrine of Remembrance on St Kilda Road for the annual Dawn Service of Remembrance.  It is very moving and is an emotionally highly charged half an hour as the dawn slowly breaks. It dates back 93 years to the beaches of Gallipoli were 12, 000 Australian, 3,000 New Zealand soldiers  (and 85,000 Turks too) were killed in a futile attempt to establish a bridge head in northern Turkey.  It now commemorates all those Australian and New Zealand men and women who died in all conflicts since then. 

 This photo was taken as the crowds dispersed.

If you want a flavour of Gallipoli, then this letter from the front is extraordinarily powerful. The service helps us all make some kind of meaning with something meaningless and connects us across the decades with people whose lives never grew into fulfillment. A great morning.