You may have spotted pictures of our mini labradoodle, Candy on my social media channels. So what’s that got to do with business, fitness and the future? More than you might think.

These dark mornings and evenings have brought the need for torchlit dog walks, and while out walking you do some thinking. On this occasion thinking about the parallels between torchlit dog walks and future plans, hopes and goals.

For some of the walk, the beam of the torch was lighting the spot just in front of my feet. This was over ground that was new terrain for me and where I was somewhat anxious about slips and trips. I took my eye away from the distance and focused on the area right in from of me. Interestingly this did two things - slowed down our pace considerably, and made me a little nervous about what was lurking up ahead!

I then decided to focus the torch beam some distance ahead, concentrating on where I was heading and not giving too much thought to where I would place my feet - you guessed it - our pace picked up, I felt sure footed, confident and certain.

A reminder to focus on future goals, have clarity of purpose, trust in yourself and let the “correct” next steps take care of themselves.