Furk don't Work!

I know some of you potty minds are thinking what the! but I assure you, there is nothing rude about furking and we should all be doing a lot more of it. Others will have heard me speaking on this topic over the last month, as I spoke around the country but for those that haven't, I want to introduce the concept to you. The word came about when I got sick of people telling me that I am 'working' all the time. I hardly ever 'work', well not in the way most people think of work . It's not so much the definition of work that bothers me, but what society has made it mean. Generally, the word 'work' conjures up feelings of; pressure, stress, discomfort and a number of other horrible thoughts and feelings. I think, for too long now, we have been separating and compartmentalising FUn and woRK and it's time we blurred the lines a little...hence the creation of the word FURK. Which for me is about blurring the lines between work and play, clients and friends, colleagues and friends and not compartmentalising them as separate categories. After all, we spend the majority of our day and lifetime at work, so we may as well make it fun! Most of my days are spent creating, catching up and having breakfast, lunch and dinner with clients who I consider friends, many of whom have become lifetime clients that I love having in my world. This is a much more sustainable way of doing business than the  traditional 'close the sale' ideology that the sales industry has been sold, where you are on the one off treadmill and constantly looking for new business. Plus, it's a much more fun way to grow a successful career or business.

A few tips to get you started with blurring the lines; to transition business relationships from transactions to relationships. It is just like personal relationships; we need to spend time together and get to know each other. Simple things like having a coffee together or lunches are a great start, then consider letting them into your world a little bit further by perhaps playing sport together, like a game of golf, squash or even going for a morning walk. For the advanced, you can try a weekend bbq with your families or a day doing something FUN. The idea being that if you truly like your clients and you get to know each other, it won't feel like work and you will both benefit by gaining a lifetime relationship of repeat and referral business that goes beyond transactions.