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The Complete Gentleman, Issue #003 February 11, 2015 |
| Hello Some time ago you subscribed to The Complete Gentleman website and since then there has been a deftly silence. I can only apologize as I have been concentrating on filling the website with information and took off at a tangent with focused effort working on Gin. So much so that the website now has over 360 Gin reviews, the most reviews (and in the greatest depth) than any other website in the world! If only I had known just how much time and effort this labor of love would have taken before I started it. I am now at a stage to rectify my shameful neglect and have already started to add more variety of content and am planned and prepared to issue a monthly newsletter. I thank you for your patience and trust you will be pleased with these new efforts. So, what will this monthly newsletter look like? Here's an example of what I have in mind i.e. an assortment of different subjects, varying from month to month. Feel free to let me know what you think, including what you like, don't like or would like to see. Valentines DayIt’s that time of year again and I’m sure you have been planning ahead, haven’t you? How about making a cocktail before or after your romantic dinner for two? Caroline Childerley (AKA The Gin Queen) recently posted details of the Cherry Pop Cocktail, one I had never heard of before - check it out here. This recipe comes from a speakeasy style bar called “Please Don’t Tell” (in New York City) run by Jim Meehan and is published in: The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender's Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy . This is a book I have on my wish list to get at some point in time, if you decide this is a book for you then please, if possible, use this link to take you to Amazon to purchase it (as I am an Amazon Affiliate and receive a very small commission for all sales).
OK, valentine’s is not for everyone. If this is the case you can simply do what you would normally do, and stick with your normal routine, but why not pamper yourself - get a bottle of an expensive tipple you like, a great cigar and pick a favorite movie. Now kick back and enjoy an evening of no compromise. Alternatively seek a group of other single friends and have a party or night out on the town. If you’re not single by choice then use this night to work on a plan, sign up to a dating site/service, look for a new hobby or interest where you might meet someone etc. Talking of DrinkI saw an episode of the Booze Traveler on TV, with the host Jack Maxwell visiting New Orleans – this series is a real tonic to me, its light and fun, but still manages to be informative. In the program he met with Ted Breaux a local chemist and distiller who helped to make Absinthe legal in the USA. Now he’s seeking to do the same thing with something I have never heard of: Perique Liqueur. Perique is a unique type of tobacco and is only grown on 20 acres of land in the parish of St. James in Louisiana, USA. The tobacco leaf is fermented for up to a year before being processed to make a liqueur with orange, leather and tobacco notes - I would love to try this.Continuing with Tobacco…Having smoked cigarettes since my teens and now in my late Forties, it had certainly become an addiction. Back in December I decided to give it up and moved over to using a vapor style electronic cigarette. So far each month I have managed to reduce the nicotine level down a notch and trust I can continue to do so. While I do not pursue New Year’s resolutions, this was close enough to the time of year to be one. Did you make any resolutions? Have you managed to keep going? Why not share your success or difficulties; we are bound to have some tips to help.“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids”. – Aristotle. Improving HealthJanuary was Oatmeal Month and we added 3 pages to the website with emphasis on how healthy this grain is.We’ll be adding a few more pages, including some recipes, across the forthcoming months. Look and see how you could incorporate this heart healthy grain into your life style, it may feel difficult to do this but, it is not always as hard to do once you have a plan. To see other pages recently added to the website, click here or click on “TCG Blog” at the top left of the navigation bar from any page on the website. Losing Wealth?In conversation recently, I was told a friend’s spouse could be close to losing their job and how there was a degree of uncertainty in their financial future because of this. This is never good news and in retrospect, there is always something one could have done prior to any such news. The best thing is to start working on something before it happens to you and a few things spring to mind:1. Emergency Fund – always make sure you have at least 3 and up to 12 months expenses put aside to help tide you over in the event of…er…an emergency. This is often easier said than done especially if you live paycheck to paycheck. So, stop and take stock, work out how you can save a regular amount and go ahead and do it. 2. Quoting the words of Steve Jobs: “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith”. The misfortune of losing your job or business may be the cause of something bigger and better to rise up out of the ashes. Why not think about what you would do if… And then start working on it today! 3. If you have a hobby you like doing, consider turning it into a sideline business. Now, this is not for everything, as sometimes turning a passionate hobby into a business takes the passion out of it, so beware. However, think it through and see if you can build a side business, you never know, it could become your full time job and prove to improve your life more than you ever realized. 4. If you have an existing business, look at how you could expand it - think about both vertical integration (e.g. if you own a bakery think about growing grain crops, making yeast, making home deliveries etc.) and horizontal integration (using the bakery example again: don’t just think about expanding products but what about providing ready made sandwiches to buy, making wedding cakes and/or catering for weddings, if doing home deliveries can this include milk, eggs etc.). The possibilities are almost endless. “The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at doing what they most enjoy.” - Malcolm S. Forbes. Book ReviewBuilding and growing a business is rarely easy, if it was, I’m sure more people would be doing it. I have a reasonable amount of experience in this area and have also studied and read many a book on the subject too. I have just finished helping a massage therapy business, am currently helping a new gadget company start up and have a hair salon business standing by for my help – all in growing their business. Oh, by the way, did I mention (just like plumbers with leaking taps and electricians with lights not working) I’ve been terrible at starting to grow my own hobby business “The Complete Gentleman”.Anyway the best book I have found by far, for growing a business, is one by Michael Port. With practical exercises through out, its long subtitle really is the essence of what it’s about: Book
Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling “If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it”This quote spoken by Duke Orsino in Act 1, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a nice way to end this February Newsletter, and add some final thoughts and reflections:A recent visit to the Symphony brought me back into contact with Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. I hadn’t listened to this for a long time and had forgotten just how wonderful it is. Have a listen on You Tube and revel in some contemplative bliss for around 40 minutes. Check out the comment regarding what people are wearing to go to this concert. What are your views about this? Why not take a few minutes to read the
WH Davies poem: Leisure.
Perhaps easy to miss amongst the general theme, are these words: “No time to wait till her mouth can enrich that smile her eyes began?” Gentlemen, I give you a toast: “Happy Valentines”, weather single or not you’re sure to be with someone you love! Just remember to treat them as such.
David “Woody” Schofield President and Founder, The Complete Gentleman LLC.
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. This is a genuine review and I have not been paid or enticed to promote this book in any way – I only ever promote something if I truly believe it is good. As mentioned previously, if you believe this is a good book for you then please, if possible, use this link to take you to Amazon to purchase it.