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My new podcast is now available where I will discuss business, fitness and family. Hopefully I will provide some words of wisdom along the way. The podcast is available to listen and subscribe to on a host of popular platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Full details are on my new podcast page. 
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It was pleasing to see an article in this weeks Stirling Observer newspaper about local youth football club Carse Thistle. I played with Carse at Under 16 & 18 level after spending most of my youth football at the successful North Broomage Colts/VIS Colts team from Under 11 through to Under 15. Like many of my primary school friends I knew Dick from 10 years old after we all had trials at Carse Thistle and later in life I bumped into him a few times in Stirling city centre where he would never pass you without saying hello and asking how I was. An absolute gentleman of a man who dedicated a lot of his life to youth football in the Stirling area and I wish the new custodians of the club all the success in the future as they carry on the legacy of Dick Taylor.   If ever you need reminding about the saying 'Never Give Up' then watch the last few minutes of the football action from Hampden Park, Glasgow yesterday afternoon.
When it looked like England would close the match out for a 1-0 win, two amazing late free kick goals put Scotland seconds away from a famous victory only for England to score and equalise with virtually the last kick of the match. Three late goals in the last six or so minutes in this Auld Enemy fixture swinging the match either way made it a 'I Was There' moment for the near 50,000 spectators inside Scotland's national stadium. In the business world sport reminds us often of the rewards of never giving up, not quitting and fighting until the end. Ok, on occasions no matter how hard you fight that bad luck and fate just become the overriding factors and win the day but when you do fight until the end, when you do perceiver, when you do push and give it that one more effort then that's when the odds can turn in your favour and results and achievements can happen. That local music band which have performed for many years just never know when that breakthrough opportunity will come or when an app developer will develop that one particular app of many that it will go viral or when our business may attract the attention of investors or buyers. Yes there are occasions when pursuing a dying dream should stop but we all have personal or business goals in life that are worth fighting for and we know that by never giving up and not quitting we increase the odds in our favour of having our own 'I did it' moment'  This week it was announced that the city of Stirling will get it's own edition of the popular Monopoly board game in time for Christmas 2017 and I know it will be purchased for my family to enjoy.
Today the nomination window is open for suggestions to occupy the spaces on the board and while it is a given and correct that landmarks such as Stirling Castle and The National Wallace Monument will feature, local businesses have been taking to social media over the past few days to drum up interest and increase the nomination amounts for their own businesses. I'm sure like me you don't want to see the board become a free advertising space for certain businesses just because they can muster up a lot of nominations and I'm sure the board manufactures are well used to being 'spammed' by businesses in the past for other editions. We want to see the castle, monument, museum, jail, university, shopping centres, sports facilities plus popular streets and areas on the board not the local chippy, butcher, cafe or coffee shop. Picture - Daily Record West Coast of Scotland and sunny weather - a combination worth exploring. I'm lucky to be once again working in in the islands of Scotland this week and over the past three decades I've travelled and visited many of the islands, towns and cities in Scotland due to business, family travels or supporting Stirling Albion. If it wasn't for visiting some of these places for work or football I know I would not have naturally visited as many places. The west coast of Scotland has so much to offer and yes it's appeal is enhanced when the weather is fine and settled but if you've been thinking about visiting or know you should explore more of our homeland then don't put it off - make a plan this summer to get out and about even if it's only for a few nights or even day trips to the mainland west coast. The long summer days are energising and the sunsets are just beautiful. More of my West Coast of Scotland photos can be viewed here.  On Sunday morning I was in Grangemouth to take part in their annual Round The Houses 10k running event.
The race started and ended at Grangemouth Stadium which was the venue for what I still regard as one of my greatest ever achievements. 1989 was the year and Grangemouth Stadium was the venue when a football team from Larbert near Falkirk (VIS Colts - formally North Broomage Colts) won the Under 13 Scottish Youth Cup defeating the favourites and well known Edinburgh side Hutchison Vale. Today was an ideal opportunity to look back on that day but it also got me thinking about why we don't look back on our achievements as often as we should. We are all caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle of life and for me that is especially true in the business world as I know I don't spent enough time reflecting on the past. We all get caught up in the present and the countless decisions we have to make in the current time that we don't stop and take time to reflect and learn from the past Looking back at the past and your achievements can have varying effects, one can be the usual "what if" that though is the demon negative that we must banish from our thoughts immediately. I can look back to when I was 18 years old and when I gave up football to concentrate on my electrical career and ask "what if" - what could I have become if I had dedicated all my time to football instead of an electrical apprenticeship. Or we could look back on our past and our achievements and learn from it but to do that I and you need to set time aside and remove ourselves from the present and allow time to reflect on the past. So instead of wondering and dwelling on the what if's of why I gave up football, I could look at our teams achievement in 1989 and look at how we defeated the favourite on the day, how as a group of individuals we all played to our own strengths which galvanised us as a team, how we were coached by focused dedicated individuals who got the best out of each one of us to benefit the sum of the team, how by hard work and dedication we deservedly won the cup, how we had to spend many cold winter nights after school in the rain and cold training in the dark to help us achieve our goal. Taking time out to reflect on those positives of the past will help us make better present and future decisions. We all spend and yes that still at times includes me, living and getting bogged down in the present but our future can become much more clearer and straightforward by taking time out to reflect and learn from our wins and loses in the past BUT we must allow time in the present to learn from the past which in turn will influence our future. There's countless more successful people in the world that have achieved much more than winning a football cup competition at 13 years old but the reflecting on the achievement and learning from the negative and plus points of the past is what drives and steers our future success. Support My Marathon Charity Good luck to Stirling Albion from all at Stirling Electrical Services and Stirling Alarms for the new league campaign which gets underway today.   It was my intention to write a follow up after my initial post on Friday to give update thoughts on Brexit but I'm sure you will all agree if I were to try and digest all what's happened since Friday then it would probably drive me to 'resign' from this blog.
Resign or Not to Resign is certainly the theme of the week and as predicted Labour imploding is taking centre stage before the Tory leadership battle begins in earnest. I just don't know where to focus this post - should it be on Westminster and its many characters all battling it out, should it be on the European reaction or should it focus on the many scenarios that could affect Scotland. Lots more fun and games, twists and turns and appointments and resignations will I'm sure continue over the next few days so lets see how the situation lies at the weekend. Plus, If I'm not sure what direction to blog about then I could always turn my attention to the other great exit from Europe this week - 'England at Football': no lets not go there either as laughing is beginning to hurt. Keeping up-to date with the latest news and products is obviously vital in our electrical industry and that's why I made the journey south to Manchester this week to the latest ElexShow I attended this event last year in the same city and found it a worthwhile investment in my time especially learning and discussing the latest guidance from the electrical industry experts during the seminar events which I can take back and update our electricians. My hotel was just a few hundred yards from Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium which was handy for an evening stroll.  Congratulations to Stirling Albion FC on winning promotion to Scottish League One on Sunday.
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Scott McLeanBusiness , Weather, Community, Charity 
www.stirlingelectrical.co.uk
www.stirlingalarms.co.uk
www.stirlingweather.co.uk
www.saturntaxis.com
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