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About 30 Winter Mornings
30 Winter Mornings is a short daily podcast for people who deliver complex live events.
Each episode is a ten-minute morning reflection that offers perspective, reassurance, and calm during the most demanding phase of delivery. Drawing on decades of experience in large-scale events, the podcast focuses not on the event itself, but on the people behind it, the professionals who carry responsibility, make decisions under pressure, and keep showing up.
This is not a training programme or a motivational series.
It’s a daily check-in.
A moment of company before the day begins.
Good morning. I'm Christiaan Page, and welcome to 30 Winter Mornings. This is a short daily podcast for the people who deliver complex live events. Each morning, we're going to take a few minutes to slow things down, to find a bit of perspective, bit of reassurance, and a little bit of calm during the most demanding phase of the delivery. This isn't training.
Christiaan PAGE:It's not motivation. It's just a daily check-in. A moment of company before your day begins. Okay. Twenty eight mornings to go.
Christiaan PAGE:So there's a part of every long delivery that doesn't get talked about very much. And it's not the excitement of the start, and it's not the release and relief of the finish, but the middle. So the middle is where routines replace adrenaline, where progress feels much less visible. It's the grind. It's getting it done.
Christiaan PAGE:It's where the work becomes steady, repetitive, and sometimes quietly exhausting. And that can be unsettling, because the middle doesn't always feel productive, even though it's where most of the real work happens. It's the grind. Like I say, it's keeping getting up and keep on doing it, and it doesn't feel like we're actually doing what needs to be done. But this is where systems are tested.
Christiaan PAGE:It's our internal systems. This is where judgment matters more than energy and where consistency matters more than creativity. Because it's the work isn't about creating, like, the beginning when we all get creative and think how are gonna do this? What are we doing it for? It isn't about the judgment of which requires more energy.
Christiaan PAGE:It's about getting it done. So the middle is not something to rush through. We can't. Gotta get it done. It's the work, and that's what the middle is.
Christiaan PAGE:So before the day pulls you fully in and drags you in and gets you going, let's pause for a quick check-in. So couple of questions. First, what part of your work today sits firmly in the middle? And this could be things like processes to follow. There might be, applications or routines that you need to update, lot of project administration perhaps.
Christiaan PAGE:These are the things that make sure that everything's lined up and that we can report. Quite often, that's a bit bit of a grind, but it is really important to get those things. So there may be processes that you need to apply, a lot of policies and procedures that which need to be adhered to, and we need to follow that. So sometimes that can be some of it. Perhaps it's a conversation to continue.
Christiaan PAGE:Not every conversation comes to conclusion because especially when we're doing event delivery. There's conversations which need to happen with different stakeholders at different times, so sometimes we gotta pick that conversation up again and again and again. Feels like we're doing the same conversation. It's a little bit of groundhog day, but they do need to continue to get to the resolution, and this often happens in the middle. Perhaps it's a detail also that needs consistency rather than speed.
Christiaan PAGE:If we're pushing something, a detail that's about something that needs to be specifically designed or deployed, we need to keep thinking it through. We need to get all the different stakeholders' input rather than a quick decision. So again, thinking about what part of your day fits firmly in the middle. Second question, another thought reflection. Where might you be pushing when patients would serve you better?
Christiaan PAGE:Now we know that the timelines are pushed. Everything's compressed, and everyone is pushing, pushing, pushing to get and meet the absolute deadline of everything to to be ready to go. However, if you've got a timeline that is set that has a lot of dependencies, it may be that you push to get something done ahead of schedule, which may then create problems for the other dependencies and the other other inputs that need to happen. So thinking about our timeline, yes, we can be pushing and saying, yes. I must have this installed.
Christiaan PAGE:But, actually, it might be prudent and a little bit patience to make sure that we don't cause knock on effects. It's not to say that it doesn't mean we we still have to compress everything, but the sequencing becomes really important. It could also be a decision. Yesterday, we talked about the the d's, the four d's, do it, delay it, delegate it, or dump it, forcing a decision. Again, if we're pushing a decision to be happening, it may be that this particular stakeholder hasn't arrived on the event site, and we need their input to make and finalize that decision.
Christiaan PAGE:So that's a really important, again, sequencing, prioritizing, and timing when you think you could be a little bit more patient and have to which would serve you better. Last thought on this one is purse people. Is a person is pushing a person, when patients could be serve better serve them and you? We gotta take care of each other, and people are what make the deliveries possible. We're in the humanity business.
Christiaan PAGE:And sometimes pushing people when actually they may need some support could also be your feeling pushed, and it may be something that you need a little bit of support on too. So thinking about people, when is it that patients, could better serve you and or them taking care of each other? Third reflection on this one is how are you sustaining yourself through this phase? We begin this is a recurring theme. You'll hear me repeat this.
Christiaan PAGE:How do you take care of yourself so you can take care of others? Are you pacing your energy? This is a marathon. It's not a sprint. And whilst we're in this last thirty days, yes, it is, the last tail end of it.
Christiaan PAGE:However, we've still gotta get it done. You've still gotta pace yourself. So how are you pacing your energy? Are you getting enough rest? Are you sharing the load?
Christiaan PAGE:And that doesn't mean you know, it means delegating, but it also means putting your hand up and saying, hey. I need, may need some help here. That is a way of sustaining yourself through this phase, through this middle middle section. Last point, really important, And, again, I'll repeat, giving yourself space to reset. This is about taking care of yourself, giving yourself that time out at the end of the day.
Christiaan PAGE:And we know that everything's compressed. You're gonna be working long days, but taking that time out, resetting, and that means eating well, drinking well, water, and and, getting lots of rest. That is resetting our nervous system so that we can then function and lean into the next day. So if today feels a little bit ordinary, that doesn't mean it's unimportant. It means you're doing the work, and that makes everything else possible.
Christiaan PAGE:So wherever you are, stay safe, stay healthy, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. 30 Winter Mornings is a legacy group project. It's produced and presented by myself, Christiaan Page. This podcast is recorded on the shores of Lac Leman in Lausanne, the Olympic capital, in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.