Hello - don't worry. I'm not here to berate you for being late. But what I will do is show something that has helped me - a ex-serially late person.

Let me introduce you to LOMBARDI TIME.

(And don't forget - if you enjoy this email share it with a friend!)

⏱ Better late than never?

We've all been late. It happens. I'm late from time to time, as I'm sure you are. We all have our own reasons.

But, as I have learned over the last year or so, consciously being late means valuing your own time more than the person / people that end up waiting. Spending an extra 10 minutes in bed or dallying, and therefore being 10 minutes late, basically means that 10 minutes in bed is more important than the person that has to wait that time for you.

Ever heard this? This is the modus operandi of a serially late person for whom lateness has become a habit in itself. It's the sum of various repeated behaviours that lead to unpreparedness and last minute scrambling. It's not a character trait, like being good at maths. It's a learned behaviour, like consistently going to bed too late, that can be unlearned.

If (when) I'm late it's usually because I've tried to arrive right on the dot of the agreed meeting time. This means leaving no leeway time for late trains, last minute runs back to the house for forgotten sunglasses or wrong directions.

Better late than never? Probably. But here's how we can avoid being late in the first place.

⌚️ Lombardi time

Let me introduce you to rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward, appointed

England Rugby boss back in 1997 during a period of severe underperformance for the national team. He introduced a series of high performance ideas and a big focus on attention to detail, amongst other things, and eventually lead England to World Cup success in 2003.

Woodward was very keen on time as a concept - how it was spent, how it was viewed by the team, how it was respected. He discusses this on the High Performance podcast:

Ensuring the team had a consistent view on time was the foundation for the team's success. This was made abundantly clear with the team's adoption of Lombardi Time, named after Vince Lombardi - coach of Green Bay Packers in the 1960s who had similarly strong views on time.

Lombardi Time meant that the team would arrive fifteen minutes early to all appointments while on duty for England Rugby. So much so in fact, that a session scheduled for 1:00pm was understood across the team to mean 12:45pm, and so on.

🚶🏻Lom-Wharmby time?

Alright, I know. While the name isn't going to stick, we can all take something from this. Lombardi time is a simple concept - arrive early, give yourself a buffer. Simple as that.

But where the magic happens is reinterpreting meeting times to actually mean their 15 minute earlier versions. To you and I, a reservation at 7pm means 6:45pm. It's this cognitive switch that does the work.

The benefit of this is, obviously, not being late. But there's a much better reason to stick to Lombardi time.

Ever rushed to an interview and arrived with a minute to spare? Ever ran for the train and jumped on seconds before it pulls away?

While both examples get the heart racing in their own right, they are unpleasant experiences as things go. We might have nailed arriving bang on time, but we definitely don't feel better for it.

Arriving 15 minutes early means no more panicking about being late. Sit down on your transport of choice and relax knowing that whatever comes your way, you'll likely be able to navigate it calmly and still arrive in style, on time.

Give it a try, let me know how you get on.

This Week I’m: ⬇️

🎧 Listening to Bicep's Glastonbury set - a great accompaniment driving home from a midnight finish on Strictly or when I'm not in the mood at the gym

🍿 Watching the House of Dragon finale - in my opinion, one of the best series I've ever seen

📖 Reading The Airbnb Story and A Game of Thrones (again)

🎟 Thinking about Glastonbury tickets next week...

✍🏻 ...and also thinking about a cool idea for another weekly / monthly email (watch this space)

As always, thanks for reading. Pass this email to someone else and share the love - and of course reply with any thoughts / opinions.

Cheers 🤙🏻