It’s been just over 48 hours since I stepped off an Olympic Airways flight from the Greek island of Santorini, via Athens, to Toronto. Together with my wife, Hilary, and daughter, Dani-Emma, I spent 5 days on that glorious island. Prior to Santorini, we spent 4 days on the Islands of Paros and Antiparos close to Santorini.

If you’re looking for the most beautiful places on the planet, with food, people and prices to match, go to the Greek Islands. Every square foot is gorgeous. Even the beer seems to taste better there. And there’s nothing like an Ouzo to help the sun go down.

So I’m still flying on the after-pleasure of a spectacular holiday. I feel relaxed, loose, sun-kissed and ready for another season. I’ve even got rid of my back ache which plagued me prior to the trip. Maybe it’s the spirit of the islands that’s still flowing through my blood stream or maybe it’s the daily swim in the Aegean sea that loosened up my vertebra, but it feels fabulous. Now i just have to maintain it.

That’s the beauty of the human mind: I can go back to Paros and Santorini any time I want. In fact, I’m there right now. Just like the picture, I’m leaning against the sign with my name on it. I’m basking in the late afternoon sun. I’m sucking in the sea air. I’m happy. Polikalo – fantastic.

I hope your summer has been exquisite. I hope you’ve recharged and regenerated yourself for another action packed fall. If not, there’s still a few days of summer left. Use them well…

5.30am. Toronto. Aug 6 2008

It’s been a wild week. Last Wednesday I spoke to 600 government purchasing agents in Charlotte, North Carolina. The following day I spoke to 150 motorcycle accessory salespeople from Tucker Rocky in Dallas, Texas. Two days later, I spoke to 900 new recruits to Deloitte in Phoenix and yesterday, I spoke to 650 sales consultants from Infosys in Toronto, Canada.

Each seminar necessitated its own preparation. Each seminar took me into a different world, populated by its own professionals, challenged by its own problems and opportunities. Most importantly, each seminar introduced me to new points of view, opinions and perspective.

Here are the ten things I learnt since last Wednesday:

1. Do more with less. Adapting to the reality of scarcity leads to abundance. Don’t blame, build.
2. Be prepared to take on more without burning out. There is a major skills shortage looming.
3. There are great people in government, but they’re aging and replacements are hard to find.
4. Tough times demand huge entrepreneurial energy. Opportunity creation will drive the next upturn.
5. Boom times are a function of mindset not circumstance. The best bend circumstance to their will.
6. Whatever your experience, think like a new recruit: be idealistic, excited, anxious, curious, vocal.
7. Surround yourself with the best people. We become the company we keep. The person with the best colleagues wins.
8. Crises are your best friends. That’s when demand for quality is highest – and demand will always outstrip supply.
9. The world speaks a common language. Global similarities dwarf local differences. Geography is less important than ideology. Boundarylessness is the new buzzword.
10. Seek out and savour conversations with people who come from the place furthest away from yourself. Feast on their flavours. Talk. Listen. Learn. Laugh. Love. Grow.

What’s the one most important thing you learnt in the last week? Let me know. I want to learn it as well. Remember: paying forward is the best payback.