Humpy

I had the most surprising and enjoyable experience last week.  But firstly let me digress. School holidays growing up in my household always involved competition. Competition amongst my siblings to see who got to go to my Nan and Pops for a sleepover.  There are so many great memories but in the background of these is the sound of Engelbert Humperdinck playing on the turntable. This songbird was born Arnold Dorsey which perhaps is a little pedestrian but is it truly possible to make up a stage name like his or are they just random letters thrown together? However,  my Nan loved Engelbert dearly and he is part of her fabric to me. Fast forward quite a bit of time and I find myself at the Engelbert Humperdinck concert with my Nan.  I sit there in a sea of grey nomads amused at their excitement and the anticipation in the air.  My Nan is worrying about whether she can cope with a late night and my own concerns are all about  how much it cost me to be here and sitting in the same spot for two hours listening to someone I know nothing about and have no interest in. When the man himself arrived and began the entertainment I quickly realised that Nan had in fact brainwashed me as a child.  I knew about 75% of the songs and I haven’t heard them for around 20 years. Subliminal clearly.  But what an amazing performer ‘Humpy’ (as he likes to call himself) was.  He sang for 2 hours, connected and played with the audience, threw out jokes like confetti, had a red wine handy all night, flirted with all the women, threw his signature red hankies into the eager crowd and sashayed across the stage. Engelbert is 74 years old and looks amazing.  Not sure whether there has been any nipping or tucking involved or whether he is just a super performer.  Being a ‘performance specialist’ myself I am always fascinated with how people manage and enhance their performance and he was a jet. There are 5 major things that impact your own daily performance: nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental status and stress.  If you can keep all of those balls in the air and manage all five, you will see your own performance soar. Are you keeping up with Humpy?