In fact, it’s more than that: I need my routine. I, like many Aspies, am wired up in a way making routine and habits necessary for my sanity (and, no, it’s not the same as OCD, even though it superficially presents similarly to the uninformed eye).

As with most things...

This has both upsides and downsides.

One of the downsides is I don’t much like surprises or unplanned variations to my day. A classic example of this is when they were doing some work on the roads in Clonakilty and had rerouted the one-way system through the town.

I knew nothing about this until I was cycling through the town and my regular route and had to divert and follow a different one. While I intellectually and logically know this is perfectly reasonable, it didn’t stop it from being extremely uncomfortable. It just seemed wrong not to be cycling the “right” route.

On the other hand one of the upsides is I can and do eat the same food several times a day for an indefinite period of time without getting even remotely fed up with it. This makes dieting and bulking-up almost trivial (because the mark of a successful diet of any kind is one you can stick to — and if you wired up in a way making sticking to a diet almost mandatory, then it’s a piece of piss).

Another upside, and perhaps one less obvious, is it’s very easy for me to form habits (but the twist in that particular tale is it applies both to good habits and bad habits).

For example, I’ve been getting up at 6 o’clock in the morning now for three weeks on Thursday (with a four-day break while I was in the UK on business). But it took less than ten days before I was waking up naturally and easily without my alarm between 0545 and 0555.

So, where am I going with all this?

Have patience, Grasshopper.

The secret to a successful business lies in repeating a small number of successful actions religiously over a period of time. One of the reasons social media is so pernicious is it encourages a lack of focus and routine because you are constantly being encouraged to chase the latest fad — diets, exercise, the latest business-system or -idea, whatever. The list is endless.

And most people find themselves constantly distracted and chasing the latest Bright Shiny Object. They remind me of Dr Doolittle’s Lunar Moth — it flies ceaselessly between the Earth and the moon and no sooner does it get to one than it is attracted by the light of the other.

The problems here are twofold: first, you find it hard to get into the regular routines and processes; and secondly, even if you don’t, you don’t know what those routines should be.

And that’s where Connor and I at The Operation come in.

Because not only do we know exactly which handles to crank to make your business a success, but we’ll also crank them for you (and harass, harangue, and harry you to crank the one or two handles you do have to crank yourself).

The next step?

Talk to me about cranking your handles.

Witheringly,

P.S. One of the most irritating things I find happening to me in life is people patronising me whenever I reveal quirks like this.

Sometimes people even say “I think we’re all little bit autistic”.

They mean well when they say it, but it’s idiotic, nonsensical, and not in the slightest bit helpful to anyone but themselves.

Think about that one.

I don’t need your validation (trust me: as my recent Judgement Index showed, self-esteem is not something I lack in any respect whatsoever).

More to the point I don’t need your understanding or acceptance, either (unless you’re wired up the same way you’re never going to understand; and there is nothing to accept).

In fact, I don’t need anything from you at all.

But there’s a good chance you need something from me – because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading my shit.

Think about that one, too.

Then take action.