I know that talking to people also really enlivens me. I often begin by listening, and then seek to have a conversation that connects dots…
Energy
My Fuel: People, Ideas, Connecting the Dots
I love meeting people thinking about interesting ideas and doing interesting things, it is my fuel. Feel good about connecting.
What a difference a day can make
I nearly used an image of my Wordle effort from today as a follow on from yesterday's post "I find being patient hard sometimes", where I shared my poor effort as an example of how I was struggling that day. Any slightly astute reader (and all my regular readers are...
Learning Balance
A personal and quite pensive post of lessons I learned around finding balance in life and work.
Practice deep play
Winston Churchill, on the importance of what I would call deep play. He himself focussed on painting for this.
Filling My Cup
John Amaechi I find short winter days difficult. Do you? Last Sunday in the UK the clocks changed. After living most of my adult life in Cayman, I still sometimes struggle with UK weather having lived here for a few years now. More than the weather, though, I struggle...
Just enough
This past week, in my conversation with Sam Duong, one of the topics he talked about was his exploration of the idea of “Just Enough”.
Recovery is part of training
I recall when my two oldest sons were competing at swimming at a high level. They trained over well over 20 hours a week, then had university studies to do. Aside from that they mostly ate and slept. I learned from them that this was not aimless, it was planned out....
Know when to follow the energy
Ultimately the learning is to "follow the energy", to create the opportunity and see who is energised, who makes the effort to connect and to meet. So, as regular readers know, I am in Cayman right now. Due to Covid, first time home here in 18 months, so am keen to...
Follow the Energy
In working with leaders, I often refer to the "Three Tenets of Leadership" of: Set and Hold the ContextManage the EnergyCoach, Don't Play For more on what I mean by these three tenets, read the earlier post: "Managing Energy – learning from comedians" So much of...
I am energized by entrepreneurs
I am energized by entrepreneurs. My instagram post tagging the great guys at S&T Mobile Car Wash. An obvious statement, perhaps, but so often reminded of it. This week, for example, I had the guys at S&T Car Wash come to wash my car first thing in the morning....
Equity drives Commitment
Sometimes a lightbulb goes off for me and, rather than analyse it, I realise it has significance and sit with it. Yesterday a conversation with a colleague switched on one such lightbulb. The lightbulb was around my work and that Equity drives Commitment. Often I work...
What is the word for business in Chinese?
It’s only now that I’ve been nudged to delve more deeply into the meaning of the word ‘business’ from a Chinese cultural viewpoint and the insights gained from my practise. Originally calligraphy from Sam Duong {Guest post today from Sam Duong, entrepreneur and a dear...
Settling in for the Winter
So, the U.K. is going back into lockdown on 5th November. Regular readers will know I predicted this on 20th September and a recurring theme since then has been to encourage preparation, “Proactive Resilience”. On Sunday I made the most of being able to visit stores...
Proactive Resilience – Emotional Equations
Emotional Equations can bring both self-awareness and comfort at times we feel down or simply off-balance. As we head into the Northern Hemisphere winter and the Pandemic continues, I've written about the importance of Proactive Resilience, of preparing for the times...
I repeat – slow down to speed up later
In my experience, the starting point is to slow down. To take time to really get clear on personal and business "why", from Purpose to Vision. My clients are very often high achievers who have spent their careers driven to achieve, to plan and then work the plan, to...
Are you prepared for the second lockdown?
Are you prepared for a second lockdown? If you are reading this and the title and picture lands for you as a pragmatic reality of our future, you probably also suddenly feel a little "down" right now. Today's post, then, is not about being prepared physically and...
A moment of musical zen
Earlier this week I wrote: "Fall in love more", encouraging us all to focus more on love and appreciation as a way to then be someone who is and leads from that energy, enabling qualities such as Trust, Empathy, Understanding, Passion, Excitement, Happiness,...
Fall in Love more
Sunset over Wandsworth, Sep 16 2020 "People should fall in love more. Fall in love with the way your coffee swirls as soon as you pour the milk in. Fall in love with the look your dog gives you when you wake up… Fall in love with the person who tells you to have a...
Our highest purpose is to share knowledge
"the whole purpose of life has been to pass on what was learned. There is no higher purpose"Morgan Freeman's character explaining what to do to Lucy in the movie of that name Yesterday I was inspired by my guest on #WhatComesNextLive, Gregg Parini. Gregg is in his...
Shoshin – Innocent Mind
"Shoshin" is a Zen Buddhist term roughly translating as "Beginner's Mind" or "Innocent Mind". This Saturday morning I am musing on the power of Shoshin I was recently on a mentoring call and the mentee is an accomplished actor looking to grown and learn in a...
Relating the pandemic to being on a long voyage
Living through this pandemic really is like being on a ship for a long voyage. We are not truly stable, we are not grounded. As we move through September, nearly six months into our lives being changed by Covid-19, here in the UK (and many other countries) we have...
Stop telling people about yourself. Be Yourself.
Stop telling people about yourself. Be Yourself. Image from my phone wallpaper, (c) Visualise Value My Mentor Ed Percival often reminded me to #BeMoreYou, yet part of who I am is a frequent struggle to find a balance between telling and showing, between doing and...
Are you exhausted by uncertainty?
I'm a little exhausted by uncertainty Yesterday my weekly #WhatComesNext.Live show guest was Jerry Frentsos, an inspiring masters swimmer (20 world records and counting) whose mantra is his website LiveIntentionallyWell.com. Jerry had so many brilliant ideas,...
Shifting perspective
A bent house in Lavenham This weekend I took a few days away out of London for the first time in over five months due to lockdown. Part of that is to change perspective, to experience and view life from a different angle. In photography, an ultra-wide-angle lens is...
Saudade – what do you long for?
Saudade is defined as a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant, or that has been loved and then lost. The love that remains. Writing this on a quiet Sunday, happy in the knowledge that my three sons in Cayman are safe and well in a...
Being in Flow
MJ's expression after an inexplicable "flow moment" Today I share with you one of the ultimate flow moments in my life so far, one, where I was so deep in "the zone" for hours that astonishing things happened. Through this, I hope this helps you reflect on when and...
Firing on only two cylinders
sPanoz LMP-1 Roadster, powered by a huge 8 cylinder engine When we "fire on all cylinders" it is a metaphor for everything going smoothly and at full capacity and effort. When we are "not firing on all cylinders", then the assumption is that we are under-performing...
Look at a longer timeframe to give a new perspective
Look at a longer timeframe to give a new perspective. GBP USD rate for the last 50 years So, just two days ago I wrote: "Stop waiting for the perfect moment", noting that I had a large sum of money from the sale of a house (in USD) to move to buy a house in the UK (in...
Look at a longer timeframe to give a new perspective
Look at a longer timeframe to give a new perspective. GBP USD rate for the last 50 years So, just two days ago I wrote: "Stop waiting for the perfect moment", noting that I had a large sum of money from the sale of a house (in USD) to move to buy a house in the UK (in...
Stop waiting for the perfect moment
Perfection is the enemy of progress. Simply act when conditions are right and stop waiting for the perfect moment. GBP-USD has moved from a low of 1.23 to..over 1.28 in the last month This is yesterday's GBP-USD FX chart for the last month. Nearly a month ago I moved...
The unit of reading is a chapter
Consider that the ‘unit of reading’ is not ‘the book’. It’s the chapter. Books are just convenient ways of keeping chapters around the house in neat bundles. Throwback photo to me reading my my hammock in Cayman. A favourite author, with the title a lyric from my...
Understand what you need
Understand what you need. Yesterday at 4 pm UK time (8 am on the West Coast), as we have done every week since returning from the Modern Elder Academy in April 2018, our cohort from that week met for a "Zoom circle". 4pm. Every Tuesday. For an hour. A circle simply...
Lazy Sunday
Over 1,000 daily posts in a row. Some are short and make one or two simple points, some are curated from others, some are long and indepth with many linkouts. Once in a while, though, I feel to simply model what I encourage leaders to do for themselves, which is to...
Listen to the narrative of the other
Let us listen to the narrative of the other. Let us hear the version of the other. At times there is so much ugliness in humanity, often expressed in how we separate from each other, whether individually or in constructs such as tribes, religions, nations, race. It is...
“Nobody wants to get rich slow”
Nobody wants to get rich slow. “Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”Warren Buffett Also, upon being asked: "You’re one of the richest people in the world, and how you explain what you do, it’s so simple. Why doesn’t...