Surrender Experiments
I’m getting ready to take a mini-sabbatical in mid-September. I call it ‘mini’ because it’s only 5-weeks and I consider a proper sabbatical to be 6-12 months. I’ll be back full of stories and new experiences from Bali and Northern Thailand in October and take a break from the newsletter (and most digital things) until
The First 90 Days
As some of you know, alongside coaching I’m also a corporate leader at a Fortune 100 company. These two parallel paths have given me a lot of perspective on what leadership should, could and actually does look like. If I’m being honest, the reality of leadership today is incredibly complex and nuanced - and I
Managing Your Body Budget
Something that has come up a lot lately with my clients at every level of seniority has been the feeling of lacking balance in their lives. When this topic comes up, we inevitably end up talking about a concept called Body Budget (credit to Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D). Essentially, your mind constantly budgets the energy in your
Questions for 2023
This post is inspired by “Foundations 1, 2, 3, 4” from Krista Tippett (Web | Apple | Spotify) The predominant narrative of this year has been noticeably marked by catastrophe, dysfunction and antagonising the “other” side - and technology has poured jet fuel on these sentiments. It’s worth acknowledging that many of these stories and experiences are
How to Set Goals That Spark Joy
If you walk into a room and ask 10 people what their personal goals are, chances are that 9 out of 10 of them will give you a To-Do List. Earning a certain amount of money, losing weight, getting promoted, buying a house, etc. When you press them on why and get to the core
What Mindful Leaders Can Learn From The World’s Oldest People
In the book "Ikigai" by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, the authors interview residents of a Japanese village that has the highest percentage of 100 year-olds (Centenarians) in an attempt to understand the secret to their long life and happiness. Not only do these centenarians out-live most people, they also tend to have fewer chronic
On De-Prioritization
The best definition of productivity that I’ve heard is this: it is a deep alignment between what you do and what matters to you. Put another way, it’s about doing the things that matter and de-prioritizing things that derail you or don’t contribute to your priorities. Surprisingly, de-prioritization is something a lot of leaders struggle with
On Habits
Over the last year, as the pandemic disrupted our lives many of us have been re-organizing our routines, habits, and lifestyle to adjust to remote work, etc. In that period, you may have had to form new habits and if you’re like me also re-train yourself to have discipline for things like self-care, working out
7 Exercises To Turn Negative Situations into Positive Opportunities
Whether you are an optimist or not, there is no denying that having a positive perspective in life can help you overcome difficult times. Within the workplace, this is more true than ever in this moment. While in some countries we seem to be turning a corner with COVID-19, in many others it's still going
On How to Counteract Second-Hand Stress
When you were a kid, did you ever play a game of daring each other not to yawn or laugh when the other person was doing so? The whole premise of that fun little game is about how our brains are hardwired to pick up on other people's emotions. This is not just true of