Firstly no, this isn't my suggestion for the name of a 70's jazz/funk band. Although now I come to think about it... I digress. At the start of the last lockdown, the Government laid out a provisional timetable for easing all of the COVID lockdown conditions. The big date among them all was 21st June … Continue reading Freedom day, workload and the Stockdale paradox

Momentum is not really my friend. I'm definitely a starter rather than a finisher and something of a serial starter at that. Take this blog for instance. Several years ago when I kicked it off, I was full of high hopes for regular posting, but that soon fades. I started a podcast last year, initially … Continue reading Momentum

Is there a need for a slower approach to social media? I'm starting to think so. I've had a love hate relationship with social media for years now. I love the way that it allows me to connect with people and share stories and information. To have, dare I say it, a social life during … Continue reading A slower social media?

Something that I really enjoy from time to time is fishing. Most often when I'm on holiday to be honest, I'm not a fisherman who spends every weekend on the riverbank. But I find that setting up for a few hours and wondering what I -might catch is both (weirdly) peaceful and exciting. I was … Continue reading Fishing

How's your day looking? Packed calendar? Back to back meetings? Trying to keep abreast of Teams, Slack, Whatsapp, email and have normal conversations with actual people? Yep, I've had plenty of days like that too. I wrote something recently about the need to take time over each weekend to pause and renew ourselves for the … Continue reading Pause

I really enjoyed thinking about and working on my recent post on habits. I spent a little bit of time jazzing them up further and compiled the whole thing into a PDF over on LinkedIn. It's free to download from there so please help yourselves: CLICK THIS LINK

It's been a weird few months hasn't it? Globally and nationally, obviously, but for many of us personally too. Certainly has for me. On March 16th I went into my employer's office in Birmingham, little suspecting that it would be the last time I ever did. The following day, all who could were working from … Continue reading The times they are a-changin’

Do you have goals? Things you want to achieve one day? I do. I have measurable goals mapped out in all areas of my life for the next 15 years. These are then worked back in greater and greater levels of granularity to goals in 5 years, 1 year, 6 months, 1 month, 1 week, … Continue reading 6 simple ways to develop new habits

Something I've known for a very long time is that I need to spend more time being still. Time doing nothing but pausing to think. There are plenty of great examples (not least among which Stefan Sagmeister's superb TED talk) of the times when we're able to stop and think becoming launchpads for the successful … Continue reading Movement as meditation

One of my favourite books is James Cracknell and Ben Fogle's "The Crossing".  It tells the story of the authors' attempt at the Atlantic Rowing Race in which, inexperienced and unprepared, they rowed almost 3,000 miles from the Canary Isles to the West Indies.  It's incredible and inspiring stuff. The overwhelming feelings I took from … Continue reading The open ocean