Thoughts

You’ve probably done an exercise where you choose your word for the year. It’s a really helpful way to bring focus to your reflections and intentions.   Here’s a twist on that.   A couple of days ago, I ran my final leadership team workshop for the year. We kicked it off with each team […]

Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing. Miles Davis   Last week I posted a poll on LinkedIn asking the question ‘Leading into the end of the year, how full is your tank?’ As of the time of writing, here are the preliminary results:       That’s two-thirds of people either getting […]

‘Crazy-busy’ is a great armour, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us. Brene Brown   Why don’t we feel […]

Everything will work again if you unplug it and plug it in again, including you. Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird           Space.   I reckon it’s all too rare a thing for many of us these days. When I ask people ‘what are you most looking forward to over […]

When you think of being unhurried, what comes to mind? Being cruisy and unstressed? Taking each day as it comes? That’s one way of thinking about it.   I’ve come to believe that ‘unhurried’ can be defined by something more nuanced than simply being cruisy. In fact, I reckon it’s somewhat of a paradox.   […]

  Back in my mid-20’s, I was on an 11-day Outward Bound course at the top end of New Zealand’s South Island. A few days into it, our group of 12 strangers found ourselves tasked with a two-day cross-country navigation exercise through some pretty rugged terrain.   After lunch on the first day, with us […]

  Imagine two versions of a boss. One is busy all day, bordering on frantic, moving at speed from one thing to the next. With seemingly no time to stop, they’re hard to pin down. When you do get to talk, it’s a quick transaction. No time for in-depth conversation.   The other is different. […]

  I’ve just spent a week snowboarding in New Zealand’s South Island. My 15-year-old son and I attempted to do seven different ski fields in seven days. We gave it a good nudge and we ended up doing six fields over the week. We only missed one because it was closed due to high winds! […]

Last weekend, the forecast for wind and waves was goooood. So I’d packed the car with all the toys, and, keen to get on the water, started driving to my favourite spot. On the way, I ended up behind a slow-moving car. It had a sticker on the back: ‘Please Be Patient. Learner Driver.’   […]

  We all need an unhurried project.   Right now, one of my unhurried projects is making a guitar as a gift for my son’s 21st birthday. I can’t rush it. It takes patience and focus. When I’m working on it, I’m completely immersed. Time dissolves. I breathe out. And I get immense satisfaction from […]