Issue #96

Cadence - Life & Work in Motion

“The path to meaningful productivity isn’t about filling every minute of your calendar.

It’s about creating the time and space for traction - making progress on what matters most to you.”

~ Jenny Wood

Hi Reader

Crazy world stuff aside, with public holidays slowing the work rhythm and plenty of sunshine to enjoy, my second quarter so far is running at a far more pleasant and manageable cadence than the first.

Hope you've had moments to catch your breath, too?

I’m now preparing for a faster-paced May, but before we get there, I have exciting news.

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been accepted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA). Their mission is focused on social impact, innovation, and regenerative practice, which aligns well with my own work. So if you spot “FRSA” next to my name, now you know why!

This past month I also did a Vedic Meditation course with the Shakti Sisters and I'm now meditating for 20 mins twice a day, with interesting results! I mention more about this on Season 13 of the pod - info below.

My mind has also been on ways to maintain some space despite the speed that May brings, so this month's 3-2-1 is about ways we can be more sustainable and intentional in our thoughts, words and actions.

Let's go!

Three Resources

1 - The mindset for navigating a VUCA world

To future-proof our businesses and lives, we need resilient, sustainability-rooted thinking. Isabel Rimanoczy’s 12 principles can guide how we think, speak, and act for lasting impact.

(You might be doing some of these already without realising it)

Sustainability mindset explained (Inspiration Space - h/t Lucy Hawthorne)

2 - More time + more focus

Interruptions, people pleasing, and saying yes too often chip away at our focus because they take time. Jenny Wood shares simple strategies for protecting your time without burning bridges.

How to protect your focus (Nir and Far)

3 - What to do when life gets hard

Chronic stress shrinks our capacity to cope, but small daily habits can help expand our window of stress tolerance, especially practices that help us reconnect with “self” and our sense of meaning.

Daily habits to reduce stress (Stanford Lifestyle Medicine)

Two Thoughts

1 - Improve vs Prove

No matter how experienced we are, there’s always more to learn. What if we stopped trying to continually prove ourselves and focused instead on improving ourselves?

Adopting a beginner’s mindset (being open, curious, adaptable) is essential to staying growth-minded, especially as we age. This inspiration is from Chip Conley’s thoughts on seeing midlife as a chrysalis, not a crisis.

2 - Are you using AI, or is it using you?

Intentional practice builds mastery. When we outsource our skills too much to tech, we may gain back time, but we potentially lose our abilities and we devalue those skills.

If everything becomes easy, we feel less inclined to do them, and there’s a danger of losing our creative abilities in the process. Let’s use AI as a tool, not a crutch.

Thanks to Brad Stulberg for the provocation.

One Action

A willingness to "try"

The label “imposter syndrome” suggests something’s wrong with us. But this feeling is normal (and more a phenomenon than syndrome).

Feeling imposterish often stems from a gap between what we think we can do and what we actually can. ‌

So, overcoming it boils down to building competence + confidence.

Competence comes from developing the skills - learning training and practice. But confidence starts with willingness.

Research shows confidence is less about bravado, more about being willing to try. And you don’t even need to succeed, you just need to make the attempt.

Every time you start, you build the confidence to do it again.

Something to keep in mind when doing hard things. :)