Perceptual maps & change. We perceive only the sensations we are programmed to receive, and our awareness is further restricted by the fact that we recognize only those for which we have mental maps or categories. ~ The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander & Ben Zander Our perception of reality is dependent on the
With no fuel. You may have the best car in the world, but if doesn't have fuel (or charge), it won't be of much use. Our body and brain need fuel to show up as our best self. And if we are running now, it's worth parking
Choosing the game. “We often spend more time figuring out how to win the game we’re in instead of choosing which game to play in the first place.” ~ Seth Godin, This Is Strategy There are games that we play because of proximity. Because we engage with the people that are around us,
Minimum effective mindset. By design, a spaceship doesn't have a single thing in it that doesn't absolutely need to be there. Each and every microgram is accounted for. That's what it takes to get it to orbit. What about your project? What do you need to get
When the water goes up... An excerpt from Finding Your Own North Star, Martha Beck (highly recommended book): There’s an old Taoist story about a group of Confucian intellectuals who, while strolling past a huge waterfall, glimpse a human body in the churning, roaring froth. Horrified, they gather by the banks, trying to figure
Start with identity. When we are seeking to change ourselves, it helps to start with the identity part -the story and narrative that we tell ourselves about ourselves. As we notice the differences between our current and desired identity, we can make choices that lead towards where we seek to go. And the
Making space for fear. You can fight fear, you can go on a war with it, you might win. But going on a war with yourself is rarely a healthy option. Instead, you can choose to make space for fear, to learn to dance with it, to allow it to be. Listen to it
If you had to start over... If you had to start over, what would you start with? Which people, skills, resources, stories would you choose? Which ones would you not pick? Every day gives us a chance to start over. What are you willing to let go of?
Elegance is underrated. Here's a movie you'll never see: The hero plans & figures out potential problems, puts up systems that eliminate them or handle them effortlessly and achieves what she seeks to achieve without hustle. Yes, it might not make for a good movie (the genre is called
What will you do with more? If you had more money, what would you do with it? What about more time? And energy? How can you create the conditions for more in your life? One hint is to identify the people, tasks, things, events that might be draining these resources. Which ones can you let go?
3 books that will change you. There are books that tell you what you already (mostly) know and there are books that change you in ways you couldn't possibly have imagined. Here are three that will change the we you see yourself and the world. 1. Finding your North star by Martha Beck 2.
What do you need? Our body constantly signals to us what it needs. We can get used to ignoring those signals and continuing as is. But we become much more effective when we start listening to them. What is it that you need? Is it more sleep, more water, some food, a time outside
A Universe of Possibility. The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Ben Zander: Let us suppose, now, that a universe of possibility stretches beyond the world of measurement to include all worlds: infinite, generative, and abundant. Unimpeded on a daily basis by the concern for survival, free from the generalized assumption of
Is it a skill? There are few things that matter that require you to be talented. Almost everything that can make our life better is a skill. And if it's a skill, we can get better at it. We can find someone who is better than us and learn from them. They
Letting go of success. The concept of success makes us play a binary game. You can either succeed or fail. You can either win or lose. Sometimes, that framework is helpful. It helps us be efficient and effective. It helps us set goals and be diligent in pursuing them. But, it can also create
Making someone's day better. We all have the ability to make someone's day better, if we choose to. It might simply mean smiling and saying hi, or it could be about giving someone a hug, or sitting and listening to them. It could mean organising something and inviting them to be a
Have to and can't. "I have to" and "I can't" create helplessness. They close doors to possibility. "I choose to" gives us agency. The words we use can help us reframe the stories we tell ourselves.
Dead end traps. When you hit a dead end on the road, you have no choice but to turn around and find another way. Dead end jobs and relationships are different. They are like infinite loops. You keep going and nothing changes. Things neither get much better, nor much worse. These are scary
Glass half full. The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Ben Zander: Often, the person in the group who articulates the possible is dismissed as a dreamer or as a Pollyanna persisting in a simplistic “glass half-full” kind of optimism. The naysayers pride themselves on their supposed realism. However, it is
Now or later? We mostly choose later because we don’t want to face uncertainty. We think we are afraid of the no, the rejection, but if that was the case, why would we make it certain by not asking. What we are afraid of is the uncertainty and the change, the letting
3 ways to show up. We can show up in 3 ways as an independent professional: as a freelancer, a creative, and an entrepreneur. The Freelancer: A freelancer gets paid when they show up, when they do the work. They have to be there give the talk, to sing, to act, to design, to write.
Getting the right framing. Decision making depends on the frame with which we are looking. Are we looking to cap the short term loss or recuperate the sunk cost? Are we worried about what someone else would think of our choice? Or are we aligning with where we seek to go? And how this
Q&A with Seth Godin... ...on being an impresario. Join us at purple.space and work on moving your project forward. See you there.
Letting go of perfect. No action can be perfect. The only thing it can be is done. And when it's done, others can engage with it and dance with it. Perfect is a way to hide, from our best self and, from making the impact we can make. When we focus on
Elegant forward motion. It's not the forward motion that's hard, it's navigating the resistance to it. We only get burned out when we are fighting the forward motion. Instead, we can learn to dance with the fear and move forward elegantly.
