Hello Friends!
I’m back!! 🥳 After several months of focusing on my Professional Certified Coach (PCC) certification (and a summer holiday on Amrum – that’s the header pic), we are back to our regularly scheduled programming! 😊
Taking the PCC certification was fabulous. I learned a lot and it really honed and upskilled my abilities as a coach. It shifted a lot in my coaching practice, and has definitely made me a better coach!
And now it is September – traditionally for me the real “new year” with that back-to-school feeling – and I am ready to dive back into newsletter writing. I missed it! So much of my deep thinking occurs in the process of writing and I believe it is one of the key ways I process and remember information. So here’s hoping that I can resurrect that skill after having had a few months off!
I thought I’d share with you the things that have made an impact on me over the past few months. The books, blogs, and podcasts that have resonated with me.
JOURNALING…
One of the most impactful aspects of my PCC course was the assignment we had to do on journaling. Although I am familiar with the benefits of journaling, somehow I’ve never really gotten into it myself. You’d think it’d be something I would love, wouldn’t you?? I am such a words person! I love to read. I just said a few paragraphs ago that writing helps me think and connect the dots! Why then have I never connected with journaling?
I think most of the reason is that I just didn’t find the right habit pattern for me. Most journaling “gurus” recommend Morning Pages or writing first thing in the morning. And that just doesn’t work for me. It always seemed to trigger me into overdrive and overthinking!
But during the PCC course, one of our assignments was to journal for at least 10 of 14 consecutive days and to write an essay about the experience. We were provided with some prompts in case we didn’t know what to write about, and I decided to “habit stack” this with my well-ingrained habit of writing in a gratitude journal before bed.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that the 11 nights I did journal I slept considerably better than the 3 nights I did not!! There was a marked difference in the quality of my sleep on those 11 nights I unloaded my thoughts, musings, concerns, and ideas into a journal. It was an undeniable result. I’ve continued to journal since then, and continue to recognize that I have better sleep when I journal than when I don’t. In fact, during a highly intense business trip where I was coaching a leadership development programme [this involved 7am start times and 16-hour days], I deliberately journaled those nights, even though I was tired and time was precious, because I knew it would improve my sleep. And it did! I slept better and consequently was a better coach that week than I would have been without the journaling!!
I’d love to hear what your experience is with journaling? Is it something you do regularly?
REFLECTION…
One of my favourite reads of recent months has been Maybe you should talk to someone by Lori Gottlieb. A client recommended it, and I thought I’d give it a try. I was intrigued by the premise: a therapist attends therapy herself and writes about both her experience as a therapy patient, as well as being a therapist and the patients she treats. It’s sort of a fictionalized non-fiction about therapy and the benefits that come from resisting judgement and labels; from reflection and awareness; and how powerful it can be to learn about yourself. I loved it!
I highlighted a lot in the book, but one of my favourite passages was this:
I love this. If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of emotions as data – and learning to recognize the emotions you have as a powerful tool for reflection and change!
Which is why one of my favourite recent podcasts was Adam Grant discussing emotions you’ve felt but never named!! Expanding our emotional vocabulary helps us better understand ourselves and those around us!
STILL MY FAVOURITE PODCAST…
The past months have been very full – wonderfully full, the kind of full I’m incredibly grateful for – and that has meant in some ways limited time for books, podcasts etc.
The one podcast I *never* miss though, is and has been for many years, The Long and the Short of It.
If you haven’t been listening, you must!! It’s always full of fascinating nuggets. Topics that make you think. Each episode is no longer than 18 minutes. It is one of the only podcasts I know that isn’t sponsored, so there are no ads. It is just the two hosts – Jen Waldman, a drama coach in New York, and Pete Shepherd, an executive coach in Australia – musing on topics that have caught their interest. It’s like listening in to the best, most stimulating conversation between your coolest, most intelligent friends. Always always worth the listen!!
WHAT I’M READING…
I went offline for August. Which frankly I loved. Social media is fun and I certainly love the interaction I have with interesting people I would never meet otherwise, but it can also be a bit of a time suck. Especially when mindlessly scrolling.
So having a month of digital detox meant I actually read some books! 6 in fact!! Heaven. Some of them were beach reads (I was at the beach after all! 😉), and some were non-fiction. And there was definitely a stand-out in the bunch: The Wedding People by Alison Espach. It suddenly started showing up everywhere and there was something about it that caught my interest.
It’s the story of a woman, Phoebe, who arrives at a fancy resort in Rhode Island, the only hotel guest who is not there as a guest at Lila’s wedding. Lila and Phoebe meet by chance in the elevator right after Phoebe’s arrival, and this chance meeting changes both of their life trajectories.
The story could have been trite or fluffy or heavy – both women are going through some stuff – but instead Espach navigates the line between reflection and fun with aplomb. I was so invested in what was going to happen to both Phoebe and Lila; how their decisions were affecting themselves but also everyone around them; and it made me think a lot about how societal expectations influence our decisions and perception of happiness and success.
It was a great story and I really enjoyed it.
Did you read anything worth recommending this summer?
[A personal appeal from me: despite the links, please do support your local book store or library if you can!]
I’ve decided to write the newsletter when the urge strikes, so as not to stress myself out with committing to an arbitrary schedule. I am headed to Oslo in two weeks to see Simon Sinek speak at the Oslo Business Forum – I am beyond excited to hear and see one of my coaching heros in person!!! And I can imagine there might be some newsletter-worthy insights on the back of that!!
Hope the fall season has started off well for you! Drop me a line and let me know what you’d like to see included in future newsletters, or what cool books/podcasts/blogs/TED talks you’d recommend!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
P.S. This newsletter was entirely researched, planned, and written by me. No ghost writers and no A.I. As such, all opinions and errors are mine and mine alone.