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So I thought I\u2019d focus this week\u2019s newsletter on our inner motivation, and some quick practical tips around our personal evolution and habits. Some really interesting, informative, and inspiring resources in here this week. (And yes, that alliteration was on purpose!\u00a0\ud83d\ude04 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FAILING FOR SUCCESS…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A few readers have recommended Elizabeth Day\u2019s podcast \u201cHow to Fail<\/a>\u201d recently and it is such a wonderful discovery! The theme of the podcast is that failures are what teach us how to succeed. Day interviews someone each week on their top 3 failures, and what they learned through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My favourite episode was the\u00a0interview with Bren\u00e9 Brown<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Brown is open about being less than perfect (which makes her really relatable!) and the interview is a frank and open discussion around boundaries, how failure sets us up for success, and evolving our knowledge of ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n KNOWING WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The #1 book on my To-Be-Read pile for this year is Adam Grant\u2019s\u00a0Think Again<\/a>. The tagline \u201cThe Power of Knowing What You Don\u2019t Know\u201d really speaks to me. I\u2019ve always been a big believer in the more you know, the more you know you don\u2019t know!\u00a0\ud83d\ude04\u00a0And of course it will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I love learning new things! DIVIDED ATTENTION…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I get asked a lot how I find the time to read as much as I do. The simple answer is: I\u2019m a fast reader, and I don\u2019t watch TV. The reason I don\u2019t watch TV isn\u2019t because I don\u2019t enjoy it, but rather because it rarely captures my full attention. I spend the majority of my day in front of a screen, and I find that draining. If I watch TV in the evenings, I find myself scrolling on my phone at the same time. After a day of working in front of a medium-sized screen, I am not recharged by sitting in front of a large screen, looking at a little screen!\u00a0 TIME MANAGEMENT…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the comments I hear often from my executive coaching clients is that having coaching allows them to actually book time in their calendar to\u00a0think.\u00a0<\/strong>Their schedules are packed with back-to-back meetings and they are lucky to get a few minutes to grab a coffee! It\u2019s virtually impossible to find the time to think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT I’M READING…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Given how busy I\u2019ve been lately, I confess I haven\u2019t been monotasking with deep literature!! I\u2019m reading the equivalent of brain candy. Not that there\u2019s anything wrong with that!\u00a0\ud83d\ude09\u00a0While I may not be reading literature, I do very much enjoy a good story that\u2019s well-told! And\u00a0The Flatshare<\/a>\u00a0by Beth O\u2019Leary was so lovely. Sure, you know from page 1 that the two main characters are going to end up together. But the story is sweet and funny and endearing and even a bit deep in parts. I really loved it and was sad when the book ended \u2013 too soon for my liking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT I’M LISTENING TO…<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The thing I find so compelling about true crime podcasts is the motivation behind the criminal. What is going through their mind? Do they know what harm they are causing? Do they enjoy that? Or do they ignore it? The human psyche and thought process is so fascinating to me!! The narrator was brilliant and the research was impeccable. A fascinating listen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/How-to-Fail.jpg\")
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Another new podcast recommendation [thank you, readers, for all your amazing suggestions! Keep \u2019em coming!!] was Maya Shankar\u2019s\u00a0A Slight Change of Plans<\/a>. Articulate, erudite, and a lyrical conversationalist, Shankar has a fascinating interview with Adam Grant in\u00a0this episode<\/a>.
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One thing Grant said that really struck me was \u201cyou should define your identity in terms of your values, not your opinions.<\/em>\u201d I work a lot with my coaching clients around identifying core values and what that means for work\/life balance, and for setting boundaries. Our values are such a cornerstone of our identity, and one we don\u2019t often spend much time actively thinking about. Definitely something to ponder.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/2-BOOKS-for-Mailchimp-35-1024x576.png\")
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The beauty of a book is that it is nearly impossible to multitask while reading. (Unless you are my friend Susy who can walk her dog and read a book at the same time, an amazing feat!!) But most of us can only read. And I find that mono-tasking is really restorative. Concentrating on only one thing, the feel of turning the pages, the calm that settles over me while reading, it really replenishes my energy. And as my family will tell you, when I\u2019m reading, I am not present in the real world!\u00a0\ud83d\ude09
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Divided attention is, rather unsurprisingly, neither productive nor healthy. Johann Hari, a writer and journalist, has written a book on this topic called\u00a0Stolen Focus<\/a>. About how our need to multitask in fact slows us down, and how switching from task to task is obliterating our ability to concentrate. In fact, it takes 25 minutes to regain focus after being interrupted. But a study of university students showed that the average length of focus is only\u00a03<\/strong>\u00a0minutes. So if you are only focusing for 3 minutes, but it takes you 25 minutes to regain focus\u2026 well that math just doesn\u2019t add up! I really enjoyed this\u00a0podcast interview<\/a>\u00a0with Hari on the topic of attention and focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/2-BOOKS-for-Mailchimp-35-1-1024x576.png\")
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And yet strategy is all about thinking. Marketing is about creativity. Growth is about learning new things, having new ideas, and expanding on where we are currently. And those all require thinking. Which in turn requires time.\u00a0
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So how do you manage to get thinking time into your schedule?? Proactively planning it, and blocking time in your calendar, is one step. We all have different parameters for planning our calendars, but as I said to one of my clients last week: \u201cif your email is functioning as your to-do list, doesn\u2019t that mean you are letting others decide your priorities?\u201d. The same holds true for your calendar.\u00a0
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Which is why I enjoyed\u00a0this podcast<\/a>\u00a0about setting boundaries in one\u2019s calendar. What are your goals and priorities for your time? And how do you go about making that happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jnhcoaching.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Power-Presence-Position.jpg\")
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Bad Blood: The Final Chapter<\/a> is the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, and the incredible rise and fall of her company. To be honest, I had only vaguely heard of the company. I knew there was some sort of scandal or court case but that was really the extent of my \u201cknowledge\u201d. Listening to this podcast was a completely fascinating deep dive into the actions and motivations of someone who was a master of charisma, persuasion, and deception. Given that many of my clients are in the healthcare sector, the story of a company selling a story of easy blood tests was also really interesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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