Archives for 2023

My high school drama class sat on the floor in a circle. Our teacher picked up an imaginary box and asked us to pass it round, look inside, and describe what we see.

We were given explicit instructions not to prepare; to respond in the moment and refrain from overthinking.

Despite feeling nervous, our class was repeatedly reminded to trust that “there’s always something in the box”.

Sure enough, our subconscious and creative minds delivered when we let go and let them do their thing.

This idea was reinforced years later when I read Patricia Ryan Madsen’s ‘Improv Wisdom’. Which is a beautiful book about how the principles of improvised theatre can be used in our day-to-day lives.

Trusting that “there’s always something in the box” comes in handy all the time: at work, at home, and whenever I sit down to write a post.

There are games that matter, and games that don’t. The ones that matter are few. The ones that don’t are many.

I’m instinctively competitive, so the above doesn’t come naturally to me.

I want to win. All the time.

Today I played my first round of golf in almost 10 years. On the first few holes, I felt the competitiveness bubble up, along with the frustration of being a terrible hit.

It wasn’t until the fourth or fifth hole that I realised getting overly competitive was futile. This “game” didn’t matter.

Ironically, the less I tried and the less I cared, the more I relaxed I became, and my shots slowly started to improve.

I chuckled to myself as I reflected on my lessons for the day: (1) to only care about the few games that really matter, and (2) the inverse relationship between trying too hard and successful outcomes—a calm, poised, confident, and relaxed approach often carry us to better results.

The first draft can always fit on a single piece of A4 paper.

The answer to any problem. The structure for any story. The plan for any journey.

The constraint of an A4 sheet forces us to get clear on what matters most.

When the task seems big, pull out a single piece of A4. No more, no less, trust yourself, and see what happens.

When it comes to driving, it’s easy to check our blind spots. There is a simple set of rules follow, it’s easy to do, and the consequences of not checking can be disastrous. It’s a no-brainer to do the check.

There are blind spots elsewhere though, and those can be hard to identify. They span across our personal and professional lives, and can cover fields as diverse as planning, finances, creativity, communication, collaboration, as well as our social, physical, psychological and spiritual health.

When the tasks are more complicated than changing lanes, the blind spot habit is hard to develop. That doesn’t make it any less important.

Happy New Year, Folks! I started writing daily posts in 2019; it now feels surreal to be writing my first post for 2023. It’s wonderful to be on this journey with you all.

As I was reflecting on 2022 and looking ahead to 2023, I began to think about the arc of a year.

There will be moments of stress, followed by periods of rest and recuperation. There will be times of work and toil, and in the backdrop there’ll be cold and rain and heat and sleet. There will be moments filled with energy and hope, and others where our minds are clouded and grey. There will be progress and stagnation. There will be boredom and exhilaration. There will be pain. And there will be growth.

Anticipating the arc of the year ahead—when each type of moment is likely to appear—can help us better prepare for the ups and the downs.