Effortless Thursdays #7: The power of words, awareness and productivity
BTW it's THE productivity hack you know about (but probably aren’t using)
Words can be violent; a nasty remark can hurt us. They can also bring us together.
When I thought about the name “Effortless Thursdays” for this newsletter, I was thinking about how Thursdays could feel as alive as every other day of the week.
So it really warms my heart when I notice you, my readers, taking action on some insight you gain from the words in this newsletter.
As a lover of learning languages and drawing inspiration from my university friend, Rachel Ip, I try to make my words count.
For those of you who don’t know Rachel, she studied linguistics and shared with me the fascinating ways in which language evolves. I invite you to discover the worlds she creates with her words as an acclaimed children’s book author. She tackles the difficult-to-broach-topics, like war and losing your memory, with beauty and compassion. They are brilliant reads.
So, how do I make my words count?
One of my coaches, Chris Joseph (he’s a superb coach, by the way, in so many ways), reminded me that insights can be great, but if you don’t do anything about them, you’re just in
“a whirlpool, having the same insights again and again, so it's important to manifest them in the outside world”.
This newsletter is how my insights find their place in the world. That is why it has been wonderful for me to hear from many of you who have taken action and applying your outsights. You have been:
Drawing inspiration and sharing with me what you’re focusing on for the year: connection, vitality. (Effortless Thursdays #4: 2023 is the Year of …)
Thinking about how to give yourself permission to let go and asking me how that works in practice when other people around are filled with negativity that feels like it’s aimed at you (Effortless Thursdays #3: Avoiding flare ups around your Yuletide log)
Trying to find balance between running on the high octane energy of a major corporate transaction and the “ordinary” days that seem more of a challenge than finishing the transaction (Effortless Thursdays #6: Do nothing (Yes, really, nothing!))
I love hearing about how my words are making you think, feel or behave in a different way. Thank you for sharing them with me. ❤️
Keep them coming!
What I wrote
This week’s newsletter is slightly different to my previous ones, as this week I wrote a longer article full of practical tips so you can apply your outsights to boost your productivity.
In that article, I talk about:
THE productivity hack you know about, but probably aren’t using;
the 3 mindsets you can count on so that at the end of the day you have done what you need to do, but without the exhaustion in your mind and body;
What The Great Suprendo - my favourite magician as a kid - has to do with productivity. Here’s a taster:
You’ll find that article here.
What I’m creating
I’m in “Build Week” - the week-long run up to the start of my Pioneers Programme: Effortless Leadership for Lawyers.
I’m putting into this programme what I’ve learned from the professionals and entrepreneurs I coach 1-on-1, so that the Pioneers in this programme can:
stop wasting time on learning yet more quick tips that fail to work when it really counts, and
not have to worry about “succeeding” at work at the expense of their health and relationships.”
One General Counsel wrote in with their feedback of the programme so far:
“so far the course looks great - and comms have been very clear!”
Module 1 - gaining clarity about the leader you want to be - begins on 23 January 2023 with a live group session. In the meantime, in Circle, the online home of the Effortless Leadership community that exists outside of the live sessions, I’ve been sharing:
what Effortless Leadership is about
the 3 Pillars of Effortless Leadership
Reclaim the joy for what you do
Unlock your courage to change
Discover your capacity to connect - with yourself, and with others
mindsets for success
It’s early days, and I’m looking forward to what I will learn from delivering this programme for the first time.
That’s it for this week!
As always, I appreciate your feedback on Effortless Thursdays.
If Effortless Thursdays resonated with you, I'd be grateful if you told just one friend to subscribe. They and you can always unsubscribe using the link below.
What did you think of this week’s edition? How can I make it more useful to you? Let me know in the comments, by email, on Twitter or on LinkedIn.
PS: If you’re not already subscribed to Effortless Thursdays, enter your email below to get my latest insights delivered straight to your inbox. One email per week, no spam, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
PPS: If Effortless Thursdays resonated with you, I'd be grateful if you told just one friend to subscribe. They and you can always unsubscribe using the link below.
Thank you for the shout out Eric. Yes, it’s important to honour those insights with outsights (actions), so that they can manifest in the world of form. An insight is only the first step to transformation! It’s great to see the manifestation of your insights in your coaching work with clients in the world. Fantastic… keep serving ❤️.
I resonate with the challenge of "high octane energy of a major corporate transaction and the “ordinary” days" - as my work surrounds delivering corporate presentations, and booking them. Making a high ticket sale of a gig is or delivering a session definitely fits in the high octane category and sometimes I feel at a loss for what to do with myself in between. I've had to learn not to expect that kind of brain chemistry all the time, but it can become addictive and I find myself unconsciously trying to keep it going. Downtime is so critical.