⛰️ May; into the wilderness and three books I can't stop recommending
Including a pretty cool bonus from Michael Bungay Stanier 👀
If you caught my last newsletter, you’ll have seen that I’m in the midst of a bit of a reset. As part of this reset, over the last couple of weeks I’ve managed to squeeze a couple of weekend jaunts into the wild.
There’s something about spending a few days with good company, lots of walking, not much phone reception, and plenty of rolling views, that helps organise all the space junk that mostly floats around your brain causing a nuisance.
The other thing I’ve been doing is thinking more about how, and where I spend my time. For example, I know that if I’m working from home on my own all day, I absolutely need to have something social planned in the evening. I have a new-ish ritual of a regular neighbour dinner on Monday nights. I have regular calls in the diary with a friend in the UK and another in the US. I know that if I have a really fun evening with friends, I also need to be around people the next day to avoid the whiplash of going from high connection time to solo time. I know that if I’ve got a meeting-less day where I need to churn through some work, it’s often a good idea for me to go and co-work alongside other people.
I thought this type of ‘schedule strategy’ was pretty common, but from a couple of conversations with friends lately, it seems that it isn’t.
Despite always been a very organised human, it’s still been useful to do an audit of my life scheduling recently. I realised I’d got into a few bad habits, wasn’t feeling as good about some of the ways my weeks were happening, and was feeling the effects of both too much and not enough.
But after a few adjustments, I love looking at my calendar for the week and having a sense of satisfaction that all the things in there are there on purpose, and all have a compounding effect of making the other things better, and/or more effective. Of course, not everything is perfect; things suddenly change or sometimes you need to make some sacrifices… I’ll still go to the gig of a great band even if I have a 6am call with the US the next morning, but I might make sure I build in time for a nap too.
In other news, I’ve noticed that the same three books keep coming up in conversation this year. Well, more that people keep telling me they’re working on or facing particular challenges, so I keep recommending these three books. Keep reading to see what they are (this list is very timely as there’s a very special bonus available with one of them if you add it to your bookshelf this week 👀).
To blasting space junk,
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon, this newsletter is 'free but not cheap'. You can support their ongoing creation and keep me in books by buying me a coffee as a 'thank you', recommending it to a friend, or using one of the affiliate links in the email.
The it list 🔥
Here’s a few other things I’ve been obsessing over, enjoying, or doing recently…
Podcast - All Songs Considered by NPR: This podcast was religious listening for me in 2020, but because it’s not on Spotify (whyyyyy??? 😫), I basically stopped listening to it. However, in need of a dose of new music inspiration recently, I dusted off my Apple Podcast app, and tuned in. It was well worth it. A weekly dose of new music insights and reviews from across the gamut of genres, which has already proved useful for going beyond the algorithm. Apple
Album - All Born Screaming by St Vincent: Anne Clark’s work has always been a bit of a bindspot for me (although I love this collaboration with Bon Iver). So prompted by All Songs Considered reviewing the latest album, I dove right it. And it was worth it. It’s hugely varied; from the haunting to the rocking to the beautiful. I really like Broken Man, Flea, and Big Time Nothing. The first two have Dave Grohl on drums, which once you know, you can’t un-hear, and I am ob-sessed with The Power’s Out. Spotify
Film - Ladybird: I have been working my way through A24 films that I haven’t yet seen, and as part of that I finally got around to watching Ladybird. I loved it. It reminded me of that whole independent art-house-esq films popular in the mid/late 00s (500 Days of Summer, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine etc).
Film - Margin of Error: If you like a financial drama, this is a good watch. It’s not exactly based on a true story, but is inspired by the 2008 GFC and follows the story of a firm realising what might happen to their company, and the whole economy, if their asset portfolio value decline continues. It’s no Big Short or Dumb Money, but definitely an enjoyable watch.
📚 The books I keep recommending 📚
The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
Essential reading for all leaders (and the best selling coaching book this century), MBS’ classic remains incredibly useful and relevant. I still come back to so many of the questions and frameworks myself, and point people to this as a starting point when they’re struggling to connect or have good conversations with their team.
🔔 PSA! 🔔 If this book is missing from your bookshelf, now is a good time to resolve that. MBS is currently running a promotion where if you buy a print copy of The Coaching Habit before Monday 20 May and register here, you’ll be able to join three live teaching and coaching webinars with MBS in June, AND be in the running to get coached by MBS yourself (which is definitely worth more than the price of a book). More details right here.
Imaginable by Jane McGonigal
This book changed my career trajectory. If you really want to be prompted to think about how we might live and work in the future, along with the conversations to have and decisions you can make now, this is an absolute must-read. Provocative, positive, practical.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
I will eat my hat if I haven’t mentioned this book to you at some point. Another pivotal book that will challenge and inspire you to bring people together in a more meaningful way. There seems to be more and more people looking for ways of designing and having meaningful connections with those around them at the moment, so if that sounds like you, don’t go past this book.
Some places I popped up recently 👋🏻
Creative Mornings Melbourne - You can watch the talk here. (Talk is 15 mins, with Q&A it’s around 30 mins).
App - The People Spot: Each month I pop up in the audio tracks of the People Spot app sharing a few interesting signals about the future. These audio clips are included in the free download (iPhone only) and you can use the code STEPHC for an additional two months free access to the full content library in the app.