Nicholas Bate

Back to School/Work: The Manifesto, 22

1. Nobody is going to spoil my day.
2. I got a place on Planet Earth, consistently voted the greatest planet in the known universe.
3. I am not my security badge that I 'have to wear' every day.
4. I love walking and hence I walk everywhere. 
5. I choose. 
6. It doesn't matter about the qualifications I do not have. Am I maximising the ones I do have?
7. There are only so many digital interrupts I can take in one day before my brain is in IQ free-fall. Which ones will they be?
8. I no longer need sugar to be happy.
9. My default mood will be resourceful, 'can-do' and optimistic. If it is not, I know I need nature and/or sleep and/or careful nutrition and/or dance and/or music.
10. I am reducing the number of screens and the amount of screen time in my life.
11. I am there for sun-rise and/or sun-set several times a week.
12. In a world of uncertainty, I manage myself. I have clear goals and plans. Of course they will change but they give direction.
13. There is no failure, only feedback.
14. I start, therefore I will be.
15. I finish, therefore I am.
16. I answer all mails promptly because I have fewer mails by (1) having real conversations (2) not CCing 'the world'. Tips.
17. My heart and gut are often more accurate than the spreadsheet I am trying to engineer.
18. I realise that art is not just in galleries.
19. I relish a new book list.
20. I have stumbled across the fact that writing is not simply about assembling words. It is about a moment captured, articulated and stretched.
21. I know that of all the super-powers, courtesy consistently surprises and cannot be beaten.
22. I play frisbee and yet do not need to worry about geometry, physics nor a tactical plan. Some unconscious processing handles it all; how cool is that? And where else might I develop that state of being?

Follow-up with Meet Molly, the novel. A parable.

How To Be Free, 10

(1) know what freedom is for you and for the love of your life: have that discussion otherwise it's often a mutually misunderstood assumption (2) that's the first key to freedom (3) then decide to get really, really good at something; then you can charge for value rather than time (4) that means you gain time which is the second key to freedom (5) and the third key to freedom is understanding that when you get exceptionally good at something you tend to really enjoy doing it so work isn't-well-really work anymore (6) the fourth key to freedom is realising you do not need that much stuff after all, despite it seeming to be the basis of a global conspiracy; still you do not need to be a part of such a socially induced trance (5) we need a bit of stuff to be happy (6) but too much stuff makes us unhappy because we can lose it and thus become miserable and/or we have to work harder and harder to both look after it and get more fresh stuff (7) so key four is to chase quality of life rather than standard of living (8) key five to freedom is to realise that most-if not all-of what we want, is available to us now if we simply slow down and notice it. (9) Key five is thus don't defer good times. Don't think when. Nor one day. Think now. Build them in now: breaks, walks, conversation, home cooking, reading to the children, learning Hindi, reading those classics, writing that book,  charity work, learning how to knit (10) key six is to note that people become free every day in an instant when they wake up and realise that the thing for the majority of us in this part of the world is that freedom is a decision not a goal, qualification nor purchase. A decision. And that's pretty damn cool. Thus key seven: make that decision. In this instant.

Ten Soundtracks for

A Monday.

Always Helpful, 49

Considerable effort achieves more than considerable results.

 

Relax before back to work.

A Tale of Love, Intrigue and Downright Dastardliness

A love story, a parable, an adventure. A good read.

“Absolutely loved this book, a great story and apt for today and an inspiration.”

”Great characters. A page turner”

”I was quickly drawn into Molly's story and found myself caring what happened to her.”

“I enjoyed this book so much ... such a great story taking place in current times and this is so accurately described that reader gets immersed totally.”

”This book is a must read. To be savoured

Sunday Melange 34

1. The Writing Primer.
2. Meet Molly is now out. A love story. A parable. A good read. ”This book is a must read. To be savoured.”
3. How to Start your Very Own Business.
4. 22 Essentials.
5. How to Create your Covid-19 Home Office.
6. plus The Start Up Myths
7. Stay STRONG
8. Crazy Bold Experiments
9. Just say NO to PPT
10. Post Covid Business Essentials.
11. The Marketing Primer.
12. Redundancy
13. Covid-19, 101
14. Hunter-Gatherer 21C
15. Tackling Stress.
16. Manage that career
17. Be Bold 101
18. You still haven’t read Being The Best?! 
19. Things They Don’t Teach at Business School
20. the secrets of success
21. Life Tips 101
22. Zen & Art of Cubicle Freedom
23. Be Bold 101
24. Carnage At Kodak
25. The Very Best Drugs You Need
26. Billions of Light Years Away In Another Galaxy
27. 22 Routes To Your Non Fiction Book
28. Lists For The Life You Love
29. Her Notes To Herself
30. How To Lessen E-Mail Pain
31. Professionalism 101
32. 21 Ways to Improve your Zoom Conference Call.
33. Productivity Primer
34. 101, redux.

Always Helpful, 48

Making a few changes to daily patterns. 

Back to School 5 of 5

Try new stuff.

It’s good for the brain, it’s good for the body and it’s good for health.

School never stops it just gets a new label.

Back to School 4 of 5

Don’t cheat on the reading list.

Have a stack and read-and take notes-on them all.

The list? The classics: school only did Hard Times, Julius Caesar and a bit of Ulysses.

There are many, many more out there to impart timeless wisdom.

How About This

All the tools Jeroen Sanger uses.