Nicholas Bate

Be Your Own Coach

Coach: So, what's stopping you?

Client: Lack of time.

Coach: How much time do you need?

Client: Not much.

Coach: So how much? To get a first pass start-up plan within two weeks, say?

Client: About 30 minutes per evening.

Coach: And how much TV do you watch?

Client: Oh-don't start that. I have a stressful day. I need to relax. That approach is about as helpful as saying I can save money by changing my venti to a short latte. Where's the fun in that?

Coach: Sure. So how much TV do you watch?

Client: I pay you to help. Not to remind me how lazy I am.

Coach: I didn’t say you were lazy. I'm really keen to learn how much TV you watch per night.

Client: About an hour.

Coach: Just an hour?

Client: Why would I lie to you?

Coach: Just an hour?

Client: Ok: say 2/3 hours per night.

Coach: So you could use 30 minutes of that for planning your start-up.

Client: I could, but it won't be easy.

Coach: Nobody said anything about 'easy'. Could you do 30 mins/evening?

Client: I could.

Coach: Will you?

Client: Sure.

Coach: Is that 'sure' just to shut me up or 'sure, yes bring it on'?

Client: I'm going to do it.

Coach: Cool. I think we are making progress.

Coach: So, what's stopping you?

Client: Lack of time.

Coach: How much time do you need?

Client: Not much.

Coach: So how much? To get a first pass start-up plan within two weeks, say?

Client: About 30 minutes per evening.

Coach: And how much TV do you watch?

Client: Oh-don't start that. I have a stressful day. I need to relax. That approach is about as helpful as saying I can save money by changing my venti to a short latte. Where's the fun in that?

Coach: Sure. So how much TV do you watch?

Client: I pay you to help. Not to remind me how lazy I am.

Coach: I didn’t say you were lazy. I'm really keen to learn how much TV you watch per night.

Client: About an hour.

Coach: Just an hour?

Client: Why would I lie to you?

Coach: Just an hour?

Client: Ok: say 2/3 hours per night.

Coach: So you could use 30 minutes of that for planning your start-up.

Client: I could, but it won't be easy.

Coach: Nobody said anything about 'easy'. Could you do 30 mins/evening?

Client: I could.

Coach: Will you?

Client: Sure.

Coach: Is that 'sure' just to shut me up or 'sure, yes bring it on'?

Client: I'm going to do it.

Coach: Cool. I think we are making progress.

Be Bold 101

• the list
• the poster (HUGE thanks to Kurt Harden & team)
• the movie

Let Go Thursday, 24

1. It’s time to simplify.
2. Let go of some stuff.
3. Reduce the entropy.
4. Because it’s slowing you down,
5. causing friction, lag and a feeling of wading through molasses:
6. reducing your KPIs of unstoppable brilliance unnecessarily.
7. The junk on your desk-top (real and virtual) could go.
8. Certainly excess corn syrup.
9. The desk lamp which doesn’t cast enough light for your early morning writing.
10. Clearly.
11. But it’s worth digging deeper.
12. Those 4am anxieties: those need to go: create a plan.
13. That tiredness: start meditating, walking and swimming.
14. That dulled feeling: start the search for a passion not just a job.
15. And even deeper.
16. Turgid business plans which are never going to happen.
17. And deeper.
18. How radical could you get?
19. A mini-sabbatical to think, write and be?
20. Could be tricky. Sure. But could be possible. Could be.
21. Whatever: it’s time to simplify.
22. Let go of some stuff.
23. Re-invent.
24. Maintain that ultimate quest: the best version of you.

Bonus: You, Only Better, the book. 

On Writing 31

You’ll have good days and bad days. 

But even the bad days can produce great work.

Just write.

Meet Molly: story, fable and great read.

Tuesday Edgy

Keep exploring those ideas at the edge of your consciousness, at the periphery of your vision and at the doubts of your thinking. Stay edgy. There's gold in them there cognitions somewhere. Don't get too mainstream: wear a tie when everybody else doesn't. Be on time even though it's not 'the norm' at your place. Stay edgy: when others say that 'they never know what you're thinking' that's no bad thing. Interfaces are where interesting things occur: always have, always will: great battles, chemical reactions, Lennon stretching McCartney lyrics and vice versa and insects walking on water. The perfect crema on the perfect doppio in the fashion quarter, Milano. Be a leader, be an explorer, be an outlier: stay edgy. Seek those junctions of energy of youth and wisdom of age, power of plyometrics and oomph of CV, expression of writing and inspiration of reading. Stay edgy: it's not so crowded, there's more air to breathe and it's a whole lot more fun. There's a lot more happening at the edges of the business, in the far-flung subsidiaries compared to the mother ship where the greatest delight is finding an empty meeting room. Edgy is a way of life, a philosophy, a methodology. It ain't comfortable, but who wants that? Who really wants to stop growing? Find the place where minds, atoms and weather systems collide: get involved in the blast and the after-glow.

Stay edgy.

Always Helpful, 113

 Everybody is on a hero’s journey; it’s just some make more noise about it.

David Seah’s Dossier

Of spacecraft drawings. 

How Not to Mess It Up

By Michael Wade.

Monday Catch-up, 35

1. 25 Mini Standards.
2. The Writing Primer.
3. Meet Molly is now out. A love story. A parable. A good read. ”This book is a must read. To be savoured.” And the sequel just out. Molly and Ben have settled into their island haven and are busy making friends and building a business. Their little coffee shop has become a local hub and Molly is a sought after source of help and advice for other business owners. But there are darker forces at work on peaceful Kasta, and soon Molly will need to call on all her resources to counter the threats the community faces.
   This sequel to ‘Meet Molly’ is an equally delightful read; romance and adventure and a cast of quirky characters in an idyllic setting. It is a story about love, friendship and community - a book to curl up with and forget everything else for a while.
4. How to Start your Very Own Business.
5. Instant Productivity.
6. Seven choices.
7. 22 Essentials.
8. How to Create your Home Office.
9. plus The Start Up Myths
10. Stay STRONG
11. Crazy Bold Experiments
12. Just say NO to PPT
13. The Marketing Primer.
14. You, Only Better, the book. 
15. Redundancy
16. Hunter-Gatherer 21C
17. Tackling Stress.
18. Manage that career
19. Be Bold 101
20. You still haven’t read Being The Best?! 
21. Things They Don’t Teach at Business School
22. the secrets of success
23. Life Tips 101
24. Zen & Art of Cubicle Freedom
25. Carnage At Kodak
26. The Very Best Drugs You Need
27. Billions of Light Years Away In Another Galaxy
28. 22 Routes To Your Non Fiction Book
29. Lists For The Life You Love
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
35. The Basic Basics.

Need A Fresh Angle? Sunday Seven

1. Text a friend you trust.
2. Take a walk, alone.
3. Ask: if I had to make a decision and it were simple, what would I do?
4. Dip into a random book, at random.
5. Write it out at speed, then leave it 24h.
6. Think of a hero/heroine of yours and ask: how would they tackle it?
7. Google/Bing it, shuffling a few times the chosen search phrase.