Nicholas Bate

Too Much

Bad Good Things

Friday Wellness Criticals, 7

1. Movement. Walk every day.
2. Perspective. Escape without screen: book, nature, meditation.
3. The spectrum of nutrition: quality food, deep sleep, clear goals.
4. R&R. Switch off. Regularly.
5. Build strength: physical and mental.
6. Stay curious: return to galleries, museums and the sea-shore.
7. Write a journal: gratitude, thoughts and a sketch or two.

On Writing, 78

We are naturally story-tellers and writing a story down is a fascinating way of defining it further, making it sensory rich and adding a few dramatic pauses. To write is fun. 

Have fun; go write.

Meet Molly: a tale of love, entrepreneurship and the hero’s tale.  Molly and The Isle of Kasta: the sequel. Bram, A Spy Story: it’s 1988:  a story of coming-of-age, Queen and country and the origins of Covid-19. 

The Most Powerful Productivity Tips, 56

Just as an over-stuffed washing machine doesn’t do its job, an over-full day causes its owner to become stressed, fatigued and to lose focus on the true priorities.

The true priorities? Do less and achieve more. 

Kurt Harden

On meetings.

A Great Set of Questions

From the blogger’s blogger, Michael Wade.

Eleven Reasons for Stories

1. Stories will transform your presentation from a list of bullets to something which engages heart and soul.
2. Stories embed values and principles deep in a child's brain. There is far more to Goldilocks and those three bears than porridge.
3. Stories help your customers understand what life will be like once they commit to you.
4. Stories of the right kind (empowering, resourceful and pragmatic) motivate us to do our very best. Homer knew exactly what he was doing.
5. Stories use language not just words; it requires an engaged brain to use a story. And the latter is an increasingly rare commodity on a Zoom/Teams call.
6. To write a story, be it a scenario for a product or one for your children requires you to give 100% attention to the task in hand.
7. Stories require beginnings and middles and ends. 
8. A great story is never forgotten.
9. Stories need sensory rich descriptions.  That requires us to look up and notice life.
10. One well-written story is worth a 1000 e-mails.
11. To be a great story-teller is to be a magician.

Don’t Worry; Be Happy Monday, 7

1. You're on Planet Earth, consistently voted The Greatest Planet in The Known Universe.
2. Sometimes you feel you have none. Sometimes few. Sometimes limited. But you always have choices; fresh air and a walk will reveal the options.
3. You have unreleased potential: physically, mentally and spiritually. 
4. The word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. Carl Jung
5. A plan will save money. An idea will create money.
6. Do not expect fresh, good ideas from politicians. They are too busy media juggling and trying to remove skeletons from cupboards. Power is now with the citizen as it was always meant to be.
7. Reduce screens, interrupts and overload. Subtract. Add. The classics. Free-wheeling conversations.  Fresh play-lists. Hikes in the mountains.

 

Love, espionage and adventure for the weekend.

Meet Molly: a tale of love, entrepreneurship and the hero’s tale. 

Molly and The Isle of Kasta: the sequel.

Bram, A Spy Story: it’s 1988:  a story of coming-of-age, Queen and country and the origins of Covid-19. 

Personal Effectiveness, 7

1. Always have a plan;
2. But understand that the reason for a plan is it allows more flexibility in a world of surprises.
3. Always know your true priorities, work and home. NOT (necessarily) what is most urgent nor most easy.
4. Ensure work is aligned to those priorities.
5. To execute 4, get comfortable with a polite 'no'.
6. Your brain is your greatest asset: look after it. Many current working practices reduce the brain to 'auto-cue'.
7. Your brain is part of your mind/body holistic system. Look after your body. Much office life neglects the body's hunter-gatherer needs.