Nicholas Bate

Zero to Seven

0: banks to trust.

1: thing to do: hunker down, think entrepreneurial.

2: ways to save more. Cash only; note ALL spending.

3: ways to restore your New Year's Resolution. Make it (1) simpler (2) smaller (3) more public.

4: seasons: spring/summer/autumn,fall/winter. We're in the winter of this economic mess. Spring always comes.

5: days of Barack Obama inauguration

6: throw the dice: 1=swim, 2=brisk walk, 3=jog, 4=basketball, 5=cycle, 6=squash.

7: Jack is back. Day 7. Thank goodness.

Zero to Seven

0 eye contact because of the agent's dark glasses;
1 sentence is all it takes to start your book;
2 words: Tropic Thunder causing consternation;
3 points to Triangle Frame in De Bono's new book: Frames of Thinking
4 for stability: table legs, car wheels, business strategies (plan A-good times; plan B-recession times; plan C-re-invent times; plan D-get out times);
5 ways with fresh eggs: fried, scrambled, poached, boiled and omelette;
6 results on the Fitness Dice Demon: 1=swim 10 lengths; 2=25 star jumps; 3=very brisk 45 minute walk; 4=20 minutes circuit training; 5=5 minutes skipping; 6=90 minute cycle ride;
7 is the next series of 24; Jack we need you.

Zero to Seven: Special LAPD Edition

0 clues at the crime scene;
1 boot where the body is hidden;
2 headlights piercing the early morning San Francisco fog;
3 passers-by, none of whom heard a thing;
4 items on the body: a wallet with no cash, an old version iPod, a Dutch passport and a cinema ticket for the previous evening's late show of the Mummy;
5 miles exactly between his body and his car
6 photos taped up on the crime scene board;
7 years in homicide and he still felt sick when he saw the dead body at the scene.

Zero to Seven

0 pages left of your last novel by that author. Agghh!
1 if in doubt, always a great place to start.
2 yes or no? Some decisions are polarised. Doesn't make them any easier, of course.
3 series 3 of Grey's Anatomy on DVD. Still waiting here in Europe.
4 crossroads. Life is full of them. It's not about which direction, it's about take a direction. Who wants to sit on a busy junction when there's a journey to be taken?
5 critical food groups.
6 hundred Starbucks stores to close in the US. Sorry guys, should have supported your local more.
7 drivers of change in the New World of Work: Acceleration/Automation/Alternate Shores/Abundance/Ambiguity/Anarchy/Adrenalin.

Zero to Seven

0: calories in the fizzy drink. Yep, but what did they add to be able to do that?
1: answer to work/life balance issues: just say no!
2: to be or not to be. It is clearly the only question.
3: the perfect number for a self-managed learning team.
4: 1984. Orwell's amazing novel.
5: A high 5. Energetic and friendly.
6: represents harmony between physical and spiritual with two intersecting triangles.
7: universally lucky.

Zero to Seven

0: is the atomic number of the theoretical element Tetraneutron.
1: smile across the room started the relationship, causing the jealousy, resulting in the murder.
2: Simon & Garfunkel. What a pair. Here's to you Mrs Robinson etc.
3: how socks cluster. It's annoying.
4: minute mile. Good for Bannister, but more important for the rest of us: our limits can be imagined.
5: fingers. An amazing tool.
6: reasons to hug: love, friendship, healing, encouragement, fun and hope.
7: colours in the spectrum. Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. (Tip of Hat: Isaac Newton)

Zero to Seven

0: orders for next week. GET ON THE PHONE!
1: route to wealth. Save, then spend.
2: sides to every arguement. It's well worth listening to the other side.
3: men in a boat
4: cells in a boston matrix: stars, question marks, dogs and the cash cow.
5: Thunderbirds. Your favourite? It's got to be 2 with the pod....
6: ways with potatoes: mashed, boiled, saute, roast, dauphinoise and chips
7: The Magnificent

Zero to Seven

0: is it a number? Is it a concept?
1: re-cycling option at Munich airport: "place in this bin and we will sort and re-cycle for you". Cool.
2: eyes looked deep into his soul. He could no longer resist her...
3: coins in the fountain according to Frank Sinatra.
4: seasons: spring; summer; autumn/fall; winter. It's a business life cycle, too.
5: great routes to CV activity: walk, swim, jog, skip, tennis.
6: carbon atoms in the sugar molecule. Beautiful design, sneakily addictive.
7: 'till 11. I'll pop down for some milk. Sure, but do walk.

More here.

Zero to Seven

0: excuses accepted.
1: decision: start your big dream project today.
2: two ears. Listen. The deepest human desire is to be understood.
3: third time LUCKY.
4: Beatles to create the greatest band ever.
5: perfectly poised fingers: pick up a pencil and sketch.
6: decisions on the Starbucks cup: (1) custom? (2) milk? (3) extra shot? (4) drink type? (5) syrup? (6) decaf?
7: ways to her heart: (1) flowers (2) laughter (3) encouragement (4) roof-down driving (5) walk along deserted beach (6) romantic meal, cooked by you (7) never standing naked with just your socks on.

Zero to Seven

0: nutritional benefits of simple sugar. That's nada, amigo.
1: way only to bring down Superman: green krypton.
2: days in a week-end: don't give any away.
3: atoms in the water molecule: ingest more of them.
4: ways to boost health: MEDS. Meditation/Exercise/Diet/Sleep.
5: great ways with chicken tonight: roast, curry, grill, casserole and rissotto.
6: ways to unblock your novel: throw a dice. 1=introduce a new character; 2=someone finds a note-book with..written in it; 3=her car breaks down on a lonely road; 4=they were brothers after all; 5=realise he was not a cop; 6=decide it was a short story all along.
7: lucky. Oh, so lucky.

There's another Zero to Seven here.