The Blog
The emotions, actions and thought processes of my creative work.
This is where I share what I’m doing and why, how I’m thrashing out problems and what I’m trying to achieve.
Goals, Intentions and Word Of The Year 2021
This new year is different. This new year there is not the clean break to “start again” that other years have. Of course this is always the case; the ticking over of a digit at the end of the year denotes nothing but our human need to control and measure time. Usually we manage to kid ourselves that the ticking over is meaningful, that it can birth us anew into a whole different world – but this year, with ongoing lockdowns and vaccine rollouts and continuing deaths around the world, it is harder to feel the change in the air.
Find Yourself On The Inward Attainment Map – And Know What To Do Next
When you feel disconnected and don’t know how to get out of the funk in your business, it’s easy to try to work your way out of it by doing whatever trick or “must-do” you stumble upon first. Maybe you decide the way back to falling in love with your business is to start getting really serious about your Instagram photos, or that you will feel more joyful if you create a one-to-many offering.
The Fetishisation Of Implementation
“It’s all meaningless unless you’re taking action”. That might not be the exact quote, but I have certainly said words to that effect numerous times over the years. To some extent, I do still believe it: if you’re just thinking about doing something, you’re not really doing it. In order to have a business, a new product, a change of direction you need to take action rather than plan it for six years. I do, however, think that it’s possible to put too much emphasis on action and implementation – and that I have definitely been doing so. There is a true difference between the fetishisation of implementation and actually doing something.
Being Brave and Actually Making a Change
It is one thing to know a change needs to be made, and another to be brave and actually start making the change. The first is an uneasy place to live, but there is a kind of comfort in it. Strangely, the knowing is enough and becomes an excuse – “I know it’s not right, but I’m not ready/too busy/not the right time to do anything about it.” Because taking action and making the change is a fearful place; it risks failure, risks you not knowing what you’re doing, and risks discomfort. Far easier to sit in the knowledge of “something’s not right” than to head out on the quest to rectify it.
The One Question That Is Changing My Business
Who’d have thought it would only take one simple question to unlock the next phase in my business? It’s one of those “yeah yeah, it’s that easy, ok then” kind of claims. I have never been a fan of the “one thing” narrative because it puts us on a quest to find the one thing forsaking all others, instead of experimenting and finding magic in a mixture of ingredients. Also, it’s just too simplistic. There’s never one thing, but a finely balanced system of lots of little things. But really, this one question started the engine that would elevate my ideas and business to the next level. It is the one question that is changing my business.
The Unexpected Magic Of Low Expectations
I have always had high expectations for myself. That was something I never expected to change. I have always been planning my high achievement, whether that was ordering university prospectuses when I was 14 or setting a goal to make £100k in 2020.
How to know what you want
I just want to know what I want. It sounds counterintuitive doesn’t it, like that should be the very least that you know. It’s fine that you might not know how to get it yet or exactly when, but you should at least know what it is you want. But I think sometimes this can be the hardest thing to know.
The Power of ‘Being’ vs ‘Having Goals
It seems trite to say it, but goals are important. They help you keep an eye on where you’re taking your business (and your life!), they translate your dreams into actions and they are a motivational force. I don’t think anyone is under any doubt that setting goals is a Good Thing.