Category: 5 Share Friday

1. Quote I’m pondering this week – “Not all those who wander are lost” – J. R. R. Tolkien

2. Article I’ve been reading –  Ego is the enemy of good leadership:  It’s a short 5 minute read, pertinent to anyone who works as a lead or has a lead. One sentence I keep pondering on is this one: “Leadership is about people, and people change every day. If we believe we’ve found the universal key to leading people, we’ve just lost it.”

3. What I’m drinking – I’ve been making this quick 5 minute shake in the mornings. It tastes like a caramel smoothie, gives me a natural sugar and protein boost, and is just the ticket before any kind of physical activity:

• 1 Banana
• 3 Medjool dates
• 10 Almonds
• 200ml Oat milk (or other non dairy)
• 1 tablespoon of mixed seeds
• Blend in a blender

4. Getting a different perspective – I found  https://quillette.com/ from a long form article here. There are some fascinating posts by some very smart people. I don’t agree with all viewpoints, yet I do appreciate knowing there are other views out there for pondering. As the website says, Quillette prides itself on publishing ‘dangerous’ ideas other outlets won’t touch, so I expected to see schadenfreude and flaming. What I’ve discovered are well articulated, intellectual thoughts, that are at times controversial. Enjoy!

5. I’ve started a different approach to reading – one I hadn’t considered before, it’s detailed here.  At first It looks counter to conventional wisdom, yet logically it makes sense, so I’m experimenting with it. We’ll see what happens over time and I’m feeling confident already. Try it and see for yourself. A good quote from the text:
“A good shock often helps the brain that has been atrophied by habit.” — Napoleon Hill

Have a great weekend everyone!

1. Quote I’m pondering this week “You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.” – John Mason

2. Veganism is mainstream – this long form piece from The Guardian newspaper is a fascinating read about how plant based eating is becoming mainstream. I eat meat & dairy rarely and for me it was a health choice I made years ago, though for many it’s down to allergies or other conditions. The myth of protein from meat being best and calcium from milk is finally being understood as not fact, it’s been a long time coming.

I find plant based eating can also be less time intensive to prepare (if you have the right equipment) and tastier. The Forks over Knives series of books (a documentary found on Netflix too) has terrific recipes if you fancy giving eating vegan a go.

3. Inspiration I’m benefiting from – I’ve been using Happi Cards ,  I’m sharing here as they really do make life more interesting. For instance, last week after breakfast I picked a random one and it turned out to be the inspiration I needed to totally rewrite a piece for my LinkedIn series ‘A Little Guide to a Big Life’

These cards make a wonderful present (my wife bought me mine) and you never know what type of inspiration you might get for the day.

4. Home purchase I’m enjoying – Our cargo or ‘family bike’. The choice to go car free is working out well for us so far. There isn’t a better country than Denmark to ditch your car and use public transport or a bicycle. After much research and testing we chose a Bella Bike. It’s a customisable 3 wheeled bike with rear wheel steering (resulting in more accurate control than conventional 3 wheel bikes). It’s also suitable for when we eventually return to the UK as it’s not as wide as other makes and models.

I met the inventor and creator at his workshop (they’re hand made to order). The design, engineering and fact that it’s locally built and not mass manufactured appealed to us. If you’re after a cargo or family bike, you won’t go far wrong looking at Bella bikes as part of your choice (he delivers internationally).

5. What I’m watching – the final season of House of Cards on Netflix. This whole series has been a roller coaster. At times it’s been so dark I’ve considered not continuing, yet it’s also very captivating . After watching the first season a number of years ago, I was better able to understand office politics in a place where backstabbing and throwing others under the bus was common place. It’s amazing what you can learn from a TV show.

In this season, almost every character is planning to connive against the other to get what they want. I’m hoping we see a satisfying end to the show, one that closes the many story arks and shows us that acting selfishly is not rewarding in the longer term.

Have a great weekend everyone!

1. Quote I’m pondering this week “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” –Walter Winchell

2. Purchase I made – NordVPN. If you value your internet security, privacy or simply want to watch media from a different country (I purchased this for all 3 reasons) then a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is for you. If you route your internet through a VPN via your modem / router then everything at home connecting to your WiFi will be secure and private.

I’ll also use it with my phone and laptop in public places, giving me that added confidence and security.

3. Article I’m pondering this week: These 20 truths about life are great reminders and No. 13 is one I’m focusing extra energy on:

“13. Nobody cares how difficult your life is, and you are the author of your life’s story. Stop looking for people to give you sympathy and start creating the life story you want to read.”

4. Someone I know shared this amazing 3D view of our world population. You can move around from country to country while also comparing with years past. This fabulous web app effectively visualises 7.6 billion people so it’s no longer inscrutable for any of us, amazing!

5. Since the release of Spotify’s engineering culture videos back in 2014 I’ve been fascinated by the content they shared.

Part 1: https://labs.spotify.com/2014/03/27/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/

Part 2: https://labs.spotify.com/2014/09/20/spotify-engineering-culture-part-2/

Much of the engineering and quality change I explored with my teams at Microsoft happened as a direct result of content from these videos.

4.5 years on I still find them interesting and regularly review every quarter. This week I realised they’re also being watched by others here at Unity and I’ve rewatched them again recently. Each time I watch them I realise I’m learning a gem, not just for my work but for my personal growth too.

If you are involved in software development or simply interested in how Spotify works and you haven’t watched these videos, or read the Spotify blog, then grab a coffee, get your headphones on and make 30 minutes right now. It’ll be the most productive 30 minutes you’ve had all week.

1. Quote I’m pondering this week “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer

2. Most thought provoking read this week: Seth Godin interview at Onbeing. This one is excellent, covering such things as the connection between struggle and hope, learning from failure and constant change in our lives. It’s a 10 minute read or you can listen to the episode too (links on the webpage)

3. Most interesting purchase: These little silicon ‘ends’ for food and jars. I use a lemon each morning. I squeeze juice from half a lemon into a glass, add water and drink. It’s the first thing I do before anything else when I get up. Now I’ve discovered these silicon ends I can put the other half of that lemon in the fridge and use it the next day without it going dry and crusty, excellent!

4. Most used app this week is WeatherBug. Since moving to Denmark my favourite weather app doesn’t work (Dark Sky), it simply won’t pick up radar coverage. I’ve been researching and testing other apps and have chosen WeatherBug (a desktop version available too). It’s free and quite frankly wonderful. It’s available on both iPhone and Android so if you’re looking for a weather app with a difference (it’s particularly great if you have allergies by the looks of it) look no further than WeatherBug.

5. Following on from last week and my kale extravaganza at home, we found a humdinger of a curry recipe based on kale. If you’re into kale and like a warm curry on a winters evening, then you won’t do much better than this one.