Category: 5 Share Friday

1. Quote I’ve been pondering this week “Everything you want is on the other side of fear“ – Jack Canfield. We all have a tendency to not do what we really want due to a fear of some kind.

2. What I’m writing – I’ve been looking at how to write down some life advice for my sons, based on my own life experiences. I’m not getting far but the other day I listened to Baz Luhrmann’s Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen) again, I still haven’t found better advice anywhere. No matter your age or situation, this song’s lyrics are well worth remembering.  You can read the lyrics here, though listening to the song is best.

3. What I’ve been reading – In Tim Ferriss’ book Tools of Titans I reread 1000 true fans. I write this blog primarily for myself and I’m wondering if I should accept partnerships with others. I’m getting a few requests due to the content I write, yet I’d like to keep it simple and personal. I know what I share here isn’t epochal and that post reminded me why I keep doing what I do. If I tried to write for others I’d just make shitty content and it wouldn’t be real.

4. Susan Cain shared this amazon post on LinkedIn this week. It’s a fabulous list of books. Many I haven’t read yet and they look incredible. I’ll certainly be focusing on reading these over the next 12 months.

5. Rebooting my sense of wonder – I’ve been inspired by these 7 ways to spark wonder in life. I’m particularly focused on number 6 at the moment and I love the changes it’s bringing. This small read is definitely worth looking through.

I’ve been travelling today so it’s a late post. I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

1. Quote I’ve been pondering this week ‘The older I get, the more I understand that the only way to say valuable things is to lose your fear of being correct.’ Malcolm Gladwell

2. Biggest impact on my thinking – Yesterday I listened to Malcolm Gladwell’s last episode of this seasons Revisionist History. It’s a season of podcasts focused on failure and the ways in which we judge each other for our mistakes and choices. Malcolm describes how the easy way to look at people’s mistakes is to condemn them. The much harder thing is to look at those mistakes and understand.

The latest episode is fantastic, it plays my favourite live Elvis song, the one where he breaks down into fits of laughter. Malcolm also introduces Kaci Bolls and a powerful song named Somebody’s Something’ (I recommend listening). If you get past the end credits you’ll hear Malcolm singing an Elvis song himself!

3. I discovered the term JOMO this week (It stands for Joy of Missing Out). It’s the opposite of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). My modus operandi with tech and social networking is to keep it minimised and so FOMO isn’t part of my life. I’ll never go back to endlessly scrolling through social media feeds. I don’t spend more than a few minutes each day seeing what friends and family are up to. Apparently the average person spends 4 hours a day on social feeds! Here is a great piece on JOMO, make it your modus operandi and live a more joyful life.

4. Talking of FOMO, I might have slight FOMO over my departure from Microsoft given this financial news, holy moly. I expect to see my MS friends driving around in some nice cars straight out of Forza Horizon next year.

5. I visited Lithuania this week, specifically Vilnius. It’s a wonderful city full of wonderful people and I’ll be going back and forth now and then as we have an office there. If you’re interested in visiting an Eastern European country, one that’s friendly, interesting and not expensive, you won’t go far wrong with Lithuania (and they know how to make cocktails!)

Wishing you a fabulous weekend!

1. Quote I’ve been pondering this week “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” –  Satchel Paige

2. Most fascinating read – This piece about the colour blue and why we should be aware of how we react to it. From the colour of your car dashboard (well done BMW) to your phone display, each one can affect how you perform and rest. Since learning from this article, I’ve changed my iPhone colour settings using this websites help.

3. Tim Ferriss highlights the single habit that leads to success. I introduced this habit into my life 18 months ago. To say my life has changed dramatically since then is an understatement. The impact isn’t ephemeral, keep up this habit and you’ll keep seeing success.

4. What I’ve given up – noise cancelling headphones. I’ve been given a nice pair of noise cancelling headphones at work. The sound quality is amazing and the built in mic means for video conferencing they are the perfect solution. The problem I’ve found is that I’m not able to use the noise cancelling feature, it makes me feel sick and gives me a headache. I haven’t found a headset (this was my second) where this feature doesn’t yet make me feel ill, and so I’m still hunting (if you have recommendations I’m all ears..) It’s actually pretty common to feel sick, especially when using the better ones out there, here’s a good write up . If you’re considering noise cancelling I recommend trying a pair first.

5. I bought this bike for my commuting and general run arounds. I wanted something a little more colourful, yet was advised it wouldn’t be long before a thief stole it. So I’ve gone for a bike that blends in nicely. I’ve since done a bunch of research on bike locks and for every day use this lock comes up as popular on many reviews, so I bought one. If you’re after a small light (ish) lock for every day use (and high security) it fits the bill perfectly.

1. Quote I’ve been pondering this week “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”– J K Rowling

2. Malcolm Gladwell mentioned (on his terrific podcast Revisionist History) that each morning he reads the blog Marginal Revolution. I looked it up and now I’m hooked, you could be too if you give it a go (this mornings post was about how spiders can fly!).

3. New podcast in my life – My Favourite Murder. Wow, who would ever think that mixing true crime and comedy could work? Well it does, and the 2 amazing hosts of this podcast have changed the lives of so many listeners for the better (many of them actual victims in some way). I’m late to the party on this one as they’ve been going for a few years. A friend at work (who’s addicted) pointed it my way. It’s like the progeny of the true crime genre, though with comedy weaved in throughout. A must listen (don’t get addicted however, there are negative side effects !)

4. Performance reviews at work – Unity has a light weight process for this, and I’m still learning how to make sure I’m doing the best I can for the staff I support. So when listening to this HBR podcast with Adam Grant it was useful to hear some of the tactical methods that can be used (such as discussing how to respond beforehand). It’s 36 minutes and if you have reviews coming up then this could be useful for you.

5. Internet post that’s had the most impact on my week – This one on being heard in the workplace is terrific. I’ve begun to adopt the advice detailed (such as the 3 questions) and it’s making a difference. If you find it hard to get heard sometimes then read this, try out the approach and see what happens.