Category: Newsletter

Thanks for all the support with getting to 100 newsletter subscribers before my birthday – I have actually got to 115.

Welcome to all new subscribers.

When I created the target, I set myself the challenge of mentioning my website and newsletter to 1 new person everyday. 

I’m grateful to my colleagues who were very helpful in assisting me get to the target.

This month’s theme is about taking action.  The growth of my subscriber list is an example of how a small daily action can pay off. I just needed to be brave and make a start!

Also, hopefully you’ll notice the extra wisdom this month, now that I’ve completed 5 decades on the planet! 😉

Happy June!

Sinead

PS If you know someone else who might like to subscribe, here’s the link

Oprah Winfrey was born on 29^th January 1954 in Mississippi, USA.  She had a poor upbringing and moved between Wisconsin and Tennessee alternating between living with her maternal grandmother, her mother and her father throughout her youth.  

50 years ago, she won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.  Following this, she got an opportunity with a local radio station.  From childhood, Oprah had been a gifted speaker and these skills won her a scholarship to college where she studied communication.  She left college before getting her degree as she got a job in TV in 1975.  However, she returned and submitted her final assignment 10 years later to graduate in 1987.

The Oprah Winfrey show was first broadcast in 1986.  After 25 years, it came to an end but at that stage it was broadcast in over 100 countries worldwide and had a weekly audience close to 50million people.  Its popularity and longevity led to Oprah becoming one of the most influential women in the world.

Oprah takes so much action and has so many endeavours that this newsletter would be a lot longer than a 5 minute read if I were to list them all.  She is accomplished at acting, writing, publishing and broadcasting.  In addition to this, she is a very generous philanthropist, supporting many causes worldwide. 

In 2013, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom which is the highest honour that can be awarded to a civilian in the US.

Such is her influence, many publications talk about an “Oprah effect” if she endorses a product or service or recommends a book for her book club. 

Impressive person!

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‘Just do it’ is a phrase synonymous with the sportswear brand Nike.  It was first used in 1988 and the accompanying advert showed an 80 year old man running across the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Walt Stack was something of a legend in San Francisco’s athletic community as he partook in many different types of exercise and was running 17 miles a day in his 80s as well as swimming a mile in cold water and cycling 6 miles.  One of his famous pieces of advice for those in his running club was “start slow and taper off”.

Initially, I thought it ironic that Nike had chosen Walt for their advert as I felt their “Just Do It” message was about speed and urgency and then Walt had a more slow and steady approach.  However, the more I think about it, I realise the message is actually about getting started.  It doesn’t matter whether you will be going fast or slow, the key thing is to start, to take action.

We can have all the plans in the world but they are really just day dreams if we don’t start taking action.

Here’s 5 thoughts about taking action.

1. Stop waiting for everything to be perfect.  We’ll never start if we are waiting for perfect conditions because life always has curve balls in store for us.
2. We should be specific about when we are taking the action – perhaps set an alarm.  Help ourselves by choosing a time that fits well with our routine.
3. Use a visual cue to reward ourselves. In his book, “Atomic Habits”, James Clear tells a story about a stock broker who rose to success.  His initial strategy included adding a paper clip to a jar every time he made a sales call.
4. You don’t have to know all the actions that are required to get to your goal, you just need to take the next action.  I really like these lyrics from “The Next Right Thing”, which is a song from the movie Frozen 2. “Just do the next right thing, Take a step, step again, It is all that I can to do, The next right thing, I won’t look too far ahead, It’s too much for me to take, But break it down to this next breath, this next step, This next choice is one that I can make”
5. Action begets more action. My simplistic interpretation of Newton’s laws of motion is a body at rest stays at rest but a body in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an external force. So taking the first action builds momentum and keeps us going.

As Nike might say… Just do it

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“You just have to keep on doing what you do…Keep going. Start by starting.”
Meryl Streep

“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.”
Peter Marshall

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
Zig Ziglar

“The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
Oprah Winfrey

For me, May has a fresh start feeling.  The evenings are brighter for longer and the temperature is getting warmer.  Trees that were bare for many months are suddenly verdant with leaves.  Bees and butterflies are busy in gardens.

It’s a welcome sense of renewal and I’m grateful for the hope it brings.

This month’s newsletter is about having hope and the ability to decide to bounce-back from negative circumstances.

At any time, we get to choose our response to a situation and we can decide to be optimistic and positive or we can stay stuck in negative thought. 

It can be very hard to shake off “poor me” feelings.  Nature gives us a helping hand at this time of year by showing us its possible to renew and grow again.  I hope you enjoy this newsletter!

Sinead

Viktor Frankl was born in March 1905 to a Jewish family living in Austria. As a child he was interested in psychotherapy.  At university, he focused on studying depression and his advances and theories resulted in decreased suicide rates.

In 1942, Viktor and his family were arrested and put in a concentration camp.  Within a short period of time, Viktor and his loved ones were separated.  He was the only one of his family to live and was one of a small number of survivors to exit Auschwitz in Spring 1945.

During the summer of 1945, Viktor wrote his most famous book, “Man’s Search for Meaning” in 9 days.  He developed his form of psychotherapy which he called Logotherapy as a result of surviving the Holocaust.

Viktor’s theories centred around his belief that having meaning in our lives is what motivates us and helps us be resilient in the face of adversity.  He saw meaning as having a life purpose or love or strength to cope with hardship.

Whilst in the concentration camps, he noticed that those who coped best were not necessarily the fittest physically but they were those who had hope and those that retained a sense of purpose.

He famously recounts using the power of his mind to distract him from the atrocities he faced whilst captured.  He believed that whilst the soldiers could take all his material possessions and separate him from family and friends, they couldn’t take what he chose to keep in his mind.

One of his most famous quotes is: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Viktor died in 1997 but left the world with his theories which have laid the foundations for many elements of positive psychology.  In total, Viktor wrote 39 books and delivered many lectures worldwide.

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I mentioned at the start how happy I am to be enjoying May and the injection of renewal it brings.

I had Covid just after Easter and returned to work thinking about post Covid fatigue and how I had a pain in my hip.  I was due to go to a conference and was on the point of cancelling as I felt it would be too much for me.

At the end of my first day back at work, I realised that as the day had progressed, I had stopped thinking about fatigue and pain and actually I felt ok.

Around this time, I started reading a book called “The Power of Decision” by Raymond Charles Barker.  A quote from the foreword is as follows: “you’ll never know how many people decide to go to a baseball game, to the theater, or to the opera and completely forget about what ails them.  As they are entertained, they make an unconscious decision, in that moment, to be healed.”

Social media posts that I saw on LinkedIn from Mel Robbins had a similar message, I paraphrase, but her message is why do we spend time thinking about our problems and why we feel defeated when we could just decide to be happy.  We could choose to focus on what is good in our lives and decide we are going to be happy.  She makes it sound so simple!

Whilst I haven’t finished reading “The Power of Decision”, I did skip to the back where there is an Appendix called Success Plan.  I interpret the advice as follows:
1. Don’t dwell on problems or limitations, use your mind to think of creative solutions.
2. “Ideas, not facts, are the hope of your world.”  By thinking differently or using new ideas, we can spark imaginative solutions to challenges.
3. Use affirmations to “impress upon your mind that you are a changed person.  Have a new conversation with yourself and replace that old tired language.”

So I tried it. I didn’t cancel any arrangements.  I stopped thinking and talking about post Covid fatigue and my ailments, (well at least I talked about them less!).  I went to the conference and I went to other engagements I had committed to.  I enjoyed myself and I feel better!

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“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
Chinese Proverb

“Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.”
Ralph Marston

“It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated…it is finished when it surrenders.”
Ben Stein

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”
Groucho Marx

Many of us associate Easter with chocolate and it’s a nice treat to give ourselves the freedom to consume something we enjoy.  

Thinking about eating chocolate (everyone does this, right?) got me thinking about how we nourish ourselves in general and I don’t just mean what we eat.

Are we filling ourselves with gossip and violent TV programmes or do we nourish ourselves with interesting reading material and inspiring podcasts?

How do we take care of our bodies and our minds? 

Hopefully, there’s food for thought in what you read below.

Happy Easter  😊

President George Washington signed The Judiciary Act which established the US Supreme Court in 1789.

Almost 200 years later, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to be the first female justice on the Supreme Court.  Sandra was born in Texas and grew up on a large ranch.  Sandra graduated from Stanford Law School in the top 10% of her class but had to work for free in her first job as her gender made it difficult to get a legal job in the 1950s.

In 1956, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of 9 females studying law in a class of 500 at Harvard.  In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Ruth to the Supreme Court. She was the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice ever.  She remained in the role until September 2020 when she passed away at the age of 87.  Her legacy is far reaching and in particular she was an advocate for gender equality.

Making the news this month, following nomination by President Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson, became the first black female ever to be nominated to the US Supreme Court. Whilst at school, Ketanji got the chance to go to Harvard for a debating competition and that sparked her interest in pursuing law at Harvard.  Her guidance teacher at the time is said to have advised Ketanji not to set her sights so high.

However, Ketanji nourished herself with self belief and got to Harvard University and Harvard Law School and later this year she will fulfil her dream of being a justice at the Supreme Court.

These are inspiring women. I enjoy reading about them and I applaud their ground breaking progress.

I also want to mention an inspiring man who was a contemporary of President George Washington.   Benjamin Franklin was a printer, author, inventor, scientist and statesman.  He is known to have had a part in writing the US Declaration of Independence as well as the US Constitution.  His image has been on the US$100 note since 1914.

This Easter Sunday, 17^th April 2022, marks 233 years since Benjamin Franklin died at the age of 84.  At the time, this represented a lifespan that was about 30 years longer than the average!  

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Benjamin Franklin’s writings leave us an impression of his daily routines and how he nourished himself to live such a long life.  He didn’t have the distraction of fast food, phones and Netflix to contend with but maybe we can learn something from how he managed his day.  

He was attentive to what he consumed for both mind and body.  However, he also made time for creating.  If he were alive today, I think his habits show he would not have been someone who mindlessly snacked in front of the TV or thoughtlessly scrolled through social media.  He lived purposeful days purposely.

He started his day early and spent time every morning clarifying his goals, reading, meditating and journaling before having breakfast.  Most days he created a written plan of his intentions for the day. 

Ben was an advocate of life-long learning and put aside time every day to better his knowledge.  He was a believer in routine and dedicated himself to the task at hand when he was working.  However, he generally took a generous break at lunchtime to savour his food and recharge his batteries.

He also enjoyed sport, especially swimming and having down time with family and friends.

Before he went to bed every evening, he reviewed his day to focus on what went well.  Perhaps completing what we might call a gratitude diary today.

Maybe there are things that Ben did one quarter of a millennium ago that we can use today to motivate us in nourishing ourselves well?

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“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

“How would your life be different if…You were conscious about the food you ate, the people you surround yourself with, and the media you watch, listen to, or read? Let today be the day…You pay attention to what you feed your mind, your body, and your life. Create a nourishing environment conducive to your growth and well-being today.” –Steve Maraboli

“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.” – Ruth Baden Ginsburg

“Be open to new ideas and experiences because you’ll never know when someone else will have an interesting thought or when a new door will open to take you on the journey of your dreams.” – Ketanji Brown Jackson

As we celebrate St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, it can be a time to reflect upon our identity and where we are from. This month’s newsletter is about our values and being authentic.

Who we are is a reflection of how we’ve been brought up and where we call home.  There is a poignancy in this right now, as we see and hear of those who are fleeing their homes and experiencing danger.   

To paraphrase Steve Jobs, I hope that the voices which value peace and unity can rise above the noise of disharmony and hate.

We hope for a world where people with different identities are not divided but able to live in peace.

Last week marked International Women’s Day with a theme of Break the Bias.  In March we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and Irish heritage, so this month I have chosen to profile an Irish woman who is an advocate for inclusiveness and breaking down barriers.

Sinead Burke is from Dublin and in her early 30s.  She is a writer, primary school teacher and PhD candidate.  Sinead has achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder which means she is shorter than average height at 3ft 5 inches.  As a little person, she has encountered bullies and bias throughout her life, however she has used her experiences to advocate for inclusivity. 

In March 2017, Sinead delivered her TED talk “Why design should include everyone”.  This has been viewed over 1 million times. 

Sinead’s book, “Break the Mould” was published in 2020.  This is aimed at children but has a message of inspiration for everyone.

In the book, Sinead explains that her TED talk experience was transformational in her life.  She overcame her nerves and found her authentic voice.  She delivered a message that resonated with her own experience and she chose self-belief over self-doubt.

Sinead’s passion is fashion and she started a blog when she was in her teens to record her views and experiences.  Her opinions have challenged the status quo and led to changes in the fashion industry and elsewhere. 

She has gone on to achieve many of her dreams including appearing on the cover of Vogue and attending the Met Gala, which is a major event in the fashion industry’s calendar.

Sinead is optimistic and inspiring and her advocacy work is making positive changes in the world.  She also has a great name 😊.

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To Do or Not To Do – Is that the question?

Brené Brown is an American author and researcher who has written many books on topics such as vulnerability, courage and authenticity.

In a 2014 article in O, The Oprah Magazine, Brené shared some thoughts and advice on being authentic.

She identifies the challenge for us of knowing and being our true selves versus being and behaving in the way others expect. 

She offers examples such as agreeing with our boss because we think we should or wearing uncomfortable clothes or shoes to fit in with our peer groups.

Brené highlights how easy it is to be swayed to become, or act, or look like someone else.  However, when we act out of sync with our own values, we feel uncomfortable.  We do it because we think our authentic selves aren’t good enough but we don’t feel better by trying to be someone else.

Brené offers 3 tips to help us remain true to our authentic selves.

1. Music – have a few songs that you play to remind you of yourself and what’s important to you before you go to an event where you might find yourself sliding into a persona that’s a “fitter-in” rather than your true self.
2. Partner-up – have a friend that helps you “keep it real”.  Get this person to remind you of your priorities and values before you have important meetings with work colleagues or friends.  You don’t want to end up like a contact of mine who went to a meeting with her boss to ask for time-off and came out having agreed to lead a team to research a new product.
3. Say no – we all love to win praise and please others but at what cost? Say yes to things that fit with the direction in which you wish to take your life but be prepared to say no when you need to.

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“Being ‘yourself’ in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is an accomplishment.” – Jim Kerr
 
“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” – Coco Chanel
 
“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” – Steve Jobs
 
“There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others,” – Michelle Obama

As tomorrow is Valentines Day, this newsletter has a theme of love and partnership.

I hope you enjoy it.

Marie Skłodowska and Pierre Curie shared a passion for science and each other.

Their love and partnership developed in the romantic city of Paris as they worked together, before they married in 1895.

Marie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in 1903. She was initially excluded from the nomination but her husband, Pierre, who in common with Marie was prepared to challenge convention, advocated for her to be included given the immensity of her contribution.

She was the first woman in France to be awarded a PhD in 1903.

Tragically, Pierre died in 1906 and although heartbroken, Marie was appointed to Pierre’s Professorship at the Sorbonne, becoming France’s first female professor.

Marie continued her research and won the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her advances in the study of radiation.

Controversially, she had an affair with a married man around this time and the media did not report on her kindly.

She regained some favour during World War 1 as she worked with her daughter on the use of X-ray which saved many lives during the war.

Marie died at age 66 in July 1934 primarily from illness brought on by the degree of exposure to radiation that she had endured as part of her research and work.

She is remembered for her contributions to science and has received many accolades for same.

However, her story is also one of partnership and passion.

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In keeping with the theme of partnership, Napoleon Hill proposed a collaborative approach to building success.

In the 1920s, Napoleon Hill researched the secrets of hundreds of wealthy people and the book, “Think and Grow Rich”, is the output of his interviews and research.

In the book, he describes one of the strategies; a master mind group
as a team oftwo or more people working in harmony with each other to help all members ofthe group to succeed.

Perhaps this is something we can consider in our own lives, by creating a study group or having an accountability partner for exercising or a WhatsApp group for reporting progress with home renovations, or whatever our individual goals are?

Whether we have a mastermind group or we are pursuing our goals alone, the work of Louise Hay and Mel Robbins is of interest.

Louise’s work has been in publication since the 1980s. She believed self-love was an essential first step for everyone on the road to success.  

Mel Robbins in her recent book the “The High 5 Habit” offers advice that follows Louise’s message.

Both recommend looking in the mirror to begin a positive relationship with ourselves.

Mel recommends giving ourselves a High-5, whilst Louise recommends using encouraging and accepting affirmations.

Both authors suggest that ‘mirror-work’, would help us improve our inner dialogue.

Feeling better about ourselves is also likely to draw more possible partners to us, whether they are business partners, romantic partners or master-mind group partners.

Maybe Valentine’s Day is a good time to give ourselves the gift of self love and approval

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“Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction.” C.S. Lewis

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to loveyourself to get anything done in this world.” Lucille Ball

“I don’t like myself, I’m crazy about myself.” May West

New Year, New You ! … or so TV programmes, newspapers etc. would have us believe every January.

I am going to believe that’s true.

I don’t want to live this year as a repeat of last year. I’m going to believe in possibilities and adventure, and I am going to be optimistic and courageous.
What’s on your “to be” list in 2022?

Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born on 5th May 1864 in Pennsylvania, USA. She became known by her pen name Nellie Bly, after she started writing for the Pittsburg Dispatch newspaper in 1885.

She broke the mould at the time as she was one of the first female journalists to write about a broad range of topics and not just those that were perceived to b be female issues. One of her most renowned pieces of journalism related to her investigation of how patients were treated at an asylum in New York. Her under-cover work eventually led to improvements in patient care.

Nellie gained even more fame when she undertook an adventure based on the fictional book “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne. Twenty-five year old, Nellie did the trip in 72 days arriving back in New Jersey on 25th
January 1890. She was pleased to have beaten Phileas Fogg’s record (albeit a record noted in a book of fiction) and perhaps more importantly, pleased to have challenged the stereotypical view of women at the time.

The 27th January 2022, marks 100 years since Nellie passed away but her courageous and adventurous spirit remains celebrated in various plays, novels and TV shows

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To Do or Not To Do – Is that the question?

Do you start every day with a To Do list? Is every item that’s not completed on that day carried over to the next day? Do you ever “spring-clean” your To Do list? Is the To Do list approach serving you well?

James Clear in his book “Atomic Habits”, makes the point that when we concentrate on outcomes, i.e. the items we tick off our To Do list, we are not necessarily making lasting changes to our behaviour or habits.

In order to have the outcome of a fit and healthy body, I could have “go to gym” on my To Do list and I might tick this off a few times a week but whilst hopefully I would be gradually getting fitter, would going to the gym always feel like a chore?

James advises that how we see ourselves influences what we do, which in turn influences the outcomes we achieve.

Identity -> Behaviour -> Outcomes

So if I believed myself to be a healthy person, my natural behaviour would be to exercise and make good decisions around food which would lead to the outcome I want.

When we create To Do lists, we are trying to achieve outcomes and whilst that approach can be successful for us, it may not create lasting behaviour changes.

I could put “write a blog” on my to-do list and this is an outcome that I could achieve. But if my goal is to be a blogger, do I put “write a blog” on my to-do list every day?

James Clear’s argument is that if I focus on my identity rather than the outcome, I might have a greater chance of longer term success. So perhaps I should have a To Be list rather than a To Do list.

If I am going to BE a blogger or a writer, this starts to change how I see myself and will influence how I behave leading to the outcomes I wish to achieve.

Maybe January is a good time to replace “To Do” lists with “To Be” lists?

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“The only thing more important than your to-do list is your to-be list. The only thing more important than your to-be list is to be.” Alan Cohen

“Gandalf: I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.

Bilbo: I should think so—in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can’t think what anybody sees in them.” J.R.R. Tolkien ‘The Hobbit’