*‘There is no yearning more important to human beings than to freely pick and pursue our life direction. A clear sense of self-directed meaning provides us with an essentially inexhaustible supply of motivation. But we can easily lose sight of what is actually meaningful to us, pursuing socially compliant goals and superficial gratifications instead. Every tick of the clock can mock us with the emptiness of such a life.’ - Steven C. Hayes

Things have certainly not felt effortless since the start of the year, but this week I share a new side project and the path I’ve navigated to find the courage to go for it. Hint: coaching and values have a lot to do with it. You can read 'Let's get to the essence below' or listen to it here.

• True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure — the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature. - Robert McKee

As I type this, I’m emerging from my own pressure cooker. Proof? I left the money I was drawing out at the ATM yesterday afternoon. Hand palm emoji insert here.

As it happens… Deadlines for different projects are moved, and suddenly, boom, everything culminates at the same time. Result? You’re crawling under a pile of commitments, none of which you want to cancel because, well, hopefully, you (like me) really enjoy doing what you do, and you really like delivering on your word.

And yet, sometimes, something’s got to give. Either that or one has to start working through the nights on top of the days...

“It’s in our relationships that we find the emotional sustenance and power we need to thrive.” Vivek Murthy, Together

This is my 50th Looking Forward!! The long-form blog posts I never knew I'd be writing!

Despite my earlier rant (see the piece called Soap box day here), I’m feeling the love as I bask in the afterglow of meeting a new friend, which leads me to reflect on good people, energy, and what that means for us at work.

Enjoy!

• Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. - Carl Jung

This week I’m excited to be hosting my second collective coaching session, Work, Together, see the details in the digest below. Yay!

Thankfully I’m more or less over the cold that had my nose so red it almost radiated on Zoom earlier this week. I’m hoping you have been keeping well.

On my mind, and in Looking Forward, after ‘failing’ at having a successful Easter break, I decided to explore my (bad) mood states, the importance of rest, and what stress or frustration can teach us if we dare do some digging around. The post is called ‘The inner struggle, resistance vs allowance’ and you can read it below or listen to it here.

• The currency of the future is also the currency of the past. It’s simply about intentionally creating deeper connections to each other. - Bernadette Jiwa, Difference

How are you? I’m back from my yogic excursion and couldn’t be more delighted about the upcoming four-day weekend ahead of me here in Switzerland.

The return to work has been exciting and intense, with new clients, projects, workshops and podcasts. As a result of what a friend called ‘too much goodness’ (read my yoga legs are aching), I’m nursing a cold, so I won’t be going anywhere for the next few days.

Meanwhile, I’ve made wonderful new connections recently. Most of them (bar those IRL last week) surprise surprise, haven’t been in person. And ahead of an upcoming interview with head of community at Single Store Wesley Faulkner, I reflect on how we gather (per Priya Parker) in groups and communities, why cultivating trust matters plus I lift the lid on my own experiences. The post is called ‘Building community, creating connection,’ and you can read it below or listen to it here.

If this resonates with you, drop me a line, and let me know about your good or bad experiences with community and gathering.

So, something funny happened last week. Not funny ha-ha, like the semi snow storm that descended upon Geneva on April’s fools day.

Now, you may remember that a few weeks ago I wrote about ‘why I want a flexible brain,’ back in January. After a lecture with Dr Jonathan Kaplan, presenting the benefits of ACT (or acceptance and commitment therapy, a tool I use in coaching), I had a big a-ha moment. In mere minutes, I went from stuck, to unstuck. There was a big fear behind the stuckness (which I didn’t ask myself too many questions about).

As luck would have it, the same day that Dr Kaplan responded to my email (to be a guest on Out of the Clouds), that thing I was afraid of, well it happened!

My ego wanted to make things different, or erase this whole thing (my inner version of ‘cancel culture’). I let myself be tempted for a minute or so. But this other part of me, more spacious and spiritual, was reminded (both by writing and listening to by Susan Cain, more on her below) that sometimes, we need not do anything but be with what is, and reflect on the nature of our longing. And if you wonder why that's helpful, well, read on below.

I’m not offering this as a coach and business consultant. Instead, as I heard it from someone very smart not long ago, I’m sharing as a fellow traveller, on the path, like you and everyone else.

Thanks as always for reading me, I hope you enjoy (without the audio this week, as I’m travelling). Drop me a line to let me know whether this echoed with you.

• Words ride on the energy of tone, its warmth or coldness; think of tone as the music of how words are expressed. You want this music to be soulful, whether you’re giving sweet talk or tough love. - Judith Orloff

This week I’m (still) feeling inspired by the interview I published not long ago with my collaborator, journalist and copy editor Manfreda Cavazza. It got me thinking again about voice, but this time my focus was on tone of voice.

What does our tone say about who we are (brands or individuals) and how it serves us as a bridge between intention and connection. Read on below to find out my intentions with both the podcast and this newsletter or listen to ‘Crafting a voice’. (I had fun with the audio on this one...)

So... I’m quite fast, or I should say my brain tends to move fast, and as I’ve learned the hard way, it’s both a blessing and curse.

Speedy that I tend to be, I often forget that a) not everyone is built like me, b) that I’m not like that all day, every day, and that c) in life it’s the journey, not the destination that matters (although, not true when it comes to holidays, I’m dreaming of flying off to the Maldives and the journey, as of today, is the least appealing part of the trip).

In the spirit of helping those who, like me, struggle when things don’t move fast enough for their taste, I explore how we can learn to respect each other’s timing, embracing the worldview of our audiences, teams and clients.

And so, while I’m trying to learn to be more patient myself, a very valuable quality I hear, I’m exploring our relationship with time. Whether it’s ‘not the right time’, or ‘not yet’, we can learn to move slow to go fast.

So here’s this week’s exploration, named ‘Befriending time’ - which you can read or also listen to the recorded audio.
Enjoy, and feel free to drop me a line to let me know how you are doing in your relationship with time.

Last week, I chose not to publish this email newsletter. I abandoned my draft, in which I addressed the subject of war. I left it not just because of the (not so) cheery nature of the project but because I was mourning. Correction, I am mourning… the loss of my beloved Fifi, the sidekick super-cat to my SuperwomAnne (I didn't make this up...!)

Like many of us, I have a tendency to push myself even in times of pain and difficulty, and I’m trying to learn from my past mistakes (and God knows there are many).

So why am I sharing this with you? This is a business blog, after all. Read on to find out

I feel quite far away from the world, typing this from my living room, while my survivor of a cat sleeps on top of me, on a furry blanket. You see, in London, Fashion Week is in full swing, and I have a little FOMO and yet no desire to travel, nor to open my Instagram feed. So what is that about? I think it’s just February pushing my buttons.

Meanwhile, I wrote this for Looking Forward about how I invested some of my money (in January 2020…😱) and what I learned in the process, lessons which, strangely or not, can be applied to many other business situations and brands’ communication. You'd be surprised how this will be relevant for a lot of brand managers out there.

The name of the post took me a while to figure out: 'Banking on values'. There's certainly a pun there, one that those of you who've read the joint investigative report by the Guardian, Le Monde and Süddeutsche Zeitung on Credit Suisse won't miss. The irony is not escaping me.