Kings Park, Botanic garden, WA

It's like smelling the roses, but for eyes Two Rocks Lagoon, WA And some other colours (before grilling)

Sugar Loaf Rock, WA Timing your days around the rhythms of nature is often awe inspiring. Sunset at Sugar Loaf Rock

Meelup Beach Coastline, WA

Waking up to watch the sun is priceless Sunrise over Cape Naturaliste, WA

I'm in Australia on holiday with my family this week so there are fewer posts about business. Instead, here's a picture of a beach Scarborough Beach WA

I recently wrote about derived prompts and got instant feedback from several readers. Most was along the lines of " all of these assume there is context already present - how do you suggest someone give context ahead of each prompt? " Context matters because You have knowledge the model doesn't — your audience, your history, your constraints, your definition of "good." Context is the mechanism for injecting that judgment. Without it, the model substitutes its own generic defa

36 short conversations, some interesting signals I spent a couple of days at an offsite in Rome speaking with high performers across the company I work for. Not long interviews just two or three minutes each. Thirty-six in total. Each person was shown the same card with seven questions and asked to choose a few to respond to. Most respondents started with one question and then drifted, naturally, into others. The responses were unpolished, immediate, and grounded in lived exp

I read for pleasure because it steadies me. When there is no outcome attached, no insight to extract and no summary to produce, reading becomes something slower and more absorbing, a way of spending time inside another mind or another world without needing to turn it into something useful straight away. That kind of reading strengthens attention in ways that fragmented scrolling never will, because you stay with a story or an argument long enough for it to shape you, and over

A field note on using AI for more than speed I use AI every day. For work, planning, thinking, even for my journaling. Over time, that has led me into a familiar pattern. I find, save, test and tweak prompts. Sometimes I go looking for them on purpose. Sometimes I stumble across them while searching for better ways to think something through. Some are useful immediately. Some are clever but thin. Some work once and then never again. Some seem impressive until you realise th

At this stage of my career I travel for work much less than I once did. There was a period when flights, hotel rooms, and airport lounges were simply part of the rhythm of the job. Cities blurred together a little and the travel itself felt like the price you paid to do the work that mattered. Now that it happens less often, I find that I experience those trips quite differently. Part of that shift comes from the Year of Noticing , and part of it comes from the idea of going

(the other IWD) On this May Day I celebrate all those who toil, produce, create. Without labor, nothing prospers.” – Sophocles “The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever.” - May Sarton

Every time you give your attention to something now, you are taking time, energy, and mental clarity away from yourself later. It doesn’t feel like that in the moment. It often feels small. harmless. But distraction is not neutral. It has a cost that shows up afterwards. Imagine, you’re about to start something that matters. It could be writing, preparing for a meeting, or simply sitting with a thought long enough for it to become something useful. You reach for your phone fo

Send an agenda before the meetings you host. Not a long document or a formal memo. Just a few clear lines about what we are there to do. When there is no agenda, people arrive guessing. Is this a brainstorm or a decision? An update or a debate? Should they prepare data or just show up? The first ten minutes are spent calibrating. An agenda changes the tone before the meeting even starts. It signals that the time has shape and meaning, that you have thought carefully about th

My reflective practice is ever evolving and this is another post on that evolution. I’ve written elsewhere about the mechanics of journaling ( see Journaling, Upgraded ), you know things like sitting at the same time each day in a quiet space and being focused. Now that still matters, because none of what follows works if you’re inconsistent. This isn’t about inspiration. It’s about rhythm. Treat journaling as a system, not a habit The shift for me was going from, “What sho

This year I’m trying to deepen my work in embodied coaching. One thing I’ve quickly discovered is that most of the live learning opportunities sit in Europe or North America. Which means they start around 2am or 11pm Singapore time . That has reminded me of two things about how I learn. First, my brain works best in the morning or late afternoon . Not at midnight. Second, learning is social . A conversation with other practitioners beats watching a recording every time. Globa

Perspective change questions do two simple things. 1 They show what the future might look like to an outside observer - they shift the lens from you to "the other" AND 2, those same questions allow you to imagine what the change would look like in the context of your day to day life.

Take a photo or photos of your bookshelf. Load into your favourite GPT and use the prompt "What do my books say about me? And hear what it has to say... Stretch goal? Get your partner / best friend to do the same - compare answers...

I hold the door for others. It takes three seconds. You reach the entrance first, pause, step aside, and let someone pass. There’s a glance, maybe a quiet thank you, and then you both continue on your way. Nothing dramatic happens. That’s the point. In busy buildings and crowded mornings, we move on autopilot. Eyes forward. Agenda loaded. The door is just another object to clear. Holding it shifts you out of that narrow lane for a moment. You notice the person behind you. You

“I still struggle with days where I don’t have a lot of output.” That is a line I have heard from many clients and colleagues recently. If I am honest, I have said it to myself on certain days as well. My coaching supervisor gave this pattern a name: visible productivity bias . Sales, consulting, academia, startups, most performance environments reward what can be counted today . Most organizations measure work through visible signals: calls made, pages written, revenue close