CREATIVITY + INNOVATION Page 17 of 50

April’s happy list is here…

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Happy

Each month we share a free downloadable ‘happy list’ as a place for you to capture the things – big or small – that have made you smile each day.

Happy listOn my happy list – an inspired coffee break

Download your happy list here.

Wishing you an amazing April,

Rachel

PS: We are launching an exciting new course, The Business Soul Sessions, very soon. We can’t reveal the details just yet, but let’s just say it will completely change the way you think of business, and offer you a whole new blueprint for creating a soulful business that generates significant profits you can be proud of. Hop on the waiting list today to find out more and get:

  • The chance to shape upcoming contents and the new course by answering our simple Business Soul Sessions survey here about what challenges you are facing starting or growing your business. One person who responds by Wednesday 8 April will win a free place on the course when it launches later this Spring!
  • Your free copy of ‘Your mission in business’ (interactive worksheet to dig deep into what makes your business tick).
  • The opportunity to get an exclusive early bird offer for course registration (it’s HUGE) – only available to those who join the waiting list.
  • Get our newsletter and articles as they come out – free valuable business news and insight to be released soon.

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Learning and growing

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This is a guest post by Lara Tabatznik who talks more about building 42 Acres – a dream retreat in Somerset, UK. You can find out more about Lara here, read our interview with her here and read her last blog post here.

I see lessons as gifts, not always at the time, but usually in hindsight. The lessons I have learned – and continue to learn – on this journey have truly been gifts.

My biggest lesson so far has been to trust the process. This lesson has come in many forms and whenever I have felt I’m being tested I’ve held onto the belief that this is my opportunity to learn and grow. From the quote for the conservatory coming in at double what we expected (hence the reason we’re holding off building this for now) to numerous adaptations for our planning permission – ultimately I can see already how all these things have all served us.

Having never done this before, unknowns and uncertainties come with the territory so I’ve had to rely on my intuition to make decisions and accept that I’ll probably make mistakes along the way. For example we haven’t done any marketing yet as we want the buzz about 42 Acres to spread simply by word of mouth and through our existing network. This just feels like the best type of marketing for us. Of course I have no idea if this will work, but I am trusting the process and following my gut instinct knowing this approach feels right.

Learning and growing photo 3 2 e1426765312232Wonderful wooded wilderness at the 42 Acres retreat 

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Intimate conversations with fascinating people (FREE webinar series)

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Over the past few weeks I have had the great privilege of interviewing a series of fascinating people on the big questions that echo for us all. What is really important in life? How do we pursue our dreams? What is the future going to look like in terms of the way we work, learn and earn? How can we carve out our own path, and do things in a way which makes us happy? How can we be more creative, more adventurous, more inspired in our daily lives?

This journey of conversation has taken me to three continents, across many time zones, and it has both provided answers and sparked further questions.

We have recorded these in-depth interviews with thought leaders and put them together into a brand new FREE webinar series called Alchemy, and you are invited. It will stretch your mind, challenge your thinking and open your eyes to new ideas. I urge you to be part of it.

The videos will be shared daily by email from April 27 – May 3 to everyone signed up to the series. We will also provide an Alchemy Playbook, full of probing questions to help you squeeze all the goodness out of each conversation. And we will be hosting Twitter chats with some of our speakers at the time their interview is first broadcast, so you can ask them questions directly yourself.

And don’t worry if you are working that week, or travelling, or in a different time zone. We will provide info on how to access the videos after they have gone ‘live’ too.

So please, give yourself the gift of listening in to these vital conversations. Sign up now (remember, it’s free!)

This week we’d like to challenge you to take one minute to register for Alchemy, and then another minute to share it on social media and encourage your friends to get involved in these real and important conversations.

Thank you for caring about the big questions,

Beth and team

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How can we be more inventive with email?

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This is a guest post by one of the UK’s leading experts in digital distraction and digital detox and author of The Distraction Trap: How to Focus in a Digital World, Frances Booth. Find out more about Frances here. 

 

Email management is something that many of us tend to ignore, or not even think about.

Despite email being such a big part of our daily working lives, and presenting such a big chance to make productivity savings, many of us just resort to a default always on mode to deal with our emails.

It can sometimes seem like all we’re doing is clearing messages, desperately trying to empty our inbox faster than the flow of new messages coming in. Or, we spend hours just wading around in our inbox, feeling overwhelmed. We know we’re spending our time unproductively, and feel like we’re fighting a losing battle.

Yet still we don’t tackle the core issue – the way we’re choosing to use email.

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Why you should do something nice for yourself today

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images in this post from the fab workshop I took with Philippa Stanton (@5ftinf on Instagram)

I woke up at 5am on Sunday morning stressed about one of the projects I am working on. I couldn’t get back to sleep, as one particular problem kept going round and round in my head like a siren. Mr K got up and made me a cup of tea, we talked through it and I felt better. But I still felt like I needed to do something about it, to spend the day working on it, even though it was Sunday. And not just any Sunday, but Mothering Sunday.

The ever-thoughtful Mr K was planning to have Sienna for the day while I took a workshop with Philippa Stanton, known on Instagram to her nearly-half-a-million followers as @5ftinf, famous for sharing stunning still life photos of flowers and objects laid out on her wooden kitchen table. This was to be my first creative workshop in months, and I had been looking forward to it for ages. But as I sat there eating my toast and giving Sienna her breakfast I nearly cancelled the workshop, feeling guilty about wasting money if I cancelled, feeling guilty about wanting to work on Mother’s Day, and so it goes on. I am sure you know the feeling.

But Mr K encouraged me to go anyway, to forget about everything else and have a nice time. It felt very indulgent – six whole hours arranging objects into pretty configurations, when I had other pressing things to do – but I went, and I am so glad that I did. Those six hours disappeared in a dreamy haze of colour exploration, meditative composition, nosing around Philippa’s lovely house, picking flowers from the garden and sharing stories over tea and cake with the five other mothers at the workshop.

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Nurture yourself: part 2

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5 Energy-Boosting Snacks for Busy People

Snacking is a normal part of 21st century life and, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it’s estimated that by 2015 the world snack foods market is expected to reach almost $335 billion. So why is the industry growing so fast and why are we snacking more now than we ever have before? It seems that longer work weeks, busier schedules, irregular meal times, and stress are all key triggers, and that we also snack for comfort or to give ourselves a pick-me-up if we’re feeling low, tired, lonely or bored. 

Snacking isn’t necessarily bad; it can even be healthy. But it depends on the food you choose. When a snack attack strikes, instead of heading for the vending machine, opt for foods that are high in fibre or protein and low in sugar which will stop your hunger pangs and keep you going until your next meal.

Here are some simple healthy snack ideas for busy people on the go…

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