#79

Welcome to Weekly Whisper #79.

Seek novelty, make art, help out

Many people I’ve been speaking with are feeling some degree of burnout, exhaustion, overwhelm, or simply languishing. As I scanned some previous whispers this one jumped out as something that might address some of the sentiment.

“What picks you up off the floor when nothing in this world seems to make any sense ?” is answered by Jamie Wheal ( Executive Director of The Flow Genome Project and a leading expert in the neurophysiology of human performance) in the 6 words above – seek novelty, make art, help out.

Seek novelty – as dopamine-loving creatures, we should seek, on occasion, something new. Search for something different. Get a coffee from a new café. Walk the dog on a new route. Have something different for breakfast. Do something you’ve never done before. The novelty of it will refresh you.

Make Art – can you see or build some beauty despite the apparent chaos going on around us? Making or doing something that intrinsically is beautiful to the eye of the beholder. Weed a garden. Paint a picture. Sing a song. Tidy your bookshelf. The beauty you create will refresh you.

Help Out – Helping others was described as the summation of positive psychology. So whatever novelty or art you discover – share it. Volunteer for something. Smile at a stranger. Pick up some litter without anyone watching

Originally quoted on the School of Greatness podcast.

Part 1 is here

Part 2 is here

Additional reading:

Brian World Magazine - The Importance of Novelty

New York Times - Exhuberence for Novelty Has Benefits

American Scientist - How Art Can Heal

 
Question of the week:
Am I willing to look foolish today so I can learn something that will make me better tomorrow?

Sometimes, and in certain situations, I’m not. On reflection, I’ve realised it’s usually based on my judgement about the other person's judgement! Neither story might be (and usually isn’t) true.

So, go on. Ask.

Looking foolish for a second is worth a lifetime of ignorance.

 
Quote of the week:
“Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens” Carl Jung

Admittedly, I’ve been doing more awakening recently than dreaming.

The tricky part? Balancing dreaming with awakening.

How’s your balance of dreaming and awakening?

 
Did you miss the Freedom Fridays Podcast with Emma Frazer?

Catch up now, before the next release.

In episode #62 Pete chats with a colleague, Emma Frazer, about all things change and transformation.

With growth on many agendas these days, they dive into how to navigate the changes required to enable growth e.g. creating the capacity to help navigate the potential overwhelm of ‘flying the plane and fixing it at the same time”.

Emma shares her perspective on the importance of firm boundaries and moving towards a goal of working smarter not necessarily harder.

    

       

That's all for this week. I hope you enjoyed Weekly Whisper #79.

Feedback is my fuel so if you have any comments please send me an email at [email protected] and let me know your thoughts.

Cheers

Pete