#82

Welcome to Weekly Whisper #82.

Are you busy?

We’re all busy. Busier than busy. Many of the clients I work with were unrelentingly busy last year. This year? They’re busier. How can that be!

What about you? Feeling busy? Sensing there’s more to be done than the time you have left? More work to do at the end of the week than you’d planned for?

I’m trying to avoid saying I’m busy. Not that I don’t have a lot on my plate like everyone else. But if I subscribe to the belief that I’m busy then I might not notice my progress. I might not intentionally create space for reflection, thinking and connecting the dots. So instead when someone asks me “Are you busy?” I respond with “I’m making progress”. You should see the look on their face 😊

Now, either they aren’t really listening and say “Oh, great” and move on quickly. If they are listening the unusual response causes a mental double-take and I’ve had a variety of follow-up comments or questions.

How about you? How do you respond when you are asked “Are you busy?”?

Are you moving or making progress?

I’ve been trying to make note of when I’m active, busy, moving or getting stuff done in comparison to when I’m active, busy, moving or getting stuff done in the direction I want to go in.

Like many, I find myself far too often just being busy in no particular direction. I’m making slow progress on being busy in the direction that I’ve envisioned.

What this looks like are often very small, micro steps that become the stepping stone to the next moment of progress.

So, in all your busy-ness are you moving or making progress?

Question of the week:
It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are you busy about? - Henry David Thoreau

Are you busy being busy? Are you addicted to being busy? Do you notice how busy you are?

As Alvin Toffler suggested, “You’ve got to think about big things whilst you’re doing small things so that all the small things go in the right direction”.

I’m not sure whether all of the small things need to be in one direction but I wonder if enough are?

We know that the aggregation of marginal gains is one way to build momentum and progress. Being busy without something to aim for is more about spending your time rather than investing your time.

So, do you have the right balance between spending, investing or wasting your time?

Quote of the week:
There’s more to life than increasing its speed - Mohandas K Gandhi

It’s ironic that when we are young we can’t wait to get to the next stage so we can do the things we currently can’t do. We want time to go faster.

As we get older, we want time to slow down and we’re happy to wait to do what we can when we can.

So, if there’s more to life than speed. What ‘more’ do you want? Love? Space? Money? Freedom? Connection? Validation? To be heard?

Take a moment to consider – what do you want from this life of yours?

Freedom Fridays Podcast Episode #64

An exploration of what freedom means. Through a series of conversations with experts and leaders in their field, we explore some of the ways we can be free from whatever is holding us back. We’ll share some of the ingredients – easy, hard, and almost impossible.

This week Pete records a solo episode. After reflecting on a question he was asked “How do you make time for learning and growth?”. Pete shares some personal insights from listening to a recent podcast.

Aligned with the philosophy behind Freedom Fridays, Pete shares his personal take on questions like “How would you play if you were totally free?”.

Jonny Wilkinson's I Am podcast episode with Peter Crone can be found here.    
  

         

That's all for this week. I hope you enjoyed Weekly Whisper #82.

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