Who reads a quote, throws down their phone and spends 2 months building an amazing software application or writing a book?

Turns out that’s exactly what Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble (recently valued at 8.3 billion), did after hearing a quote by Jeff Bezos.

Most of us just keep scrolling but lets look at how to harness the power of quotes and memes.

Fire cannot survive without fuel and oxygen. In just the same way, motivation cannot survive without reasons and routine.

We’re going to look at both.

Worrying about what people will think, re-visiting conflicts and arguments we’ve had, anticipating that ‘everything will go wrong’ or just being harsh with ourselves. They are all habitual ways of thinking that we can devote a tremendous amount of time and effort to.

One solution is an activity or set of actions that we consciously choose in order to re-route negative or unproductive thought processes. Of course, that first entails being aware of them and not simply ‘riding the dark train’ until an external event does the job for us.

As human beings we’re hard wired to seek safety but we were, at least at one time, also predisposed to seek out what we wanted and what we needed.

When our resolve to do this falters its not because of the multitude of difficulties we’re encountering at any given moment. It’s because we’re not focussing on what we want, what we stand for, what we’re entitled to and what we won’t put up with any longer.

Bringing your personal decision making process back to what you want will cut down on the additional factors that will potentially influence or derail your decision.

You don't need to brim with positivity and optimism nor do you need to deluge them advice and suggestion

We're going to look at:

How to check in with someone without pestering.

Active listening skills.

The right questions.

Topics to avoid.

The importance of honesty and authenticity.

When Steve Backshall appeared in Men’s Health magazine the pictures quickly went viral.

An article in the Telegraph quizzically asked ‘just how does the 47 year old father of three stay in such ridiculously good shape?’

For me the bigger question has to be why?

Steve will have his own answer for that just as you and I will need to if we’re going to do likewise.

On Loch Tay, not far from Aberfeldy, there once stood a Crannog. This was a large thatched circular dwelling built on sturdy wooden piles out in the loch. It would have been home to several families and their animals.

So what does that have to do with work life balance? In truth, practically nothing. We have all but abandoned the integrated lifestyle approach taken by the people who lived in the Crannog and replaced it with one in which we strive to keep work and life as separate as possible.

We’ll look at alternatives based around an integrated lifestyle and we’ll examine some of the mindset shifts necessary to achieve it.

For this project, the challenge was in rebranding an established product to attract new audiences, while ensuring that current users feel connected. The results were outstanding. 

Resilience is not some sort of death or glory, ‘rather die than quit’, hell and back, journey to success or oblivion. 

Instead it’s the ability to adapt to challenging circumstances. 

It’s bouncing back after we’ve struggled, faltered, or blown it completely. It’s about reminding ourselves what our best looks like even when we feel at our worst. It’s recognising that it’s OK to get mad when it all goes wrong but that it’s not OK let it deflect us.

In short, resilience is NOT about being ready to go down with the ship.

If you've ever noticed how some people only post their highlights on social media you’ll know something of the effect that other people’s need for approval can have on us. 

We’re going to look at 

The psychology of ‘likes’.

How we can maintain meaningful social media usage without needlessly comparing our lives to others.

Why self confidence and approval are not the same.