Hey, Matt here!
Welcome to a new week AND to the new readers since last issue. A reminder that you can find me on the web and on Threads, which is becoming quite the fun social network.
Thanks for joining me - now, onto the good stuff!
Monday Motivation. Let this week be the one where you learn how to focus on outcomes, not tasks. This important change will help you master your productivity. Invaluable stuff.
Decisions. Never make a permanent decision based on temporary emotions. Some sound advice from Tom Greene.
Help. How to ask your boss for help. Includes an excellent email template that you can adapt to get your boss to assist without you feeling silly. I’d be very happy if I received mails like this from my teams.
Thinking. How to change your mind. How CBT can help change the way you think and overcome dysfunctional behaviours.
Strategy. What makes a great strategy. A smart bear gives one of the best explanations of strategy that I have seen.
Networking. 17 tips on making connections if you are an introvert. I really like #5 in this list, leveraging your passion to be your guide.
Sleep. Why a lack of sleep can mess with your immune system. Remember, the body keeps the score - so it pays to get the basics of sleep right. See also my guide to great sleep hygiene, with tips that have helped me.
Conversation. Three sets of questions to spark conversations. I have hundreds more icebreakers over at ‘The Questions’.
F***! A short history of the F-word. The word goes back further than you think, and it could have been vikings that bought it to the english language.
Fifty-Two. Tom Whitwell’s list of 52 things he learned in the year is always an excellent read. This year is not exception.
Nuclear. How to run a nuclear reactor. Piece of cake, right?
Finally. 20 words in 20 seconds. This is a tough one, furious type words to match the prompts. You’ll need to be very fast; my high score is 9.
🔈 Stuff to Listen to...
🎧 This week's audio treat is my annual Holiday Season playlist, which has been updated for 2023 with some great new tunes. This year, we’re at 66 tunes and over 3 hours, so this is an ideal playlist for the office at Christmas, or even around the house over the Holiday season.
Merry X-Matt has some well-known standards from Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey and Bruce Springsteen, but has deeper cuts from the more soulful and alternative side of festive songs. Donny Hathaway, Run DMC and The Villagers are nestled into the mix giving you a different look at the traditional holiday playlist.
This is one of my most followed lists on Spotify, and I’ll update and present it every year while I still find unusual holiday songs.
It also contains my personal favourite holiday song - Meli Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters.
Stuff someone said.
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
Bernard Shaw
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