Wise Wednesdays

One thing that always surprised me as a doctor and scientist was that we knew the solutions to many problems but that it took a lot of time for the solutions to trickle through society.   We know the factors behind burnout and imposter syndrome and how to alleviate them, but the numbers seem to continue rising…   Here’s a simple principle that I believe can help in their prevention:   Don’t move faster than you can feel.   [Read on or watch this week’s video]   If you’re going so fast in life that you’ve lost all connection to your body’s signals for rest and nourishment, that’s a problem.     If you’ve become numb to what it is that you want (your desires) or what you don’t want (your boundaries), you’re going to feel very confused about life and out of control.     It’s like driving a car without breaks or a steering wheel. It’s only a matter of time before it crashes.   If you’re unsure about what it is that you want in life and are j...

Sometimes, people can lash out aggressively (which may have nothing to do with you) and you need to shield yourself somehow.    Below are 4 strategies you can use in the heat of the moment. They’re based on 25 years of experience in public-facing, service-driven work and extensive training in communication and behaviour change.   You're probably doing some of these already and perhaps not realising why they work.   [Read on or watch the video]   WARNING: The strategies below are simply suggestions to illustrate how you might handle unfair criticism rather than phrases you would reproduce exactly. The context and your assessment of the other person must inform what you do in the moment. But as they say in the military: “In battle, you don't rise to your standards, you fall to your level of training.” So here’s your drill!    Let’s say someone comes up to you after a presentation and says: “I didn’t like your talk, your speaking skill...

Back to keyboard creativity after a radical reset and enthusiastically typing out some new ideas into pixels for you.   Last month I shared what I think is the biggest global problem. Whether it’s climate change, obesity, mental health or war (things I’ve worked on as a public health physician), the root could well be this…   If I had to pick just one global problem to solve instantly, it would be the crisis of  Presence . Here's why.   People meet but they are not really present with each other. People talk but they don’t really communicate. People think but they get lost in their thoughts and emotions. People take a break but they don’t disconnect from the incessant impulse to do stuff. People negotiate but they don’t really take in new perspectives. People give but they forget to receive (or receive and forget to give).   This leads to a sense of separation, isolation and stuckness where there could be connection, insight and innovation that would go a l...