This is the Too Many Trees newsletter, where I share what I’ve been writing and reading in the realm of leadership and personal development. My coaching practice is centered around the idea that we are more effective in moving towards our goals when we become more conscious and intentional in focusing our time and attention, and learn how our unconscious patterns are holding us back. If you know somebody that could benefit from my perspective, please forward this to them or let them know they can set up a free intro chat with me.
I was on vacation last week, which is why this newsletter edition is a couple days late. In lieu of deep thoughts, let’s share a few pictures from my travels in Europe:
And now for the normal personal development content:
LinkedIn: These are ideas or questions that help my clients (or myself), and that I share via LinkedIn to help a wider audience.
Thinking to Doing to Being is a framework for behavior change I’ve been using for clients recently. It's another way of describing the progress from conscious incompetence (Thinking about a new behavior) to conscious competence (Doing it consciously) to unconscious competence (Being).
How do you hold yourself accountable to a new direction? To live into a new identity often requires asking “What would you do differently on a day-to-day basis?” and “How would you measure success?” to build new habits that enable that new identity.
When was the last time you completely unplugged from work? Can you take one hour off completely for yourself this week? No "have to" or "must". Just time for you to relax, unwind (literally and physically - stand up and stretch to release the tension), and let go of all that you're holding, even for a few minutes.
What I’ve been reading: I managed to read four books last week - yay vacation (and jet lag)! Thank you to the Mountain View Public Library for enabling Kindle loans, so I could read this eclectic set of books on my phone without paying. Also, for those interested in what I read, I just started using Goodreads to keep track.
Thanks for Waiting: The Joy (& Weirdness) of Being a Late Bloomer by Doree Shafrir. As a late bloomer myself, I really appreciated this heartfelt and vulnerable memoir of how it feels to still be swirling around when everybody else seems like they have things figured out. Shafrir sharing details of her dating life in her 30s and her struggles with fertility was both shocking and comforting in that she shared the reality, not the Instagram filtered version of life where everything is beautiful and easy.
The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World by Jamil Zaki. I appreciated Zaki's point that empathy can be practiced and improved over time. But as somebody who already believes in a growth mindset, and in the value of empathy and connection, I didn't learn much in this book, except for a couple cute stories on how people developed their own empathy (e.g. through fiction).
This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Beautifully written and complex tale of a time war and an unlikely friendship. Don't want to say more for fear of spoiling, but really enjoyed this.
The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris. Well written exploration of the dynamics of code switching by Black women in the workplace. But that makes it sound too serious, because it's also just plain fun. I might even call it a horror comedy, as there are elements of ratcheting tensions as the protagonist (and reader) try to figure out what's happening, with trenchant social commentary mixed in.
Thanks for reading! See you in a couple weeks.