Episode 29  In this episode, we help you prepare for a sharper new YOU for next year by revisiting the subject of goals. We've produced a compilation episode on the subject, with all the really useful stuff from episodes 18 and 19.

If you'd like to listen to the FULL episodes, the links are here:



• Episode 18 (Why Your Goals Aren't Working) where we cover:
• The resource out there on setting goals
• 5 steps that many people agree on when setting successful goals
• 1) Visualising your goal – invoke all of your senses
• The brain’s link between sounds, smells and memory
• 2) Writing your goal down – using the S.M.A.R.T. acronym
• Be Specific about what the goal is
• Define how you would Measure whether you’ve achieved the goal
• Use ‘Action’ language – Do, Become, Develop
• Realistic – either take this literally and make the goals realistic or take the ‘Big Hairy Audacious’ approach and set really stretching goals. You decide!
• Set a Time limit to when you want to achieve the goal by
• 3) Sharing your goal
• Two schools of thought on this, make them public or keep them private. Here are two perspectives:
• Fast Company say make it public 
• Derek Sivers says keep them private
• 4) Break it down
• Be sure to split bigger goals into smaller steps
• Be clear on the NEXT step
• Make it something you can do within 24 hours
• 5) Plan
• Set yourself dates in the diary to review your progress AND to celebrate your success
• The one thing missing from most of the advice – WHY
• Why WHY?
• Never underestimate the power of stating the obvious
• 30 million people have given up smoking this way
• 5 whys, according to iSixSigma
• 5 whys, according to Toyota
• A version delivered from our kitchen table
• How you can make reviewing progress more satisfying
• Use a good planner to manage your progress – this is nice Action Day Academic Diary 17/18
• The importance of being flexible – your goals don’t have to be set in stone
• In fact, if you set the wrong ones and you’ve changed them, then the process works!
• Episode 19 (10 Great Ways To Track Your Goals) where we cover:
• Why it’s no good just deciding on your goals
• Apps and mobile-based resource can track and support your goals because your device is always with you
• We reviewed loads of different websites, blogs and resource to research what apps are out there
• We (I) found 95 different apps to consider
• So then I filtered them based on which ones got recommended the most
• In the episode, I talked about the top 5 – here they are:
• Coach.me
• Goals on track
• Strides
• Irunurun
• Lifetick
• Next up was a ‘paper-based’ resource – sometimes it’s just nice to write with a pen
• Especially if you’re in a field (or the field)
• The Self Journal – here’s the link
• While researching The Self Journal, I came across this video by Gillateen. He’s funny and cool
• My Pro Planner
• They had a nice video, too – here it is
• Action Day planners
• Two further bits of resource which are paper-based but not journals:
• Design the Life You Love by Ayshe Birsel – here’s the link
• Field Notes notebooks, my absolute fave – here they are
• Fisher Space pen can write upside down, underwater, or in the snow. So if you find yourself upside down in snowy water, it’s a must. Also, if you just want to have a handy small pen, it’s also a must. Again – here’s the link

Episode 28 - In this episode, we help you prepare for a sharper new YOU for next year by revisiting the subject of habits. We've produced a compilation episode on the subject, with all the really useful stuff from episodes 5,6 and 7.

If you'd like to listen to the FULL episodes, the links are here:



• Episode 5 (Breaking Bad), where we cover:
• What are habits?
• How are they formed? According to Charles Duhigg in his book – The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change
• The notion of cue/routine/reward
• Bad habits – smoking – yuk! How to stop with – The EasyWay method from Allen Carr
• The plasticity of our brains and changing habits
• Podcast resource 1 – Freakonomics Radio – How to be More Productive
• Changing behaviour – the BJ Fogg Model
• The notion of Motivation/Ability/Trigger
• Podcast resource 2 – The One You Feed Episode 91
• Why motivation is not the only way to change habits
• Why you should aim for ‘easy’
• Baby steps – or ‘How to design a website just by opening a laptop’
• David Allen’s idea of ‘Next Actions’ when tackling a project – GTD
• Episode 6 (Get Into the Groove), where we cover:
• New Year’s resolutions and why they don’t stick – some stats
• Gym memberships – some stats from Planet Money
• Apps which can help you with the ‘cue’ and ‘reward’ parts of habit forming
• For both Android and Apple, there’s – Coach.me
• Prefer simple and on Android? try – Loop Habit Tracker
• Prefer simple and on IOS (And Android)? try – Habit Bull
• Why the behaviour and reward cycle is so powerful – Judson Brewer on the TED stage
• Procrastination and how to attack it
• Episode 7 (Habits and the Write Stuff) where we cover:
• Even if you’ve already read it, it’s worth re-visiting – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• The urgent important matrix – Eisenhower version
• Charles Duhigg – Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
• The Peter Bregman Podcast

Peter Bregman –18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Right Things Done

Episode 27 - In this episode, we turn the tables on Steve. Lisa interviews him to find out about the podcast journey so far, what influences the content, where the ideas come from and, importantly, to ask for your input on where you\'d like it to go from here*

Some of the stuff in there are:



• How Steve doesn\'t know the difference between Paddington Bear and Winnie The Pooh
• Why is Steve interested in his podcast stuff
• How we both use it day to day
• GTD (You can get the book here)
• Morning routines - Featured in Episode 12
• End-of-day routines - We looked at this in Episode 13
• Gratitude
• Managing e-mail - Episode 20 covered this
• Structuring your day the 18 minutes way - Order the book here
• Apps like Evernote and Nozbe
• The positive impact on life of using some of the Sharp ideas
• Why the podcast started
• The voiceover to podcast journey - Steve\'s voiceover website link if you\'re interested
• What would Steve have done differently if he had done it all again
• What we\'ve learned
• The podcasts Steve listens to
• For fun
• Poorly summarized - This is the episode on Middle-Aged Twerking!
• Adam Buxton
• Super Pee Pee time on Soundcloud
• WTF with Marc Maron
• For inspiration
• Malcolm Gladwell\'s Revisionist History
• Be Reasonable
• More Perfect
• The One You Feed
• Radiolab
• Hidden Brain
• Ones which cover similar subjects to \'Sharp\'
• The Productivity Show
• Next Action Associates
• Lead To Win
• GTD
• How the podcast has changed in the 8 months
• Steve-In-The-Field. What\'s he for?
• How we choose the subjects
• Who we\'re aiming the podcast at
• Why Steve gets passionate about how the same people in the workplace will tell you that they think the most important thing is \'communication\', and then send terrible e-mails
• Where is the podcast going
• How YOU can get involved and help us!

Episode 26 - In this episode, we have a look at the humble checklist. In today's complex and sophisticated life, we often have equally complex solutions. However, sometimes there's still a place for the simple checklist. It can be a lifesaver, and in certain circumstances - literally.

Some of the stuff in there is:



• Why should we consider checklists?
• Who uses them
• Our brain and why it needs help at times
• We considered the Psychology Today article on why we only retain certain information
• What you've got in common with an airline pilot, a doctor, a diver - and me
• The solutions we come up with to make allowances for our brain's limitations
• Beans
• The tragedy which caused the airline pilot checklist to come into existence
• The Art Of Manliness - their ideas about checklists
• Atul Gawande, author of - The Checklist Manifesto
• Gawande's Ted talk
• Malcolm Gladwell's review of his book
• You can order The Checklist Manifesto from Amazon UK here
• Or you can order it from Amazon USA here
• That bumbling dufus and his report this week
• My checklists - the podcast, travelling
• Ideas about what you could consider making simpler with checklists
• Cleaning routines
• Morning routine
• Checklists for Kids in the morning
• Xmas Day
• Photographer/Filmmaker's checklist
• Holiday checklists - packing or actions before the holiday
• First Aid kits
• Entertaining
• Finances
• Networking
• Blogging or online content checklists
• How to manage them - from paper to apps
• Evernote
• Nozbe - this shows you how to set up a template
• Wunderlist
• Alternatives to Wunderlist when it eventually goes :-(
• Atul's guide for creating strong checklists

Episode 25 - This week, we challenge the idea that being 'positive' is always the best approach. In fact, we discovered some research that suggests it could even hold you back:

Some of the stuff in there is:

• Astonishment at our global listener group
• Me failing to greet our listeners in a few different languages
• The glass half full half empty scenario - it might not be helpful
• How social media can make us feel like our lives are half empty
• Our discovery of where we are in the world on income
• Try it yourself; you may be surprised - How Rich Am I?
• How positive thinking influenced my ability to pass a test
• Steve-in-the-field goes to the races to prove me wrong
• A Washington Post article - interview of Susan David challenging forced positive thinking
• Hidden Brain podcast by NPR - featuring professor Gabriele Oettingen
• Her article in the New York Post
• What Joel Minden says in Psychology Today - about challenging beliefs
• WOOP! - Here's an explainer video
• Professor Oettingen's talk at - New York University
• The Rethinking Positive Thinking book - UK link to purchase
• The Rethinking Positive Thinking book - US link to purchase