sharppodcast

Episode 52 - We go back in time to an episode we originally broadcast in 2017, where we summarised the best ideas we'd found on setting GREAT goals. This version of EP29 is edited to be a bit tighter. We've got rid of the out-of-date stuff and kept the good stuff. Wanna set better goals for 2019? Give it a listen.

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 can you 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 ‘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
• 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 51 - New Year's Resolutions don't work. But at this time of year, you might be thinking about what you want to be different in 2019. So we've re-released a tighter, updated version of Episode 28. Even if you've heard this already - it's well worth listening to again. There's SO much there!

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

Episode 50 - We look back over what we've done in the past year or so with a little help from our friends.

Some of the stuff in there is:



• How we ended last year with our tribute to Steve in the Field
• What Mayor Lance Olive likes about STP, SITF and Episode 27
• His tips on using a calendar well
• Mel Elliot's thoughts on her favourite episode - STP033 Ready Steady Tomato
• Giving YOU my system in Episodes 35,36 and 37
• Laura Gassner Otting's thoughts on - STP034 How About NO
• Laura's own tips on saying 'NO'
• How moving house in April ended up with us making - STP038 Taking It On With Trello
• A fellow podcast producer, Suzi The Casual Birder, shared why she liked it
• My favourite episode - STP042 Jessica Abel
• Vic's top tip from Tourist Podcast
• What we did this summer
• Why Debby Barnes locked on to - STP 047 Overcomoing Perfectionism
• Our episode on Better Public Speaking helped me do my job
• Our friends Jeff and Cade over at Super Pee Pee Time podcast help us end this episode making less (or more) sense than where we started!

Episode 49 - Life is too short for terrible meetings. We explore how to make them better, whether you run 'em, go to 'em, or avoid 'em. Dive in...

Some of the USEFUL stuff in there is:

• Who invented the meeting
• Terrible conference calls - an example
• Why a CNBC article confirms your worst fears - meetings can be rubbish
• Everything that's wrong with meetings
• Holding meetings 101 - The basics:
• Respect your attendee's time
• Get to the point
• Consider who HAS to be there
• Set the agenda
• Change the location
• Or even just change SEATS!
• John Cleese shows us what's wrong with meetings
• Can you make meetings better if you're invited to them? YES YOU CAN
• A great article by Tom Catalini - how to avoid meetings that waste your time
• Book meetings with yourself
• Find out from the organiser what the purpose is of the meeting
• Reach out to the other delegates and help each other prepare
• Why you should sometimes say 'no'
• Arrive late - or leave early
• A GREAT Ted talk by David Grady - Worth 6 minutes of your time trust me
• The radical stuff - what Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other big players do
• Empty chair
• Silent reading time
• No Powerpoint
• Not before noon
• Only on a Wednesday
• Do 30 mins in 20
• Purge recurring meetings
• Throw out the hangers-on
• Lose the chairs
• Walk out (if you're not adding value)

The research we used for this episode was:



• The Chicago Tribune/Vancouver Sun - Meetistotle
• HBR - Stop the meeting madness
• Forbes article by Dean Brenner - The Secret To Better Meetings
• Tom Catalini - How to avoid meetings that waste your time
• Drayton Bird - Please Read Carefully Before You Even Think Of Attending A Meeting
• John Cleese - Meetings Meetings Bl**dy Meetings
• Fastcompany - Business Leaders Share How They Cut Down On Meetings
• Quartz.com - Top Business Leaders Meetings
• Project Management Hacks - 7 tips to more productive meetings
• Inc.com - 9 steps to better meetings
• CNBC - Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban and Elon Musk avoid this productivity killer

Episode 48 - In this episode, we talk about why public speaking and presenting can be difficult, and we give you 13 tips to help you get better in this tricky area.

Some of the USEFUL stuff in there is:

• My terrible presentation
• Trust me - you look better than you think
• Why we can find public speaking difficult - even scary
• Glossophobia
• Lisa talks to us from a different table about her experience
• Have your opening lines prepared
• Feeling anxious
• Tapping your fingers (not EFT)
• Relaxing about not having all the answers
• Using a 'car park'
• A great Psychology Today article on why public speaking is so difficult
• Our physiology
• Anxiety about being anxious
• The stakes are raised
• Overestimating the skills needed and the consequences
• People's status
• Judgement and evaluation
• A new audience or a new idea
• Tips on speaking in small groups
• Toastmasters groups
• Knowing your subject
• Engaging with the audience
• Slowing down
• Thinking about breathing
• Conversation, not presentation
• Less is more
• Have a look at this Toastmasters video
• Tips for larger, more full blown presentations
• Accepting that nerves will happen
• Realising you look much better than you think
• People won't react like you expect, and that's ok
• Planning
• A beginning, a middle and an end
• Knowing your audience
• Practice
• Talking to one person at a time
• Use media carefully - Powerpoint can become your enemy easily!
• Aiming for average
• What we can learn from TED Talks
• Have a look at this great video from Chris Anderson at TED

If you want to do further reading, here's where we got some of the insights



• Toastmasters International
• Grammarly
• Mindtools