the culture of unrushing

Hi Friends, I hope you’re cosying up with a good beverage in hand and a pen & notebook nearby, because I’m pretty sure you’d be writing down some notes from today’s conversation.

As we navigate so much complexity and uncertainty in today’s chaotic world, I wanted to sit down with Ximena to ask her about how applying philosophical principles, retraining curiosity and “living the questions” can help us find more comfort in the unknown and offer some solace despite instability.

She's one of the people who really challenged and expanded how I think, so I can’t wait for you to tune in! 🤠

We talk about how retrieving information is fast while thinking is slow and requires friction, how people have different “cognitive signatures,” and how multiple modes of knowing - analysis, intuition, and embodied wisdom - can coexist without hierarchy; what makes a question ‘good’ and alive and how to find comfort in the liminal space and uncertainty.

We end the conversation with a question for you, dear Listener: What’s your thinking style?

💬  Quotes:

**“ (…) a lot of our anxiety comes from treating our own lives as problems to be solved. But we cannot stand outside our lives and look at them from outside (...) You're in them. So you can ask questions that open and create new spaces, and then allow you to see new things and make new connections, but you can never be outside of them, and that's part of what creates uncertainty and the liminal. And once we accept that, I think we will feel a lot of relief. ”

**“ I'm not a failure because I don't have the answers. I'm just a node in an ecological web trying to make sense of reality and finding different ways of relating to this reality, and I can train myself into this specific attention that Simone Weil describes, this holding the mind open to possibility (…) and ready to receive instead of grasping.”

🔗 Connect with Ximena:

Find my writing on Substack (ximenaximena.substack.com) //

Note from Agata: this is the article I mentioned during our conversation!

My Podcast: Velvet Philosophy

Connect with me on Instagram (www.instagram.com/ximenaximena)

My offers:

Rooted Impact | Philosophy School | 2027 waitlist (arootedimpact.com)

Mythos | October edition: Faust by Goethe, starting October (arootedimpact.circle.so/join-mythos)

🔗 Connect with Agata:

Instagram: ⁠@aserocka⁠

Substack: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/

Come to Comfy Seats - my take on traditional Hot Seats, but without rushing and jaw clenching: https://luma.com/mxs69npj

Sign up for ⁠my email list⁠ to receive a recording of a 35-minute workshop explaining my approach, which I call an experience audit - that I use when I plan a new group session or an IRL event to ensure that I create the best conditions I can for my participants to thrive in my spaces :)

Waitlist for my mastermind: https://mastermind-agataserockaconsulting.subscribepage.io/

Apparently, episode 7 is where a lot of podcasts go to sleep 💤 but over here, we’re only getting started!

It’s as groundbreaking as florals for spring to say that social media impacts our everyday lives, mostly for the worse rather than the better.

After all - according to Statista’s study, an average person spends around 2 hours 21 minutes a day on social media, so - I believe it’s worth evaluating how you spend this time.

Rather than revisiting well-known mental health critiques or Meta’s ethics (or lack thereof), I’ll be sharing today a simple but in-depth auditing process of renegotiating your relationship with social media - a method I use in my consulting & facilitating work to:

• clarify why you want change,
• identify specific use cases (connection, business/self-promotion, staying informed about events, and “education”),
• and test whether each actually serves you

as well as some of my own reflections - incl. the illusion of endless possibility that social media feeds give us & the illusions of being well-connected, as well as finding your own flavour of staying connected and open to opportunities among it all.

I’ve also shared about four people that influenced my relationship to building an online presence & connection, namely:

✨ Alexandra Franzen - https://www.alexandrafranzen.com/ for building a biz off socials for more than 10 years

✨  KP Pilley https://askjupiter.substack.com/about to learn more about editorial strategy and the 9 grid to keep IG but on your terms.

✨ Chelsea Riffe - https://www.chelseariffe.com/ to learn about pitching, podcasting and orbit jumping as an alternative to social media presence.

✨  Amelia Hruby from Off The Grid - https://offthegrid.fun/ also went completely OFF socials; her podcast is a great source of inspiration.

Go check them all out!

🔗 Connect with me

Substack: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/

Sign up to ⁠my email list⁠ to receive a recording of a 35-minute workshop explaining my experience audit approach - that I use when I plan a new group session or an IRL event to ensure that I create the best conditions I can for my participants to thrive in my spaces :)

If you want to contact me, my email (list) would be the best place to go!

Waitlist for my mastermind: https://mastermind-agataserockaconsulting.subscribepage.io/

🎼 August may have slipped away into a moment in time, 🎼 but we’re backkkkk not only with the 6th episode of The Culture of Unrushing, but also with the first one featuring a guest.

And what a conversation it was! I sat down with a Sales Page Strategist and the founder of the critical thinking community The Greenhouse - Jess Andrea, to talk about:

• why Jess created The Greenhouse as a space where multiple truths can coexist, allowing participants to explore complex topics such as AI, identity, privilege, or feminism without the pressure to pick a side or to convince anyone (as opposed to popular social media "discourse", which promotes activation and heightened emotions, but prevents meaningful discussion)
• the difference between "performing goodness" and Internet morality police vs taking time to build an honest view, even if we decide that we were wrong and change our minds
• how the constant need to be perceived as a "good person" forces individuals to adopt safe, socially acceptable stances rather than engaging in deep, intellectual interrogation of their true beliefs
• the necessity for safe spaces for "rupture and repair," where individuals can safely admit mistakes, unexamined biases or insensitive comments and engage in a process of learning and growing together
• performative boycotting vs. humanitarian action; hopelessness, isolation and finding pockets of agency to counteract them
• improving media literacy skills, checking sources and interrogating whose claims we listen to

…. and more!!

🔗 Connect with Jess:

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@jess.andreaja

Dig Deeper: https://dig-deeper.beehiiv.com/

🔗 Connect with Agata:

Instagram: ⁠@aserocka⁠

Substack: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/

Sign up for ⁠my email list⁠ to receive a recording of a 35-minute workshop explaining my experience audit approach- that I use when I plan a new group session or an IRL event to ensure that I create the best conditions I can for my participants to thrive in my spaces :)

Waitlist for my mastermind: https://mastermind-agataserockaconsulting.subscribepage.io/

Hello hello hello!

It's episode five; this relationship slowly becomes serious, so it's time to spice things up, meaning we are recording a different format.

Today's episode can be treated as kind of a master class for anyone considering either joining or organising their mastermind, because I am creating mine - which to me sounded like a good opportunity to talk about it with a concrete example to follow rather than a string of it depends.

A couple of points that I cover today are:

• Paid versus unpaid masterminds
• What should be the length of your mastermind?
• How big should the group be?
• How do you decide who should join, what group dynamics do you want to create conditions for?
• Notes on comparison and collaboration within the group dynamic, as well as asking to be heard versus asking for advice.
• I also dive deeper into the role of facilitator and what makes a good facilitator.

Even if you don't want to join any masterminds, this episode would be very helpful for anyone navigating group dynamics (teams, collaborators, etc).

These best practices of communication, of facilitation, and of making people feel heard and seen apply to many more group contexts than just joining a mastermind.

Enjoy!

🔗 Connect with me + links mentioned in the episode:

Instagram: ⁠@aserocka⁠ (you can DM me what you thought of the episode :))

Substack about book clubs: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/p/bringing-more-book-club-vibes-into

Sign up to ⁠my email list⁠ to receive a recording of a 35-minute workshop explaining my approach, which I call an experience audit - that I use when I plan a new group session or an IRL event to ensure that people who join my space get the experience they haven’t felt before.

Waitlist for my mastermind: https://mastermind-agataserockaconsulting.subscribepage.io/

Welcome back to The Culture of Unrushing, the space where we pause, step away from the constant doing, and break the pattern of operating on autopilot.

In this episode, I'm taking you along the long and winding road of my own self-inquiry journey.

Here is what we are diving into today:

• How I used to be a star student who could ace any exam but couldn't answer the simplest question of all: What do I actually want?
• Why personality tests in my 20s just felt like a collection of fun facts, and how hitting burnout finally forced me to turn these snippets of information into action
• A reminder that any framework should open you up, not limit you. (as in - being an Aries doesn't mean you can't do long-term planning, and being a Projector doesn't mean you just sit around being bitter without taking action!)
• How learning about these systems influenced how I work with others, helping me better discern my own biases as to what is great advice for one person can be horrible advice for another.

Ultimately, this is a conversation about learning to stop outsourcing your decision-making to the world around you, and finally returning to your own body, your own authority, and your own self-trust.

💭 A question for you to ponder:

When you look at your favourite personality tests or self-inquiry systems, have you been using them as tools to expand your self-trust, or have you accidentally turned those labels into a new set of limitations?

🔗 Connect with me:

Instagram: ⁠@aserocka⁠ (you can DM me what you thought of the episode :))

Substack: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/ ⁠

Sign up to ⁠my email list⁠ to receive a recording of a 35-minute workshop explaining my approach, which I call an experience audit - that I use when I plan a new group session or an IRL event to ensure that people who join my space get the experience they haven’t felt before.

I’m grabbing my mic today to talk about a concept from neuroinclusive interior design that made me stand up, clap and say LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK.

When you design a physical space for folks with acute sensory needs—like softer lighting or better acoustics—everyone benefits. I’m arguing that we need to take this exact same blueprint and bring it into our virtual spaces, courses, and coaching offers.

When we design for the person who has to make the extra effort to show up, we make the whole space better for everyone.

I also deep dive, among many things, on one of the facets of the human-centred design:

The "open buffet" approach to connection. With the loneliness epidemic, everyone is selling "community" these days. But just putting people in the same digital container doesn't equal creating meaningful connections or sense of belonging.

As a self-identified socially awkward person, I pay a lot of attention of when this is done particularly well.

In this episode, I talk about an alles kann, nichts muss (everything goes, nothing is mandatory) buffet of options so they can dip in and out without feeling forced to be louder or more outgoing than they are to again - benefits all of us thanks to a more thoughtful design 🙂

🔗 Connect with me:

Instagram: ⁠@aserocka⁠ (you can DM me what you thought of the episode :))

Substack: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/ ⁠

Article about designing for connection: https://aserocka.substack.com/p/are-you-really-designing-your-space

Sign up to ⁠my email list⁠ to receive a recording of a 35-minute workshop explaining my approach, which I call an experience audit - that I use when I plan a new group session or an IRL event to ensure that people who join my space get the experience they haven’t felt before.

In my late 20s, I used to feel a specific type of tension: can you be an ambitious person and prioritise your wellbeing, enjoy your life and not rush all the time?

Is the model I know from American movies from the early 2000s THE ONLY way??

Is wanting to be globally recognised and touching grass on a random Tuesday morning mutually exclusive? And if it’s not - how to do it?

In this solo podcast episode, I am covering topics such as:

• The tool I use in my advisory/consulting work to create shared understanding so we can get to the root of the issue and have long-lasting results
• Why defining words like ambition and success is much more than just a fun linguistic exercise, as it influences how you think of yourself → how you speak to yourself → how you act
• Some personal stories of where I prioritised going after accomplishments and opportunities that looked good on paper, but ended up panicking in a glass elevator in a skyscraper in the centre of Warsaw

🔗 Connect with me:

Instagram: ⁠@aserocka⁠ (you can DM me what you thought of the episode :))

Substack: ⁠https://aserocka.substack.com/ ⁠

You can also join ⁠my email list⁠

Hello world!

In this introductory solo episode, I share a bit more about what I understand under the culture of unrushing, why I actively learn to un-rush when the world only accelerates and what you can expect in this pod going forward.

❇ Connect with me:

Instagram: @aserocka (you can DM me what you thought of the episode :))

Substack: https://aserocka.substack.com/

Substack article about festine lente I mentioned in this episode

You can also join my email list

❇ PS. don't forget to take a deep breath, look at some trees and speak to you soon :)