Awesomely Off-Topic: Books, Brands, Business and Everything Else We’re Not Supposed to Say Out Loud
🎙️ Awesomely Off-Topic is the podcast that dives headfirst into the business of being brilliantly, messily, unapologetically you.
Hosted by award-winning speaker trainer and business and personal empowerment coach Taz Thornton, alongside publishing powerhouse, book mentor and content coach Asha Clearwater – expect bold conversations about building a business and life that actually fits you, not the other way round.
We’ll talk personal brand, visibility without the ick, microbooks with major impact, ADHD-friendly approaches, messy launches, business flops, spiritual sidequests and all the stuff no one told you you were allowed to say out loud.
We’re doing this on a shoestring – raw, unedited and totally unscripted. No fancy studio, no big budget, no gatekeeping. Just hit record and go.
Real talk. Tangents. Swearing (probably). Useful insights. And a whole lot of permission to do it your way.
It’s chaos. It’s clarity. It’s Awesomely Off-Topic.
Awesomely Off-Topic: Books, Brands, Business and Everything Else We’re Not Supposed to Say Out Loud
🎙️ S2 E21: THE CALENDAR HAS LOST THE PLOT
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The calendar is telling us to celebrate everything, everywhere, all at once and it is getting ridiculous. One day we are meant to read books and co-work, the next we are meant to do nothing, then we are juggling elephants, left handers, financial awareness, geocaching, roller coasters and rum. We ask the real question behind the jokes: has the awareness day calendar become content noise, or can it still be a smart tool for small business marketing when you use it with intent?
From there we go properly bookish. We share the business and mindset books we actually rate, why audiobooks count, and how reading can be part of your work when you are researching, editing, proofreading, or writing. We also talk about books that challenge your view of modern power, including an insider account of Meta, plus the harder ethics of platforms and creators: where you show up online, what you fund, and how you make values-based choices without disappearing from the places your clients hang out.
Then we get personal about burnout and creativity. We explore why escapist fiction can be a genuine reset for your brain, how writing “just for fun” can unlock new ideas and new offers, and why co-working and body doubling help when motivation is low, especially for neurodivergent people. We finish by turning the silliest prompt of all into something practical: how “lizards” can become content about environment, resilience, focus, and growth.
If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave us a review. And if you want to be part of the conversation, call our hotline and tell us which awareness day you would delete first.
Something you’d love us to know? Send us a message - we’d love to hear from you.
✨ Unfiltered. Unedited. Awesomely Off-Topic. New episodes every Tuesday.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more rants, rambles and random brilliance: 👋 @AwesomelyOffTopic, plus our co-hosts @thetazthornton + @ashaclearwater
🔥☎️ 🔥 ALL NEW AWESOMELY OFF-TOPIC HOTLINE: +44 (0)33 00 272871.
Please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.
Welcome And Hotline Plans
SPEAKER_03You're listening to Awesomely Off Topic. Books, brands, business, and everything else we're not supposed to say out loud. I'm Taz and Asher. Now let's get into it. Welcome to Awesomely Off Topic, and today we're talking about whether the calendar has actually lost the plot. Why? Well, stay tuned. We're going to be telling you about the crazy, crazy week of national and international days we're supposed to be enjoying. But before then, we want to say a quick thank you to everyone who's called in to our new hotline. How exciting is that. We've had loads of messages, Taz. It's really cool. I know, we went from nothing to the point where we were kind of ringing it ourselves to leave a message and check if it was can't really play our king. Yeah. Do we play our own messages? No. And then we dropped a few messages out to some of our groups online, and all of a sudden, we're getting inundated. So stay tuned. We're going to play you one of those. We're going to have Call of the Week every week now. We'll play you one of those later on, so stay tuned. You lot have really embraced the challenge. It's just it's just brilliant. So we Gladys does agree. We were talking
National Days Have Gone Bonkers
SPEAKER_03about how bonkers these national and international days have gone. And I know it's been a bit of a laughing point before, haven't it, hasn't it? With things like, I don't know, National Fish and Chips Day and National Mint Fudge Day. I don't know if there isn't if there is a mint fudge day.
SPEAKER_04We should actually start one up because you love mint.
SPEAKER_03If there was a national mint chocolate vegan fudge day, I'd be all over that. Yeah. It's the only fudge you like, it's too sweet normally. Yeah. Anyway, mint chocolate and me, off the topic. So let's just look back for a second.
Book Lovers Day Meets Co-working
SPEAKER_03The weekend we've just had, Sunday, August the 9th, was National Book Lovers Day. And it's yay, it says national, but of course you might as well forget that on any of these days because since the advent of the internet, National Days just seem to turn into national anyway, don't they?
SPEAKER_04Without a doubt, yeah. But um for me, the wider it goes, the better if it's anything to do with books. Yeah. So I'm happy.
SPEAKER_03And given that it's called National Book Day, it did actually go a bit geeky and just check but Book Lover's Day. Book Lover's Day, sorry. I did check and go a bit geeky and do a bit of research. Did you? Yeah. Thinking, which nation is this? Is this just a US Day? Can we be talking about it? Of course we've got loads of US listeners, so we could have done anyway. But apparently, no, it's really, really widely embraced now. UK, US, Canada, it's it's everywhere. But this was the intriguing bit. On the same day as National Book Lovers Day, which at least is on a Sunday, it's also International Co-working Day. So which are we supposed to be doing? Reading or working? Both. Why can't you do both?
SPEAKER_04Well, I suppose you could do both. Isn't it? It could be, depending on what your job is and what your business is. I guess it is for you. Give us some examples. How can reading be working, Ash? It can be working in so many reasons. It could be reading, I could be proofreading somebody's book, for instance, but I could also be reading because I'm researching, because I'm learning about a client and the industry that they're in, for instance. I need to gen up a bit on things. I could be doing that. Yeah, so that could be part of my business. In fact, it is frequently I'll do that. If I don't know something like, well, if I don't know an industry, a marketplace, what will I do? I'll go and find somebody that works in that industry, I'll look at what they've written, I'll go and research that and I'll read. I'll maybe read a book. Okay.
SPEAKER_03And I suppose actually, even if it's a fiction book, your business could be writing fiction books. Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_04So yeah.
SPEAKER_03And you'll go together. Your whole business is around editing people's books or ghostwriting people's books or helping them to write their books.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04But it makes perfect sense for me, but not for everybody. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_03There's a really good one you you edited, something called Un Unleash Your Awesome or something like that. Here we go.
SPEAKER_04Yes, an amazing it is an amazing book. Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Thank you very much.
Business Books We Rate Highly
SPEAKER_03But that did get us chatting, didn't it, before we went on air about some of the business books that we've we've loved and we've enjoyed together. And I was going through some of the audio books because normally, if we're talking about business books, we tend to have a quick scan of the shelves either at home where we are right now or when we're over in the studio or scan the bookshelves there. And then I thought, we've actually listened to a load of audiobooks as well. Does that count for National Book Lovers Day?
SPEAKER_04Of course it does. Because for me, you know, what I loved, well, we've not been travelling quite so far of recent days, but generally when we're doing a lot of travelling, we'll nine times out of ten have an audio book on or a podcast. Yeah. But usually an audio book because there's so much you can learn in a relatively short space of time. And I love that. And it keeps me company, particularly if I'm travelling alone. I love I love that, whether I'm on public transport or I'm driving myself somewhere.
SPEAKER_03I've got to say, I've really missed that. So where I haven't been travelling as far as I used to, and we haven't had a long trip for a little while, a big chunk of my inspiration comes from listening to really good business coaching mindset books in the car. And I was thinking back to some of those for anyone listening who wants a bit of inspiration. Some of the ones I've loved that we've both listened to. Pretty much anything by Michael Neal, but particularly the I think it was the 10th anniversary edition of Super Coach that really had a refresh. And I think that's one of the ways that I got the idea of giving Unleash a complete refresh when we when we redid it. So the original Unleash Your Awesome is very different to the second edition.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I think that gave me part of that idea. So yeah, anything by Michael Neal, if you want to be pushing your mindset up a bit, is brilliant. He's a great one for on the road. And likewise, pretty much anything by Steve Chandler.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you're always now. You got me on to Steve Chandler because I wasn't sure. I hadn't sounds awful, terrible admission, but I hadn't heard of him. And then you were raving so much, I thought I've got to have a listen or yeah, read this.
SPEAKER_03Really good books. And most of his I've got in hard copy and in audio. Yeah. They're really good ones. What makes them really good? Steve Chandler's they are really, really simple in the best sense of the word. They're really easy to digest even if your brain's full. Yeah, I totally agree with that. But they're also packed with brilliant information. And the information goes in and it's so simple, you're like, yeah, whatever, and then all of a sudden, bloody hell, that's brilliant. You know, and the best ideas are simple.
SPEAKER_04And I love that. And maybe that's something to do with our neurodivergent brain. Maybe. But it's kind of it's out of left field, so you think you you know where the conversation's going or the or the book's going, and then something else will come in and just make you stop for a moment and think, Yeah, okay, I hadn't seen it from that perspective. Oh, I'm gonna take a moment to digest that.
SPEAKER_03So if my brain is really full, but I know I need a little bit of an inspiration and a bit of a pep talk. The two of Steve Chandler's books that I tend to go back to a lot, and I've listened to them over and over, and I think I'm gonna get this the right way around. Something like a hundred ways to motivate others. Yeah. And then there's another one that's something like 37 ways to improve your coaching practice. Right. Something like that. Yeah. But they're really quick tips, really quick and easy. So a bit like one of your micro books, but in a bigger size book, and that's why they work so well.
SPEAKER_04So though Steve, if you're listening, if you want a micro book, come and talk to me.
SPEAKER_03I'm connected to Steve on LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_04Oh, there you go, then. Do you know what?
SPEAKER_03Opportunity just off a segue, talking about people I'm connected to. I know. Talking of people I'm connected to on LinkedIn.
Jimmy Cricket And A Lovely Ritual
SPEAKER_03I was gutted this week to hear that Jimmy Cricket's died. I know. And Asher told me, and it's been the highlight of my birthday for years. Yeah. Because Jimmy Cricket would always send me a birthday message on LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_04Can I just for our uh international listeners, and for those in the UK they may not know who Jimmy was like, Jimmy Cricket is kind of an old school comedian, but really harmless, silly, funny humour.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Just yeah. He got an L and an R on his welly boots to show him which foot to put them on. But yeah, really old school. I remember laughing at him when watching with my granddad years ago. Yeah. And I remember saying to you, yeah, I was got up to my birthday most years for the past couple of years, and me saying to Ash, Oh Crikey, please let me get a birthday message from Jimmy. Because if I stop getting birthday messages from Jimmy, I'll know. And yeah, so Jimmy, wherever you are, mate, thank you for the birthday messages. They cheered me. We never met in real life. We're just connected on LinkedIn and hardly ever chatted to each other, but I'd always get a birthday message. That's lovely. And it was always personalised instead of just the the crappy automated LinkedIn thing. Yeah. So oh Jimmy Quickett. I hope you're making them laugh wherever you are, mate. Really do. Anyway, back to books.
Pricing Mindset And Foundational Reads
SPEAKER_03Okay. LinkedIn, where we're talking about being connected to Steve Chandler on on LinkedIn, weren't we? I actually first came to Steve Chandler when I read way back in the early days of my coaching career, a book that I'm guessing most coaches will have read, and if they haven't, they should do. Which was The Prosperous Coach, which was a yeah?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Which was a collaboration between Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that was a good book. And I you introduced me to that with uh audiobook. Yeah. Because I remember us listening to that on the way to networking events.
SPEAKER_03And a lot of Rich Litvin stuff in there. Rich Litvin is a brilliant coach, but a lot of his stuff in there I found myself really disagreeing with. So about just getting on the phone all the time and not needing to do social media, and actually Steve does a lot of that too, to be fair. Whereas at the time, I was kind of anti-picking up the phone, and I would much rather go through social. So that rankled a little bit.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But all the mindset, which all the best books should, shouldn't they? It did. I still didn't agree by the end of it, but I at least listened.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But all the mindset stuff around charging helped me no end. And of course, since then, there's so much of my own money mindset, coaching and training that I've done. So I end up helping a lot of people with their own finances now and charging properly. My methodologies might be quite different, but I can trace wanting to be able to do that right back to that book, I think. So it's a really good foundational book. It might have dated a little bit now, but the basics are still the same. In the same way that I often praise Gary Vaynichuk's really early book, Crushing It. That was one of the first books I read when I went self-employed.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I remember.
SPEAKER_03And again, the the the channels have changed massively, but the methodology is still there. I still think that was one of the most inspiring and get on with it, practical, action-based business books I ever read. What else? GoTo. I just had my hand over the microphone. Apologies if I was a bit muffled then. Go to books if ever I need to have a bit of a bit of a motivation session. I don't know how many times I've listened to Tony Robbins' books, particularly Unleash the Giant Within. Ah, Brain Fart Moment, Asher Help, Unleash the Giant Within and Unlimited Power. Okay. Sorry, Awaken the Giant Within.
SPEAKER_04And Unlimited Power. I mean I've listened to it because you've listened to it in the car, but I've not I must confess I haven't read any. Terrible confessions.
SPEAKER_03I've gotta say, those early two I've returned to far more than the later books. I mean, some of his later books I've bought I've I've bought and started to get into them and then thought not really getting this. But the early stuff. Yeah. Other when I looked at my audible list other earlier, other things as well. Brendan Burchard's book, The High Performance Coaching People, High Performance. High Performance Coach, isn't it? Was it? Oh, crikey. My brain is. We should have we should have thought about this before we went out. Oh my we should have done, shouldn't we? Everybody'll be listening to the H. Anyway, Brendan Burchard. If you know Brendan Burchard, high performance habits. Habits, that's all the H's. Yeah. I've listened to that. H's not H's. H's not H's. There is no there's only one H in H. Yes. And it's at the end, not the beginning. We also, when we were listening to that, I think we started to use some of his journals and his planners as well. And at the time I was saying they were the best business and mindset planners and journals I've ever used. They are really, really good. Who else? Lucy Griffiths, make money while you sleep.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Brilliant. Again, friends with her on LinkedIn. We had a random moment when we bumped into her walking around the grounds of a stately home a few years back. That was a few years ago now. So I've recommended that to so many people. So shout out to Lucy. Hello, lovely. Have you listened to? Hi Lucy. And and yeah, so what are what about some of yours, Ash? So they're some of the ones we've listened to together.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I've probably listened to them more than than you have. But what are some of the the business books that you've learned from most and enjoyed most?
SPEAKER_04I've got to give a shout out to Mary Portas.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Work Like a Woman is a good book. It's a really good book.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_04I just love her ethos. I love her. I love everything about her. I just think she's an amazing woman. You know, what she doesn't know about retail in the UK and internationally, but there's so much more than that. And she gives a lot of herself in her books too, which I've seen. It's not just retail, though, is it?
SPEAKER_03There's going to be lots of transferable lessons.
SPEAKER_04Oh absolutely. Yeah, that's just the tip of the iceberg. But I love her writing style. I love that the way she just explains things really simplifies it again, but really powerfully, so that you can feel really empowered by just reading it and soaking in the vibes of her book. And of course, then I would also talk about I talked about it earlier, the
Careless People And Life Inside Meta
SPEAKER_04latest one at the moment that's on my mind is Sarah Wynne Williams, who wrote Careless People.
SPEAKER_03Careless People.
SPEAKER_04Oh, the controversial book. No, if you're in the States, you'll understand why it's controversial. You may well understand why it's controversial in the UK and other nations too. It's really an inside take on life in the higher echelons of Meta. And she worked there. And I know that that book. Facebook, etc. Yeah, and she cannot talk about it in the really strange gagging order, hasn't she?
SPEAKER_03So she can't. I understand she can't even go into a bookshop where it is on sale.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And there was an interview, wasn't there, with one of my favourite well-known known journalists ever, Emily Maitland. She's bloody brilliant. Yeah. If you ever listen to this, Emily. Brilliant. Just honestly, as a former journo.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we love you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Just I I worship it to your feet. But they had her on for an interview, and of course, then it got to the book. And Emily said, I can't believe I'm gonna have to do this.
SPEAKER_04Gonna have to ask you to leave the book.
SPEAKER_03But I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the studio. Yeah. We're gonna talk about your book, but you can't be here while we're talking about it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, how ridiculous that was. So I mean, it is an absolute. I mean, if you're in the UK, if you're in a country where the book's available, I'd really recommend it. The Sunday Times describe it as darkly.
SPEAKER_03Did you nearly say Meta Rang?
SPEAKER_04I did. There you go.
SPEAKER_03That's on the brain.
SPEAKER_04The Sunday Times describe it as darkly funny. The Guardian says it's incredible. Jaw dropping the Financial Times, shocking the New York Times.
SPEAKER_03What's the subheading, Ash? So it's Careless People.
SPEAKER_04Okay, it's Careless People, Power, Greed, Madness, a story of where I used to work. And I guarantee you will possibly, almost certainly see Facebook Stroke, Meta in a very different light.
SPEAKER_03See, I'm not so sure because we've talked about this before, and I know you I haven't read it yet, but you've done your usual and you know kind of given me a pricey with every every page took.
SPEAKER_04You said you'll never believe this. I do, I'm terrible for that. Spoiler alert, so I kind of don't need to read it. I'm not saying too much on here, because if I get started on it, then I'll give everything away.
SPEAKER_03So But I think because I get quite geeky and want to know the background of of everything that I'm recommending to others anyway, none of what you told me actually surprised me.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but come on, her personal story, i.e., yes, her personal story was amazing.
SPEAKER_03But the stuff about Meta and the people behind Meta, yeah, none of what you told me surprised me at all.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03And perhaps that's shocking, but it's because I've read up so much. And then you could, of course, I've I've dealt with so many people, so many solo business owners who've said things like, I'm coming off all meta platforms, I'm not going on there, I'm not doing this and not doing that. And this might really divide opinion, but for me, a lot of my clients and the people I want to be able to help to serve, to motivate, inspire, they're hanging out on meta platforms. So for me, I can do more good on the inside than I can by just stepping away. Because we are never gonna get to a point where everybody steps away. It's not gonna happen. And I suppose we're too far down that rabbit hole. We're too far down that rabbit hole. Yeah, you know, you've got you've got Facebook, you've got WhatsApp, you've got Instagram, you've got threads. It's too big. And frankly, those platforms are really useful to a lot of people in business. There are a lot of solo traders, sole business owners, who would really struggle if they tried to step away from meta.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So for me, the answer isn't necessarily stepping away, the answer is using it responsibly.
SPEAKER_04Well, in true fashion of feature writer, me and human interest lover of all human interest stuff, all of that stuff around that is incredible. And of course, it's the core of the book, but for me, the real take-homes, the real shocks actually, the bigger shocks, were the personal insights from Sarah about her own life and some of the things that have happened to her. And the beginning of the book, honestly, if you're not if your jaw's not on the floor, I don't know, you know, yeah, you read that first part out. I just I was like, what the hell?
SPEAKER_03If you saw that at the cinema, you go, That's never gonna happen.
SPEAKER_04And then later on in the book, there's something else that happens that again is incredible that she's still with us, Sarah. So thank you for your book, thank you for your bravery, your courage, standing up for others that are not able to stand up for themselves. I absolutely applaud you. Thank you for the gift of your book, and I hope that you continue doing what you're doing, whatever you're doing now. I know I'm sure it will be coming from the best place. So um 100%. I'd highly recommend the book Careless People, Power Greed Madness, a story of where I used to work by Sarah Wynne Williams.
SPEAKER_03Great read.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And of course, you can be on a platform without funding them. And you know, there are some platforms that it's funny, isn't it? Because I can look at Meta in that way and say that's too much use to people. Now you don't need to step away, but you can use it responsibly. You don't need to, for instance, be sending shed loads of ad money their way, you don't need to be doing this, that, and the other. But then on the other hand, is it worth sometimes paying for the verified element?
Ethical Spending And Platform Trade-offs
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if you've got a business, yeah, it is. So, how much can we divorce the product from the people writing it? And this is where I guess I can be a bit of a hypocrite because when it comes to JK Rowling, I would be saying absolutely no funding needs to go to that woman whatsoever.
SPEAKER_04So, maybe, Taz, what I'm saying to you, I'm not suggesting that you can reconsider that, but I do suggest that you read the book. Yeah. I promise I'm not on commission. I promise I really am not on commission, but because it may give you some other insight into that.
SPEAKER_03It may well, but I think I'd still be saying if you're in business and you're using it and that's where your customers are, I'm still there.
SPEAKER_04We may find that we're still we're not on there by the time we get to the NGO podcast. They might have booted it off. Well, they might have done.
SPEAKER_03But on the other hand, I will not be watching any of the new Harry Potter series.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I will never again go to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter studio tour.
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_03I have I really struggle. As a film fan, that makes me really sad, but I can be.
SPEAKER_04I'm with you 100%.
SPEAKER_03I really str well she's she's already said that any profits from that new programme she's going to be essentially using to fund anti-tran trans organisations.
SPEAKER_04Not good. Not good at all.
SPEAKER_03And you know, we know she's already threatened to sue Amnesty International. I mean, that's really a sign of somebody who's, you know, left-leaning and and balanced, isn't it? And and big on humanitarian issues. I know, let's sue Amnesty. Really? So I really struggle with that. And you know, if if people are absolute fans of it, I would still be saying, don't watch the TV show. Wait until later on when it comes out on dare I say DVD, things still happen. And then buy it secondhand. If you want the books, buy them second hand. Don't buy them from her.
SPEAKER_04But don't buy anything that's going to put money in her pocket. But going back to Sarah's book again, you know, it's if you want a really good insight into meta and corporate culture and all of that stuff, have a read of it because it's a great book. I'm just bringing us back on track, Taz, because I'm well we've got lots to go through, so I can hear the passion in your voice around that. And I totally agree with you.
SPEAKER_03And if you are an ally or LGBTQIA anywhere on that rainbow thing, and you still are supporting her, then you need your head wobbling. Which brings us back to Ash's business book. I'm being very naughty and taking this off track. Ash, what other business books? She just got a raised eyebrow, then it's like Taz can be. I did, I got a raised eyebrow. Well, it's book related and just rakay. What are your other favourite business books? I I seem to remember being subjected to Michelle Obama's book
Becoming And Why Books Matter
SPEAKER_03on audio. Well that's I love Michelle Obama. I really, really think she's bloody brilliant. I just struggled with her voice on an audiobook. I know, I think she's fab. She is amazing.
SPEAKER_04I love both of her books. Becoming for me was the book. I think again, there's that human interest thing. What I found, you know, all the things that she's incredible things she's achieved and she continues to achieve, all the work that she does for others, bringing things for you know forward in so many ways in so many areas of business and life. For those that can't speak for themselves again, there's a kind of common theme here. And also again, because there was a relatability thing element with having a parent with multiple sclerosis, and I also had a parent with multiple sclerosis that hooks me from the Start so her view on that and her experience of that growing up that got me, and then just it's a great book, they're both great books. But Becoming, I think, is my favourite book, and I'd read it again. In fact, I want to read it again because it's like anything, isn't it? When you read a book, it depends how you receive it, it's where you are in that moment. You could read a book, you could have a book, I could read, you know, Michelle's book or whatever book today, and it'll be a very different experience from when I read it six months ago or a year ago. And I know when I read Becoming, I was really not in a good place, and it actually really helped ground me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And that's one of the gifts of the book. Now, if I went back to the book now, there'd be a different gift. I love that. That's the beauty of books, and that's why we this is where I'm going to get passionate about things and get on my soapbooks. That's why it's so important for us to fight for the freedom of expression and creation to write books, not to burn them just because we don't agree with them. Yeah. That's important because we get so much from a book, depending on where we are, our life experiences. Sometimes either there's commonality or it's something a completely opposing view, but it's opening that that experience up somebody else's experience to just take in totally for a while, just for those however many hundreds of pages that book is, just being in that space for a while with them is an absolute privilege, but it's also incredibly self-empowering. And when we take start taking that away from others and we're deciding what we can and can't read, we're in really dangerous territory. And it makes me want to weep when I hear about people burning books and saying you cannot publish that book, you cannot read that book, you cannot put that in a public library.
SPEAKER_03Unless there are people out there who are homeless, who are living on the streets, who get freezing cold. And if people want to go and burn Harry Potter books to keep them warm, along with any Reform UK leaflets, feel free.
SPEAKER_04I'm there's actually an amazing guy who I discovered on TikTok who I've sent a message to, actually. I don't know if he'll or hear this, but I'm sure he won't. But who's actually creating beautiful artwork from Harry Potter books, which is pro-trans and portraits, aren't they, of all the trans people who've lost their lives through hate crime?
SPEAKER_03And he's cutting out the letters from the books to make the portraits.
SPEAKER_04It's incredible work. So I applaud, applaud, applaud that. It really moved me seeing that. But anyway, Taz. So moving on, what are we on to now?
SPEAKER_03So we do have some special limited edition Harry Potter books, by the way, that won't be burning. I'm holding on to because one day I'm thinking they're going to be worth some money in maybe the same way an original copy of mine, Camp, might be. Anyway.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so what about okay?
Unnatural Causes And Compassion At Work
SPEAKER_04What about current readers? What's your current reader? Can I tell tell you about this one? You can. Because it's been another one where I've kept dropping in things and it's an interesting topic. It was bought for me a long time ago because I'd read about it. I'd never got round to reading it. I've got so many in my to read pile of books, it's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_03Luckily, we've You've got great big carrier bags and boxes.
SPEAKER_04I've just got to stop. I've just found out about a new bookshop opening not too far away from us, and I'm so excited because they've got they've got a coffee shop. It's an indie one as well, isn't it? They've got a coffee shop as well and a community centre and all sorts of things. So I am really excited to be able to do this.
SPEAKER_03One of the things that made us feel we could do it was there was a great big independent bookshop in Spaulding, bookmark. And we talked about that a few episodes ago.
SPEAKER_04And when it closed down this job, I cried. I actually cried because it was a beautiful, lovely meeting place for so many people. So this book that I'm reading at the moment is called Unnatural Causes. It's been around for a while. It's by Dr. Richard Shepherd, and it's the life and many deaths of Britain's top forensic pathologist. Now, it's an amazing book. It might not be the book for those of you who might be a little bit squeamish. I am sweating. Whatever not from some of the books you've been reading me the past few nights. Do sleep well. But it's absolutely fascinating. And what I love about Richard's book is that again he combines that beautiful contrast between personal life, young family, trying to balance time with young family and wife, and then going into that sterile and inverted commas place of discovery in a different way, you know. But also the amazing relationships that are in those teams that run those places where we we go, our last places, where we're, you know, if there's been an accident or some sort of criminal investigation, he's called upon to be yeah, go on. Sorry, Mr.
SPEAKER_03No, just to to play devil's advocate a little bit, given that this is on the same day as the co-working days, how can we justify reading something like that kind of book on the same day as National Co-working Day? How's that how does that tie into work?
SPEAKER_04Because to me it's about how you deliver news and how you deliver, it's about communication.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So it's the way he communicates because what he was learning was from his experience with young police officers, particularly, they're going in suddenly, they're being absolutely confronted with firstly a dead body, it might be the first time they've seen a dead body in not great circumstances. So they're going on to the scene of crime, and then they're going off to watch the post mortem, and all the things that come with that, the smells, the sights, the sounds, all of that can be a real shock to the system. And Richard talks about that really beautifully in terms of talking about how he adjusted how he communicated with people and how he learnt really early on that communication was key. So when he'd noticed, you know, an officer just about to go and throw up because of what they were seeing, what they were experiencing, he found it was easing the challenge for them in that he was just he was absolutely talking them through what he was doing, yeah. And also giving them a heads up if there was something coming up that might be particularly difficult. So he was actually talking through what he was doing to get them to really look at it from that perspective rather than getting caught up in all the incredible, you know, senses that are awakened. You can imagine there's a particular smell of particular sights and sounds and all sorts of things going on. It can be sort on the senses. He recognised that and started working in a different way to make things slightly easier for those young, those cops, and actually, some people that had been working as police officers, certain, you know, certain cases are going to get to them. You know, for instance, if it's the death of a young person, a child, it it brings a injustice. Yeah. So he would sit and talk about that with them also. At the end of that, he'd sit with the relatives as well. One of the things he did he found really challenging, but finding a balancing point where he got to be professional but also be there for the the families. And that was the part of the job he found really difficult.
SPEAKER_03I suppose books don't have to teach you specifically business skills to help your business, do they? They could they could be teaching you about empathy or creativity or resilience or even how to get perspective.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03All of which can help your business. Yeah. Not that they need to. I mean, let's be honest, we're kind of being a bit tongue-in-cheek here because of Book Lovers' Day and Co-working Day being on the same date. But also, books can be really useful to help us completely switch off, whether it's writing or reading.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and I agree. And it's also that it's that having compassion for somebody or for a you know, for an individual, a circumstance circumstances, whatever's going on, but also not being consumed by it. And that's one of the things that I've had to learn, yeah, even at my level of you know, dealing with things that have been quite challenging over the years, yeah, which is a very different thing to the things that Richard has Richard Shepherd has dealt with and worked through. But even so, there's commonalities there about how you switch off from that and you're actually able to show compassion but not take it all on board.
SPEAKER_03Well, I remember, and I think we can we can safely talk about this if if we're careful. I know one of your clients, you have in the past done an awful lot of proofreading of clinical reports.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Not the kind of reports that you would need to be a clinician for, but you are literally just checking the wording and the and the grammar and the flow and making sure they're really easy to read because these are reports that would go back to the clients or patients. I think we'll probably say clients, wouldn't we, in that case? And I know that early on you really struggled to not really go into to every one of those cases.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And you know, we were talking, and all of a sudden you've you've got to stop almost almost try and step away from being a person at the end of that and just look at it as the flat text. Because you're not writing a feature, yeah. You're proofing reports, yeah, you're making sure that that's going back to them in a really good, easy to comprehend way, without taking on board their their situation, their traumas, their woes, their challenges.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I know you found that really difficult at first because you've got such a big heart.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and I and I did, and I had to keep reminding myself of that. And when you said that to me, when we actually sat down over a coffee and talked about it, I hadn't realised just how much I'd been taking that in. And it was a little bit of difference. Yeah. Yeah, because what would happen nine times out of ten, nine times out of ten, whenever I'd go off to interview somebody, if they'd lost a relative in an accident or some sort of crime and they're back in your journalism place.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And I would really struggle to let that go, leave that at the door. And so I think probably thinking about that, yeah, common themes within this book. It's no wonder that I'm finding this really an interesting read. Because, okay, completely set of different circumstances, but equally, some of the challenges sound familiar. Yeah. And so, yes, I had to learn to just park it. And that because I you're right, absolutely, I can totally immerse myself in that and get lost in that in that story. Of course, it's so much more than just a story, it's somebody's life, somebody's death, whatever.
SPEAKER_03So, what about total escapism
Escapism That Restarts Creativity
SPEAKER_03with books? Again, whether we're writing, whether we're reading, we've talked before about I know we've mentioned things like choose your own adventure books and the magical fireaway tree lots of times before.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But how can that kind of engagement with with the book or with the writing process be good for your business if it's got nothing to do with business per se?
SPEAKER_04Because it gets you out, it gets you moving. And for me, creativity, I'm gonna say something, creativity goes with movement, it certainly does for me. So if I'm in a creative mood, sometimes to get into that mood, if I'm not quite feeling that, I need to get up and I need to move. I need to go and do something. It might be walking the dog for 20 minutes, it might be going out in the garden and just one of ours would let you put up with you get away with just 20 minutes. Well, you know, yeah, but that but just moving or just playing with them with a ball in the back garden, whatever that may be, it just for me unlocks something. And I think very often what happens is we can get we can be so sedentary, you know, that we don't get up and move. When we do that, there's there's something about that movement, for certainly for me, that helps me unlock things. It allows me, it gives me permission to actually not be sat in one place for so long. I think I spent the first kind of 15 years of my life doing very little and just sitting for far too long. Maybe it's a rebellion, a rebellious streak from that, from when I was younger. But now it's like if I'm feeling really low and that creativity is not around, I need to get up and do something, and then it will unlock something.
SPEAKER_03It's funny, isn't it? Because for me, it depends what I'm doing. So, not too long back, I deliberately kept a few days in the diary that were non-client-facing. And I've spoken before on on my social channels and on here as well, I think. We've we've talked about how burned out we've been feeling. And one of the things that was really worrying me is that I'd gone from someone who could very easily motivate myself and who could find inspiration everywhere to just really feeling flatline. You know, when I get onto the course with my clients, I'm fine, I shift into that gear. But between those times, I wasn't showing up enough myself, I wasn't feeling creative, I wasn't wanting to do my marketing, a social post, I wasn't wanting to do anything. And so while I had these days off, I went absolutely into escapism. And not only did I read a fiction book, the first one I've I've read cover to cover, in a long time, actually, and I really, really enjoyed it. I this big, big, chunky hardcover book. For anyone who loves Greek mythology, you'll love it. It was Sweet Bitter Song by Rosie Hewlett. Check out my Instagram, there's a picture of the cover on there if you if you want to be able to find it. Stunning cover, isn't it? Really, really stunning story. Big, chunky hardcover. It's one Ash bought me when she was trying to get me to stop staring at a computer all day. And honestly, I read it cover to cover in two days. I put it down barely to sleep. But then I've also been writing a lot lately, and genuinely pure escapism. I've been writing an awful lot of of fiction, of what we would today refer to it as romantic. I love that. Romanticy fiction, I think. And there's this novel I've been wanting to write forever and a day, and I've created this kind of fantasy world for it, and I couldn't quite jog myself to do it. And so I've been writing a version of that as fan fiction based around a popular TV series, shall we say? I have I have a very secret pen name online, so I don't write fiction under my name, I have a pen name that I write my fiction under under. Not least because some of it's a fair bit steamy. But in the space of in the space of about the past three weeks, I've written well in excess of a hundred plus thousand words. That's incredible. And when you think that the first book I published, well, that somebody has published for me, Whispers from the Earth, which was my first proper publishing deal with with Moon Books, that took me about two years to write on how to write an extension. And I think that was just shy of 25,000 words. And yet over the past few weeks, because I've started to let my creativity come on in different ways, rather than kicking myself and sitting in stagnation because my creativity wasn't kicking in for my business stuff. I've written shed loads. Absolutely shed loads. I've also found myself revisiting and and scouring the the you know the internet database of whatever it's called. There's there's a there's a site online that that kind of lists all the back offices of all the default sites across the internet. And I was finding them on there and finding long lost fics that had written like 10, 15 years ago, re-bringing them in and re-editing them and rewriting them. So again, I've literally in about three weeks written well in excess of 100,000 words. Have you slept at all dozen? Three three nights. I'm sorry, I've literally got really quite confused. This is what prompted Ash to buy me the paperback. I did actually buy you a little reading light as well. She bought me a reading light, she bought me sweet bitter sandwiches, the hardcover, it's beautiful, plus another one which haven't started yet, because I was getting so hooked into this fiction that I was writing, I was pulling all nighters. I was literally finishing my day job, as such, having a bite to eat sometimes, picking up my my laptop and starting to write, and I was literally writing all the way through the night, and I wasn't feeling tired, I was so excited by it, I was so kind of creatively turned on by it. I was just writing and writing and writing, and all this stuff was just pouring out of me. And I don't know how good it is, but at least this way, although I've hidden it inside stories about pre-existing somebody else's universe, it's got me out of that. That project is too big for me, I can't do it. Yeah, and when I finish it in this format, I'll be able to re-look at it and transfer the elements that worked into my own novel that I've been wanting to write forever and a day. Amazing. So there's there's loads of ways, you know.
SPEAKER_04It's also led to lots of discussions with us, hasn't it, about ideas that have come out of that.
SPEAKER_03Totally about, you know, and from that point of view, we've developed a new tool for you that will help people to create and generate characters to create stories from. Yeah. Which I know you haven't released yet, which is why I'm talking about it in very, very vague forms. Yes. But we've literally we've created a new tool for you that's going to support your clients. Okay. We've talked about different programs that you and I can run between us that will help people get past their creative blocks. So actually, through engaging with books, reading and writing that have got nothing to do with business, that has lit a fire inside me that has led to the creation of business tools and business ideas. Cool. So that brings us straight back onto the co-working thing again, doesn't it? So it does make sense to have a co-working day and a book lovers' day on the same day.
SPEAKER_04So why has co-working come up though?
Rebuilding Energy Through Co-working
SPEAKER_04I mean, I know obviously we've got the day that we talked about, but also it led on to talking about what we're doing, didn't it, with co-working? Because I've run co-working sessions online for, I don't know, for a couple of years I was doing that to get people on board.
SPEAKER_03So so for many years now, Ash and I have been running a hub, if you like, I can't think of a better word for it, for coaches, healers, and therapists. It's called Unleashed. And we've been running it for ages, and it came out of coaches, healers, therapists coming to us saying they really needed our help, really needed our coaching, but they couldn't afford our coaching and mentoring. So we created a low-cost group programme for them at a price point they could afford, and we've kept it going ever since. And it's still going now, it's still sitting there at 65 quid a month, which we've been saying we'll put up for about the past four years because it's bonkers what you get for it. So that gets you monthly live mentoring and uh mastermind zooms with us. There's daily inspiration, there's daily thoughts, there's daily content ideas, there's a forum you can come into and ask us questions or or ask other people questions 24-7 whenever you need to. There's shed loads of support, everything you need from sales and onboarding to marketing to upskilling, everything you need if you're a coach, healer, or therapist. Because I think we said it's fair to say we need to market ourselves slightly differently to, for instance, I don't know, retail or business-to-business stuff. And we've started building co-working days back into that because in talking to our members, we've realized that just as I've been feeling burned out, and Ash has, pretty much everybody in that group over the past X amount of months have been feeling really, really flat.
SPEAKER_04So they needed something to get them back on the ground.
SPEAKER_03So there's there's something going on at the risk of being woo. I don't know if it's planetary or energetic or just, you know, finally the life, just the the fallout and lockdown finally happening, and all the world events, and you know, the orange Cheeto making stupid comments. There's there's so much going on. You know, Prime Ministerial changes. I think there's again. Yeah. New Prime Minister about every three weeks at the moment, I think, in the UK. But at least they've both done better than than Liz Truss.
SPEAKER_04Um so we've started done longer as well. Definitely done longer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03What was it said in the papers at the time that an iceberg lettuce had a longer shelf life? Bless her. Yeah. So we've started running these co-working sessions again, which is which has been really helpful. And you know, we're running some in the daytime, some of our some of our long-standing group members have taken responsibility for running some out-of-hours for people as well.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's really good.
SPEAKER_03Because it's a really pull-together group. And the other thing that we're going to start, we're we're just starting to build onto that group is networking as well to expand it. So people in that kind of coaching, healing, therapeutic sector, where they need to all come and come and network and be amongst people with similar aims, because of course they are also going to be each other's clients. Yeah, we're starting to build networking onto that group as well. And I think that's actually come from talking about what's been going on with us, hasn't it?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. I think, yeah, because we wondered if anybody else was feeling that way. Yeah. And again, I think being absolutely up front with our customers, with our clients, and saying in some of the sessions that we've had with them, well, we've we're not feeling struggling at the moment. What about you? And it was like literally, it was like every other person.
SPEAKER_03You can almost feel the relief with almost not just me then.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So there was that real kind of coming together on that.
SPEAKER_03So we're now bolting on more and more and more for our community, our club, whatever we call it, of coaches, healers, therapists to help build their businesses and help them to find their inspiration.
SPEAKER_04And also solving those issues, those challenges that they have, so that we can work together to find a way forward. And that's so important.
SPEAKER_03Yeah,
Body Doubling For Neurodivergent Brains
SPEAKER_03the other thing we've recognised is there are quite a few people in there who are neurodivergent, like us. So it matters, not for us. We've said this quite clearly, whether you want to keep these sessions and refer to them as co-working, or whether you want to see them as body-doubling sessions. So it doesn't matter whether you're showing up because you've got reports to catch up on, or whether you're showing up because you want to, I don't know, go and clear out the spare room or wash your parts or whatever. It's just a space where there are other people there to keep to to accountability is one of those words we can book against, isn't it? But to just be doing something at the same time as other people. So it's supportive. You're not alone. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, we'll talk more about these crazy, crazy days through this week in a minute, because believe me, you really do need an awareness day to get over the awareness days when you look at the amount of awareness days that are on over this next week. But before then, we talked earlier about our hotline. So we've set up this special hotline number where you can call in, you can leave your name, your business name, you can leave us a message. We've had loads. We're going to start playing one every week. So for now, it's time for our
Hotline Caller Of The Week
SPEAKER_01Awesome we of the big Hotline colour of the week. Awesome we of the big Hotline colour of the week.
SPEAKER_02Hi Tazmasher, it's Morgan, longtime listener, first time caller. Just calling up to say thank you ever so much for the show. I love listening to it every week, and it always gives me loads of things to think about. So keep on doing what you're doing. Bye.
SPEAKER_00Wanna be featured? Call our hotline on 033 02 72871. Remember to add plus 44 if you're outside the UK. Leave your name, record your message, then listen out on future episodes.
SPEAKER_04Loved it. Which will really get us thinking. So looking forward to sharing more of those with you as soon as we can.
SPEAKER_03We'll share some of the questions next week. So let's just talk about this crazy awareness day calendar
The Week Of Weird Awareness Days
SPEAKER_03again. So of course, on Sunday we had National Book Lovers Day and International Co-working Day. Yeah. And then Monday, the 10th, was Lazy Day. So hold on. Yesterday we were supposed to be co-working and reading or writing books, and today we're supposed to not do anything at all. How does that make sense? And then Tuesday, National Face Mask Day, National Align Your Teeth Day, Global Kinetic Sands Day. Okay. What else have we got? Hip hop day, Mountain Day, National Presidential Joke Day. Sorry, but right now isn't everyday National President Day.
SPEAKER_04Haven't we been doing that every day of the week? Yeah, I think so.
SPEAKER_03National Raspberry Bomb Day, National Foo Foo Day. Raspberry Bomb Day. Bomb. Bomb with an E, not Bombazzy. No, I was going to say Raspberry Bomb Day, okay. Just bonkers. And then you go through the rest of the week. So then we've got Wednesday. So Wednesday, tomorrow that will be, won't it? I'm getting a bit confused with the dates because. I'm very confused. We record this in advance. So Tuesday is the day that this is live. Wednesday, so tomorrow. Yeah. It's World Elephant Day and Middle Child Day. Right. Thursday is Left Handers' Day. Okay. Friday is National Financial Awareness Day and World Lizard Day. Is there a Right Handers' Day? Well, I don't know. There isn't yet. So hold on, let's just get this straight. So in the past week, we've been asked to read books or write books, co-work, do nothing, think about elephants, celebrate left-handed people, worry about money and notice a lizard. I was just going to say, don't forget the lizards. How on earth are we supposed to be aware of the finances in our business if we're too busy doing that?
SPEAKER_04Left-handed lizards day. No, the well it's nice, yeah, it sounds better. And then a right-handed rhino day. Perhaps there is.
SPEAKER_03After we've spent the Friday panicking about finance because we've been doing everything else and not bringing money in with our business, Saturday is National Relaxation Day. So stop again. I need to do that now. I feel like I need some relaxation. And it's also National Geocaching Day, so that's how you're supposed to relax.
SPEAKER_04But do you have to do the geocaching first and then you relax? Otherwise, if you relax, you won't have you might not w want to be bothered to go and do the geocaching.
SPEAKER_03Well, I'm not sure because then we're coming down to the Sunday again and it's National Roller Coaster Day. Right? National Rum Day.
SPEAKER_04So it could be when you're feeling a bit up and down, kind of. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03National Rum Day. Rum. So do you drink the rum before you get on the roller coaster? Oh no, not a good idea. No. From tastic. Nash it's also Teller Joke Day. Oh dear.
SPEAKER_04Oh dear, oh dear.
SPEAKER_03So we've got everything from elephants and lizards and co-working to then thinking, bugger me, I've had a week where I've not worked on my business, so my finances aren't in order, so now I need to panic about my finances because it's financial awareness day. But remember the lizards. Yeah. Always remember the lizards. Stunday relaxation. Yeah. And then the next day we've got to get on a roller coaster, drink loads of rum, and tell jokes.
SPEAKER_04I'm exhausted just thinking about that. Can we have another relaxation day?
SPEAKER_03I'm not even starting to look at what the days are for next week because what?
Using Awareness Days For Marketing
SPEAKER_04But joking aside, Ted, a lot of us use these as content prompts for our businesses and marketing. So they can be useful. But it again, it's like if everybody's doing that, you've got to find a unique spin, a unique angle for you and your business, haven't you, on these things? Yeah. So, and sometimes the really random things can actually bring out some great content.
SPEAKER_03Well, I think if I've remembered H right. This week has also been a no bullying week, but that's Australia.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03So also do all that stuff, but don't get bullied and don't let anybody bully the lizards. No. Save the lizards. Lip and lizards? What movie is that from?
SPEAKER_04Oh. Oh. Blah blah blah. Is it Jim Carrey? No. No. Why did it sound like Jim Carrey? It did. Because it sounds like Jim Carrey. Alrighty then. It sounds like something that you can do. I know. I thought that. That's what I was thinking. No, I'm not.
SPEAKER_03I think it's from the original of the Santa Camel. Tomorrow! I think so. Anyway, so you could write all your social content around.
SPEAKER_04Can we have a national nap day now?
SPEAKER_03Well, that wasn't that your last national relax day.
SPEAKER_04No, a nap and relaxing is two different things.
SPEAKER_03Could we have an international, no international or national awareness days day?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. An international break from all awareness days. Yeah. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, let's do that.
SPEAKER_03Because it really is, it it can get really daft, can't it? And and again, before the days of the internet, these were kind of made sense. Because they'd all be in their separate countries.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But now, since the advent of social media and the internet, they all overlap.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Exhausting.
SPEAKER_03From a content point of view, Ash. Wouldn't you be be careful of using too many awareness days?
SPEAKER_04You've got to use them sparingly. It's like everything, isn't it? One trick pony. Don't use it. Every other every week. Because suddenly people are going to say, Oh, crumbs, not again. Just variety. Yeah, use them occasionally. If you can tie them, you've got an obvious time with your business, fantastic. I think the challenge or the thing that you need to work on is how you're going to present it differently to every other person that's going to be writing about that week or that day at that time. What can you do? And the difference is you. Yeah. So it, I don't know, give an example.
Lizards As Content Prompt Metaphors
SPEAKER_04I might write some content about lizards that would be very different from the content that you'd write about lizards.
SPEAKER_03Well, I choose that as a content prompt, your content prompt queen.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, lizards, what would you write about lizards if you were going to create a piece of content?
SPEAKER_04Well, certainly if you have a lizard as a pet, an exotic pet, you're going to make sure that the conditions are right.
SPEAKER_03You've got to make sure that's what you'd write for pet month, though. What would you write for you? I'm just give me a minute. I'm just going in there. Thank you very much. National ADHD lack of attention and no patience week.
SPEAKER_04No, me! Oh, you. I was going to say me. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna get to that now. Sorry. Thank you very much. I'm a feature writer, remember? We go round the houses, but it's important to get where we want to get to eventually. What I was gonna say was it's all in the setup. It's getting the right environment, it's checking out the I've completely lost my train of thought.
SPEAKER_03Lizards, right environment. If you're gonna keep a lizard as an exotic pet, you were talking about being the right environment.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's got to be the right environment. And actually, for you as a content creator, you've got to check the environment for you that where you give your best creatively. So whether you write at home or with your self-employed, and you can have the opportunity of going out to a coffee shop or going somewhere else where you feel inspired by other people, people watching that can be a great content prompt for you. Could be that, or you could be that actually you prefer to sit back with your headphones on listening to Radio 4 or a particular track or particular album, and that inspires you to write and get you moving, get you creating. It might be that you want to go into a co-working space, coming back to what we were talking about. Co-working, right? But you've got to get the environment right in the same way that if you've got a lizard and you're caring for that, you're gonna make sure the environment's right to allow it to have the best life possible, and for you to have the best creative life possible, you need to find the right environment for you, particularly when you work for yourself. If you work alone, sometimes just having other people around you will inspire you. For other people, that might be a distraction. I know for me I love doing that, but reality is that sometimes I'll get hugely distracted because I could just sit and people watch all day and not do any work. Okay. So does that type of task?
SPEAKER_03But let me just challenge you further. Oh, here we go. Content prompt queen. Yes. Give me three other content ideas people could write about based on a lizard as a content prompt.
SPEAKER_04Three ideas off the top of your head. Okay. Well, I think about what they're cold-blooded, correct? Right? So there's something about heat when the heat's on. So for instance, if you've got a piece of content out there that's got a bit of heat going, so people are reacting to it and not necessarily in a good way. Sometimes you've got to just take the ball by the holes and respond accordingly, but not kind of get caught up in the heat of the moment. Take a step back for a moment, think about how you can you can respond in a positive way.
SPEAKER_03So that's point one. Two, give me the headlines, Ash.
SPEAKER_04I can't do headlines having my picture right. Well, I can do headlines.
SPEAKER_03All right, I'll throw one in while you're thinking. A lot of lizards, when they're under threat, can detach their tail to get them out of danger. Yeah. So in business, know when it's wise to lose your tail and get away from the situation.
SPEAKER_04Nice.
SPEAKER_03Okay, but they also regrow.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_04So actually, sometimes from that, the damage, from the wound, from the injury, comes a great new growth, new teaching, new opportunity to learn and share what you've learnt with others. How about that one?
SPEAKER_03Okay. Brilliant. Okay, so my turn again. Lizzes, listeners, lizards. Chameleons. We could take the obvious route there about being able to blend into your surroundings. But the other thing is make sure you're focusing on the stuff that's important. Focus on the stuff that you have to achieve, that you have to do. Don't be a chameleon and let your eyeballs be going off in different directions and looking at everything around you instead of focusing on your stuff. Okay, one more. Karma chameleon.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah. Tangent woman. Karma chameleon because you want to be nice and calm. And sometimes journaling or something like that, free journaling is really good for you. If you're feeling a bit stressed, you just want to get that out of your system. Journaling, particularly first, I think, first thing in the morning can be a really positive experience for you. Just free flow with your writing, allow it to just flow. And that sometimes will just allow to let you let out what needs to be let out for the day before you get on with the day. That's a really good start to the day for a lot of people. So I'd recommend that. Because I know when I'm not doing that, my body, my system tells me you need to do more of it. So that's a reminder for me, but a reminder for everybody if you've ever journalled. Because there's different types of journaling, but for me, free journaling, free thoughts, allowing that to flow. Like a guided one. Yeah, I'd I'd there's a punch.
SPEAKER_03And if you're feeling resistance, you've just got to think Iguanna get on with this.
SPEAKER_04Oh no, let's stop now. It should get worse now.
SPEAKER_03Right, okay, let's stop. One quick point on content prompts, just to illustrate it, because I know a lot of people get stuck around them. Yeah. It doesn't mean you've actually got to write about the attributes of a lizard, for instance. So we've just been doing that, but I could also write about Lizard's Point, something about holidays in Cornwall and in the southwest.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I could write about one of the first things that comes up for me if I think about lizards is how when I'm particularly in Greece, my spiritual home, I love to go lizard spotting. And the time that we went to Temple of Artemis, that's a bit further out off the beaten track.
SPEAKER_04Sunio. No, that's Poseidon. Oh, is that Poseidon? Sorry, but it won't be forgive me on Boronia.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Anyway. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we couldn't see lizards anywhere. But then on the way in on the wall, there was the biggest wild lizard in Greece I've ever seen, and it was really, really bright green. And that really feels quite special. That's really hooked in. Cool. So there was some there's also something about getting out there and going to the places that fill you up. Yeah. Just for the sake of being filled up. Fabulous. We'd probably better wrap it up
Final Updates And Goodbye
SPEAKER_03there. Yeah, we should, because I didn't put the timer on, so this could be a little bit more. This could be like a week late. It feels like we've been here for a week, isn't it?
SPEAKER_04If if you're still with us, thank you so much. You know, honestly, we really admire that. You might have had to listen to it in several firsts.
SPEAKER_03You know, one thing we're meant to mention and we haven't, to go right back to the beginning in books. Okay. What have we finally actually been wrapping up? Something we promised you right at the beginning of series two. And then we got so far, and then life got in the way and it kind of stagnated for a bit. Ash particularly has just been doing a full old edit on our podcast on a shoestring book. So in the next couple of weeks, keep an eye on the social channels for something off topic, and we should be telling you when it's out. Should we listen to it?
SPEAKER_05Finally. Finally.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Anyway, on that note, thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being here. Please keep calling the hotline. Please keep just sharing all your stuff with us. And we will see you next Tuesday.
SPEAKER_04You've been listening to Autumn Me Off Topic. Make sure you're following so you don't miss the next one. And if you'd like more, come and find Autumn Me Off Topic on social media. You'll find behind the scenes footage, floopers, and more. See you next time.
