Weekly Highlight
Hey! I don’t have much to say this week, but here are a few things that have been on my mind:
A new quarter has started at H&M Group and it feels great and a bit scary to have a clean slate. A few things that will be new: We’ve switched from Scrum to Kanban, we will have a new Product Owner (our previous PO was promoted to Product Area Manager), and the vacation period (= standstill in Sweden).
I have procrastinated my quarterly performance evaluation - partly because I’ve been very busy, but also I want to do it well to help bump up my salary. And this all is making me not take action. I just need to get it over with! There’s always next quarter anyway.
Summer is absolutely fabulous in Stockholm. Half of the population has received at least their first dose (People my age have to wait until August, though - what a joke!). Things are becoming more active. Sweden was already pretty active, but I am meeting more people and my social life is getting back to normal.
Hope you’re enjoying your June!
Weekly Notes
Favorite pieces of knowledge from books, podcasts, videos, etc. that I consumed this week.
Life’s a Pitch - Roger Mavity
A pitcher must make it safe to say yes by relieving pains and make the audience want to say yes by creating gains.
Logical, reasonable people can't get near-to-impossible things done. For that, you need passionate people.
Rising to a Challenge - Happiness Lab
Find what's funny about a bad experience. It's difficult to be mad when you're smiling.
Reflect on the fact that what you're doing may be the last time you're doing it. It will make you appreciate it more.
Imagine the story you want to tell in the future about how you dealt with the challenge you’re facing.
How I’m Figuring Out What to Do with My Life - Ali Abdaal
Gravestone technique: Think about how you want to be remembered to decide what you want to do in life
Ideal ordinary week: Think about how you want your life to be and why you're not having that life now
The Odyssey Plan: Think about where you'll end up 5 years from now following different paths; your current path, the path you’d take if you had to change, the path you’d take if money wasn’t a problem.
Coach Yourself Through a Crisis - Happiness Lab
Speak to yourself in the third person to create psychological distance from the issue so that you can make more rational decisions.
Temporal distancing shows that the threat is temporary. Ask yourself how you'll feel about it in X years.
The Batman effect: When children don't want to do something, ask them to imagine why Batman would be doing what they're doing. Useful for kids who have trouble controlling their emotions.