I think I’ll share this article...

Yeah, I will.

First of all, it’s about something that I do regularly, a lot, which is talk to myself.

Secondly, I think it might help validate people who do this kind of thing too. You know, you’re normal after all!

And thirdly, it’s a truly practical tool, to talk to yourself to help you problem solve and coach yourself through processes or decisions.

So there - that’s 3 reasons why I think I’ll share it. Yep, it’s a win-win win, yes, that’s my kind of measuring stick of whether I’ll share something or not.

Hmmm talking out loud to myself, oh look, I’m doing it now 😂😂

It reminds me of how when I was visiting mum the other day, and we were out in her garden. She was giving some of her plants a bit of a motivational talk about how they were growing … or not. But maybe she was really talking to herself! Anyway then she started singing the lyrics from ‘Paint Your Wagon’ that’s 1960s song, “I talk to the trees, but they’re not listening to me“. 😂😂

We had a laugh about that one! Classic memory making right there.

Anyway, I’ll write this article up and then post it. Boom. Done.

Here's the article on talking to yourself. 

But don’t give up yet …

There is so much that you’ve done and learned and experienced, tried and gained.

So don’t give up yet.

You’ve put things into practice and run some experiments and tested some ideas out.

Don’t give up yet.

Sometimes when tough times are presenting themselves, our clever genius does the amazing and presents us back with something in return.

These might be ideas, hunches, this + this, or a wild thought about ‘if only’ or ‘what would be nice is …’

Many of us are getting great ideas presented by our clever brains right now, but we may not be noticing them.

We’re always being presented with clever ideas, suggestions and inner genius, but we’re usually worrying too hard and too loud to notice.

The volume of my ideas has come back today after being on both extra loud 😱 AND super silent 🤫 in recent times.

And that’s the flow of things. Loud. Quiet. Silent. Soft. Shrieking. Super clever ideas. Loud. Quiet. And on it goes …

Don’t give up on anything.

We’re clever humans who have an inordinate range of creative thought waiting to be put towards a purpose, goal, idea, interest or … rest.

Let your inner clever speak up to yourself.

And tune in to some of the random, way out, safe, simple steps it’s suggesting to you.

Open up that journal or notes app. Give them somewhere to land.

Our brains love an opportunity to come up with a bunch of ideas for what to do next.

Let them lose. Don’t hold them in there. Let ‘em out.

Are you additive or subtractive

When there’s a problem to be solved, do you find yourself adding things to get to a solution ... or removing them? 

It turns out we are all more ‘additive’ than ‘subtractive’. 

And it’s impacting the quantities and kinds of ideas and solutions we can come up with. 

Researchers still don’t know why we’d rather keep adding things, features, stuff, to try and solve a problem ... rather than stripping them out, but knowing we do it is a good step to being able to compensate for this bias. 

‘The first question we ask ourselves is ‘what can I add?’ And ‘what can I subtract?’ is not [part of our first reaction]. Subtracting something isn’t a harder thing to think of “but you have to think harder to get to it”.

We’re missing the potential of a raft of ideas when we solve problems simply by throwing ‘more’ up as a solution. 


Read about it in this article by Katie MacBride in Inverse.  

It’s curious to wonder about how we think. If we can consciously subtract, remove, reduce or take things away to problem solve... we’ll be better thinkers and more productive problem solvers.

What is of your making

Eating up content is relatively easy. You can read it, listen to it, scan over it, click on it and get endlessly lost in it. 

But do you make? 

Do you work out what you think and put it out there for others to consider? 

For example, such a small percentage of LinkedIn users make and share their thinking. 

So how about it? Let’s make something!

Pick a topic you're interested in. What are three things you think people need to know or they get wrong or would do well to try? 

Write about it. 

And if you’re not a regular writer, maybe you’re more of a talker. Hit ‘record’ on the voice memo on your phone and talk for a few minutes. Your thoughts and opinions will become clearer. 

The world needs more future thinkers; not the same voices, reading the same authors and sharing the same quotes. 

That’s an ever-decreasing spiral. 

Your diverse and different point of view is needed. We need to hear it - whether it’s a story of your experience, an opinion about some insights you’ve had or a projection of how you think the future could be. 

What are you seeing? What are you noticing? What do you think? 

I’d love to consume more of your making. 

Lines of thoughts

What is the stuff you like thinking about? How does it connect to other topics you like thinking about? 

Is there a line or thread that runs through it all?  

Some people are straight line thinkers. The connections between their ideas, thoughts and themes are straight lines. 

Others are zig-zag thinkers. Their ideas and imaginings are here ... and there. 

Still others ‘go with the flow’, open to wherever their thinking takes them. A little more organic perhaps 🌱 

This is what makes us unique. 

It doesn’t really matter what you like to think about. 

But if you can find the theme or thread and see the ‘bigger picture’ that connects them all, you go a long way to learning more about yourself and how you make sense of the things that happen in your world. 


I love posing the ‘desert island’ question : if you and I were stuck on a desert island and could only talk about two or three topics, what would they be? 🏝 

Thinking about what you think about ... that’s a powerful thought among many. 

Make some lines and connections between your thoughts.