Welcome to the Saturday Summary.
What I’ve Written – Blog Summary
This week is focused on how to take control of your career, personal brand, and discretionary time. We can easily fall victim to others controlling our life instead of leaning in and applying some agency. I hope these posts inspire you to explore some ideas you might not have considered.
The Hidden Power of Personal and Team Brands. This first post of the week stresses how employee and team reputations can impact an organization’s perception in the market.
MeEO Client Personas. No matter what our job or role, we have clients of our work. This post encourages you to think about your customers and develop personas to deliver great work.
What Job Does Your Company Do for You? We all know the job we do for a company, but we don’t often think about the job those companies do for us. This is explored in this post.
Find Your Brand Coolors. No it’s not a typo. This post provides an overview of an online tool called Coolors.co that can help you create your perfect color palette.
Discretionary Time. We all have it, even if we think we don’t. This post explores how to see your discretionary time and plan it with intention.
What I’ve Listened To – PodList
This week, we start with two podcasts that bring fun and play into our lives. Then, some ideas on focus and financial freedom. The last one is a fun way to look at your closet (a bit more targeted at women, but can apply to everyone).
Why Work Should be Fun (Sometimes). 28 minutes. Daily Creative with Todd Henry. This podcast pushes back against the efficiency culture and explores how joy and intention at work leads to better results and more meaningful engagement.
How to Bring More Play Into Your Life.19 minutes. Life Kit. Research shows play can help you adapt to difficult circumstances, collaborate better and problem-solve. This episode shares ideas to bring more play into all areas of your life.
Stay in Your Sphere. 5 minutes. Before Breakfast. Be more efficient by staying in one zone at a time instead of skipping from activity to activity.
9 Tips for Financial Success and Freedom – Part 1. 11 minutes. Part 2 – 10 minutes. Optimal Finance Daily. This episode provides strategies to help redefine and pursue your personal version of financial success. I think it pairs well with the Making Space episode above.
Is Your Closet a Boutique or a Museum? 13 minutes. The Everyday Style School. This is a great episode to really consider if your closet is somewhere you want to “shop” everyday or is it a “store” that you wish you could avoid.
What I’ve Been Up To
On the professional front, this week had me thinking a lot about “products” and “pricing”. In the context of my business, some partnerships, and some client work. When it comes to service businesses, the concept of products is interesting. Discovering them, packaging them, communicating them, and pricing them. Progress was made for all the different business ventures. It’s not easy and I often feel stuck in the “messy middle”, but I’m confident we’ll get there.
Outside of work, I finished the book Lightening in a Mason Jar. I think this one was an Amazon Prime monthly read…and I loved it! The story moved back and forth between 2 narrators in 2 different time periods as the younger narrator was discovering the story in present day. I highly recommend reading. I also spent time with family, taking walks, and continuing my summer 100-day Peloton and wall Pilates challenge.
What Do You Think?
Have you ever considered the job the company you work for plays in your life?
Did any of the podcasts resonate this week? What idea did you take away?
What do you have planned as the summer season winds down?