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I pay my respects and acknowledge all Traditional Custodians of Country and on whose land I live and work. I recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present.
Always was, always will be.

Hi! I'm Michael.

Welcome to this week's useletter.

The newsletter that's useful. Focussed on your future not my past.

It’s a classic question...

“If you could return to your early twenties, what advice would you give yourself?”

I always dreaded having to answer it.

I didn’t feel like I had any great insight or wisdom worthy of saying out loud. I also felt my life was good and that trusting my intuition had worked pretty well for me. I didn’t need to go back in time to tell myself that.

But I started noticing patterns.

Opportunities missed. Paths not taken.

Nothing major,

or was it?

Then, I found the concept of “choosing yourself”, and saw I’d failed to do so on a number of occasions, when perhaps I should have. So now I choose to choose myself.

If not me then who?

It’s the advice I’d give myself in my early twenties.

Choose yourself.

It’s also one of the things I talk about in a recent episode of the Origins: A Creative Journey podcast series. As it’s been an important part of my creative journey.

I've picked up some of the threads I left dangling in the podcast, to write about. In last week's blog I wrote about Fear Setting, a super useful practice I use and teach - which I mention in the podcast. Next week's blog will be about choosing yourself.

So I’ve been mulling over writing about “choosing yourself”, and I’ve been considering the importance of time with myself in my practice. It’s a part of choosing yourself, and useful in a number of ways. Also a good subject for this useletter.

If you don’t spend much time alone, here’s what you might gain in doing so.

I got you

Michael

PS: If you're curious about how I got to be where I am, then you'll find Origins: A Creative Journey illuminating and worth a listen. I talk about my creative journey in detail. And if you've got questions or feedback for me about the podcast, please feel free to reach out. Always happy to connect to answer questions or receive feedback.

Spending time with yourself

Anyone who finds time with themself uncomfortable, or question it’s value, bear with me. You might be missing out on valuable insights and opportunities to push yourself.

I’d like you to begin by asking yourself,

“Am I comfortable with being by myself?”

If the answer is ‘no’, then consider why?

Are you talking yourself down?

Are you intolerant of the choices you make and what you do?

What would it take to for you to treat yourself positively and with higher regard?

Start there. (It’s the first step in choosing yourself.)

Being by yourself

Set boundaries, or rules, to ensure that you are able to establish and maintain a space where you’re able to sit in silence. The silence is to allow you to recharge, calm and settle yourself. Then to objectively listen to yourself and critically appraise where you’re at and what you’re doing. It might also include a critical consideration of the advice or insights of others, away from their influence.

A silent space with yourself, gives you the time to allow your mind to wander freely, without agenda. To connect dots unexpectedly. And notice what you’ve been noticing. Such as noting what’s coming up for you, things you’re curious about, enjoying or getting in the way.

It doesn’t have to be a long time. It could be as short as a walk around the block by yourself. But it needs to be alone, without distraction, and as a regular practice.

As an introvert, it helps me recharge and reset.

But the most important part of it is what it allows me to see anew.

Try it.

Start with a short period, once a week.

Work up to longer periods and even as a daily practice.

You got this.

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