The start of a new year usually comes with resolutions and big plans—new habits to build, old ones to break. But sometimes, what we really need isn’t something new, just a reminder of the simple things we’ve already learned.
Notes to Self are reminders to slow down, be present, and follow through on what we already know—things we may have forgotten along the way.
No 1 — Harriman: Small huge things
They are nothing and they are everything.
Thinking small isn’t about shrinking ambition; quite the opposite, it’s about sharpening it. When you obsess the details, the details start working for you. Craft lives there. Excellence lives there. Meaning lives there. The big picture doesn’t fall apart because of grand failures—it erodes through tiny neglects and shortcuts. Client’s very rarely demand this attention to detail, half the time they don’t even see it, but more importantly they can sense it or the lack of it, the consumers can definitely feel when they're not there! Think small, play BIG!
No 2 — Steel: Find things around you that make you laugh
In challenging times, make a conscious effort to find small things that bring you joy and a smile, or even a laugh. Better yet, try to bring a laugh or a smile to someone else. They might genuinely appreciate it, or, like Jess, you might just get an appreciative half-smile and an eye-roll.
They say laughter is the "best medicine," but is laughing truly good for you? It offers physical and mental health benefits, fact!
No 3 — Harriman: Be more goose (Part 1)
Overwhelm and stress aren’t healthy, I suggest we all need to be more goose.
In my very first job, working for the best ad agency in the land at the time, I gave everything, late nights, long weekends, always going above and beyond not because they demanded it, but because I felt the need to. Then one day an account handler walked in with a ridiculous request, expecting me to magically fix their problem, right now, dropping everything else.
This was the final straw, I snapped, giving them a piece of my mind as I had nothing left to give! So I went out for a walk and sat on a bench next to the serpentine, fuming, considering handing in my notice, and contemplating life, while watching a couple of geese drift past in front of me.
Intrigued by two geese serenely swimming, approaching each other. They stopped swimming, climbed out and turned to face each other. Then without warning they go at it, and I mean they really go at it! Hooting, squawking, flapping, pecking, flurry of feathers, it was thuggery of the goose kind. Then as soon as they started, they stopped, did an about turn and both entered the water and swam off back the way they came, like nothing had happened.
In that moment, that’s when it hit me, that I need to “Be More Goose” or as another avian idiom would suggest, deal with it, let it out, if you need to… then move on. “Like water off a duck’s back”
No 4 — Steel: Stare out the window
(The middle distance holds the answers)
This is a frequent topic of conversation, but it's something I've been banging on for over the past 10 years (just ask my wife and business partner). I've always maintained that true creative thinking isn't sparked by staring at a screen. Instead, the best ideas and neural connections emerge from the imagination of a rested, wandering mind, they happen when you aren't consciously trying to think.
No 5 — Harriman: Stay curious always
Arm yourself with curiosity and a grin. Let go of the need to be in control and remember to have FUN!
I love this time of year, the transition between seasons - winter into spring, the sense of change, new beginnings, the shifts in behaviours, and the feeling of something exciting being just around the corner, the sense of optimism. It might be grey and miserable outside right now, but the seeds we sow today will soon blossom when the days grow longer. Staying curious is a reminder to maintain a lifelong love of learning, asking questions, exploring new ideas and seeing the world with wonder. Fun isn’t frivolous it’s fundamental.
No 6 — Steel: Stand still and absorb the world around you
Cultivate a sensitive, open awareness to receive ideas, or "seeds", from the world around you, as Rick Rubin once wrote "We are 'antennae' meant to receive ideas, not necessarily generate them.” Your task is to collect these seeds, nurture them, and allow them to grow into something great.
No 7 — Harriman: The answers are easy
It’s the questions that are difficult.
Ask the dumb, stupid questions that everyone else is too afraid to ask. We need to get comfortable that we don’t have to have all the answers. Better questions. Better outcomes. Asking questions leads to better understanding. It always help to have an informed point of view.
No 8 — Steel: Consume stuff that is fulfilling and nourishing
I’m gonna keep this one short, as you don’t need an entrée. Don’t fill your head with endless noise and clutter. Feel full, not bloated.