Hello,

IT'S SEPTEMBER! All hail September. I love this month (as you know if you read my email to you this week about finishing the year strong(er). This summer has been so much fun. I've run The Collective over the summer period for the first time and loved working with the women who are participating in it as they worked towards their goals. I've got to work with inspiring business owners and prepare for a very full autumn of speaking engagements. In between I've travelled and spent time with family. It was exactly as it was supposed to be. 

But now I am ready to get back to work. I'm ready to meet the next round of participants for The Collective and the new group of Change Makers who will be with me for five months in The Change Maker Programme. It is going to be a whole season of making businesses better and I cannot wait.

My gift for you

Over the years, there is one tool that I have used over and over again in my businesses to make sure that I achieve the goals I want to achieve. I use it with every client I work with, in every programme, and now I want to share it with you. I recorded this free masterclass for you over the summer. It's a masterclass, not a sales pitch, there is nothing in there but actionable content and a step-by-step method to plan your week for success. Use it before the next week starts and see how you get on. I predict that if you can make it work for you (and I believe, based on helping dozens of business owners achieve their goals using this planning system, that you can absolutely make it work for you), then you will dramatically increase your ability to achieve the goals you have set for yourself before we ring in the new year. 

To access the masterclass: The masterclass is hosted on my online learning platform, you will need to enrol for a free account to use it. Once you have enrolled you have access to the masterclass and supporting materials for the lifetime of the course. There is no email welcome sequence, no sliding you into a sales funnel you never wanted to be part of. I want to be really clear on this, the masterclass is for you, not for me. I want to see you succeed and this is one way I can help you do that.

I would love to hear what your goals and dreams are for the end of the year. How will you be finishing strong? Let me know by replying to this email.

Until then, let's get on with the Notes...

1) Do You want 40% more time? 

I do! I do! In addition to doing the Ideal Week masterclass, you should also take a look at these tips for making sure that the meetings you run and attend are a valuable and effective use of your time. 

2) Diversifying Podcasting

The podcast world is overwhelmingly white and male. Earlier this year, Spotify set out to change this by launching the Sounds Up Bootcamp to bring more diversity into the podcasting space as part of their Black History is Happening Now initiative. Find out more about the program and meet some of the women who were selected from over 18,000 applicants in this article.

3) Don't do what you love

There is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful for what I do, and I do love it. But I am also very aware that it is frustrating, painful and at times makes me wonder whether I should give it all up. That's part of doing the work. Which is why I totally align with the message of this article which is to be more aware of the difficulties that go into producing what you do. For me, I do not focus on loving the work, I focus on remaining deeply curious about the work. Always. It is the curiosity which will pull me through the difficult patches because I want to see what is on the other side. Remember, it is the grit in the oyster which creates the pearl.

4) Speaking of dark times

When it does get overwhelming, and you're wondering how to go on doing what you do, sometimes even curiosity isn't enough. You have to have a baseline of self-confidence or you would crumble completely. But finding the right level of self-confidence can be tricky. How much is enough? How much is too much? This article contains five areas to look at as you balance your level of self-confidence. 

5) Tiny leadership

If you've been following my work with Naomi over at Redefining Communities then you will know that I think that the age of traditional leadership is over and that a new ear of personal leadership with a community base has begun. When I read this article by Adam Brault, I almost stood up and cheered. It is exactly what we have been talking about. "Tiny leaders build on other tiny leaders to create tiny resilient fearless societies." YES! I'm in. Are you? If you want more of this new leadership and to see how we are encouraging women to step into it then please join me at the Rise & Lead Women Summit on the 27th of September (less than tickets are left. Use the code RLFRIEND to grab one of the few remaining tickets with a 15% discount). Then book your diary for the Women in Tech Regatta in Amsterdam where I'll be participating on a panel about multidimensional leadership and how we lead from every chair as well as moderating the panel on Why Women Turn on Each Other. It's going to be good. We all have a lot to say on these topics and I want you to be heard. 

Until the next Notes,

Emmy

P.S. Welcome back, let's finish the year stronger, together.