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So here we are at edition 3 (editions 1&2 here). And again, I will start by reflecting on the question I left you with last week:

“What can I do today to nurture trust in myself?”

How did that land with you?

For me, it prompted some amazing conversations with the lovely readers of TrimTabs. I was asked how I help my clients to nurture trust in themselves (and their businesses). And the answer?

Well it wouldn’t be a TrimTabs newsletter if I didn’t weave in my 4D thinking model! (Explained in previous newsletters here):

1. Dreaming – Pause and listen to your intuition. What do you really need? You’ll be surprised how much wisdom your mind and body provides when we really listen.

2. Designing - Create a vision of what trust would look like to you. Design the systems of activity and behaviours that would help to achieve that.

3. Doing – This is the key part. And it requires commitment and practice. Keep showing up for yourself. You’ve made a promise to yourself that you want to achieve something. Trust is built on consistency so keep going, you will then believe that it can be achieved. This builds the trust that you can do it.

4. Daring – I believe one of the most daring things we can do is to back ourselves. And choose our own path. Dialling up our authenticity is scary, particularly for us people pleasers but without being who we were born to be, we’re not able to build trust in ourselves.

So I hope that helps. I’ve tried to distil lots of inner work into a short reflection but it gives you some ideas and please feel free to drop me a message if you’d like me to explore it further with you.

And if we build belief and trust in ourselves, what’s next?

I think it’s finding joy, which may be the ultimate act of trust as the more we create, the more we can find. And the more we can believe in ourselves, the more we build authentic connections with others.

Ultimately, the happier we are, the more effective and fulfilled we become. I love the quote below from Maya Angelou.

Maybe we can catch up at some of the great ‘Doings’ in the calendar and we can send much needed joy into the world…

I thought I’d remind you of my calendar of ‘Values based’ events in the Bournemouth +30 miles area. Check it out here. February was a busy month so I’m in the process of looking further ahead and speaking to amazing local people and communities to include their details.

And what have I been up to and what do I have planned? Here are some highlights:

• B Corp month starts on Saturday! And now that I’m the co-Chair of ‘B Local’ Hampshire & Dorset with my friend Jaimie Harris we have lots of exciting things coming up throughout March.

• International Women’s Day is on the 8th March. My mum was an OG feminist, dreamer and rebel so I’m doing what I can to live her values. That’s why I’m stoked that I’ve been asked by Jackie Goddard to present at the next Speak Like a Speaker Club to share my mum’s story. Tickets are still available if you’d like to join us.

• I hosted the second People, Planet, Pastry event at Patch with Karley Woodford. I really enjoy these events as it’s a relaxed way of intersecting groups that may not otherwise meet. The next event is on the 27th March.  

• I met the wonderful Planet Purbeck team for a hike to the best pub in the world. It was great to learn more about them and their work.

• I guest Lectured at the Masters Degree, Marketing & Brand Management course at Bournemouth University. I successfully navigated the tensions between marketing strategy and responsible business without creating too much fear for the future!

• Today I will be attending the Building Better Business event at BU to hear from great people in the purposeful business community. There are still tickets available if you rush :)

I feel I’ve been through a lot in my life. And despite this, I’ve also achieved a lot. But as the saying goes, ‘the body keeps the score’.

So after decades of stress, trauma and grief, I’ve been on a journey of personal growth and self discovery. And what I’ve realised is that my nervous system was frazzled! And at times, joy has felt like a distant dream.

So I’ve been nurturing the space to heal my interconnected internal systems. And one of these ways is to be surrounded by nurturing people, outdoors in nature. It's the perfect antidote to the disconnection, fear and headwinds we’re facing both individucally and collectively.

So my latest joy has come from learning to grow vegetables from seed with the ‘no-dig’ community at the incredible Four Acres Farm. It’s an 8 week program so I’ll keep you updated with how it goes!

Kate and Molly have created something truly special at Four Acre and it’s quickly becoming one of my favourite places to spend time.

As always, I’ll leave you with this question for reflection:

“What brings me joy? And how can I use that to build power in my work?”

Wishing you clarity and courage,

Nick