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I’d like to start this week with a recent reflection if that’s ok….

I don’t think anyone really knows what’s going on any more.

That might sound extreme but I’ve been noticing something. The world feels increasingly weird, complicated and heavy. The hyper-normalisation of genuinely odd things has left many of us unsure which way is up, who to trust, which side we’re on and whether the images we’re seeing are even real.

So trying to make any long‑term plans in that kind of volatility is hard.

It’s no wonder our nervous systems feel constantly out of sync. And when that happens, we start looking for people who seem more certain than we are. We listen to podcasts, read books, follow influencers, scroll comment sections, watch the news. We look outward in the hope that someone else has found an answer that makes sense.

And now that AI can make any of us sound authoritative, any one of us could probably write a convincing blog post about brain surgery with the right prompt.

Last week I wrote about being a ‘comprehensivist’ and how each of us is a unique bundle of experience. We can offer perspectives but our real strength comes from within. And that awareness means that it’s ok to admit when we don’t know something, in fact, that’s the bravest thing any of us can do.

Which brings me to something new - something I didn’t know how to do this morning but now I do.

I’ve been wanting to add the ability for people to listen to my newsletters. It’s a chance for me to stretch into different media and get more comfortable using my voice in new ways.

I’ve researched tools, compared options and decided to keep it simple while I learn. So have a listen here…

What do you think? Does it sound professional? I hope not, I’m really hoping it sounds a bit amateur. Let me explain.

‘Amateur’ comes from the Latin amātor (lover) and the French amateur (one who does something for the love of it). Only more recently did it come to imply a lack of skill.

So maybe we need more of that amateur spirit in how we live and work. Not unpaid or unskilled, just rooted in care rather than performance and flow rather than force. Being authentic rather than perfect.

We start as amateurs and have fun while we grow. But somewhere along the way, we’re encouraged to become more professional. It’s something I’ve often seen as businesses grow - by becoming more polished, they lose the very reasons people feel in love with them in the first place.

It’s what we can see from consultants and mentors who encourage people to follow a business blueprints that emulate the market leaders as some kind of aspirational strategy.

They stop listening and start telling. But I’m here to challenge that as I believe the people who help us most aren’t usually the ones issuing instructions. They’re the ones willing to try, to learn and to share honestly. The lack of polish and the visible missteps that come from genuine curiosity is often where the truth lives.

It’s why, in my coaching, I talk about walking shoulder to shoulder. Slowing down enough to hear your own intuition. The answers aren’t transferred from me to you, they’re uncovered from your deep reflections.

Last Friday we hosted another Natural Network gathering at Four Acre Farm and it felt like a relevant example of all this in practice. Kate and I are finding our flow but we’re letting it happen organically. I joked on the day that I have a spreadsheet of timings (which I do) but we always leave space for things to breathe. And it’ll change again next time, that’s the magic of nurturing and emerging new ideas.

I’m deeply grateful for the wonderful humans who are part of this shared experiment in finding our way together. I have decades of experience and plenty of credentials but this particular path is new. No one has walked it before so we’re making the path by walking it. And that’s what makes it exciting!

All of which makes me wonder when we lost the idea of ‘play’ in our work.

As kids, we were constantly experimenting - testing, adjusting, discovering. At some point we decided we’d learned enough and started calling ourselves experts.

I think that’s the strange thing about our careers. The more senior we become, the less often we learn anything new. The risks get bigger and the expectations higher so we play it safe. And the more we get paid, the more meetings we endure and in my experience, whole weeks sometimes pass without learning anything new.

I find this tension tricky in a world that wants neat propositions and tidy labels. I sometimes call myself a consultant or mentor, though neither fits perfectly. My work feels more like wayfinding or guiding - sharing the path I’ve walked, not asking anyone to follow it but walking alongside them as they find their own.

Traditional consultancy promises hired certainty. But every team and situation is different. It’s less about handing over a map and more about learning to read the landscape together.

Events & gatherings

This is not a drill! The world’s finest vegan pastries are back and we need to place our order today. So don’t delay, secure your sweet treat by buying a ticket. We’d love you to join us…

The Natural Network at Patch

26th March: 10am - 12pm at Patch. Tickets here

I’m really excited about this. We’ll be exploring ‘Rooted Resilience’ as our theme this month:

• Resilience in self - guided reflection and gentle breathing exercise with Karley

• Resilience in nature - the launch of a new campaign with local film maker Dan Pringle who will be presenting his concept

• Resilience in community - connecting with others who are asking the deep questions of themselves and their work

Wrapping up…

Maybe not knowing isn’t a weakness to fix but a place to begin.

Our vulnerability can be our greatest strength as it reminds us that life isn’t about performance but presence.

We don’t have to arrive fully formed. We’re allowed to learn in public, to try things, to change our minds and to find our way by walking a new path. When the world is so uncertain, we can try to find certainty in the chaos but unless we learn to trust ourselves, we’ll always feel lost.

And it’s easier and far more human when we find our way together.

Until next week, and always with curiosity and compassion,

Nick

Well that’s it for another week. But we don’t have to stop there.

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