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I’ve been reflecting on the question I ended edition 47 with last week and I think I might have missed the point.

Our question was, “What might I not be seeing from here?”

When I wrote that question, I imagined it as an invitation to gain height and take the ‘helicopter view’. I pictured the usual advice about stepping back, rising above and widening the frame.

But I realised something a few days ago when my friend Simon Hill released the film we recorded together for his Take a Seat project. The premise is simple and brilliant. You carry your own deck chair to the beach, sit down and talk about life, work and everything in between. There’s no script or agenda, it’s just two people shooting the breeze in the sea air.

So when Simon shared the finished film, the question I’d been exploring felt completely different. The film offered a sideways perspective rather than a vertical one, because it showed me what things might look like from the outside looking in.

Seeing yourself through a different lens is interesting. It offers a view we rarely get, because most of us spend our lives inside our own thoughts.

Watching it back felt both reassuring and surprising because it showed a version of me I actually felt proud of. And that’s a relatively new feeling for me. I’ve been interviewed before but I was usually representing a role, a business or someone else’s philosophy. This time it was just me, my perspectives and my truth.

I didn’t hold back. I was clear about my views on certain billionaires, the systems we live within and my hopes for the future. I shared openly and I haven’t overthought it too much, which feels like progress.

Maybe that’s a sign of healing or maybe it’s simply the magic of Simon’s interview style. Either way, I feel grateful.

It felt especially meaningful because we recorded it on the beach where we scattered some of my mum’s ashes over twenty‑five years ago. She planted the earliest seeds of who I would become and it feels like I am slowly finding my way back to that version of myself.

So bring your snacks, settle in and please let me know what you think when you watch it…

When you see yourself from the outside looking in, it becomes easier to notice where that perspective shows up in everyday life. And it showed up again this week when we hosted the first ever Natural Network gathering at Patch.

This gathering grew from the compost of People, Planet, Pastry which was a free community event with a national banner behind it.

Free pastries are always an easy sell and there is comfort in offering something under someone else’s name.

So when that chapter ended, we were left with the chance to build something new from scratch and that felt both exciting and slightly terrifying. There was no hiding behind anyone else’s ideas or identities. This new gathering came directly from us and it required a different kind of courage to stand on our own two feet.

I’m delighted to say it went really well. The room was full of thoughtful, generous people and the conversations had real depth.

I wanted to share that on LinkedIn and that’s where things became unexpectedly tricky. Social media can feel like a hall of mirrors, full of strategies and performance. Every draft I wrote either sounded like a humble brag or an awkward attempt at self‑promotion.

In the end, the most honest thing I could do was write about the struggle itself. It felt more real than pretending the words came easily. It seemed to land well and you can read it here if you’re curious.

All of this brought me back to the same realisation. We can only ever see the world through our own eyes and that includes how we see ourselves. Other people see something slightly different and we never get full access to that view. We can’t control how others interpret us. We can only control how we show up.

These days I’m trying to grow deeper roots, speak from the heart and trust that being misunderstood occasionally is part of being human. The film helped with that. The gathering helped with that. And last week’s question helped with that too.

Maybe perspective isn’t only about looking down from above. Sometimes it’s about looking across from the outside in and letting that view soften the stories we tell about ourselves.

All of this has also made me think about the patterns we carry with us, especially the ones that formed years ago and still shape how we see ourselves today. Sometimes those patterns protect us and sometimes they maladapt to hold us back without us realising.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has a simple model that helps explain the way our thoughts, feelings, behaviours and physical sensations loop together and create a story before we’ve even checked the facts.

There’s a well‑known example of waving at a friend across the road and them not waving back. Some of us instantly assume we’ve done something wrong. Others assume the friend is annoyed. Others assume they simply didn’t see us. Any of those could be true but our minds often sprint to the version that fits our old patterns, not the present moment.

That’s where this ‘hot cross bun’ model is useful. It shows how quickly we can get caught in a self-perpetuating loop that feels real but isn’t always rooted in reality especially when we’re trying something new or stepping into a bigger version of ourselves. Many of us talk about perfectionism and this is often what sits underneath it. The work is to catch ourselves before we spiral to familiar territory and keep our ideas small just to avoid any shame or judgement. And that’s how my coaching approach can help people to see, react and change these patterns.

Here’s the model, in case it resonates. I fancy a hot cross bun now :)

Events & gatherings

All of this talk about perspective, emergence and being seen from new angles has also made me think about what comes next.

Reflection is important but there is a moment when the inner work wants to move outward. The film helped me feel that shift and the Natural Network gathering did too. It feels like the season is nudging many of us from quiet tending into visible action.

Which brings me to our next events:

The Natural Network at Four Acre - ‘The Emergence’

20th March: 9.15-13.15 at Four Acre Farm. Tickets here

As day and night come into balance, this Spring Equinox gathering invites you to step from reflection into visible action.

If winter was for thinking and February was for tending what is growing beneath the surface, we're now ready for emergence.

This focused half-day experience blends structured business reflection with nature-based insight.

Workshop, delicious lunch, connections and follow up 30 minute coaching conversation with me.

Don’t forget that as an email subscriber, you can use the code Naturalnetwork20 for a £20 discount. We’d love to see you there.

The Natural Network at Patch

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

Our second monthly gathering at Patch continues the rhythm we began last month. It’s a gentle space for conversation, connection and community, shaped by the energy of the season and whatever is emerging for people right now.

This session includes a facilitated discussion, time to meet others on a similar path and a moment to celebrate the community we’re building together. There will be a delicious treat, a hot drink and a chance to slow down long enough to hear yourself think.

It’s simple, warm, human and grounded.

Wrapping up…

I’ve noticed this week that sometimes we miss seeing parts of ourselves without meaning to. Some have been tucked away for safety, some get quiet because life becomes loud and some drift to the edges because we were busy becoming who we thought we needed to be.

Those parts never really disappear. They wait patiently for us to turn our head slightly and notice them again. Sometimes it takes a sideways view of a conversation in a deck chair or a room full of generous people to remind us that we are allowed to gather those pieces back in.

Maybe the invitation for this week is simply to notice which parts of you are asking to return - the honest part, the playful part, the part that speaks without rehearsing and the part that remembers what mattered before everything became complicated. Spring is a season of returning and perhaps we are returning too?

Until next week, with curiosity and a welcome for whatever is finding its way home,

Nick

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

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