THE DARING WORKS NEWSLETTERTrimTabs - small shifts, big possibilities.
A weekly dose of curiosity, perspective and the occasional provocation.
A trim tab is a small flap on the rudder of a ship. By moving this tiny piece, you can help turn the much larger rudder and ultimately change the direction of the entire vessel.
It's an idea I came across through the brilliant and unconventional thinker Buckminster Fuller, who saw it as a metaphor for how individuals can influence much bigger systems.
And I love the idea that small shifts in how we think, see and act can create ripples far beyond ourselves. That's the spirit behind TrimTabs.
Every Tuesday morning, I share something that's got me thinking. Sometimes it's about business, leadership or the systems we've created. Other times it's nature, burnout, community, technology or simply what it means to be human.
I draw on my experiences in the corporate world, my work as an Accredited Coach and strategist and my growing fascination with what the natural world can teach us.
It's a place to connect seemingly unrelated ideas, challenge a few assumptions and perhaps see something familiar in a different light.
Sometimes personal. Sometimes practical. Occasionally provocative.
And hopefully, every now and then, something that acts as a little trim tab in your own life.
A week that changed the rhythm
I hope this doesn’t confuse your internal clock too much but today is obviously Friday, not the usual Tuesday when I send this.
It’s been one of those weeks where the rhythm of life gets completely thrown off. On Monday, I was sitting in the garden, finalising the original version of this newsletter and enjoying a bit of sun, when I heard a crash from inside the house. I didn’t think too much of it at first. With teenage boys and a dog, noise is just part of the background.
I made it up as I went (finding consistency on the way)
It's bank holiday Monday and I'm writing this in the sun in my garden. I've just got back from a night at a wonderful campsite and there are some genuinely exciting things on the horizon this week.
But if I can be honest (and that's always been the deal here), I'm feeling rather overwhelmed. Not in a desperate sense, just an unease and a feeling of imbalance. In the past I would have ignored it, masked upand carried on but I know better now.
Becoming the hero of our own stories.
Testing new things is all part of nurturing my curiosity and to help me recover from decades of perfectionism. I held myself back because I feared getting things wrong and I assumed others would judge me, when really the judgement was coming from within. By growing my self‑compassion, I’ve created more space to play.
And that brings me to this week’s theme: the stories we live inside and the freedom that comes when we question them.
Amateur hour (in the best possible way).
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.
TrimTabs Newsletters
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