Welcome to Excited Adults

Let's run some experiments in human thriving...

Hello, humans from all the different places 👋🏽

For years, I’ve been writing to folks via Shiny Happy Healthy, my long time retreat company that wrapped up in 2017. And then my US based training and development group, Mindful Under Fire. A little on Instagram, a lot via LinkedIn. A tonne via my work with the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies.

In all these places, there’s a censoring I impose on myself: writing for the specific audience, a product, for someone else’s purpose.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about self expression, and community, and how we show up in different places. And I’ve been thinking how nice it would be to show up as myself, only myself: without censorship, or an agenda, but to share ideas, to express, to connect.

Introducing: Excited Adults, an experiment in connecting to self, the levers for deep joy and accesses to authenticity.

🎈Why Excited Adults?

Childlike joy and wonder are some of my favourite things — but they can be a little harder to come by as we age. I think my default ways of being are joyful and excited, and in the past few years, so many things have challenged that. This year, I’m actively looking at what can get in the way — and running experiments to see which levers I can pull to shift my thinking, my heart, and my “Excited Adult” quotient.

🧪 What’s Gonna Happen?

Each week, I’m going to share what’s been going on: experiments I’m running on myself and my life, conversations I’m having, books I’m enjoying, resources that might help spark insights or soothe a frayed nervous system.

🚧 Removing Roadblocks To Thriving

Much of my work in the past two years has been examining what gets in the way of people thriving, especially in the context of mental fitness. A few weeks ago, I had a chat about Preventing Burnout with the brilliant Professor Craig Hassed, who I get to work with at the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies.

While we talk about the latest research on burnout, most people said it felt so good to simply acknowledge that things feel HARD right now, and they got so much out of the practical suggestions we made to alleviate those challenges.

✍🏽 Let’s Do It Together

I’ve been running these experiments in little groups with friends over the past year, and one thing I’ve noticed is how saying things aloud supercharges them: declaration is a powerful thing! So whether you want to read along and laugh at the adventures, or make your own “Excited Adult” proclamations, you’ve come to the right place.

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

❤️ Right Now I’m…

📚 Re-reading Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel because character driven sci-fi makes my heart sing. I’m trying to read 70 books I’ve never read this year, so revisiting a comfort read isn’t ideal but hey, it’s a cracking read.

📺 Watching the latest season of Hacks and wondering when I last laughed this hard at a TV show..? The dynamics, the cringes, the laughs, the tears. I love it.

🎵 Listening to the brilliant Lake Street Dive’s Bad Self Portraits which has just had it’s 10th anniversary, and is still one of my all time favourites.

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🦮 How Can I Help?

Think of me as your guide dog for self inquiry!

I run workshops on preventing burnout, mindfulness, clear communication and my personal favourite: “How Not To Be An A$$hole”. If you need a keynote, something to shake up your team, get them working well together, or even a loving, relaxing meditative treat to celebrate a job well done, let me know by replying here, or book me directly through my website.

You can hear me answering curly work relationship questions at 745am AEST Thursdays on Libbi Gorr’s Enterprise Breakfast show on Disrupt Radio, and on Disrupt’s The Advisory Board.

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