Have you ever had that thing where you do something, it works brilliantly… and then, over time, you forget to do it and it gradully slips out of your week?

Like going to the gym, journaling, flossing, setting aside proper time to think, or a host of other things?

It wasn’t an active decision to stop. It was as simple as life getting busy. Other things crowd in. And the habit that actually worked pretty well quietly disappears.

I had a reminder this week that at some point I mislaid along the way one of the most powerful routines I ever had…

The story of two 18 year olds using AI well to the tune of $2m a month, the risks of using AI badly and why it’s so damaging, a book to remind on the power of deep thinking and three experiments to play with.

All wrapped up in one pithy article and with a suggested musical accompaniment of Simple Minds and a reminder not to forget to use our brains!!

When was the last time you asked someone if they were ok, and you got back “I’m fine”?

On hearing those words, you knew that “I’m fine” was the last thing they were.

What about you?

Ever caught yourself saying those words or similar?

My bet is we’ve all been on both sides of that conversation.

The reason I raise this is that one of the most common patterns I see of people who are both successful AND fulfilled is that they work hard to create Alignment with those around them,

A pattern I see time and again working with world-class leaders all over the world.

It’s that the teams they are a part of work hard to create powerful leadership experiences that aren’t about individual brilliance. They’re about the impact of the whole.

At a slew of recent events focused on senior leadership teams, the feedback that really stood out hasn’t been about any one person or speaker . It’s been about the experience as a whole. The sense of shared clarity, of feeling a part of something much bigger.

Drives me mad when I hear language like this.

It’s lazy cliched thinking which happens all too often at work, around the dinner table and down the pub.

Worse, I think it does real damage to our culture as a society.

Don’t take my word for it. Last month, Intergenerational England published a report titled, A Divided Kingdom. To quote:

"The UK is facing a stark level of age segregation.…

At a recent conference, I ran a simple but powerful exercise: past, present, future. It’s one of the exercises I regularly do with teams.

Everyone in the room, some 400 people were invited to rate themselves from 1 to 100 in each of those three modes and to stand and point to the direction of where they faced in terms of time.

Think of an ambitious project you’re working on right now.

At work. At home. Doesn’t matter.

Now ask yourself this:

What’s your level of conviction that it will succeed?

Not how much you hope it will.

Not how much you want it to.

How much do you believe, deep down, that it will happen?

What’s an unpopular opinion you have?

I’m sure you do. We all do, right?

But, how often do you vocalise it?

I wonder if it’s because our online worlds have become increasingly polarised and social media sites stoke division and argument, that we become fearful of expressing opinions that run counter to “acceptable narratives”.

Jigsaws. Remember them?

Used to be standard fare for birthday gifts for kids? Maybe you like us do one at Christmas?

Ever remember that feeling when you’re a good way into solving one and you get that stuck feeling.

You keep looking at the same pieces and you can’t see what ‘s missing.

You start to wonder if you’ve lost piece and whether you can all the way to the end.

That feeling!

I think that’s a bit like going after our big bold goals

Two things have been on my mind this week.

They both revolve around how we as humans have better conversations with each other.

I don’t think there’s anything more important right now as perhaps, you, like me see a rapid cultural decay in how we either build or destroy relationships.

The good news is we all have a choice and can exert control in our own worlds.