The Traveling Introvert

Saying No and How to Do It Right

It’s easy to feel guilty, want to avoid conflict, or simply make other people feel good. However, you can’t consume your whole life on how other people react, nor should you stress about other people’s happiness. Your happiness is more important. In fact, saying no more often is crucial to accomplishing your goals and aspirations.   “No” Is Not Always Negative   Behind every no, there is also a yes. To explain further, when you say no, you are also saying yes to another opportunity t...

Why Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

Controlling your emotions or possessing proper emotional intelligence is vital for a successful life. Feelings, along with rational thoughts, ensure you get what you need out of life financially, physically, and mentally. This is essential to understand your emotions and improve or possess emotional intelligence. The following five tips, when implemented, will improve your emotional intelligence:   Recognize Your Good and Bad Emotions   When you feel a particular emotion, recognize a...

Self review

I want to talk about self assessment or that can other both be sort as self view or a retrospective. This is something that this came  up recently with the clients that I work with, but also just myself. I'm very good at planning. I say that I'm fairly good at planning most of the time, but very, rarely do I take the time to review and look back and see what you know, what has happened and how it's happened and maybe reasoning why.   So I've all these data points, but I'm not really usin...

What is introversion

I realize that this is possibly a topic I haven't gone over whenever I am working with new contractors to taking on new staff. One of my go to questions always is, what does introversion mean to you? Because as we know, there's a lot of misinformation out there and I wanted to just talk about some of the things that people say when I ask them what introversion means to them, bearing in mind what I do and where they find me, where they hear my name.   So one person said to me, Introversio...

Energy Management vs. Time Management

Today I want to talk about the difference between energy management versus time management. What I've found that working with my clients is so many so often they're trying to manage their time, which is great. All the projects and all the things that you have to do and figuring out what goes and what bucket and using line of house matrix or, you know, using get stuff done, flow whatever it needs to do. And that time management.   And they kind of forget that as an introvert, energy manag...

Do Nothing

today I'm going to talk about not doing something, I find that not doing something is the hardest thing of all to not do, to do. Not sure which way I'm not supposed to go. There's times where you might have a lot going on. You keep busy. Things are coming at you left, right and centre. You just want to go, go, go, go, go all the time and you might lose focus of what your overall goals and mission is because you're just kind of stuck in the weeds taking five minutes to just not do anything an...

A to do list is not a plan

today I want to talk about something that happens a lot with some of my clients. They confuse a plan with a to do list. And so I want to talk about how these things are completely different. A to do list is basically a list of tasks that you want to do during the day, the week, the month, the year, etc.. Plan is what's the plan? OK, so this is what a plan could look like.   10 a.m. wake up 10 a.m. to 10, 30, some sort of loose morning routine, 10, 30 till one deep work, one o'clock. Ther...

Days Off Are Not Always Fun

still today I want to talk about days off. This came about because I was talking with a friend and we assume when people take time off work that it is full recharge and fun reasons. And let's be honest, it's not always the case. And when you come back to work, people like, oh, he must be now well rested after that time off. You took time off work.   Yes, that may be the case. But if you look at the last year, a lot of people have taken time off for funerals. A lot of people have taken ti...

The two sides of volunteering

I want to talk about volunteering, something I've done for the majority of my working life in one way or another. And yes, there are upsides to volunteering and giving back to the community, your local community, the international community and people in general. And there are also downsides. But let's talk about the benefits, first of all. Volunteering can be seen as a vital service to your community. There are many organisations that rely on volunteers to help them get done what they need,...

How to systematize your memory

I'm going to talk about creating a reference system and this is something I've realised that I've been doing unintentionally for a little while now. So when I say creating a reference system, the reasoning to do this is so that you you free up space in your brain for other things. And what I mean by a reference system is, for example, when you go shopping, do you go ahead and just make a list of all the things that you need and then go shop for them?   Or do you make a list of all the th...

How to create a starting point

I want to talk about procrastination, kind of, but in a different way, how to bounce back from feeling like you've been procrastinating or lazy or that you've wasted any time in your day. Because here's the thing. We have a habit of, as humans say, it's midday, like, oh, well, I haven't studied X, Y and Z, so I'll put it off to tomorrow because I won't have time to finish it today or then before you know it, it's two o'clock.   You're like, oh, well, I could have done this other thing, b...

Don't say no, ask when

I'm going to talk about saying no, but not just saying no, generally when you're feeling overwhelmed or think about productivity or one of the things we get told, and I definitely agree with it to a certain extent, and I've said it myself, is to say no to sad thing and constructively saying no or, you know, I'll check my calendar or I'll do whatever it is to put a little buffer between that person asking a question.   You having to get back with an answer straight away, because a lot of ...

Don't say no, ask when

I'm going to talk about saying no, but not just saying no, generally when you're feeling overwhelmed or think about productivity or one of the things we get told, and I definitely agree with it to a certain extent, and I've said it myself, is to say no to sad thing and constructively saying no or, you know, I'll check my calendar or I'll do whatever it is to put a little buffer between that person asking a question.   You having to get back with an answer straight away, because a lot of ...

Things not to do on Zoom

day I want to talk about I can't believe I'm saying this, things that happen on some things that you really shouldn't do when you are on Zoom. So in my time, I have been running online coworking sessions and sometimes most people have their video off, which is fine and makes perfect sense. But occasionally I've been running the sessions and there's a couple things that I've noticed that even if I'm deep in work, catch my eye and therefore make it hard for me to concentrate.   If you are ...

You are not lazy, you are processing

, I want to talk about processing time, there's been a lot of changes in the world in the past year or so, and I'm sure everyone has been dealing individually with changes in general. And to be fair, changes happen all the time. And sometimes when you don't realise that you feel like you're being lazy or unproductive, you might feel like just staying in bed for the day or reading a book or whatever it is that you like to do to help yourself feel better.   And for the longest while I was ...

The Introvert Hangover

introvert today I'm talking about what to do when you have an introvert hangover. This is what I currently have I I had a busy couple of weeks that involved seeing humans in the flesh because there is a difference between an intimate hangover and a Zoom hangover. I know a lot of people during the pandemic got very zoomed out and, you know, fed up of them. And I get that and how I dealt and it's kind of easy to deal with that.   You just have less same interaction or change the way you ha...

Staying at a job for sentimental reasons

Introvert today I'm going to talk about staying with your employer for sentimental reasons, and this has come up due to a couple of clients that I've been working with and. It's a case of I've got a client, she has been working with a Start-Up for eight years, she was an employee in about four or five. She's been with them through thick and thin. She's helped build processes, build the company that she's not a co-founder and worked 60, 70 hour weeks well, obviously at 40 an hour pay.   A...

Toxic self care and self love advice

today I want to talk about some popular sort of self care and self love advice that is actually quite toxic. So this came about because a coach that I follow was very vulnerable and open about something that had happened. And one of the things she mentioned that had held her back from realising that this thing was happening is because she her mindset was very much about stay positive and no toxicity. And it's just a mindset thing.   While all the time her body was giving her signals that...

How many to do apps is enough

or to do lists, apps. More to the point, we all have this running list of things that we need to do in our lives. Some of it may be work related. Some of it might be personal, some of it might be family related. But in general, I don't know anyone who doesn't have a running lists of tasks and or things to do, places to be.   Stuff to do, things to remember. And what helps us not keep it all in our heads is to get it down somewhere so people have a journal, a book, a calendar. Some people...

Earn or Learn

Today, we are going to talk about reasons people leave jobs and also more to the point, why people look at new roles. And this came about because I was I'm working with a client and they were talking about the two things they look for when they're looking for a new role. And I thought it was really interesting because what happened is she said that she either looks to learn or to earn. And I thought that was a really great thing.   And I asked her to sort of expand on that. And she menti...

Out Of Office

, I want to talk about out of office. This has come up a couple of times this week.   There was a tweet that I saw that said, European  out of offices. "I'm away camping for the summer email again in September". American out of offices. I have left the office for two hours to undergo kidney surgery, but you can reach me on my cell any time. And I sent this round quite a few friends and it's heartbreakingly true. And then something else happened. I sent out an email to my mailing list abo...

Input devices and RSI

, I'd like to talk about repetitive strain injuries, this has come up because a lot of people have been working from home now for over a year. If due to world events and even though you might have been used to working in an office and you go into the office and work, say, 9:00 to 5:00 with a lunch break and occasional other breaks, watercooler breaks, and you come home and you might do some other things.   But because of the tendency now for everyone to work from home, there is an increa...

A CEO, Technician, and a manager walk into a bar

, I want to talk about many hats as a business owner and most solopreneurs and entrepreneurs, especially at the start of their journey, you will find that you wear many hats.   And this can be great to start with as you get to know what different parts of your business do and how to how it gets done and getting systems in place in that sort of a thing. But generally speaking, this is what happens. We had a day job. You were basically sort of the the person that did all the things at that...

You don't need to know about my family

, I would like to talk about roles for you applying for roles as a freelancer or a small business owner. I saw a post sometime this week in a group and this particular person was looking for a service provider that could provide graphics and social media support, and they had a Web page with all the information on it. And at the end it said, if you are interested in this role, carefully read through this overview and then email me at and gave the email address.   And then the first quest...

What does a powerful woman look like?

. I want to talk about powerful women. What image is conjured up in your head when I say the words powerful women? This came around because I'm working with a client and she has this great little programme that she's running just over, I think two and a half weeks and it's cool. It's got a name, it's got the word Alpha in it. And she's running this group and she is looking for images or we are looking for images to use and social to kind of reiterate what we're talking about.   And what ...

Which is better failure or success?

today I want to talk about a quote I saw that was don't let the Internet rush you. No one is posting that failures. And I found that really interesting for many reasons, but mainly the fact that with social media, with Instagram and Facebook and we see we think we see so much of people's lives or how people run their business. And yet behind the scenes, even the behind the scenes shots are never behind the scenes shots of I failed at this or I tried this thing and it didn't work.   It's ...

When is your weekend?

I want to talk about recharge time and weekends. So I was recently working with a group during one of our online coworking sessions and the statement came up that weekends our social construct. And so why do weekends matter? Unlike sort of, you know, the 24 hour daily rotation of the Earth was a yearlong journey around the sun. The seven day week specifically is purely a social construct. The two day weekend was, in part, born from another economic crisis.   So during the Great Depressio...

When to grow your business

What is the difference between a Strategist, a Coach, and a Consultant?

Introvert today I want to talk about the differences between strategists, consultants and coaches. So I'm going to start with strategists. Strategists are for when you have an unclear vision strategy plan or next steps for the big picture. Right. The whole idea is they kind of help you with breakthrough aha moments and then come up with actionable and customized strategies and plans to move your business forward generally with some sort of clarity, purpose and direction.   The idea is to...

Why you need to know how to use a calendar

I would like to talk about calenders so some people are ruled by their to do list, some people are ruled by their project management and some people are ruled by their calendar. Regardless if you are ruled by any of these, when someone wants to set up time with you, your calendar is kind of important. And so nothing is more frustrating to somebody than having you send your in important information that's needed for a call in an email that isn't a calendar invite, considering so many people a...

Using compassion to grow your business

Introvert today I want to talk about developing compassion as an introvert, something happened to me this week where someone I was working with very last minute, like, had set them a deadline and the deadline came and the message that same day. And I was like, oh, I can't do this, I'll get back to you. And then disappeared for a couple of days now instead of viewing it and being like, OK, well, they missed a deadline.   This is a problem. I tried to view it with compassion and curiosity....

Decision Fatigue

surprise episode on travel. But this can be related to everyday things. So I was listening to a podcast the other day that made a light bulb go off in my mind. So travel can be especially fatiguing because of the amount of decisions you have to make that you wouldn't normally have to make. So, for example, every day you normally probably get up, go to work, come back from work, eat, brush your teeth, your shower, do all of those things.   Some of it is probably rote and some of it is new...

when your mind won’t get in sync with your planner

, I'm going to talk about this particular topic, which was inspired by a friend of mine, which is when your mind won't get in sync with your planner. So I am one of those people that plans using my calendar every now and then. Your brain doesn't want to do what's on your calendar. For whatever reason, it might be a mental health session. So having a plan for when you got this stuff planned in your calendar and you've got things to do and you want to do this and that, maybe for your clients, ...

Deep research tips for job hunting

I'd like to talk about a couple of things you should do when you're looking into moving jobs and looking at new opportunities. If there is an organization that has posted a position, that's great, see how long that position has been posted and then do your research on the company.   And most of the time people will kind of look on Glassdoor and that's it. Or look on LinkedIn and that's it. Or go search the company's website and that's it. But really think about where they really should b...

Don't tell me to get out of my comfort zone

Today, I want to talk about comfort zones, and the reason this came up is because recently I was speaking at a UK startup event and I was talking about how when you're building your business as an introvert, as a human, you should be building your business around you, your likes, you wants and your needs.   And some of that was talking about time blocking, setting boundaries, using systems and generally making a list of things that ground you and recharge you. And on the other hand, maki...

Introvert intuition

today I want to talk about Introvert instinct  something that I I guess for the longest while I don't have and now I'm starting to believe I do have to a certain degree. And I don't know whether it's because I reflect this kind of thing or because stuff has happened. But learning to trust your emotions is really interesting because we are all born with a certain amount of intuition. The problem is from a very young age, we're often told to maybe ignore our feelings or our feelings are not ju...

Interview red flags

Interview questions or things that might come up that are a red flag, that you probably shouldn't work for that organization or company. And this has come about because of various clients that I've worked with and various people that it's the start of the year. People are looking for new jobs. They want to make sure they have some sort of job security. But at the same time, they don't want to just say yes to anything.   So what could be a red flag when you were in the interview stage or ...

Bait and Switch

, I kind of want to talk about the bait and switch. This is something that I've experienced a couple times over the years. And just when I think I know when I'm going to be baited and switched on, I kind of have an idea, bam, it happens again. So let me give you an example of what a bait and switch might be. Someone reached out to me on LinkedIn and said, Oh, I heard about you through mental health, remote working.   I love that you work that you're doing and your values love to speak wi...

Life Happens

today I talk about dreams, it's the end of the year. It's that kind of a thing going on. And one of the things that I got asked to do as part of a planning exercise was to write down things that I want to do in the next 12 months. And they wanted me to write down a list of things that might be obtainable or unobtainable just just to put it all out, get it on a piece of paper, all the things that I would like to do that I want to do sometime in the next 12 months.   And so I scribbled awa...

Introvert Intentions

today I would like to talk about intentionality, something that I was thinking about, one of those shower thoughts where right now I'm currently starting taking some time off. I'm taking about two weeks of client work. And yesterday I spent the day resting a little and pottering around and doing stuff. And I wasn't on the verge of being bored because I was tired. And so I napped, you know, read a little.   And that's more played some games, a trend. But I realized because I hadn't planne...

How not to prepare for sales calls

I want to talk about sales, doesn't matter how amazing your business or your product is if your sales guy sucks. So I've been looking to work with a company about a project that I've got coming up next year. I've been vetting them out. I loved the mission. I loved the values. I loved what they stood for and I loved the product. And so I was on this page and I needed to get in contact with them.   So they have a contact form and the contact form asked the usual questions. Name company. Wh...

Why You Need to Regularly Assess Your Skills

Today, I'm going to talk about why you need to regularly assess your skills. I think something that happens as we go through life and we come across a problem, we deal with it, we move on to the next problem or move on to the next thing. And now's the time of year where people are planning for the next year and not just out and looking back from the previous year.   And we tend to look at what we've done, what we've accomplished. And one thing that really needs to happen is to really ass...

Unsubscribing from black Friday

I'm actually recording this on Thanksgiving, so actually it's midnight. So Black Friday and what I am doing is unsubscribing from Black Friday. And what I mean by this is Black Friday week and Cyber Monday. Tuesday tends to be the time that any mailing list that you are accidentally or on purpose on will send you an email or 15, because this is the time when people who have these mailing lists that they've left dormant for months or years or whatever will be like, oh, but Black Friday, I nee...

How to Learn from Criticism

Today, I want to talk about learning how learning from criticism, how to take criticism, how hard you try, it's often difficult to hear any type of criticism, especially when it's about your work. And if you are creative, even more so because you are your work and it's very personal, it can cause us to second guess ourselves. And worse, it might even make you stop doing whatever it was that you wanted to do.   It might send you into a tailspin and like wondering and thinking and round an...

Plan your client journey

today I want to discuss your customer journey. A lot of people, when they're thinking about starting a new business, they get very excited to do the website. They do the logo, they they have the product and they go out there and try and sell it, which is great.   But a lot of the time they don't think about the journey that the customer has to make. Either before or after or during the sale, and that's where you can figure out where there might be some issues. So, for example, OK, your c...

Why you should have more than one income

I want to talk about how your money shouldn't come from just one place. If recent events have taught us nothing, it is that nothing is guaranteed. So even if you do have that day job that that 9:00 to 5:00 paycheck, having that as the only way that you earn money is not a great thing, is having all your eggs in that one basket. And the reason why this might not be optimum for a lot of people is when that basket goes, you might be prepared, you want to have savings, and then you are left in t...

Why You MUST Treat Your Business Like a Client

. Today, I want to talk about why you must treat your business like you would a client so many times when you have a couple clients, you're getting money coming in. You tend to go ahead and forego everything that you were working on with an on your business to have that time to work on your client's business, which is great. You are trying to keep your clients happy doing what you said you were going to do, hitting those targets and maybe exceeding those targets and keeping your clients happ...

What to charge your friends

I want to talk about friend rates, something happened recently and. Wanted to talk about how to deal with it when your friends ask you for work and they don't want to pay. So I was part of an online virtual summit and there was a pre-recorded section where I gave advice on finding businesses online. And then there was a free live Q&A segment where people could type in whatever questions they had, which was played directly after my pre-recorded session.   And a lot of people ask questions...

Due Diligence

Today, I want to talk about due diligence, and it's not a subject I've talked about before, but something happened recently that made me think this would be a good topic for everyone to think about right now, especially with more people working online and the holidays are coming, a lot more scams are out there. And so recently I got an email saying, hey, I was recently a business manager of successful Game of Thrones podcast.   And while I was there, I was able to bring in a certain amou...

Why all businesses should have a podcast

Today, I'm going to talk about a little give you a little slice of something that I talk about very often in front of other professional groups. That's podcasting. Surprise, surprise. And the reason I talk about it and this little snippet is I feel like almost every business should have a podcast  every business I hear you cry. Yes. And this is the reason why there's many reasons. One of the reasons is accessibility.   And so a podcast doesn't have to be a podcast in the traditional sens...