 Proximity: nearness in space, time, or relationship. Have the right things in close proximity to your day, and they can heavily influence your outcomes. Have the wrong things nearby, well, we all know the temptation when mints are on the conference room table, biscuits are on the kitchen counter, or your phone is right at your fingertips. Want to read more, have books in close proximity; want to journal more, have your journal in close proximity; have good food in close proximity and bad food far far away. Keep good friends in close proximity, distance the bad influences. Your gym, a glass of water, healthy snacks are all things to keep in close proximity.
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 Your identity can supercharge or hinder most aspects of your life. Last week I met with James Clear, author of New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits. The book has sold 1 million copies this year alone. We talked about identity and how important identity is in creating empowering habits. Don't read books, instead be a reader. Don't go to the gym, instead be an athlete. Don't manage a team, instead be a leader. When James spoke about identity, it made me think of how our identity in creativity is so critical. Many of us walk into a creative session to help come up with ideas. Not many of us walk in knowing we are creators, disruptors, or innovators. The ones who walk in with that identity, will work harder, look for more connections, and embrace other people's ideas. Ultimately they are the ones who are comfortable being the nonconformist who challenges how things are done to find new ways to move forward. It's common to attend a creative meeting because you've been invited or you have to. It's uncommon to attend a creative meeting knowing you are a creator, an innovator, or a disruptor because that is your identity. Don't be common, be uncommon. © GB
 Ralph Lauren is a legend in the fashion industry. However, his brand has seen a decade long slump defined by closing stores, discounted products, and an eroding loyalty with customers. After making strategic changes, it seems the brand could be on the way back. Ralph Lauren increased prices to make their famous monogram feel more exclusive. They also changed their retail model for a new generation by partnering with brands like Rent the Runway to provide rentals. They've even launched an authentication program using QR codes on clothing tags, allowing customers to scan the items for styling advice and ensure that each piece is legit. It's nice to hear of strategic turnarounds as opposed to failures, yet it is fair to say the jury is still out. © GB
 "Your penmanship says a lot about how you respect your ideas." This was a comment made to me by Kevin Carroll, the creative catalyst for brands like Nike, Mattel, Disney, ESPN and Starbucks. It's not something you typically hear when referencing creativity. But you stop and think about the statement, you realize it's true. By slowing down and being intentional with your note-taking you are giving your mind and creative spirit a chance to breathe and further develop an idea. Too often we rush to dump something down. Yet we know creativity needs time and space. By giving true thought while you write, you are stepping into the alter ego of a true artist and creator rather than just a person who bangs down notes. Buy a beautiful journal and elegant pens and curate your ideas like a designer, artist, academic leader, or a great writer of the past. © GB
 There is a fabulous series of digital wellness tools from Google that may help us track and manage our phone usage. According to Google, our phones are making us unhappy. They have taken it upon themselves to find a way to navigate the path forward without allowing the phone to destroy the soul of humanity. Following are some of Google's interesting initiatives. © GB
 Why are boardrooms always set up the same way when we know the typical boardroom kills creativity and promotes conventional thinking? Why are meetings always set for 30 or 60 minutes? Why do we serve lollies, cakes, and sandwiches at our meetings even though we know they suck the energy out of the room and generally damage our health? We do these things because society tells us this is appropriate when we gather people together in a business setting. Why follow the crowd and take the same flawed approach as every other business? Most boardrooms are dull, unstimulating, and facilitate little more than time wasted in meetings. Don't let this be you and your company. Technology, like the SMART Kapp Board, is changing the dynamic of boardrooms, meetings, communication, and collaboration. Mark Twain once said, "whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority - it's time to pause and reflect." Let that time be now. © GB
 Theodore Roosevelt said "comparison is the thief of joy" and yet with our access to social media today, many of us spend our most valuable resource, time, comparing our lives, our accomplishments, or our toys to that of others. Here's a different perspective on comparison. Are you better today than you were yesterday? Why compare yourselves to others when you can apply your valuable resources of attention, focus, and time comparing yourself to the you of yesterday? Wherever you are today, what are you going to do to be better tomorrow? Read, listen, learn, reflect, journal, ask, watch, dream -- do something. Shut off the voice of comparison to others and start to look inward and compare yourself today to the you of yesterday and prioritise your incremental day by day personal improvements. #mojo © GB
 This week's editorial note is a recommendation...watch the documentary series currently on Netflix called Inside Bill's Brain. It looks at the internal operating system of Bill Gates, and there is so much to love and learn in just the first episode alone. According to Bill's secretary, he is 100% on time, 100% of the time. Despite being one of the busiest and most successful businessmen in the world, he is never late. He carries a large beach bag full of a wide range of books with him at all times. He retreats to a cabin in the woods to pour over his reading list and ponder the future. When facing a complex problem that no one within that industry can solve, he looks for people from other sectors who think differently and approach the problem from a completely different angle. I could go on and on, but my suggestion is to get a cup of tea, sit with your journal, and look at how Bill operates. Don't be concerned with the outcomes, focus on Bill's process and then think "how can I apply that to my own operating system?" © GB
 So how was your day yesterday? Did you foster your creative spirit? Spend time with your loved ones? Develop your passion? Lose yourself in a hobby? Catch up on reading? Get plenty of rest? Exercise? Sit under a tree and ponder your dreams? Annie Dillard says, "the way we live our days is the way we live our lives." Sometimes it's worth taking an audit of your yesterdays to work out what your tomorrows will look like. It's not a should or could, it's a will. Think about whether you're maximizing your day, making the most of every moment, and engaging in authentic conversations with friends and loved ones. How you live each day is a representation of what your life will look at the end of that long winding road. If you live your days in chaos, frantically jumping from meeting, email, and conversations while shovelling down food, then that's how you'll lead the rest of your life. As Derek Sivers would say, "if your yesterday was busy, it means your life is out of control." © GB
 So what is important to you? Family, kids, your health, friends, partner, parents? Now think about what percentage of your day involves you staring at a screen. Be honest, give it a % of your day as a measurable metric - computer, phone, tv, etc. Now compare that % with the percentage of time you spend face to face with your what matters list…. face to face, no distractions. What's the comparison - 50/50, 60/40, 75/25? Look in the mirror of truth, what is the % and what should it be? What are you going to be happy with? It's a matter of awareness and then making a choice. Yes, you are with your friends, but you are looking at your screen; that % goes on the wrong side of the equation. You are at the pool with your kids, but you are scrolling on your phone; that % goes on the wrong side of the equation. You are in a meeting with your team, but you are checking and sending emails…yep wrong side of the equation. People are craving attention, face to face, no distracted attention. Kids, family, friends, your staff. If you are being honest, what is your percentage? Make a choice. Discipline can show itself in many ways, and this surely is one of the most critical areas we must arrest our lack of discipline and apply true discipline to what MATTERS! © GB
 All too common are meetings that start late, missed deadlines, and postponed events. It's all due to one thing, and that one thing is what I call 'Lastminute-ism.' Too often we're chasing our tails and taking care of what's in front of us, that we miss the opportunity to plan and be organised. This lastminute-ism then spreads to those around us who are on time and organised. Productivity expert, Craig Ballantyne, said to me that rituals and routines for your day start the night before. Be the uncommon leader who plans the night before and approaches the next day centred around what matters. Don’t be the leader who spreads lastminute-ism to everyone you meet. © GB
 Mojo is defined as having a zest for life, as having energy and vitality, and feeling that things are aligned. Many executives talk about the fact they've lost their Mojo - that life is vanilla, beige, taupe. So what is the remedy? Ensure you create a highlight each day. A highlight is something special for you, that brings you fulfilment. It's something you set down as a priority for your day. John Zeratsky, author of "Make Time" spoke about this idea on The Mojo Radio Show. Use time in the evening to plan a highlight for tomorrow and put it into your calendar. It can be any event or activity that excites you, that makes you feel good, and that at the end of the day will make you say, "what a great day." It's a powerful yet straightforward remedy when you feel as though you've lost your Mojo. © GB
 When things don't go your way, it's wabi-sabi. When you don't have the perfect day, the perfect meeting, the perfect presentation, or the perfect dinner meeting, it's wabi-sabi. In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is a world view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete." In my view, if we accept the cracks and appreciate the imperfection, we can then move towards improvement. If it's something that cannot be changed, accept it; it's wabi-sabi. Each crack or imperfection is a story, a memory, or a moment that can create your life narrative and provide the launchpad for growth. "Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride." Gary Allan. © GB
 The conference concluded, and the host recounted the last few days. He reminded us of the magnificent dinner the night prior that overlooked the iconic Harbour Bridge and the lights of Luna Park. He said it was a sense of occasion. What a great saying! I quickly grabbed my journal and scribbled a note. Why is it that a sense of occasion happens so rarely in our lives? There are occasions like a wedding, a special dinner, a birthday, a collection of people at an award ceremony. But what if we took the challenge to create a sense of occasion each day or each week. Regardless of how big or small, whether in our solitude or with others, take the time to look around, be grateful, and create a sense of occasion. Too often, we breeze through life in a sea of emails, meetings, social media, and to-do lists. We fail to stop at times to appreciate what we have. It could be the silence of nature, the giggle of a child, the end of an excellent business presentation, or the last paragraph of a blog you worked hard to create. Acknowledge the occasion. © GB
 Preethaji, the world-renowned Philosopher Teacher, told me the story of the cobra. Every few months the cobra must withdraw and go into seclusion. During this time, it gets very uncomfortable in its skin, and its vision blurs. It then sheds its skin, regains its vision, and returns more powerful - with more clarity of sight. To me, this is a wonderful metaphor for today's progressive leaders. They take time to withdraw from the hustle and get uncomfortable with where they are in order to design what's ahead. During that seclusion, their vision blurs where they are not constrained by what they can see or know but instead think about possibilities, a new vision, a new future. Bill Gates is said to withdraw to a cabin in the woods with no internet connection to sit for weeks and read articles that he has accumulated. One would think he is applying the cobra philosophy by being uncomfortable with where he is, having new information to ponder, thus blurring his vision to return with a stronger view of the future and plans to execute. Bring the cobra to your planning procedure.
 How many brainstorms, creative sessions, or meetings will you sit through that involve coming up with ideas? Say you participated in two of those meetings a week times 40 weeks a year. That means you were in 80 of those meetings this year alone. Let's say you've been in business 20 years -- so that is 1600 brainstorms. If two ideas come out of each session, that means you have seen or heard well over 3000 ideas. Where are they today? Logged into your memory? No - we can't even remember what's in our calendar for tomorrow, let alone an idea heard in a meeting four years ago. Day after day, I see leaders attend meetings, creative sessions, and brainstorms with nothing to write on. They let thousands of ideas go in one ear and out the other. Imagine if you were the diligent, disciplined, and proactive leader who took note of the ponderings today that could be tomorrow's thought-starter. Imagine the repository you would have in your journals, that you could revisit to harvest ideas when doing a killer presentation or finding an idea for a client brief. We often sit in meetings and don't write anything down, and the biggest fallacy is that we will remember the ideas being shared. The vast majority of outstanding leaders I interview on the Mojo Radio Show Podcast, keep notes and journal. Navy SEALS, entrepreneurs, scientists, wellness thought leaders, productivity leaders, mental strength coaches, you name it -- a journal is their repository of learnings and great ideas. It's the reason I created the Mojo Thought-Provoking Journal. Check it out here and start to capture your next killer ideas: http://www.garybertwistle.com. © GB
 What does it cost to put 100 of your key executives in an off-site venue for two days with meals, accommodations, airfare, and a host of keynote speakers? It costs a lot, in many ways! At the start of the conference is the mandatory leader's speech. Now imagine, from an Uber on the way to the venue, the leader calls one of the people running the meeting and says, "I'm on my way, what am I saying?" Is this a leader that inspires you? It's the one big occasion of the year where all the key executives are in one room, and yet the leader hasn't taken the time to think about the critical key message, a dream for the future, or even strategic imperatives for what lies ahead. Sadly, I see this situation over and over again. Leaders are given the obligatory time to open a conference and spend no time seizing the opportunity with a speech that uplifts, inspires, or makes people feel good about where the company is going. Unorganised, undisciplined, and a complete waste of a conference moment due to a lack of focus on what is important and what matters. Little wonder such a small percentage of workers feel great about their work and inspired by the future of their company. I've seen it in the charitable space, the corporate space, and within institutions. This leader leaves the stage to lukewarm applause, only to get back in an Uber and disappear into a sea of emails, texts, meetings, and distraction. This is not a leader that inspires me to follow. © GB
 Ballpoint brand, BIC, has created a new campaign "Fight for Your Write" to encourage us to pick up a pen. Many leading universities tell students not to bring laptops or iPads to record the lessons in class because it lends to recording, not comprehending. When you write with pen and paper, it helps with your learning and comprehension. Here's something I have been pondering - perhaps having beautiful pencils or a classy pen that you love can produce an alter ego that makes you feel like a creator following in the footsteps of the greats like Shakespeare, Hemingway, Jane Austen, Mark Twain or Tolstoy. You embody their identity to create by picking up your tools and going to work. Alter egos are such an incredibly powerful performance tool written about in a book of the same name by Todd Herman. I am interviewing him in a few weeks. To help in the fight for your write, get a beautiful set of pencils or a really nice pen, something unique to keep with your journal. Every time you sit to write, you embody your creative hero and step into YOUR alter ego. Try it.
 "Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted." - Sun Tzu
We are exhausted. It is probably the most common complaint from executives -- I'm tired, I'm busy, I'm exhausted, I'm late to yet another call, meeting, family engagement, whatever. How do we get in front of our work? The answer: be early. In fact, if you're not 10 minutes early, then you're late. It's your world, set your standards, don't choose to race between emails, meetings, calls, and texts. Make it your ritual to be early, and set that standard with your team. I worked with this guy who was always late, and he wondered why his team had no discipline and would always come late to meetings. Don't give your competitor the edge, be early, and win. © GB  It is believed that we spend so much time on our devices because we don't actually know what else to do. Most of us plan our day around what we need to get done, much of which involves a phone, tablet or desktop computer. Isn't it sad to think that our boredom is such that we will avoid it at all costs and fill our downtime with our phones? Boredom is such a necessity for creative, inspiring ideas to form and come to light. Tonight when you are planning for tomorrow consider planning something to do when you disconnect from the screen. What would you do instead with the four hours a day (on average) that we spend on devices? Plan it out - you can sit, read, listen to a podcast, draw, journal, daydream, help someone, create, cook, review your purpose, focus on what matters to you, put some proper planning into a holiday, be of real service to others. Plan how you will use your time away from your device. © GB
 In today's age of sharing, we often write or create to impress others. Rarely do we write to express our true self, what we think, and how we feel. When we don't get the likes, we feel disheartened, unconfident, and in some cases even depressed. Whether it be in your journal, a presentation you are creating, a message to a friend, or a diary note in your gratitude journal as you close the day - write for you and you alone. Take a page from Lori Lansens who wrote, "write…as if you'll never be read. That way you'll be sure to tell the truth." © GB
 It seems that our current lifestyle and approach to work has created an age of loneliness, which has been dubbed an epidemic. Designers are approaching the physical space around us to foster meaningful connections as a way to cure this loneliness. We see it in corporate business, collaborative working spaces, and in common areas. Can design solve this problem of loneliness? Surely human connection is the antidote for this lack of personal connection. Recently on The Mojo Radio Show, I interviewed Jeff Nichols, a world leader in exercise physiology and a former US Navy Seal. He at one time was in the darkest of places but now can see the light. He shared his view on getting beyond the darkness. He said we should ask people, even strangers "how are you doing?" When people say "I'm fine" his reply was "no, really, how are you doing?" He said we must fight to get past the facade and allow people a genuine connection. Design is one thing, but a true human connection is another. Let's look up from our device, lean into the conversation, listen without waiting for our turn to talk, and be truly curious to know...how are you really doing? © GB
 The train is one of my favourite places to disconnect, think, write, produce content, and on some days stare out the window and daydream. Last week I was reading when a girl sat next to me. She spent the 40-minute journey to Central scrolling through Facebook. Let's say she did this for about 10 minutes before boarding, another 10 minutes before she got to the office, a glance at lunch for about 10 minutes, and perhaps she did the same thing on her return home. Do a quick tally of how much time she may have spent on social? For what real value? Do your math. It's funny how people say, "I don't spend much time on socials." But when you do an audit, it is remarkable how much time is lost living in a world of others. Look in the mirror and do your audit. In the case of the girl on the train, let's tally it up and estimate she spent 90 minutes per day on socials. That's 10 1/2 hours a week, conservatively. Now think where we would be if we put that time towards a new skill, recovery, sleep, being of service to others, developing a new art or craft, or immersing ourselves in work. As Seneca said, "life, if well lived, is long enough." © GB
 It's said that leadership is in large part about influence. The influence a leader can have to help others grow, come together for a joint mission, and believe in possibilities ahead. If you think you are a leader inside and outside of the workplace, it is sometimes useful to do an audit. Do your daily rituals influence others? Many people spend their time with their face in a phone. What influence could this person have? Taking calls at the dinner table, driving and checking their phone, being distracted by their social feed during a conference. Audit yourself as a leader and ask are these the actions, rituals and routines of someone who is inspiring. Are these the habits and rituals you want to be mirrored back to you at home or work? Is what you see in your mirror of truth likely to influence others in a positive way? I guess you could also ask, is your influence positive or negative? I have sat on boards with leaders who have certainly influenced me…and it was not positive. Sadly due to the standards some leaders keep, the ones who truly change you by their actions, standards, rituals and routines are few and far between. © GB
 Rituals are an essential part of every high performer's toolbox. It seems to be a commonality of those who get the right stuff done to get the right result. Ryan Munsey, the host of The Better Human Project podcast, changed his morning rituals when writing his last book. In my interview with Ryan he said that his normal ritual did not give him the environment to create. So he made a change. The same thing happened last month in Japan when I went away on holidays. Being in a different city with different surroundings pushed me to create a new routine. Rituals - whether morning or evening - ensure you focus on the right things, the things that genuinely matter to YOU. Many successful people have a morning or evening ritual for when they are home and have a separate set of rituals when they are on the road travelling. I believe one of the most powerful things about rituals is the ability to focus on what you want and need to do and to eliminate what you do not want to do. © GB
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