Now that you’ve got tips on how to set up and close out your day for Season 1, you now have the right canvas primed to sketch out your ideas to help you start your life/career explorations.

But first, go and get yourself a cuppa. This exercise is super-cathartic and on which you’ll enjoy getting stuck in on:

The sense check (stop, start, continue)

This is a practice I’ve been doing for well over a decade at various stages throughout my career. No matter what cross roads or life/ work situation I’m at, I’ve used this very simple, instructional exercise. It always, ALWAYS unpacks so much of my brain and somehow, just by following these four clear prompts, the pin-pointing of where you’re really at, the truth of it, stares right back at you.

I first did this when returning to work after 12 months of maternity leave. Professionally, this was one of the most awful experiences and transitions I’ve ever had. One to share for another time in the right forum, but suffice to say, too many have experienced the same, so it does require the right space and care to discuss. This is why I think this practice below is so good at empowering yourself; it gently begins a process of reflection and in turn, helps take back your narrative during a period of most need.

Instructions for the sense check:

Get a pen and draw a divide to create four boxes on an A4 piece of paper.

Write down each prompt in one of the four boxes. Doesn’t matter what order:

-What are you currently doing and would like to continue doing?

-What are you currently doing and would like to stop doing?

-What are you not doing at the moment, and would like to start doing?

-What are you not doing at the moment, and still wouldn’t want to do?

This exercise is a simpler variation of the ‘Stop, Start, Continue’ framework you may have used for larger projects at work. But the prompts are far more intuitive and open ended where you can apply this to any aspect of your work-life - in fact - everything that’s going on in your mind. For me, I’ve always been able to jot down the answers pretty quickly as an initial ‘first pass’. You can then adjust and add to the responses fresh from each percolation. Remember, this is on your own timeline and they’re your thoughts, no one else’s.

Quick tip: After your initial download of thoughts, leave this exercise for a couple of weeks. When you return back to it with fresh eyes, you’ll get further clarity and perspective as to where’s your head at, and what needs to change in your day-to-day life. What signals have been reflected back at you, even with just the language you’ve used? What could have caused that over the last couple of weeks? Has anything shifted since initially jotting things down?

Jot it down. Anywhere.

During my own ‘Meh’ season, I started scribbling things down on a random notebook.

I grabbed a pink notebook lying around, leftover from a workshop I attended a few months back. You know, the ones where you only write a page and a half… and nothing else. But that got me into the habit of keeping the book in clear reach. And as the ideas accumulated, more thoughts were being jotted down on the notes app on my phone, wherever I was out and about. This was particularly true during my morning commute. A bit of time to reclaim for myself after the morning school run and most definitely before switching my brain to Designated Responsible Adult at work (D.R.A) which, as you know, demands a completely different energy altogether.

I’m deliberately not saying to ‘journal’ at this point as I think, similarly to other ‘wellness’ goals, it can use be used (in the context of wanting to achieve something) as another stick to beat your head with if you’re not able to do this daily. Oh Yeah’s approach is to simply ‘jot it down’ whenever you’re in that spot of inspiration or if it’s available to you. Somewhere, anywhere, back of an envelope even. And if more ideas come in one sitting, just allow the flow-state to happen, tap it into notes, or get a bigger envelope.

Here are some simple questions and thought starters to help you get started once you’ve had your morning coffee:

-What were you drawn to when out and about in the morning?

-What people do you feel inspired by and what is the feeling they give you?

-What is it that you want to return to and create?

-How does it make you feel, thinking about creating or building something that you love?

Don’t feel you have to describe ‘the why’ yet - just get it all down. No one needs to decipher your handwriting or short hand - this is for you and your enjoyment.

Weekend tip: When you’re going through the weekend papers (I do prefer the analogue approach and rustling the pages), tear out interviews with folks who intrigue or spark a curiosity in you, even if you don’t have the bandwidth to yet read it in full . I’ll talk more on how they can be a useful tool in Season 4, the Playful Rising season and how it can help finesse your vision and principles.

The Oh Yeah Juice

The sense check (stop, start, continue)

Notes