The Overlooked Genius In Your Office

ST50: Bad Goals, Making Time, Learning About Ramadan, Incredible Artists

👋 Howdy!

It’s the big 50 for this humble publication of mine! That means we’ve collected a mind-boggling 350 inspiring things. I might do the grunt work of sifting through them all to find the most popular highlights at some point. Let me know if that’s of interest. For now, thanks for sticking around and finding inspiration with me. Here’s what’s in this issue:

• One — A story about the oft-overlooked inspiration you might find just one desk down from where you sit.

• Two — Seven Things on goal setting, making time for yourself, writer and artist spotlights and more.

If you’re new to this newsletter, sign up! It’s free, takes zero effort, and you can leave anytime. Every so often, I’ll send you seven links to what I’ve found most inspiring lately.

1. Finding Genius Right Where You Are

Last week I wrote about the benefits of becoming a fan of someone online, compared to merely liking their work. This week, I met a few new colleagues at work. They each introduced themselves with what you might expect: their job title, the team they’d be joining, the company they’d joined us from. Later, I’d take them for a coffee and boy, did they have hidden depths! As they spilt the beans on their various passion projects, side gigs, and plans for both, I was honestly impressed and fascinated. I also grew wistful over all the exciting interests of others all around me which remain undiscovered.

The internet is making it easy-ish to reach out and connect with those you look up to. We even often measure the value of an individual to society by their online badges of likes and followers. Nowadays, going online might appear as the only way to connect with inspirational people. Despite their online footprint, these people do exist in the real world too (at least for the most part). We forget that almost everyone around us has passions and skills with the potential to inspire others. Sometimes it feels as though if you know someone in real life, this inherently means that they can not be a true inspiration, someone to follow. After all, they’re “just regular people”.

My new colleague and author of Business Notes by Nero Okwa

There is an undeservedly high barrier to sharing what you are interested in outside of work with those in your immediate vicinity. So this week I wanted to set up an opportunity to broadcast for those who might be more on the shy side, publicly inviting my network to share their newsletters in a comment to my post on LinkedIn. While some did so, others - who I know for a fact saw my message and write a newsletter - chose to remain anonymous.

What is it that makes us hold back the fruits of our personal passions? Humility and concerns over being seen as bragging. Imposter syndrome. Fear of feedback; of failure. I’ve previously written about how to change this mindset as a creator. More and more, I approach it as a potential follower, making an effort to encourage others to share their pet project with me. If that means racking up a long tab at the coffee shop down the street, it’ll be a price worth paying.

2. Seven Things I Found Inspiring

1. Goals: Setting and tracking measurable goals gives us a feeling of progress. Often, we deceive ourselves. A piece about goals that are bad for you.

2. Reading: For the first time, I’m reading several books covering the same topic from different angles back-to-back. I can’t recommend it enough. Following the more philosophical Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It I’m now spending the rare quiet evening with the tactical guide that is Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day. Both: Excellent.

3. Newsletter Spotlight: Business Notes by Nero Okwa is about his lifelong learning journey in business, technology, Africa, and career development.

4. Artist Spotlight: Leni Kauffman’s illustrations feature a truly diverse range of people. She also created Fresh Folk, an illustration library of people and objects you can use for your project. Become a fan and learn more about her in the video feature on her about page or follow her on Instagram.

5. Design: An Interview with Design legends Massimo and Lella Vignelli. You might not know their names, but you definitely know their work. To dig deeper, check out the full-length documentary.

6. Tech/Design/Parenting: Even non-procreating humans can appreciate the elegance and ad-freeness of the Nara Baby Tracker app. I’ve not seen app-development as a form of marketing that often, but here’s one by a baby foods brand.

7. Culture: A non-Muslim's guide on how to be a great friend and coworker to a Muslim during Ramadan.